When the Lord’s Grace is won, one need not pray separately for Moksha, or Liberation. He knows best what you should get and when. He will confer what you deserve and what is beneficial. Yearn for Him, suffer anguish for Him; there is no need to yearn for Moksha then. If that is done with no second thought, He will destroy all sin. Holdfast to Him; He can make you immortal, like Arjuna. Those who seek to escape from the cycle of birth and death must obey the command of the Lord as laid down in the Gita, and surrender to Him; then he will be crowned with success in every undertaking. He will achieve victory. (GV, p. 252)
The human body is the temple of God. He is installed there. Yearn for the realisation of this Truth, seek to discover It and derive bliss there from – that is bhakti, devotion, the path of love of God. Love the highest, love the most lovable; do not love anything lower. (SSS Vol. 6, p. 43)
Yearn to fill your heart with Him, not with ‘you’. Your yearning must be warm, so warm that it can be called Tapas (heat). (SSS Vol.8, p. 43)
The yearning must be directed away from ‘how to be born’ towards ‘how to die’! For birth depends on how death takes place. Death comes first, birth happens later. Folk believe that men are born to die and they die so that you may not be born again; you die, so that you may not die again. That is to say, the man who dies must so die that he is not born again. When once you die, you should not be born again to meet another death. Death is inevitable, if you are born; so avoid birth and avoid death.
So, the Sadhaka should not aspire for a good birth; he should seek a good death. You may be born well, in a good family or with many favourable circumstances; but subsequent karma may not ensure a good death. So, if a good death is aimed at, the trouble of being born and becoming once again subject to death can be avoided. Every man born must have the end always in view. Cultivate good habits of thought and action an order to make that end genuinely auspicious. Attaining such an end is the unmistakable sign of having won the Grace of God. (GV, p. 132)
One should yearn not for the prolongation of life but for the purification of life. A few moments as Hamsa, the Celestial Swan, are far more precious than many years as the crow. In order to sublimate the low yearnings of man, to lead him along the path of holiness and to hold before him the glorious destiny of his oneness with the Cosmic Consciousness, the identity of the Jiva (Individual) and the Deva (Universal), the Vedas (ancient revealed Scriptures) have laid down many lessons, in profound axioms summarising realisable Truths.
Each Veda has one central declaration or Mahavakya or Maha-Mantra around which it revolves. (SSS Vol.16, p. 1)
Once Vivekananda went to Swami Ramakrishna Pramahamsa and asked him: ‘Have you seen God?’ ‘Yes’, said Ramakrishna. ‘In what form?’ asked Vivekananda. Ramakrishna replied ‘I am seeing Him just as I am seeing you’. ‘Why, then am I unable to see Him?’ Ramakrishna explained that if he yearned for God with the same intensity with which he was yearning for many other things, he would be able to experience God. Ramakrishna said that people shed tears for relations, wealth and many other things, but how many shed tears for God? Ramakrishna advised Vivekananda to yearn for God with all his heart and soul. God is then bound to manifest Himself to him.
If we are keen to experience the Divine, we must devote ourselves to the Divine. Men go through various troubles for the sake of wealth, relations, position and power. If they were to devote a small fraction of that time to thoughts of God they would experience freedom from the fear of death. If you think only of world, how can you get peace and bliss? (SSS Vol.31, p. 216)
What is the use, if you sit somewhere, without reaching the Divine Presence? The purpose of human birth is to reach the Lotus Feet of the Lord.
Having grasped what ought to grasped,
Do not let go the grip till you succeed.
Having desired what ought to be desired,
Hold on till your desire is fulfilled.
Having asked what ought to be asked’
Hold on till you obtain what you had asked for.
Having thought what you ought to be thought,
Hold on till you succeed.
Either God should yield to your prayer
Or one should ask wholeheartedly with intensity
This is the path a true devotee should pursue. (Telugu Poem)
There will be several sorrows, losses and difficulties confronting us in life. You should not mind them. We should always consider the Divine presence as the greatest treasure that we can seek. You must develop an unwavering and abiding faith and devotion in the eternal truth, that is Divinity. That is the only thing you should pray for. Your devotion should be steady, pure and selfless. People want devotion as well as everything else in the objective world. How is it possible? You have only one mouth and you want to drink both milk and water simultaneously. That is not possible. Therefore, you must desire only one,that is divinity. If you develop yearning for God, He will Himself look after all your needs. Divine presence will give you real happiness in this world. There is no sorrow, no unhappiness and no worry in the Divine Presence. (DD on 12-10-2002, p.10-11)
The heart must yearn for His voice, His form, His flute, His smile, His sport and His pranks. That is the tapas (penance) which is rewarded by His grace. The yearning must be so deep that all body consciousness is lost, the senses are ineffective, and the mind is inactive.