Forget not the central truth that God is seated in your own heart. Don’t be disheartened by failures at initial stages.
Cultivate the spirit of surrender to the workings of his will, inside you and outside you, until you have completely surrendered up your ego-sense and have known that he is in all, and he is all, and you and he are one.
Be patient. The path of self-discipline that leads to God-realization is not an easy path: obstacles and sufferings are on the path; the latter you must bear, and the former overcome – all by his help.
His help comes only through concentration. Repetition of God’s name helps concentration.
Swami Ramdas (1884-1963) was a south Indian mystic, whose practice was based on repetition of the mantram. This passage is published in Easwaran’s spiritual anthology, “God Makes the Rivers to Flow.” The audio recording is by Eknath Easwaran.