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What’s the meaning of the quote “ Should you not find the pearl after one or two divings, don’t blame the ocean! Blame your diving! You are not going deep enough. ”

-P. Yogananda

User Saurav Srivastava
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19 votes

Answer:

In the given quote, P. Yogananda explains how one must focus on the practice or efforts one has given in order to achieve or find God rather than putting the blame on others. Metaphorically speaking, he uses the example of finding a pearl to talk about finding God. If the effort to find a pearl is unsuccessful in the initial efforts, don't blame the ocean, but rather try to change your technique and then, find other ways to achieve your goal. Similarly, finding God must not be hard. Don't blame God for not being easily available. But try to practice things that will help you 'find' Him, if one effort fail, try another practice, and another, until one achieves success.

Step-by-step explanation:

Paramahansa Yogananda, an Indian Hindu monk, yogi, and guru, was one of the earliest major Indian teachers to settle in the US. His main purpose was to bring to light the unity of religion and science, the interrelated nature of the Eastern and Western religions, and to help spread the practice of yoga and meditation.

In his "Man's Eternal Quest", he reveals how man's nature of partial work often leads to unsuccessful efforts. To him, he believed that one must work hard, even to the extreme, if one is really to find salvation in God. In his quote "Should you not find the pearl after one or two divings, don't blame the ocean! Blame your diving! You are not going deep enough", he delves into the need to "dive deeper" in our efforts to 'find' God. If one is unsuccessful in the initial efforts, instead of blaming and giving up, one must try again until one achieves success.

He uses the metaphor of finding a pearl in the ocean as finding God. If finding the pearl is unsuccessful, one must change one's diving skills. Likewise, to find God, one must try until one is successful, even if that involves changing patterns or practices.

To him, the problem is never in God or "the ocean". But the problem is in the person and how he approaches.

User Tomasz Gandor
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