The often overlooked importance of proper beneficial efforts (II)

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By eminent yoga teacher Gregorian Bivolaru

When we analyze very carefully and lucidly all that the great yogis, the exemplary yogis of this planet, have achieved, we discover that, in reality, all that they have achieved has been based without exception on careful, systematic, persevering and appropriate efforts. That is why it has often been said, and can still be said that the right exercise, the systematic, persevering exercise which, in each case, involves an eminently beneficial, appropriate effort makes the master in the practice of the Yoga system.

That is why it is worth realizing that, beyond appearances, every tapas that we choose and then persistently perform involves, without exception, certain appropriate efforts that it is necessary to make. When we look at everything that makes up the sum of Hatha Yoga practice, we easily discover that such a sum entails certain beneficial, appropriate efforts that we willingly chose to make, and then actually made, for if we had only some intentions (even extraordinary, even full of wisdom) that were not followed afterward by making the appropriate concrete efforts that were necessary, they didn’t amount to enough. For example, the awakening, energizing and ascension in our inner universe of the endless, colossal, fundamental energy Kundalini Shakti involves, without exception, making adequate efforts, efforts which were then systematically made until the essential, colossal energy Kundalini Shakti awakened in our inner universe and then ascended, being established, for example, at the level of the subtle, essential, spiritual, subtle center of force, sahasrara padma.

This is why, when we set out to do a certain tapas and then manage to carry it through, we are thereby capitalizing on the appropriate efforts we have made in the course of doing it. Beyond appearances, even a complete fast in which we only drink water still requires a specific effort, and when that fast is completed we enjoy its characteristic fruits; such an effort contributes in this way to our inner transformation, to our spiritual growth.

As we can realize if we have already attained a certain state of considerable inner maturity, every beneficial effort we make when we walk a genuine spiritual path counts to a certain extent. So everything that we accomplish is analogically similar to droplets gathering, accumulating in a chalice, so that at some point in our chalice a considerable number of drops accumulate, which cause a certain spiritual leap to occur – not by chance – which arises on the basis of the merits we have acquired, merits that have involved the engagement of appropriate beneficial efforts. It is not possible to imagine that in the absence of proper, careful, persevering, benevolent efforts, we shall succeed in making immense spiritual leaps and then even in entering into states of Godly ecstasy, states of samadhi, even if we are lazy, complaining, dissatisfied, rebellious against the elementary rules that exist in a spiritual establishment or against the elementary rules that the correct, harmonious practice of yoga implies.

Horizontal exploration versus vertical growth

It is necessary, however, to realize that, in addition to the beneficial, constructive, appropriate efforts that lead us, through accumulation, to the emergence of considerable inner transformations of a spiritual nature, at the other pole there are the unfavorable, evil, harmful efforts, which in many human beings are carried out unconsciously and which do not contribute to our transformation for the better, are not favorable to our inner harmony, to our health, to the overcoming of our limits, but, on the contrary, contribute to our sliding into the abysses that open up within us and are not likely to propel us towards an eminently beneficial inner growth.

When we look very carefully and lucidly around us, we see that the various vices, the various harmful habits, also involve efforts that are unfavorable, detrimental. And such efforts cause us to sink deeper and deeper into the hellish abysses with which we enter into occult resonance and then continue to sink deeper, even though all this destroys us and leads us to perdition.

For example, when we make the effort to access the Internet to chat for hours on end, or when we keep clicking endlessly on the cell phone that we never take our eyes off, such harmful actions involve efforts that take up our time, that lead us to invest our inner energy in a vain way, and here we are, through such efforts, we are constantly exploring a certain reality only horizontally, and we make no effort at all to explore the sublime, Godly realities, through a vertical engagement which is likely to reveal God to us and make us feel Him more and more in our inner universe.

That is why, when we are sufficiently lucid, it is very important and very desirable that when we are about to make any kind of effort, we ask ourselves a fundamental question, a question that needs to precede the realization of that effort. It is essential that, when we intend to make an effort of any kind, we should ask ourselves the following question: “What is the use of this effort that I am about to make?”

By doing this every time, we will be able to realize with detachment, with lucidity, with common sense, the real consequences that will occur when we start to make the effort. To the extent that we realize that the effort we are about to make is a harmful effort, a useless effort, a sterile effort, an effort that does absolutely nothing to help our spiritual transformation, it is wise to stop and then it is advisable to choose to make an eminently beneficial effort, an effort that is likely to facilitate our spiritual transformation, an effort that will contribute to our ascent to another inner level.

Facing the difficulties

Generally speaking, it can be said that as soon as an activity does not lead to the desired result, a result which it is believed will be achieved by a smooth, natural, euphorically adapted flow, there is a beneficial effort. Until we were confronted with such a point, it might be said that we acted practically effortlessly. At some point, however, as soon as resistance arises, one can say that an obstacle occurs. A difficulty thus arises, regardless of the nature of the progress we seek to make.

The task then gives us the impression that it becomes difficult and that is precisely why it requires more endurance or, to put it another way, it requires the ability to withstand fatigue. All this brings us to the source of dynamism, which in such a situation requires a confrontation with fatigue, sometimes even with pain, possibly with the somewhat repulsive nature of the task, with boredom, with disinterest or even with the challenge of a new kind of attraction that arises and may distract us.

As soon as we want to move forward, a complex reaction is needed. This requires strengthening, increasing the specific energies already involved, bringing new resources into play. It requires a better regulation, a harmonious organization, an excellent concentration of our inner forces, a greater intensity of the subtle energy of will. All this is aimed at resisting what sometimes pushes us to give up (in such situations we are tempted even by the cunning influence of demons to abandon the beneficial task we have set ourselves), and by such a proper effort we succeed in overcoming everything that stands in the way of a very good or even excellent performance.

One could say that we have described so far more of a beneficial effort that is part of an ongoing activity. But the appreciation that arises in the sphere of our consciousness can cause us problems from the very first signs that can be generally categorized as a difficulty. In a situation of this kind, an attitude involving making an appropriate effort will be exactly what we need from the very first moment. In so doing, it can be said that this will be our inner attitude when, for example, it is necessary to lift a certain weight which we consider to be heavy before we have even tried to do so even once, in order to check the real weight of the object to be lifted. Analogically speaking, the same is true of all kinds of beneficial activities.

The character, the scale, the duration of an action, the prospect of continuous progress which then facilitates success require, as we all know, a series of appropriate efforts which it will be necessary to maintain and even renew until the successful completion of that activity, and all this requires, to begin with, the existence in our inner universe of a certain readiness to make the effort.

Beyond appearances, when all this is viewed from an esoteric point of view, it is obvious to us that, simultaneously, in our inner universe, processes of occult resonance with specific subtle energies in the Macrocosmos are immediately produced on that occasion, or, to be more precise, are triggered, which operate synergistically and materialize through what we might call a suitable beneficial effort.

How we can increase the effectiveness of beneficial efforts

It is necessary to know that beneficial effort has many faces, not only in terms of the different classifications into physical effort, psychic effort or even moral effort. Beyond appearances, effort can also be categorized in terms of the variety of ways in which it is achieved.

A proper beneficial effort manifests itself in a quite different way, and the effectiveness of such an effort is greatly increased when inwardly we simultaneously manifest a state of powerful enthusiasm which causes a process of occult resonance with the subtle sublime energy of the Godly Attribute of Godly Enthusiasm to occur in our inner universe.

Such a beneficial effort will be more effective if we simultaneously manifest a state of inner heroism which involves a process of occult resonance with the subtle sublime energy of the Godly Attribute of Godly Heroism.

The effectiveness of our beneficial effort will also be increased if we simultaneously manifest a state of exemplary patience, which involves a process of occult resonance with the sublime subtle energy of the Godly Attribute of Godly Perseverance.

By doing so, we greatly increase the effectiveness of our proper beneficial effort. By integrating these subtle aspects, we can easily achieve much greater effects or, in other words, the efficiency of our beneficial effort will increase considerably.

When these processes of occult resonance with the subtle sublime energies of these Godly Attributes are triggered, subtle sublime Godly energies will be captured in our inner universe, which will simultaneously catalyze the appearance of true inner miracles, which will appear in the microcosm of our being when we strongly aspire to such simultaneous states of being, which in our example are enthusiasm, heroism, perseverance. In this way we have briefly revealed to you certain occult aspects which have been known for thousands of years to the initiated and which, when they are incorporated by constructive engagement in our proper beneficial effort, bring forth true miracles which are catalyzed by means of such subtle sublime Godly energies which are captured in our being by the corresponding states and thoughts we aim at from the very beginning of our effort.

Moving beyond the usual level of ease

As we can easily realize, such an appropriate beneficial effort will be far superior to a, shall we say, “frantic”, egotistical effort, which arises from a state of stubbornness. The differences in the effect of such an appropriate beneficial effort will be immense, provided that we nourish within ourselves such thoughts, such prior experiences, which will provoke enthusiasm, heroism and perseverance.

These particularly important revelations that we are offering you for the first time help you understand why in some of you the selfish, stubborn, frantic, egoistic, stubborn efforts do not ultimately lead to fruitful spiritual transformations. All these esoteric aspects help you understand for the first time the vastly considerable differences between an eminently beneficial endeavor that is in a Godly way integrated and at the same time sustained by the sublime subtle energies of some of the Godly Attributes (which we mentioned in our example) and an egotistical endeavor, a stubborn effort, which can be made by those of you who, due to ignorance, indulge in an egotistical state and who wonder and do not understand how it is possible not to feel spiritual transformations after doing tapas in this manner.

These esoteric revelations offered for the first time transform your perspective on the beneficial efforts you make, and moreover, to the extent that they are applied from such an initiatory perspective, they fundamentally transform your view of the beneficial efforts you make, whether you are practicing Hatha Yoga in class or doing the tapas you have assumed at home. Globally speaking, we are talking about a beneficial effort when we are dealing with an activity that is necessary to be carried out and that implies, both in its quantity and in its quality, going beyond the usual level of ease. We are therefore talking about a beneficial effort when it is necessary to take on a certain activity which involves going beyond certain limits or, in other words, as soon as it is necessary to impose on ourselves a certain task which involves stepping up to a higher level.

It is also fundamental to realize that all of this presupposes the triggering of occult resonance processes that occur in a flash, and these occult resonance processes will be correlated with the inner thoughts and states that exist in our inner universe at that time.

All these aspects that we are presenting to you for the first time also apply when we realize in our Hatha Yoga practice the methodology that you know as Vijnana Asana.

Read the third part of the article

yogaesoteric
October 16, 2025

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