God Realization or Eternal Bliss is the ultimate goal of human life. Therefore it becomes a sacred duty of all human beings to act, behave or talk in a manner that is more and more conducive for spiritual welfare. All great souls, eminent scholars and saints have repeatedly stressed the need to stick to certain things, principles and ways of life to attain divine perfection and realization. Some of them are as described below:

Never think even in dream that you can grow big by making other small. It is not worthwhile to reach the heights at the expense of others. The brightness and smile at your face should not be squeezed or snatched from some one’s pale face or shivering lip. To amass something by robbing others is not a healthy sign or a positive approach. Gather courage and concentrate your own potentialities to achieve the good you want for yourself. Only that will be called your real achievement and only that has the capacity to reward and help you, to attain the ‘Real Self’.

Again it is a false notion to express attachment with the matter and call them your own because in a flick of moment ‘Death’ can part you with all and then it is not your belongings but the good deeds or virtues cultivated, will accompany you to the next world.

Do not inflict any suffering on any creature whatsoever. Give up the false hope of becoming happy by making another unhappy. Nor should you seek to become rich by depriving another of his wealth. Who knows when you will pass away from the world? As soon as you die, all your visionary projects will come to nought. It is an error of man that in the hope of enjoying the pleasures of the body through a lengthening of his span of life, he seeks to rob others of their enjoyments or even to take their lives. Always see Death standing over your shoulder, and know it for certain that as soon as He holds you in His grip, you will have no possession left over anything in this world.

Till the last moment of one’s life one continues to build castles in the air. One occupies a distinct place in the family. One is either the sole proprietor of, or a partner in, the family estate. But as soon as Death makes Him appearance, all one’s projects come to nought; one has no longer any place within the precincts of the home.

As you sow so shall you reap. Never expect fruit or flowers for the thorns. Nature never forgives a sinner therefore be pure from inside as you want to look from outside. Things which you call your own and things which you seek possession of, with all these you will be forced to sever your connection. Remember that to be forewarned is to be forearmed . Cease taking recourse to unfair means for acquiring or preserving things which you will have ultimately to renounce. Do not regard anything as your own, nor pride over anything that you possess; do not cover anything; live in the world in a state of supreme indifference and rejoice in your own self. Death in such a state of self rejoicing is itself a great delight.

Give up the thirst for accumulation of wealth, or for the earning of name, fame and honour. Sow the seeds of noble actions; cultivate divine virtues and dispassion; acquire enlightenment, and devotion of God. You may be very rich and may have a large family nay, you may be enjoying a good reputation in the world, and men may even adore your feet; but, if your mind and body are attached to the transient pleasures of the world, if your regard enjoyment of the senses as something abiding and true, and as a source of the happiness, if you have not the least attraction for the feet of the Lord, then know it for certain that your life as a human being has been in vain and that the life you are leading now will bring you rich harvest of pain and misery hereafter.

Never listen evil, never talk that is bad and never see that is not worth seeing. Do not go for the faults and shortcomings of others. As you practice it you are set to move on the right path. Apply yourself constantly to the task of purifying the heart. Purify your own conduct. Bestow your love upon all. Treat everyone kindly and show respect to all. Do good to all; never wish harm to anyone. Withdrawing the mind from the transient enjoyments of the world, attach it to God. Never mind what the world says about you, people will say what they feel about your work. They will say whatever they think or it according to the preconceptions of their own mind. Therefore do not allow yourself to be carried away by their praise, nor turn your eyes from your goal through fear of popular criticism. Do whatever you do for securing the pleasure of God and always remember that an action which is prejudicial to the interests of any creature whatsoever cannot be conducive to the pleasure of the Lord.

Do not talk or hear much about things of enjoyment; apply your mind to them and talk about them only as much as it is unavoidably necessary. Devote your mind and speech to the Lord alone all the rest of your time. Whatever you do through the body, do it in a spirit of service of God. In the household, do not regard yourself as the master, but threat yourself as a servant and perform your duties honestly and truthfully in the spirit of rendering service of God. Your attitude and conduct in your own house should be like that of a guest coming to stay there for a while. Do not take your preset abode to be your permanent abode, nor regard the belongings, servants and the wealth of the house as your own. Take care that you do not injure the feelings of others through your conduct.

A path leading to a big reward a higher achievement or divine glory is no doubt very difficult to traverse, but try and try again, without any remission, that all the tendencies and inclinations of your mind may be directed towards God and God alone; if at all they turn towards the world, it should be for discovery of a shorter route to reach the Lord. If you find anything amiss, divert the mind immediately from the world.

Remember: wealth, attendant, family and body itself, fame and honour, none of these will accompany you when you depart from this world. In the next world they will be of no use to you, nor will they able to save you from trouble there.

Human birth is gifted by the Almighty only to the deserving souls and that also in the form of a rare chance to achieve perfection and drink the Nector of divinity. It is there not to gather stones and pebbles but to take care of the ‘Real Diamond’. Therefore do not waste the precious moments of your life in pursuit of these things If through a turn of fortune you come to possess these things, take care that they do not turn your head and divert you from the path that leads towards God. Do not cling to these things; always try to keep your mind detached from them and, if possible, utilise them for the pleasure of the Lord.

No one knows when your body may cease to function; therefore keep yourself always ready for departure from this world. One whose conduct is above reproach, who has the divine qualities developed in one, whose mind is not attached to the home, family and sense enjoyments, who never forgets the Lord and always regards oneself as separate from the body, …conscious, eternal and imperishable, …that one alone should be regarded as ready. One has not to weep and wail at the time of death.

Sensual pleasures like a mirage are bound to result into utter frustration and disaster. So long as the body is in sound health, the senses are capable of enjoying pleasure, the mind is attached to the enjoyment of senses, and death is no longer visible, what has been stated above may certainly sound unpalatable and superfluous. But a day will come when everyone of us will have to engage his thoughts over these questions and when our repentance for past errors will be very terrible indeed. Therefore it is better that you give a careful thought to these questions and wake up earlier.

Remember that even at the sight of the terrible jaws of death, things like wealth, youth, physical beauty, position and prestige, power, knowledge and eloquence, all these will vanish into nothing. They will be of no avail to you. Therefore, do not make them the objects of your life, nor feel elated if they come to you unsought. These are a nine days’ wonder and will perish without fail.

Studying and following the teachings of Sastras, saints, holy men and great devotees, place your trust in God, try to realize his greatness and, in order to develop love for Him, take refuge in Him.

Whatever is prevalent in the world is not congenial to spiritual growth. Therefore we have to swim and row against the current. We feel helpless and miserable. Lust, anger, malice, violence, jealousy, pride, sense of meum, and other such evils are very strong indeed; therefore try to eradicate them by all means. Through ‘satsang’ or other spiritual practices one may occassionally feel oneself cured of these evils and thereby regard oneself as having attained the stage of spiritual perfection; but, in reality, the complete eradication of these evils is very difficult. They may be temporarily brought under control; but, in reality, the complete eradication of these evils is very difficult. They may be temporarily, brought under control; but, all the same, they remain unhidden in the subconscious mind in the form of ‘Samkaras’ or seeds, which through circumstances favourable to their development or in the presence of exciting causes reappear as thoroughly awakened impulses. That is why these evils occasionally make their appearance even in men who are generally held to be absolutely pure and innocent.

Therefore, guarding against pride and arming yourself with the Divine power, try with the utmost care to root out these evils. When these impulses do not awaken even in presence of the strongest temptations, they you may believe that are on the way to extinction. That they may not persist even in the form of ‘Samskaras’ or seeds, one has to make sure by repeated self examination.

Oftentimes it is found that these impulses do not awaken when oneself to a deliberate test, but they are around of an exciting cause. When they do not awaken even in the presence of such a cause, then alone should one imagine that the process of their extinction is in progress.

Do not get puffed up with pride if some meritorious act happens to be performed through your agency. Feel grateful to God for the success and attribute it to His power and help. Pride is a great stumbling block in the way of success will begin to recede from you; and, if for any reason to failure is delayed, the result owing to the abnormal growth of pride will be fatal indeed.

By expressing one’s gratitude to God for every success and clinging to His blessed feet more and more till eventually one attains to the state of total dependence on Him, one attains that supreme success through which the object of human life, nay, the ambition cherished by one through innumerable births is realized once for all.

Unknowingly something crops up in ourselves. We are totally unaware of its presence as it enters in our innerself, without being noticed. This is our enemy number one. The thing is that as we move some distance on the noble path we start feeling ourselves to be great and it is here we commit a blunder and thus dig a ditch to stumble down to fall in the deep.

Never think highly of yourself, thereby allowing pride to take possession of you, nor should you, entertain a bad opinion about others and hate them. He often in course of a lifetime do we come across moments of exaltation and degradation? He alone is noble whose life turns out to be noble upto the last moment and he alone is depraved who does not mend his ways till the last moment.

Always exercise strict vigilance on your life. Take every footstep deliberately and with great caution. There are so many pitfalls and gaping chasms all around you in this world that there is danger of your mind and every activity of your sense be subordinate to your intellect, which, again should have perform a single act which may turn you away from God and hurl you into the depths of vice.

Never be indulgent towards a wicked thought or a sinful propensity. Never harbour in your mind any such thought or propensity, however trifling it may be. Having obtained a footing in our mind, these evil thoughts and inclinations assume dimensions in no time. Once they have assumed dimensions, they get out of control and, having established their supremacy on all our senses, do as they like.

Arm yourself with the Divine power and do not let an evil intention, a wicked thought, or a sinful propensity cross your mind. If they use their might against you, fight against them and conquer them Remember, you are very powerful. There is no one so powerful as the ‘Atma’. The body, the senses, the mind and the intellect, all are slaves of the Atma. You are ‘Atma’, an eternal fragment of God. The strength of the mind and the intellect as well as of desire, which abides in them, is insignificant before yours nay, they derive their strength from yours. Certainly regard yourself as powerless before God, but never consider yourself unable to destroy your worldly sense. It is your own sense of weakness that has made you weak. Recognize your true nature and become fearless.

You should neither feel nervous nor lose temper, nor should you give way to sorrow nor lose your presence of mind on hearing words of reproach. If you detach yourself from the ego, you will find that censure will have no effect on you. No one can revile the ‘Atma’, and you do not gain or lose anything by the praise or censure of name and form. No one in this world is praised or reviled at every time by all. Caring not for the praise or censure of the world, keep yourself always and constantly engaged in carrying out the behests of God in a spirit of disinterested love.

If you undertake a noble dead as a behest from God, and if a large majority of those whom the world calls learned do not approve of your conduct, never mind. Never give up the noble work you have undertaken; have faith in God and stick to your duty. Truth will ultimately win. The world will recognize it one day and, even if it does not, you will lose nothing thereby.

Never relinquish your duty for the sake of popular applause or for obtaining leadership, honour and wealth. The world’s applause will not confer any benefit on you. The consequence of relinquishing your duty will be disastrous. Hearing the praise of those who have adjured their faith, do not be unmindful of the consequences that you will have to reap thereafter.

Make sacrifice by all means, but do not be proud of them. Erase from the tablet of your mind even the memory of an act of sacrifice. Practise charity no doubt, but without any sense of obliging others. Do not expect anything in return for it and forget all about the gift you have made. Serve others, but do not call yourself a servant. He alone truly serves who serves with diligence but does not call himself a servant.

Do not elated by success; do not think that you have succeded by dint of your intelligence and ability. Thank God and ascribe the success to His power and pray to Him in a piteous way as follows:-

“Lord, let not the success. You confer through Your will make me proud, and pray, so obtain that I may never forget the greatness of Thy power.”

Never grieve over failure. Never regard it as a curse from God. Try to discover your own mistake and find out if you have ever done so, which is very probable, you should think God for having frustrated your efforts and pray to Him piteously as follows:-

“Lord, You have done well in having frustrated my efforts. Had I achieved success, it would have only served to swell my pride and I would have insulted your power all the more. Now be pleased to confer wisdom on me, that I may never commit such a blunder again.”

Extend your love to all; have compassion on power and afflicted creatures; be friendly to all and deal quietly with all. Treat all with due respect. Do not insult anyone; there is nothing so unpalatable to man is disrespect. Seeking not honour yourself, bestow it one others.

Never allow your mind to be swayed by a revengeful spirit. Never injure anyone, nor wish harm to others, nor should you rejoice to see others in trouble, even though others may injure you, curse you or revile you or physical force against you. Forgive them from the core of your heart. Beholding your own self in all, forgive all just as you do not feel inclined to punish your own fault, and condone it. Vindictiveness is very bad. One who entertains a vindictive spirit in one’s mind never enjoys peace or happiness nor does one evoke love in this life, but is incarnated as an evil spirit after death. One ruins oneself and harms others also by sending out evil thought waves in the atmosphere.

Always cherish pure thoughts in your mind; wish well of all; tender wholesome advice to all; never give a wrong lead to others with your speech or action, nor should you cherish an evil thought in your mind and spread it in the atmosphere. He who is instrumental in communicating evil thoughts to others commits a great sin. He can never be benefited thereby.

Remember: that which is ultimately conducive to one’s own good and to that of others is virtue, while that which eventually prejudicial to one’s own as well as others interests is sin.