Podcast details
Titiksha and Sradha
Śraddhā and titikṣā are the essential pillars of faith and endurance. Śraddhā is confidence in yourself, your abilities, and in God. Without it, you cannot act or progress. Titikṣā is the power to endure hardship without complaint, to awaken your inner reserve energy to persevere and achieve your aim. This is like a runner pushing past exhaustion to find a second wind, or a car tapping into a reserve fuel tank. These qualities require you to be strict with yourself and maintain faith.
A story illustrates this. Two turtles lived in a lake. The husband had spiritual faith, while the wife was skeptical. One day, a man dressed like a holy man appeared. The husband insisted they go see him, expressing his faith that it was a divine opportunity. The wife reluctantly agreed. The man, however, was a hunter who captured them and placed them in a pot of boiling water to cook. In the crisis, the wife despaired, but the husband maintained his faith and urged endurance, believing God would save them. A sudden storm extinguished the fire and caused a flood, which carried them safely back to the lake, fulfilling the husband's faith.
"Without śraddhā, you cannot do anything. If you have no self-confidence, you cannot stand up."
"Titikṣā means awakening the inner energy, extra energy, to wake up. And that one can achieve the aim."
Filming location: Australia
This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.
The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:
- Yoga in Daily Life - The System
Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda. Ibera Verlag, Vienna, 2000. ISBN 978-3-85052-000-3 - The Hidden Power in Humans - Chakras and Kundalini
Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda. Ibera Verlag, Vienna, 2004. ISBN 978-3-85052-197-0 - Lila Amrit - The Divine Life of Sri Mahaprabhuji
Paramhans Swami Madhavananda. Int. Sri Deep Madhavananda Ashram Fellowship, Vienna, 1998. ISBN 3-85052-104-4
