Receiving diksha (initiation) from a qualified guru is not enough; your conduct and behavior play a crucial role in your spiritual progress. Meeting a guru is a result of accumulated karma from countless lifetimes. Receiving their grace is a rare blessing.
However, after receiving the guru’s blessings, your actions and behavior become paramount. Your daily thoughts, emotions, and interactions with the world determine your spiritual growth.
How you perceive and respond to the world’s distractions – beauty, wealth, fame, desires, and relationships – affects your sadhana (spiritual practice). Even if a guru initiates multiple disciples, only a few may progress spiritually, while others may remain stuck, experiencing minor sensations or emotions.
To receive the blessings of the ultimate guru, you must demonstrate your readiness for liberation. This means letting go of attachments and desires, embracing a life of detachment, and cultivating a state of inner freedom.
Krishna described this state as “akarta” (non-doer). You may engage in various activities – eating, drinking, socializing, or traveling – but remain unattached and unaffected. Your mental state, not just your actions, determines your spiritual progress.
A person living in the world can be liberated, while a monk in an ashram may still be bound by desires. The world may not recognize your inner state, but the deity or ishta (personal god) you worship is aware of your true nature. You cannot deceive them.
Your conduct is the foundation of your spiritual growth. If this foundation is flawed, your sadhana will be in vain.
