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Q: Premaji, is it necessary to have a strong personal will to grow spiritually and to find God?

A: Spiritual development doesn’t happen automatically. You may want enlightenment very badly, but it only happens through your daily application of spiritual principles. One of these principles is sankalpa, which means "will power" in Sanskrit.

You want to know if a strong personal will or sankalpa will help you find God? Before I can answer this question I must ask what God are you seeking? If you are a Catholic, your religious programming may be to search for a Catholic God. If you are a Hindu, you are taught to search for Hindu Gods. Religions condition us from birth to expect God to appear in the form of our personal religious indoctrination. It is the concept of a different God for each religion that has produced over 6000 religious wars in 3,000 years!

insertsm In my opinion, religions have stood in our way of finding God. They put us in a box of intolerance for other traditions and people. Religions are as dangerous as nuclear bombs, and both should be dismantled. I’m not suggesting we destroy religions, but instead, disarm them.

Let’s begin by focusing on how we are similar, and not upon our differences. It is time we stop searching for a Catholic, Hebrew, Hindu, Buddhist, or Islamic God of a bygone era. In the universal path of prema (love), which I teach as the path of loving actions, God is defined as Love. Let’s make ourselves available to the experience of God in the form of loving actions. Whatever your religion, it’s time to make love a part of it, to discover love within, actualize love in our lives, and manifest love in the form of tolerance for others.

A strong personal will or sankalpa is of definite assistance in finding God as love. It takes will power to feel compassion, love, tenderness, and tolerance for others when you may think otherwise. When you individually exercise your will power to consistently express love, you grow spiritually. You put yourself directly on the universal path of the heart, the path of love.

It is never too late in life to begin to realize your dream of enlightenment by developing your will power. Just as muscles require flexing to stay strong, you must flex your will power to strengthen it. Start now by taking a moment for the spiritual practice of meditation. Sit quietly for a few minutes, close your eyes, and breathe deeply through your mouth, allowing your mind to rest. Strengthen your sankalpa, or will power, by resolving to give yourself this spiritual release from the everyday world.

Another way to awaken to feelings of love in your heart is simply by doing something loving. Start with an inanimate object. You can use a favorite trinket, a stone, or a tree. Every time you pass by it, stop and give it feelings of love. Stick with one object and do it every day. This will increase the flow of loving feelings that come from your heart and strengthen your personal will power.

If it’s enlightenment and evolution that you’re seeking, it’s up to you to take the steps to ensure your happiness, health, and higher consciousness. Enjoy your meditations. Love that tree. And welcome to the experience of universal love within yourself.

With prema, from my heart to yours…Namasté!

This article was written by the author of:

The Initiation
by Prema Baba Swamiji (as Dr. Donald Schnell).

Info/Order this book.

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