Aspiration & achievement are backed by good actions

Good intentions alone will not do. They must be backed up by good actions. You must enter the spiritual path with the best intention of attaining Atma-Jnana, but unless you are vigilant and diligent, unless you do intense and rigorous sadhana, unless you guard yourself against lust, anger and greed, egoism and selfishness, the good intentions alone will not enable you to achieve success.

Moral purity and spiritual aspiration are the first steps in the seeker’s path. Without a strong conviction in moral values, there can surely be no spiritual life, or even a good life. Stern self-discipline is absolutely essential. Self-discipline does not mean suppression but spiritualisation.

The spiritual path is rugged, thorny and precipitous. The thorns must be weeded out with patience and perseverance. Some of the thorns are internal; some are external. Lust, greed, wrath, delusion, vanity, etc, are the internal thorns. Company with the evil-minded persons is the worst of all the external thorns. So, shun ruthlessly evil company.

During the period of sadhana, do not mix much; do not talk much; do not walk much; do not eat much; do not sleep much. You must observe carefully the five ‘do-nots’. Mixing will cause disturbances in the mind. Talking much will cause distraction of the mind. Walking much causes exhaustion and weakness. Eating much induces laziness and sleepiness.