on measuring success in meditation

[iamom]

Swami Veda's getting better in his old age, I think. This is a good one:

People say, "Swamiji, I am not making progress." Or, "Swamiji, will you do some magic?" And they think that one morning they will wake up enlightened?

It doesn't work that way. What matters is not what are the marks of success in meditation, but what are the marks of spiritual progress in life. The marks of spiritual progress in daily life are the marks of success in meditation."

--Swami Veda Bharati, from the lecture series "Spirituality as Longevity" (2003)