Living Wisely Living Well | With Asha Nayaswami

Judge a person (if you must) not by his foibles, but by how sincere he is in his search for truth and for God. The less you judge others, the easier it will be for you to accept yourself as you are. Self-acceptance is the first step, moreover, to self-correction. Remember my Guru’s words: “God doesn’t mind your faults: He minds your indifference.”

Depend on nothing outside yourself. Find freedom inwardly, by letting no outer circumstance condition your happiness. If a desire arises in your heart, and suggests that something outside yourself will bring you happiness, offer the desire to God. For it is utterly certain—this knowledge is derived from mankind’s experience throughout all known history—that in Him alone lies true happiness.

Encourage others, if you would feel God’s encouragement in your heart.

If someone accuses you of something you once did, say to him, “What matters is not what I did in the past, but what I am today.” If you have changed, say so. But if the accusation has no merit, the question of change doesn’t arise. If your accuser is right, and you still haven’t changed as much as you’d like, reply instead, “Is anyone perfect? And do you think I need your permission to wash my own laundry?” To finish that thought, you might say also, “I am what I am before my conscience and God.” In this way, you won’t lower yourself to self-justification or counter-accusation. If, on the other hand, your accuser has been vicious, you might reply: “Do your own laundry!”

Make everyone feel that he or she is special in your eyes—not necessarily special in any particular way, but special above all because everyone on earth is your brother or sister in God.

My “bottom line” for many years has been not money, profit, or outer success of any kind, but inner peace. I’ve refused to allow myself to become so stressed as to sacrifice that true wealth. I’ve even deemed it better—and experience has borne me out—to leave important things undone if my peace might be undermined by giving them attention. For without it, I would be prone to err. From inner peace have come enlightened decisions. People’s expectations of me can never equal what God Himself expects: my peace in the thought of Him.

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Make contentment your criterion of prosperity. Wealth is primarily the consciousness of abundance. Poverty is the consciousness of lack. You can be rich, though dressed in a hermit's meager clothes and housed under a tree. You can be poor though residing in a marble mansion served by bustling servants, surrounded by rich furnishings and possessing a bank account running to many millions. Another criterion of true wealth is indifference to mere opinion. You can know how rich you really are, by your measure of inner happiness. If you are burdened with  excessive luxury or imprisoned by expectations of others you will pass your life miserably indeed.  

Independence day in America. The political and national freedom celebrated this day was meant to give all men a chance to rise to their own highest potential. Though independence has not be applied universally, it has at least directional. It has taken time for black people and for women to win the right to vote. Though that right should have been recognized and bestowed from the beginning. It is time now to declare a new kind of freedom: freedom of conscience. This declaration can be made only by and for the individual. Let no one pressure you into thinking and behaving as he thinks you aught to. God has a special song to sing through you that can be offered to the universe only by yourself. 

Be loyal to your principles but never demand that anyone  share them.  Respect others' right to seek truth in their own way and at their own pace. 

See to it only that you never disappoint God.