There are happy moments, enjoyments and pleasures but they are as fleeting as we speak of them. They do exist but they are so interconnected with their opposites—affliction, misery, worry, anxiety, doubt, fear, sadness and pain—that you can hardly take one without inviting the other. They are inseparable sides of the same coin. This being the case, we need to be reminded: that this is not really you. It is the substance in the coin that is the real you, which is not affected by either side.
      In the battlefields of life many rise and many fall; some run away, some give up, some condemn, some fight, some destroy and some go forward. Those who are spiritual warriors keep going. There are ups and downs, forests, valleys, mountain peaks, slips and falls. There is good weather and bad weather as you climb. There are failures and successes, profit and loss, friendship and enmity. There are many desires and their results: craziness, weirdness and good moments too. Amidst all the vicissitudes, keep going. Charaiveti, charaiveti, a famous aphorism from the Rig Veda: keep on going, keep on going. Consistency is one of the greatest virtues for spiritual seekers.
      Regardless of the challenges, keep on going. Whether it takes ten or twenty years or a lifetime or more, keep going. Have faith and continue on the path. If you can, do not look behind, just go forward. Reflect upon your situation: what your mind says, what your husband or wife says, what your friend says. Listen but don’t dwell upon it. Your focus should be on the only thing worth remembering: your God and your goal. He will do the rest for you. To keep your focus and concentration upon the goal of lifetimes is not to remember much of anything else. Do not ignore other things in your life, pay attention to them, but do not dwell upon them, because no one else will fall into your ditches except you. Wise people know this. Therefore they keep reminding you: don’t make a rut—the Sanskrit word is samskar. Just cross over it. Understand, reflect upon it, let it go and go forward. This is the way to reach Self-Realization.

      Many will show you intellectual logic, rationality, dogmas and orthodoxy but all will not be enlightened sages; we know that. Many will come but few will be chosen. Among the few who are chosen, some will give up the goal. How many reach the goal? It doesn’t matter. Keep going. One day you will reach. What shall we do in the meantime? Do your duties selflessly. You have created your own world around you; you have to pay attention to that. Since your eyes are half open and you want to come out of your ditches, fulfill your obligations but be selfless. Because if you do not selflessly attend to your responsibilities and all that you have created, you will create more karmas and the cycle will go around and around.
      You have to have your own original understanding. Not that others are wrong and you are right; that will be egotistical. They may be right too. As a proverb from India says: you can only fill your tummy with what you eat, not what others eat. Listen, read and discuss whatever you can, but ultimately make it your own. This will give you freedom of awareness one day. To meditate you need only one thing: that which pertains to your God, your Light, your Consciousness, your Liberation. Do I mean to let go of everything except the goal you meditate upon? Yes. Is it hard to do? If you have the will it is easy. If your will is weak, if you don’t want to do it or you are occupied with other things, then certainly it is difficult. So if I meditate upon just one thing, what will become of my world, my life, my work, my pastimes? God will take care of them. We have heard this many times but somehow we do not trust that if we give everything to God, He will do everything for us. But that is the only possible thing that could happen.
      Follow His will because your will has become weak, deficient, eroded. It has excuses, inertia, willfulness, self-righteousness, selfishness, hatred, fear, and so on. God’s will is intact. It is because you are trying to follow your own will, mind, ego and desires that He is not doing everything for you. It cannot be both. When you let go, He does for you. We have heard “let go and let God,” but we have not thought how practical this is. If you want to know your True Self, to reach your ultimate, supreme goal of lifetimes, let go. If you consistently follow selflessly with faith, you will meditate successfully. Meditation is not a mechanical process that you can switch on and off. It has to do with yourself. You cannot avoid your mind and just meditate. Lives will pass away and you will not see any results.