THE DIVINE LIFE By Swami Ramdas

Suppose you are on the top of a hill and view at a distance, shooting up from the edge of a cliff, the branches of a tree. They appear to you to be suspended and growing in the air. You wonder at the sight. You question yourself as to how a tree could grow and appear in the air without a prop to stand upon. You do not stop at that. You proceed towards the strange sight with great eagerness to solve the mystery. You approach the very brink of the cliff where the branches were seen. Now you peep down and what do you behold? You find that the branches belong to a tall tree having its root far down at the base of a deep precipice. Now your wonder has ceased. You have discovered the root of the illusive appearance and everything is clear to you. Your riddle is solved. So it is with life. For you it proves to be a perplexing riddle, so long as you have not seen the Source of it. The appearances delude you and you are asking yourself: “Where did I come from? Who am I? Whence is this universe...

Adversity and misfortune and the resultant sorrow and suffering are the common lot of mankind. Some notable men of philosophic turn of mind have questioned the utility of suffering in the world, and have not only denied the goodness of God but have also flung Him out of human calculations as unworthy of belief. But men of true wisdom and perfected experience, who have probed deep into the mysteries of life, acclaim with no uncertain voice the invaluable uses of adversity. Surely, if there were no suffering in the world, there could be no evolution of man towards the highest destiny of life — the knowledge of immortality. It is through sorrow alone a soul understands the real foundation and purpose of existence. M isery, pain and suffering open the portals of his life to the comprehension of the supreme value and power of life. Progress towards the subtle and spiritual realms of existence is possible only along the path of pain and suffering. The fullest grandeur and beauty of life can...