Nirvana means Liberation; Sootra means Technical Secret. Thus Nirvana Sootra means the Secret of Liberation- how to become a 'Jeevan-Mukhta' or a 'Realized Person'.

Most of us spend our 'energy and time' in 'earning and spending', seeking joy and peace among the sense-objects that constitute the world of our waking state.The sense-objects have a false glitter of joy that soon fades away. In this struggle for 'earning and spending', we are driven from one desire to another by the eternal urge to reach a state of perfection. We soon become exhausted, dejected and disappointed amid the uproar of a thousand unsatisfied yearnings. Then one day we leave our physical sheath-the vehicle for enjoying our waking state. What a cruel end !

You are 'Infinite Self'. Consider your life in this world as a minor disturbance. Nothing in this world is permanent. The disturbing factors also cannot remain permanently with you to give you perpetual disturbance. They too are finite. Then why worry ? Be firm, steady and undisturbed in all conditions.

According to the Rishis, every person is a potential genius.Even an ignorant can gain wisdom. Beneath every sinner, they discovered a sage who is just waiting for redemption and recovery. This self-development and self-discovery are accomplished through the technique called 'Meditation'. Even a mountain can be slowly, slowly reduced to powder. This is the glory of continuous practice.

Life is a continuous process. It has to be lived for the purpose of improving ourselves to reach the state of Supermanhood. A spiritual seeker, sitting motionless with eyes closed in deep meditation, is contributing to life as much as the politician on the public platform and the scientist in the laboratory. The more evolved a being, the more is he capable of conquering his external circumstances. Naturally, therefore, the superman reaching his evolutionay fulfillment must necessarily be a master of all circumstances and a true ruler of the world within and without.

Vedanta advises us not to escape from life, but teaches us instead how to maintain a high quality of life. The instrument we use is not the body, but the mind. The world of things remains more or less the same. The cause of sorrow is in our own inner being. Meditation teaches us how to live in joy. Meditation is the most sacred vocation of the human being.

We bathe our body- we shampoo, powder and beautify it. But, we have neither the time nor the patience to attend to the messy condition of our inner personality. And at the same time, we know that the character is the person. This is the most deplorable of neglects, a lamentable self-condemnation. Our failures are as much our own creations as are our successes.

Some Proverbial Sayings:

The end of the mind is the dawn of wisdom (Jnana)
Life is a search.
Every effort you put forth is a step taken towards the Truth.
Forget to worry over the future.
Refuse to have regrets over the past.
Surrender the present problems to His care.
Never give up; never despair; strive on.
When tired, smile !
When exhausted, rest !, then strive again.
When dispirited, sing His glories.
When totally disgusted, surrender to Him.
Help comes !, Help surely comes !
Dont yield; continuously fight.
Be regular; be sincere; keep cheerful-carefree.
Live in the confidence of His guiding support.
The 'Source' takes care of every one's needs.
Develop a devotional attitude.
As the thoughts, so the mind; as the mind, so the man.
There are no short-cuts.
Renounce all your desires.
Live the Divine Life wherever you are.

The path of spiritual unfoldment is reserved for the wise heroes and not for the simple-minded, foolish cowards. When you enter the spiritual field with courage and honest efforts, a Great Divine Power comes to help you at every turn.

Divine Life

Spiritual life does not have to be pursued in thick forests or lonely caves. Nor is it reserved for certain extraordinary individuals of special qualifications. It is not  achieved by running away from the world, or by living a beggarly life of idleness in some remote Himalayan valley. The votary of Truth need not change his clothes, or apply some marks on his body, or for hours stand upon his head in the blazing sun. The external changes- such as, Shaving the head, keeping a begging bowl, throwing away all clothes, sitting on a bed of nails or sleeping on lion-skins etc.- have no real meaning. Neither are they by themselves a true sign of a liberated person. There is only one way of attaining a divine life-By Living A Divine Life.

Divine life is a systematic way of living certain noble values of the head and the heart. Total annihilation of the mind is essential. The aspirant is now and then encouraged by fleeting glimpses of the real, dynamic bliss-God. The aspirant's goal is an eternal experience. The individualized ego realizes his ultimate fulfillment in his merging with the 'Sat-chit-ananda' that Truth is. It is the supreme goal, the end. At that stage all his desires are fulfilled. He is no more under the tyranny of his mortal limitations. Beyond time, space and causality, beyond death and disease, above hopes and desires, he finds himself "The All". This is not a becoming-he merely regains his true nature by an intuitive "re-cognition" of the Self.

Divine Life- The Sculptor.

Hidden in the mass of rock is the graceful form of a man, woman, animal and even God. Only the sculptor can bring this hidden beauty out of this common piece of rock. He has the subtle intuition to see the glory and perfection of the form within. Keeping his attention fixed upon the beauty, he strips the gross portions that conceal the beauty within. At last, the finished product emerges in all its perfection. The artist has added nothing of his own to bring about or enhance the beauty. The beauty was always throbbing in the secret womb of the rock. The sculptor only released it from the encircling mass of formless rock.

Man does not realize how gross he looks as he lives his wordly life. He is not knowing that the eternal Self, the beauty of beauties, "God", lies deep within him, shrouded by layers of ignorance. To remove this veiling is to secure nearness to God, to "re-cognize" his essential nature, the Godhood. Divine life is the chiselling process by which Truth is brought out to fulfill itself. In living the Divine Life, one realizes the Truth.

Divine life is the technique of self-perfection. No other sentient being in this universe has the equipment for thus  hastening its own evolution as efficiently as we can. If we do not learn to spend this life in striving for perfection, ours is indeed a life wasted.

Every action of an individual in the outer world is but an attempt to express himself more fully. But the trouble is that the phenomenal world of finite things and beings is not the field for seeking the Infinite. So the worldly person never obtains the satisfaction that he daily seeks. The eternal infinite alone is capable of satisfying him. Lasting satisfaction can never be reached by sense gratification. The infinite is our true nature. We have only to realize this- and we would find ourselves at our journey's end.

The "re-cognition" of the self is the crowning victory of life. This is "Iswara-Darsana", the "Vision of God". Thereafter he will be above all circumstances. He becomes a calm witness of the universe. Such an individual in his perfection becomes the superhuman saint. He is the perfect bliss, which nothing can ever shake or even cloud. Such a Jeevanmukta alone can truly serve, guide and lead the world.

You too can achieve this supreme state of endless bliss. How long will you waste your precious life in vainly seeking the infinite among the finite sense objects? Stop your blind search. When your lost key is in your pocket, how can you find it anywhere else? Stop being easily excited. Forget disappointments. Compose yourself. For once, search your own pocket. Life is a search.