PARABLE

Parable

There was a woman, who lost her needle in the house. She was too poor to afford a light in her house, so she went out of the house and was searching in the streets. Somebody asked her what she was
searching for in the streets. She said that she was searching for her needle.
The gentleman asked, “Where did you lose the needle?”
She said, “In the house.”
He said,” “How unreasonable it is to search in the street for a
thing which was lost in the house!”
She said that she could not afford a lamp in the house and
there was a lantern in the street. She could not search in
the house; she had to do something, so she searched in the
street.
This is exactly the way with people. You have the Ocean of
happiness within you, the paradise; the home of bliss within
you; and yet you are searching for pleasure in the objects, in
the streets, searching for that thing outside, in the objects of the senses. How strange!
MORAL: Searching for pleasure in the worldly objects is vain. The Home of Bliss is within you.
Likhita Japa constitutes an important part of spiritual
sadhana. The groove of our Guru Mantra is etched more deeply
in our minds with repetition and one-pointed concentration.
The benefits of Mantra-writing or Likhita Japa cannot be
adequately described. Besides bringing about purity of heart and
concentration of mind, mantra-writing gives you control of Asana
(posture), control of senses, particularly the sight and the tongue,
and fills you with the power of endurance. You attain peace of
mind quickly. By prolonged and constant practice, the inherent
power of Mantra (Mantra-Sakti) will be awakened, which will fill
your very existence with the Divinity of the Mantra. In Mantrawriting,
there is no restriction to language. One can write the
Divine Name in any language.
“Write down daily in a notebook your Ishta Mantra or Guru
Mantra for half an hour. When you write the Mantra, observe Mouna or
Silence. Write the Mantra clearly in ink. On Sundays and Holidays, write
this for one hour. This is Likhita Japa. It brings about purity of heart,
concentration of mind, control of asana, control of senses and power of
endurance.”
‐Swami Sivananda

Source: Parables by Swami Rama Tirtha

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