Could you speak to the importance of enthusiasm in the spiritual life?

Ans : The ocean exists, therefore waves exist. The central orb of the solar radiance exists, and billions of rays radiate in all directions. If the sun did not exist, there would be no light. Even so, the existence of all things cannot be separated from the one, ultimate, supreme source of all existence. Thus all existence owes its being to that Supreme Being.

Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. So, this is the condition preceding any achievement. There should be eagerness to receive and there should be desire to know. There should be a willingness to fulfil all conditions, so that it may be bestowed and so that it may be received. This is the essence of the quest and its successful culmination-a continuous eagerness to obtain, and a great willingness to fulfil the conditions so that it may be bestowed. For an aspirant there should be this thirst-this longing. There should be this continuous keen eagerness to know and to proceed towards the state of enlightenment. One must go on fulfilling all the minimal conditions that are essential for being a ripe receptacle. You must be a deserving one, an adhikari.

And if one is to keep up this longing, one must have sustained enthusiasm. If you allow your interest to flag, enthusiasm will wane, and you will be in danger. Where there is this keen enthusiasm and interest, that itself is a power generator that can confront anything and overcome anything. Therefore, a genuine, authentic positivism is an indispensable requisite of successful spiritual striving and ultimate attainment-a keen positivism that looks at the positive aspects of things and exults that God has been so gracious, that rejoicingly moves forward with enthusiasm, with interest, longing for nothing else, wishing for nothing else, and paying attention to nothing else but this central quest. This indeed is the sure guarantee, that which ensures the successful culmination of the spiritual quest and the attainment of enlightenment and illumination.