In the first place, it is important to understand that there are no ready-made techniques for becoming enlightened, whether slowly or quickly. Secondly, enlightenment happens with the grace of God; it happens only to those who are worthy to become enlightened, and to the one’s who have aligned themselves to the universal consciousness. We have come to earth to prepare ourselves for the journey towards Enlightenment or Self-realisation. It is our moral duty to prepare ourselves well for the journey called life, and for the examination called Self-realisation.

It is necessary to understand that not every sadhaka is at the same level of spiritual growth, nor is the sadhana of each sadhaka at the same level. Every sadhaka has stages of spiritual ‘incompletions’ which need to be identified, overcome and completed before he or she exits from this earth. This training ground called Life gives every person several opportunities for them to examine and correct the incompletions within oneself. It is up to every person to understand that the illness and pain, joy and sorrow, agitation and anxiety, etc. These are all but the states of training given, so that each one shall learn from the individual experiences of life.

Every outcome is proportionate to the intense striving on one’s part to achieve the goal. We live through many lifetimes, with the consciousness of achieving the goal of Self-realisation, and we strive to purify our consciousness through integrated and truthful living at all levels of our existence. We undertake sadhana to align our consciousness with the universal consciousness. We aim for physical and spiritual purification through Yogasanas, Pranayam, Meditation, and other spiritual practices that are learnt according to our individual preferences.

This process is slow and time-consuming, but if we engage in spiritual practices with love and devotion, with a sense of enjoyment and enthusiasm, without any anxiety towards achieving the goal of ‘enlightenment’, then our ‘sadhana’ becomes an enjoyable and purposeful phase of life. Whether your ‘sadhana’ will culminate in ‘enlightenment’ of you will spend your entire life doing sadhana and then pass away, all depends on the grace of the Divine. It is not for us to expect any fruit for the action we take. Be disciplined and devoted towards doing sadhana and be joyous during every moment of your life. By and by, the fruits of your labour will materialise, but how soon or how late – depends entirely upon the grace of God.