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his loving protection at any time or place, witnessing his miracles, hearing about him, or reading his words, deepens devotion and strengthens confidence in our own divinity. The love we feel for a divine being awakens our own divine love. When this love is purified and expanded it protects us from adversity and leads us to oneness with God.
2. The Mind is the Key. The awareness of our divine nature is blocked by the delusion that lasting happiness comes from outer sense objects. Aspects of our mind that promote this delusion include the following.
• The mind sees duality, separateness, and differences; Swami tells us that all is one.
• The mind is a “bundle of desires,” causing us to focus our senses on the outer impermanent world of duality, thus distorting our awareness.
• Aachment and addiction yoke us to temporary objects in the outer world (for example, money, reputation, power, position, property, and even friends and family). Of course, in our relationships with family and society love is purified and expanded. These loving relationships are not to be given up. Aachment is to be given up. Then our love flows uninterrupted to society and family, like Swami’s love flows to us.
• The mind harbors six enemies (lust, anger, pride, greed, aachment, and hatred) that lead us astray and interfere with clarity, reason, and discrimination.
• The mind defends itself against feeling weak by hiding from (denying or repressing) frightening situations or feelings. Thus, we deceive ourselves and distort reality (maya).
• The mind projects its problems onto the outer world and then blames others, instead of taking responsibility for its own faults.
• The mind is egotistical and arrogant and thinks it knows everything.
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