| Chapter 12 : Spiritual development |
|| Milestones of Spiritual Development ||  It
was a regular custom in the hermitage that after evening prayers,
SITA would sit with her children and Sakhis (lady friends).Together
they would discuss some topics of Dharma (righteous duty), knowledge,
value systems and philosophy . Lav and Kush: Mother, what is ‘Spiritual Development’, How can one recognise its milestones? SITA: Creation, preservation and destruction This is the timeless cycle of nature Encompassing the entire cosmos It continues for ever and ever ......||1|| Life-giver of planet earth, Is our bright star the SUN It shall manifest in this form For years ten billion.................... ||2|| The spiritual development of each species Is part of larger divine plans. Like a bird which flies unhindered, Across Continents and Oceans. ....||3|| Man is the most evolved of all Listen carefully my beloved, To the milestones I tell Of his spiritual development. ........||4|| The breast- fed infant Slowly recognise its parents This is the first milestone Of his spiritual development .........||5|| The child grows in age & intellect And offers respect to his teacher He shall progress rapidly Through knowledge deep and clear ||6|| On reaching adulthood If he does truthful enterprise * ‘Laxmi’ shall bless him As a part of spiritual progress........||7|| If he eventually becomes a householder, And regards as divine family, The relation of wife & kin, He shall indeed progress spiritually. ||8|| One who strives for all people, Believes in the world as a family, Blossoms the flower of good deeds, He reaches the next degree..........||9|| He then gets divine vision, Enjoys complete peace of heart, “ I belong to nature and nature is mine” Is his self- realised thought......... ||10|| Time is no longer his limiting domain He seeks and receives guidance Through a dialogue with great Masters, And makes further spiritual progress ||11|| He who helps build the “ Lord’s House” Humbly unites with will Divine, He shall indeed reach the peak, Of spiritual development supreme....||12|| Footnote: * “Laxmi”;means Goddess of auspicious and constructive acts, also Goddess of prosperity “Lord’s House” means Lord’s Universe (see Ch.19 ) || Unification with Nature || SITA: The dancing waves of the sea, And fickle winds have something to say, We belong to you, do you know that? On the glorious mountain tops, In the cradle of the sky, Among the mighty clouds, What is the whispering prayer? We belong to you, do you know that? Softly the rain showers, The lightning streaks glow and say, We belong to you, do you know that? |
