Steady
practice will ensure you both results - freedom from sin and
liberation. Never underestimate the importance and power of practice!
You would have known examples of how practice makes even an animal
execute difficult tasks – for example, look at the horses yoked to the
carts, elephants on the battlefield! Those elephants have rendered
assistance in battle which even man with the superior equipment of
reason cannot do! Consider how this was made possible for docile
elephants living in forests as herds? Fighting on the battlefield is not
their nature. These are ample proof of the value of practice. Draw
strength and confidence in the value of practice. Practice the
withdrawal of the mind from the senses; it will slowly and steadily
develop the skills which will release you from bondage.
The
human heart when young is very soft. It responds to grief and pain in
fellow beings. It is the example of elders, the lessons they receive
from parents, the company they get into, and the wrong training they
receive in school and society that harden their hearts into stone.
Parents must not find fault with others in the vicinity of children or
show their hatred or envy before their tender minds. Children should be
taught to share the grief and joy of others; and to be never jealous of
others happiness or success. Instead of giving room to the feeling of
envy, teach them to emulate the hard work of the successful, to pray
for intelligence, or for a sharper memory. Keep those young hearts
soft.
Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba
