Growing the Fire of Aspiration

Though we get an impression that it is we who aspire but in truth, this flame is lit up by the Divine Mother in our hearts. It is lit up to hasten our journey because the time has come and the Divine has already sanctioned what we aspire for. Yet through aspiration we become ready to receive it. Otherwise, even if we receive, even the best and the highest without aspiration we may lose it because we do not value it. Secondly, aspiration adds a certain intensity and joy when we receive the gifts of destiny. But in reality, what we aspire for has already been granted at another level. That is what is meant by saying that aspiration seals our destiny.  It is a sure sign of what is in store for us.

Who says there is no oil. The oil is our thoughts and the winds that fan the aspiration is the vital life force. The clay is the body itself. By turning our thoughts daily to the Divine, by offering our thoughts and feelings actions to the Divine we pour oil into the flame.  Similarly, if the winds of passion and excitement and fears and anger and jealousy and lust are too strong and the flame is too low there will be a lot of struggle. But if the flame is strong and intense then it will consume all these and grow into a mounting fire. But how much more beautiful if we fan the flame with gentle winds of faith and devotion, gratitude and surrender, and the leap of love in our hearts towards the Divine. When we serve the Divine, when we turn the energies of life given to us in the direction of the Divine then we fan the flame to grow. When we turn these energies for selfish purposes then we dull the flame until it gets buried deep inside the dust and smoke of our vanity and ambition. Finally, the clay pot or the human body must be strong enough to hold the flame. A fragile body made of wet clay or else too brittle, easily melting and beginning to flow at the mercy of every impulsion of nature or too brittle because of the ego does not support the flame for long.

More important is to remember that all these things can be developed by praying for them to the Divine Mother. Her Grace can give us all that is needed to help this aspiration grow and become more and more intense and one-pointed. One thing is however sure. Once lit it can never die. Once born it cannot be extinguished because it draws its substance from the soul which is in itself immortal. But to feed it through dedicated works to Her, through Naam japa, through offering of all we are and think and do, through reading Their Works, especially Savitri and Prayers is part of the work that is our share. If we cannot do even that then well, perhaps it is premature and we are not yet ready for the wonderful Grace. But given the exceptional hour through which humanity is passing through with its immense possibilities of progress one can only say it is a tragic loss if we do not even do this much to feed the flame and let it smoulder under the smoke and ashes of desire or be submerged under the dead logs of wood that our routine mechanical round of life lived for solely selfish purposes actually is.