It is a great delusion to think there is no more to life than appears outwardly. Your real life is with God, and to go back to Him is the reason we are here. He took the trouble to create this world to entertain us, and He wants us to see it as His play. “All things betray thee, who betrayest Me.” To go after worldly pleasure and forget God is to set a course to unhappiness. Evil promises happiness and gives sorrow. Would you pick a flower if you knew its mere touch was poisonous? No. The only lasting happiness is found in God. Sit quietly and pray deeply, devotedly. Talk to Him. Don’t be afraid of Him. There is no other way to know Him than by meditation. You must never miss it. At the end of the day you are tired and want to lie down and sleep, but instead sit up and meditate intensely. You will see how it changes your life. After deep communion with God, four or five hours of sleep will be enough. Beyond that you drug yourself. Use the rest of your time to meditate.
This short season of life will be gone before you realise it. Reap the harvest of divine happiness that nothing can take away. It is not impossible; you have only made yourself think it is impossible. The power of God is within you, so when your mind tells you a thing can’t be done, say to that thought, “Get out! It can be done.” And it will be, if you make up your mind. Why waste your time on spurious pleasures? Go to the very Source. If you remain in that Happiness all the time, you will also be happy in the world; you will see that all disease and suffering are but short-lived nightmares of the body.
Every day is a battle, and you must fight. Saints have the greatest battles, but their struggles mean nothing to them after a while because they have found God. Think of the life of Saint Francis. Very few saints suffered as he did: painfully ill and blind, yet he healed the sick; and even after his own death, he raised the dead- such was the power of his love for God.
Extract from the book “The Divine Romance” by Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda.
