Through reflection, protect that seed of spiritual development which you have planted within. When a farmer plants seeds, he protects them from wild animals, birds, insects, and also from overgrowth. In the same manner, the pure intention has to be protected through continuous and constant reflection.

When the disciple first comes to the guru, there is a sankalpa, pure intention, and that is the most valuable thing in his life. That sankalpa has to be continuously protected. The sentiment, thought, faith and belief with which we first approached the guru needs to be protected from negative elements.

It is not enough to just say that my intention is to develop spiritual awareness. Be always careful about what is entering your mind and whether it is something which can damage, distort and divert your attention from your goal. A negative thought is enough to create havoc in the mind.

Protect yourself from the negativities that other people or the environment project on to you, or the negativity which you express from within yourself as a response or reaction to people, situations or circumstances. In order to fulfil the dharma of a disciple, you have to have the level of meditative awareness through which you can be an objective witness to what you experience.

The moment you become subjective, you lose the clarity and direction of the path. This is one thing in spiritual life which people don’t realize. They allow the negative thoughts to come in, they do not have the strength to fight them, and these negative thoughts eat up the positive thoughts, so that the positivity which at first existed in your life turns to negativity and the creative ability becomes restricted.

Spiritual life is a very objective process; it is a process where you become the drashta, observer, every step of the way. It is not a subjectively involved process; it is an objectively involved process.

Through your sadhanas, your meditations, your efforts, you have to come to the point of continuous reflection where you can protect yourself by creating positive thoughts, where you can create an armour of positive sankalpas in your life to protect yourself from the negative influences of your own mind, your senses, the world, the environment and other people.

Ganga Darshan Vishwa Yogapeeth, Munger, 8 August 2010

 From the book «Dharma of a Disciple», pg. 67-68, Sw. Niranjanananda Saraswati