Page 252 - Mystic Pathways through the Bible

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responsibilities for purity of heart rather than external achievement. You learn to renounce what pertains to the little self and welcome what pertains to the Supreme Self.
Through the fourth virtuous quality, titiksha or endurance, one learns how to endure dif cult physical and psychological situations. Train your body to endure the little variations of weather so that your energy is not spent trying to create more desirable conditions. A worldly person may completely rearrange the things in their room so that every ower or object is precisely placed according to their taste, and each window is opened to a certain angle to let in a particular type of breeze. However, by the time every detail is settled and they nally prepare to relax, a cockroach may enter the room, disturbing the peace of the person who worked so hard to create external perfection. Without endurance, a sense of frustration depletes the energy of the mind.
Mental endurance is also necessary to face situations in which you are not understood, even by your closest friends and relatives. Lacking titiksha, long-time friends may dissolve their friendship for the smallest of reasons. When there is titiksha, you wait with patience without the ego demanding ful llment of its expectations.
The next virtuous treasure is shraddha, faith in God. Faith is not a sentimental development, but has