Perhaps you have read the story of Daniel in the lion's den, therefore you can understand that there is no greater sign of spiritual advancement than man's personal influence; this is an example of advancement in spiritual life. People want to know whether they are progressing or going back. One need not see how much one has read or learned to find out if one has advanced. The principal thing is: if one attracts people or if one repels them, if one is harmonious or inharmonious. This can tell us how far we have advanced. No doubt one day is not the same as the other. One day one may perhaps have more influence than the other. Life is like water, and it will have its waves rising or falling. Sometimes there are conditions or influences which are contrary. By keen observation we can find out if we are advancing.

Another sign of advancement is that we must become modest, kind, and respectful to others.

Another sign is that we must have wisdom and power; if one has both these things one will create beauty in life.

Now a question is how to attain this advancement. Practices and exercises are the main things. We must have faith and trust in the practices we do. According to our faith we will succeed. Mind and body must be kept in a proper tune. For instance, one moment of excitement takes away the advancement of six months. It is like a person who is making a necklace of pearls; if the thread breaks, he must do it all over again. If we get excited and our mind and body are out of tune, we spoil the practices of six months' time. For those who walk in the spiritual path it is of great value to keep themselves tuned to the pitch which is necessary. The difficulty is to endure all the time many things which upset one, conditions which excite and exhaust one's patience. We must have the power of endurance in spite of all. Life is a continual battle to fight; and in order to keep fit one must keep one's power reserved and preserved. This is done by keeping tranquil and equable in mind. Practices, concentrations, meditations and prayer will win the battle of your life.

Innocence

The way of attaining spiritual knowledge is quite opposite to the way by which one attains worldly knowledge. As the sky is in the opposite direction to the earth, so the source of knowledge of spiritual things is opposite to the knowledge of the world. As man becomes intellectual, he knows things of the world; but this does not mean that he becomes spiritual; on the contrary, he goes further from spirituality by his thought: "I understand worldly things." What is the best way of attaining spiritual knowledge? First, one must develop in one's nature that little spark which is divine, and which was shining in one's infancy, showing something pure, of Heaven.

What attracts us most is innocence, it is innocence which gives an impression of purity. But, we must not understand this wrongly, knowledge of the world is necessary, more than necessary; it is necessary to live in the world, to make the best of one's life, to serve God and humanity; it is not necessary to attain spiritual knowledge, innocence is necessary for that. One sees among friends, relatives, something which attracts one most, perhaps this is the side of the nature which is innocence. People forgive those who are dear to them, they tolerate their faults. They say: "He is wrong, but he is innocent." There is a purity which is divine, and which attracts everyone. Innocence is like a spring of water, purifying all that is foreign to heart and soul.

How can one attain innocence? Innocence is not foreign to our nature, we have all been innocent. By being conscious of this nature, we develop it; in admiring that nature, appreciating it, we also develop it. All things which we admire become impressions. Those who have a bad nature, but who have collected good impressions, will in time turn their nature.

During my travelling in India, the purpose of which was to pay homage to the sages of that land, the thing which appealed most to me was that the greater the soul was, the greater was the innocence. One sees in them innocence, not simplicity. The one who is simple does not understand; we see this in everyday life, he closes his eyes. Innocence is to understand and rise above. Every person sees another through his own glasses, prejudice stands often between. For insight unity is necessary. When that attribute is developed one has attained spirituality. Man becomes wise after having been intellectual, he rises above the intellect, he sees cause behind cause, and understands the way of his enemy. Would it be practical to live altogether according to this principle? A principle is to be used, not to guide our life. When people make of principle a chain, it becomes captivity. Life is freedom. One cannot force oneself to innocence. Can there be any sign of piety or spirituality? There is no better sign than innocence with all understanding. God bless you.