India won so many gold and other medals at the recently held Asian Games, much to the delight of sports enthusiasts and fans. When we watch athletes or hockey players who successfully won championship titles we marvel at their talent and how gifted they are. We observe great sportsmen win one tournament after another and think they were born with a special gift.
We see artists turn out one masterpiece after another and wish we were born with such talent. We watch people who are billionaires top the richest person in the world list and wonder at their gift for business. Little do we realise that anyone who has attained success in life has put in tremendous amount of effort to get where they are. Success is not a gift with which one is born; success lies in never giving up.
Few people see that the athlete or hockey player who wins championships is practising day and night, while others show up reluctantly and hardly ever on time for practice. Few see how champions-in-the-making practise hitting thousands of balls and do tedious drills, day after day, year after year, to get to where they are. Few see how many hours the artist puts in to perfect her art. Not many see how many business losses and failures that the person who is a billionaire today had to overcome before she was successful. Anyone who has achieved anything in life has done so by being persistent and never giving up.
Similarly, seekers have a long way to go to attain divine knowledge. Although spiritual gifts are within us, closer to us than the veins in our body, we have to perfect the technique of finding them. Spiritual realisation is so close, yet so far, due to our inability to still our minds, quieten our thoughts, and stay focused long enough to go within. We are hindered by millions of distractions that keep pulling our attention outside instead of letting us go within.
meditation provides a way to perfect our ability to stay focused within to find inner treasures. Through meditation, we perfect our ability to increase our concentration. We learn patience and perseverance. These help us progress within and in the outer world. It takes practice. We must never give up.
As you continue to meditate, experience the inner peace and bliss. Then, you will daily increase your ability to stay focused. By practising this each day, you will find an increase in your patience and perseverance, which will become a habit even in your worldly endeavours. Thus, you will find greater ability to persevere until you succeed, in any worldly or spiritual goal you have.
