Periodically throughout its history the world has gotten into a mess. During times of war it becomes a torture chamber for millions of human beings. True happiness, lasting happiness, lies only in God, “having whom no other gain is greater.” In Him is the only safety, the only shelter, the only escape from all our fears. You have no other security in the world, no other freedom. The only true freedom lies in God. So strive deeply to contact Him in meditation morning and night, as well as throughout the day in all work and duties you perform. Yoga teaches that where God is, there is no fear, no sorrow. The successful yogi can stand unshaken midst the crash of breaking worlds; he is secure in the realization: “Lord, where I am, there Thou must come.”
When not all the pain of this world, nor even the sufferings of hades can affect you, you are a king. And that is what you must be. Breaking the limitations of this frail human body, you must manifest immortality. In his poem, “Marching Light,” the great saint Swami Ram Tirtha wrote, “I hitch to my chariot the fates and the gods, in the voice of thunder, proclaim it abroad!… /Liberty! Liberty! Liberty! Aum!… /Hail, O ye ocean… /be dried up, depart!” That is to say, before the marching light of your soul the ocean will be dried up, and mountains will stand aside:” Beware, O ye mountains! Stand not in my way. /Your ribs will be shattered and tattered today! ” Think of all that. Only the liberty of the soul is all-conquering; and it is all-satisfying and ever-newly joyous.
Extract from the book “Divine Romance” by Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda
