by Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati
Believe in yourself. Know that you have the strength, the ability, the courage and the will to transform yourself. The best way to reach this point is through silence, not through logic or intellect, or questions or discussion. So many books have been written, yet people still continue to ask questions. The answers have been given in the scriptures and by different masters and saints, yet still we ask for the reasons, the why, when and how. We ask the same questions over and over again, even though we have been given the answers.
Learn in silence about the mysteries of life by understanding and believing that you have the strength, the courage and the ability. You can definitely make a barren piece of ground into a flowering garden. The method you can choose yourself.
If water is not available nearby, you will have to dig a well or a channel from a nearby river. You find your own method. You have to find the means to procure the right seeds and protect them by providing whatever is necessary for their growth.
It becomes easy and simple if you believe in yourself and have will and sincerity. It is no use sitting down with your head in your hands, thinking, “God, what shall I do with my patch of land? It is full of rocks and there is no water nearby.” That fatalistic attitude is the road to hell. That is the biggest obstacle one has to overcome.
The attitude of faith is the stairway to heaven. So never be a fatalist. Always have faith in yourself.
About Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati:
Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati was born in Rajnandgaon (Chhattisgarh) in 1960. Guided by his guru, Swami Satyananda Saraswati, from birth, at the age of four he came to live with him at the Bihar School of Yoga in Munger where he received training in yogic and spiritual sciences through yoga nidra.
In 1971 he was initiated into Dashnami sannyasa, and thereafter for eleven years he lived overseas, mastering skills in varied areas, acquiring an understanding of different cultures and helping establish Satyananda Yoga ashrams and centres in Europe, Australia, North and South America.
At the behest of his guru, he returned to India in 1983 to guide the activities of Bihar School of Yoga, Sivananda Math and the Yoga Research Foundation at Ganga Darshan. In 1990 he was initiated as a paramahamsa sannyasin and in 1995 anointed spiritual preceptor in succession to Swami Satyananda Saraswati. He established Bihar Yoga Bharati, the first university of yoga, in 1994 and the Yoga Publications Trust in 2000 in Munger. He also initiated a children’s yoga movement, Bal Yoga Mitra Mandal, in 1995. In addition to steering the activities at Munger, he travelled extensively to guide seekers around the world till 2009, when he received the command to embark on a new phase of sannyasa life.
Author of many classic books on yoga, tantra and the upanishads, Swami Niranjan is a magnetic source of wisdom on all aspects of yogic philosophy, practice and lifestyle. He ably combines tradition with modernity as he continues to nurture and spread his guru’s mission from his base at Munger.
References:
- YOGA Magazine, Issue Jan 2006
- Yoga Vision