Why is our progress so slow? There is a shlok (verse) that (explains) how you would be able to speed up your sadhana (spiritual practice), how you would tread on the path of devotion, and it gives a sequence (given by Shree Roop Goswami).
He says,
आदौ श्रद्धा ततः साधु-सङ्गो’थ भजन-क्रिया ।
ततो’नर्थ-निवृत्तिः स्यात् ततो निष्ठा रुचिस् ततः ॥१.४.१५॥Ādau śhraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo’tha bhajan-kriyā |
Tato’narth-nivṛttiḥ syāt tato niṣhṭhā ruchis tataḥ ||1.4.15||- Bhakti-Rasamrta-Sindhu 1.4.15
Ādau śraddhā (आदौ श्रद्धा) - first of all, we should have shraddha (faith). The meaning of shraddha is vishwas (faith). Faith in what? Faith in your Guru, faith in your path, faith in your goal. If you have aimed at God-realization and you are treading on the path of God-realization, then you must have complete faith that this path is correct, it is authentic, and,
“If I am treading on this path, then I will definitely reach my goal. There is no doubt that if I follow this path, I will reach the ultimate goal of my life!”
You have to have this faith first. If we do not have this faith, we are dual-minded. Sometimes we run towards the world, sometimes we run towards the spiritual path. It shows that we do not have firm faith. So we need firm faith.
Then what will happen? Ādau śhraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo’tha (आदौ श्रद्धा ततः साधु-सङ्गो’थ). When you have faith in God, faith in your path, faith in your aim, only then, if a Saint comes into your life, then it will affect your mind. You will be impressed by the words, by the lectures of your Guru, and you will feel like following them.
Many people are listening to the lectures of Maharaj Ji all over the world now, in all countries, in many languages. Shree Maharaj Ji’s lectures are coming in many languages. Maharaj Ji’s philosophy has been written in books as well, and many people are regularly listening to the lectures of Shree Maharaj Ji, but they never even thought to come to Maharaj Ji. They never thought to see Maharaj Ji, and they are not following it. They listen to the lecture every day, but they don’t feel like following it. They admire each lecture a lot, but they don’t follow it.
So when we have faith in the path, we will have faith that only this path can take us to the ultimate goal of our life.
