Dhyana yoga, raja yoga, hata yoga, karma yoga, kriya yoga – all these are various types of Yogas. But all of them lead to the same goal i.e. helping the devotee merge in God! In scientific language, it means helping our spirit merge into all those atoms and sub atoms that are spread throughout the universe.

This entire visible world consisting of living and non-living things is destructible. Every relationship and every object that we come across in our daily life is, in reality, no way connected to our real Self. Externally it just appears to us that a connection exists with each and every one of them.

Bound by the fruitive actions of the previous births, a being gets some other beings as his/her parents. These are physical parents on the earth plane who raise the child and execute their duty. At the time of birth, the being decides that it must fruitfully use this life to get away from the clutches of attachments (moha) and illusion (maya). It resolves to put in the most stringent efforts in this direction. But, contrary to all these plans, soon upon touching the Earth it falls prey to this illusion and performs actions that further bind it in karmic bondages.

These worldly parents, these worldly relatives, friends and acquaintances are of no use to us. That’s the absolute truth. Any other thought in this aspect is unnecessary. Needless to say, the objects and the things around us have neither use nor value.

What is it that accompanies the soul in its journey after death? What is that important factor that determines re-birth, salvation etc? The good and the bad deeds committed on this earth alone accompany us in the journey after death. The strength of these determine our future births.

If you follow a Spiritual Guru, then due to the blessings received from Him, due to the increased participation in the good deeds under His guidance, your bad karmas begin to reduce. A Self-realized Master knows exactly where you stand in terms of your merits and sins. With this knowledge, He will guide you in this journey. With an increase in good deeds and with a simultaneous decline in bad deeds, the path towards salvation emerges. This is how His influence benefits you.

Bhaktimala July 1983