Theos-Talk Archives (March 1996 Message tl00067)

All you can do is to prepare the intellect: the impulse toward
"soul-culture" must be furnished by the individual. Thrice
fortunate they who can break through the vicious circle of modern
influence and come up above the vapours!... We have one word for
all aspirants: TRY.  [KH in ML #35]
________________

Vasistha continues:
As is the effort so is the fruit, O Raama: this is the meaning of
self-effort, and it is also known as fate. When afflicted by
suffering, people cry "Alas, what tragedy" or "Alas, look at my
fate" both of which mean the same thing. What is called fate or
divine will is nothing other than the action or self-effort of the
past. The present is infinitely more potent than the past. They
indeed are fools who are satisfied with the fruits of their past
effort (which they regard as divine will) and do not engage
themselves in self-effort now.

If you see that the present self-effort is sometimes thwarted by
fate (or divine will), you should understand that the present self-
effort is weak. A weak and dull-witted man sees the hand of
providence when he is confronted by a strong and powerful adversary
and succumbs to him.

Sometimes it happens that without effort someone makes a great
gain... this is certainly nor an accident nor some kind of divine
act, but the fruit of...self-effort in the past birth.

..The wise man should of course know what is capable of attainment
by self-effort and what is not. It is, however, ignorance to
attribute all this to an outside agency and to say that "God sends
me to heaven or to hell" or that "an outside agency makes me do
this or that" -- such an ignorant person should be shunned.

One should free oneself from likes and dislikes and engage oneself
in righteous self-effort and reach the supreme truth, knowing that
self-effort alone is another name for divine will... That alone is
self-effort which springs from right understanding which manifests
in one's heart which has been exposed to the teachings of the
scriptures and the conduct of holy ones.

(The word used in the text for fate is "daivam" which also means
"god".)
_________________

-- ~The Supreme Yoga~ (~The Yoga Vasistha~) translated by Swami
Venkatesananda.

--
Nicholas <> am455@lafn.org <> Los Angeles
 First of all, love truth for its own sake, for otherwise no recognition of
  it will follow.  HP Blavatsky