<p>Diligence, humility and caution are essential ingredients to those on the spiritual path. Ego, conceit and arrogance are its greatest dangers and must be avoided like the plague. Human beings are vulnerable to praise and adulation and quick to take offence are the mildest of criticism. When we are caught within the trap of our ego, we are bound to blunder.</p>.<p>“Fools dwelling in darkness, wise in their own conceit, and puffed up with vain knowledge, go round and round staggering to and fro, like blind men led by the blind,” so declares the <span class="italic">Katha Upanishad</span>. Swami Vivekananda said, “the world is full of these. Everyone wants to be a teacher, every beggar wants to make a gift of a million dollars! Just as these beggars are ridiculous, so are these teachers.”</p>.<p>According to Sadguru Sri Sharavana Baba, the human sciences that include the natural and social sciences are comparable to rivers as they are limited and end in the ocean. But spiritual science is like an ocean-- it is deep, powerful and immense. It is without limitation. It encompasses both the search for knowledge and the search for truth. The search for knowledge is limited by memory and belongs to the past and is therefore limited by the past but he searches for truth is ever-present, every new and ever effulgent and therefore suffers no limitation. Knowledge is appropriated in the head but the truth is appropriated in the heart. Outer knowledge is validated by experimentation and proof but inner knowledge is validated by individual experience.</p>.<p>According to Babaji, there are six ingredients to construct a happy life. These include <span class="italic">aarogyam </span>(health)<span class="italic">, aishwaryam </span>(wealth) and <span class="italic">aikyum </span>(unity), <span class="italic">anbh </span>(love) and<span class="italic"> arivu </span>(intelligence). If these six attributes are aligned and consciously cultivated and balanced, it will result in ananandam (bliss). </p>.<p>Who is a good devotee? The good devotee is he or she who grows by refraining from judgements, avoids condemnation, does not use harsh words and sees the good in every individual and ignores the rest. Such an elevated soul will radiate divinity to those who come in touch with such a person.</p>
<p>Diligence, humility and caution are essential ingredients to those on the spiritual path. Ego, conceit and arrogance are its greatest dangers and must be avoided like the plague. Human beings are vulnerable to praise and adulation and quick to take offence are the mildest of criticism. When we are caught within the trap of our ego, we are bound to blunder.</p>.<p>“Fools dwelling in darkness, wise in their own conceit, and puffed up with vain knowledge, go round and round staggering to and fro, like blind men led by the blind,” so declares the <span class="italic">Katha Upanishad</span>. Swami Vivekananda said, “the world is full of these. Everyone wants to be a teacher, every beggar wants to make a gift of a million dollars! Just as these beggars are ridiculous, so are these teachers.”</p>.<p>According to Sadguru Sri Sharavana Baba, the human sciences that include the natural and social sciences are comparable to rivers as they are limited and end in the ocean. But spiritual science is like an ocean-- it is deep, powerful and immense. It is without limitation. It encompasses both the search for knowledge and the search for truth. The search for knowledge is limited by memory and belongs to the past and is therefore limited by the past but he searches for truth is ever-present, every new and ever effulgent and therefore suffers no limitation. Knowledge is appropriated in the head but the truth is appropriated in the heart. Outer knowledge is validated by experimentation and proof but inner knowledge is validated by individual experience.</p>.<p>According to Babaji, there are six ingredients to construct a happy life. These include <span class="italic">aarogyam </span>(health)<span class="italic">, aishwaryam </span>(wealth) and <span class="italic">aikyum </span>(unity), <span class="italic">anbh </span>(love) and<span class="italic"> arivu </span>(intelligence). If these six attributes are aligned and consciously cultivated and balanced, it will result in ananandam (bliss). </p>.<p>Who is a good devotee? The good devotee is he or she who grows by refraining from judgements, avoids condemnation, does not use harsh words and sees the good in every individual and ignores the rest. Such an elevated soul will radiate divinity to those who come in touch with such a person.</p>