What is sweet at first, is poison in the end || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Lalleshwari (2014)

Question: ‘What is bitter at first is sweet in the end, What is sweet at first is poison in the end. To everyone is given the choice. It all depends on the effort put in, and the unflagging determined will; for whoever strives must soon arrive at the city of his choice.’

Please give us clarity on the words, ‘effort’, ‘determined will’, ‘striving’ and ‘choice’.

Speaker: ‘What is bitter at first is sweet in the end, What is sweet at first is poison in the end. To everyone is given the choice . It all depends on the effort put in , and the unflagging determined will; for whoever strives must soon arrive at the city of his choice.’

The unflagging determined will, choice.

Existence is freedom because there is nothing except it. It is unqualified, unconditional freedom. It is free even if it pretends that it is not free. It is free to act free, and it is free to act unfree. Even in the worst of situations, even in the deepest of slavery, even in the most unconscious sleep, there still is the power of choice available.

If there is one thing that one never loses, it is his ability of freedom, the power to choose. The power to choose is just an expression of your inherent freedom. The other day we said that it is never too late to take a ‘U-turn’. Do you see what it means? It means that you may have driven thousands of miles down the wrong road, yet the choice to continue going down the same road or to take a U-turn is still available.