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Practise makes one perfect

A spiritual discourse on the nature of true yoga and self-mastery.

"The hardest thing is to say no to oneself. To say no to others is easier."

"God finds the mistakes in others; you find the mistakes in yourself."

The speaker contrasts external practices like asana with the more difficult internal work of controlling one's senses and mental modifications. He emphasizes that mastering anger, jealousy, and desire is the essential foundation for spiritual progress, defining this self-control as real yoga. The talk includes reflections on humility, self-observation, and the universal expectations of spiritual masters.

Recording location: Croatia, Zagreb, Weekend seminar

Practice makes one perfect. Volumes of theory have been compared to the mere grammar of actual practice. There are two kinds of practices. The first is what you call āsanas, prāṇāyāmas, and meditation with mantras. This is very easy. The second is to work with oneself, to work with all vṛttis (mental modifications), to work with all desires. That is very hard. The hardest thing is to say no to oneself. To say no to others is easier. Therefore, what I must control are the indriyas, the senses. If you do not control the senses, your practice will have no effect. The first control is over this: anger, jealousy, hate, greediness, and so on. If you have not controlled this, you cannot proceed on the spiritual path. If you are not in control over your thoughts and over your senses, then, according to spirituality, you are in the same place as when you were born. So one day must come when you are able to say to yourself, "No." And that is yoga. Master yourself. God finds the mistakes in others; you find the mistakes in yourself. The mistakes which you see in others, a mother does not see in her child. Whatever a child is doing, a mother ... Therefore, whatever others do, see in yourself. Be sure there are millions of people much, much better than you. And be sure there are many people who are not happier than you. Someone can judge the nature of the yogī. Kṛṣṇa said in the 12th chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā ... We all—whether Jesus, Kṛṣṇa, Buddha, or whoever—expect from you what I tell you now. And that is the sādhanā. Recording location: Croatia, Zagreb, Weekend seminar

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.

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