SIGNS OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS ~ Swami Sivananda

SIGNS OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS
by Swami Sivananda 

A.  The gradual inward progress is mostly silent and unseen, like the quiet unfolding of a bud into a flower in the hours of the night. Therefore, do not be dejected. Do not depress yourself with the idea that you are not progressing. 

Real spiritual progress is really and accurately measured by the peacefulness, serenity, and calmness that you manifest in waking state. 

You will have a healthy body and mind, the excretions will be scanty, the voice will be sweet, the face will be brilliant, the eyes will be lustrous. 

You will be ever calm, tranquil, and poised; you will be ever cheerful, fearless, and contented. 

You will be dispassionate and discriminative. There will be no attraction for the world. 

Things that used to upset you before will not upset you now. You will have an unruffled mind. 

You will have introversion. Things that used to give you pleasure produce disgust or a reverse effect now. You will have a one-pointed, sharp, subtle mind. You will be longing to have more meditation. You will have a very steady Asana (A bodily pose or posture for meditation).

You will experience lights, visions, divine smell, divine taste. The idea that all forms are forms of the Lord will get stronger and stronger in you. You will feel everywhere the presence of God. You will experience the nearness of God. 

You will develop a burning desire for selfless service. 

B.   Watch whether you are stationary in the spiritual path, retrogressing, or advancing. 

If your Japa, meditation or Vedantic Vichara  (Enquiry into the nature of the Self, Truth, Absolute, Brahman) thickens your veil and fattens your egoism, it is not then a spiritual Sadhana. Remember this point well. It is only a kind of occult practice.

Watch, introspect. Practice self-analysis and kill ruthlessly this formidable egoism. This is important Sadhana. Egoism will lurk like a thief and assume various forms like a chameleon or a Bahurupi (a dramatic actor). 

Do not stop the Sadhana when you get a few glimpses of realization. Continue practice till you are fully established in the unconditioned Brahman (Bhuma). This is important. If you stop practice and move about in the world, there is every likelihood of a downfall. The reaction will be tremendous. Examples are not lacking. Numerous persons have been so ruined. A glimpse cannot give you perfect safety. 

Do not be carried away by name and fame. You can renounce your wife, children, parents, house, friends, and relatives. It is very, very difficult to renounce the intellectual pleasure, the pleasure from name and fame. 

I seriously warn you. A man who can draw happiness from the Atman within, will never care a jot for this trivial, paltry affair.The world is a mighty big thing for a worldly man. It is a straw for the Knower of Brahman. It is a mustard, a pin's point, a dot, a bubble, an airy nothing for a Brahma-jnani (Knower of Brahman). Be circumspective. Ignore all these trivial things. 

Let the Sadhana be regular, continuous, unbroken, and earnest.

Be steady with your practice. Never stop the practice till the final beatitude is reached. Never cease Sadhana till you can constantly dwell in full Brahmic consciousness. 

Do not let failures discourage you, but go on doing your best. Do not brood over your past mistakes and failures, as this will only fill your mind with grief, regret and depression. Do not repeat them in future. Be cautious. Just think of the causes which led to your failures and try to remove them in future. Strengthen yourself with new vigour and virtues. 

Develop slowly your will-power. Every temptation that is resisted, every evil thought that is curbed, every desire that is subdued, every bitter word that is withheld, every noble aspiration that is encouraged, every sublime thought that is cultivated, adds to the development of will-force, good character, and attainment of eternal bliss and immortality. 

Every bit of Sadhana done is surely recorded without fail in your hidden consciousness. No Sadhana ever goes in vain. Every bit of it is credited immediately towards your evolution. This is the law. Think not negative thoughts, but calmly go on with the Sadhana. Be regular at it. Without missing a single day, proceed onward with your spiritual practices. Little by little, the power accumulates and it will grow. Ultimately, the cumulative force of all the continuous earnest Sadhana done perseveringly and patiently over a long period of life has its inevitable grand consummation at the supreme moment when it bears fruit in the form of blissful Realization. 

Let the Sadhana be regular, continuous, unbroken, and earnest. Not only regularity, but also continuity in Sadhana and meditation is necessary if you want to attain Self-realization quickly. A spiritual stream once set going does not dry up, unless the channel-bed is locked, unless there is stagnation. 

Be vigilant eternally. Meditate regularly. Annihilate the under-current of Vasanas (subtle desires).