The field of your heart must be cleared of bushes and thorns. It must be ploughed and furrowed, watered and dampened to depth. Then the seeds must be planted into the earth; not scattered on the surface. After planting the seeds, water the field, remove the weeds, keep away stray cattle, manure the plants, dust them with pesticides, and then you can reap the bounteous crop. Spiritual discipline (Sadhana) means and includes every one of these steps. If there is crooked vision, character, thought and feelings, how can devotion even sprout or bloom? If the lamp is not burning, it means that you have not lit it! Your spiritual progress is what is reflected back to you as Grace. Your decline is reflected back as its absence. Engage yourself in action that will direct your intellect and mind along divine and sublime channels, and win His bounteous grace through worthy action.

- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 5, Jan 29, 1965.