Just as a thirsty man in the desert under the hot sun values water more than a heap of pearls and diamonds placed before him, so also, a true lover of God wants him alone, and considers every other object as a trifle before him.

The real lover desires no name, fame or money, but his beloved. He who does not possess such an attribute is a man full of self-interest.

Meher Baba
25 April 1924, Meherabad, RD p318

To think, “I am a sinner, oh Father, save me,” is a defective approach! You should say, “I am your son, I am your daughter, oh Father, take me on your lap, I am your child.” This will be the approach. You should forget what you do not want.

Shrii Shrii Anandamurti

Those who see all creatures in themselves
And themselves in all creatures know no fear.

Those who see all creatures in themselves
And themselves in all creatures know no grief.

How can the multiplicity of life
Delude the one who sees its unity?

– Isha Upanishad

Love is the divine gift given by the Sadgurus. Even if the whole world wants to, it can never bestow such a gift. And once it is granted, not even all of humanity can snatch it away, no matter how hard it strives to do so.

Love is the divine gift. Once you know how to love, there is no trouble. Once you have adapted yourselves to the way, your hardships disappear.

Meher Baba
11 October 1927,
Toka,
to the boys of the Prem Ashram,

A tavern-keeper first receives cash from a customer before handing him the wine glass. He checks the coin to ascertain whether it is genuine or counterfeit. Similarly, the Sadguru also demands his price – not in money, but in love, before giving you the gift of love. You can deceive a wine-seller by passing him counterfeit coins, but never a Sadguru. He has no use for false coins – the show of love…

But love entails pain – the pain of the pangs and thirst of separation while constantly burning. This gradually minimises the strength of the ego, and eventually destroys it, because love never thinks of or cares for itself. It just burns its victim in love for its beloved. This burning gradually diminishes the ego, and thus it is eventually totally annihilated. In this fire, love makes its victim realise the self.

Meher Baba
30 March 1930,
Nasik,

People pray to me to solve their difficulties, saying that they love me. But there is a vast difference between love and prayer. In Persian to pray means to beg, to want, to desire something, even the blessings of God.

But when a person really loves, he gives himself over to his beloved completely. This is true love. In that there is no begging, no wanting, and no room for desires. Only the longing to unite with the beloved remains.

Love means the renunciation of the self. Prayer means selfishness, no matter how high the prayer may be. So there is a vast difference between when one prays and when one loves.

Meher Baba
July 1931,
Karachi,

Each one should ask himself the question: spiritually realized persons were also persons like me; they were also embodied beings. When they could attain perfection, can I also not succeed if I follow their method? What profits me if I spend time in discovering the faults and weakness of others? Therefore the first Sadhana (spiritual endeavour) is to search for the faults and weaknesses within yourself and strive to correct them and become perfect.

– Sai Baba

Liberated from suffering and search I have tied myself to the skirt of God.
If I fly, I look at the summits I ascend.
If I go around in circle I observe the axis on which I revolve.
If I am dragged by a burden, I know where I go.
For I am the moon, and the sun is my guide.

– Rumi

All men to me are god-like Gods!
My eyes no longer see
vice or fault.

Life on this suffering earth
is now endless delight;
the heart at rest, full,
overflowing.

In the mirror, the face and its reflection —
they watch each other;
different, but one.

And, when the stream pours into the ocean…
no more stream!

Sant Tukaram

Argue no more about it,
Man’s crude and foolish mind, and that alone,
Hath taught this tale of many gods:

It is a lie:

For God is One,
One only:

And unto Him,
The One,
My soul shall sing her praise.

Sant Tukaram

Can water drink itself?
Can a tree taste its own fruit?
The worshiper of God must
remain distinct from Him.

Only thus will he come to
know God’s joyful love.
But if he were to say that God
and he are one,
that joy and love would
vanish instantly.

Sant Tukaram
_________________________________
This is part of the eternal ‘Dwait’ and ‘Adwait’ Debate

Mind is the chief factor governing the body. One
should always avoid suggesting to the mind thoughts
of human limitations such as sickness, old age, and
death. Rather, the mind should constantly be told
this truth: “I am the infinite, which has become the
body. The body, as a manifestation of Spirit, is the
ever-youthful Spirit.”

–Paramahansa Yogananda, SRF Lessons

We’re sorry!
We have no manners!
But …
We’re your children and you’re our Mom!

Send us food on golden platters.
Give us love
amidst life’s storms.

If our faith is
less-than-perfect,
do not notice;
We are yours!

Errant children,
dressed in tatters,
Tuka says,
You can’t ignore.

Sant Tukaram

The tendency to claim God as an ally for our partisan value and ends is the source of all religious fanaticism.

Reinhold Niebuhr

Would you become a pilgrim on the road of love?
The first condition is that you make yourself humble as dust and ashes”

– Rumi

Blame does not disturb him, Nor does praise delight him.
He neither rejoices in life, Nor fears death. His mind is calm.
Never seeking the solitude of the forest, Nor running from the crowd.
Always and everywhere, He is one and the same.

– Ashtavakra Gita 18:99-100

Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime,
Therefore, we are saved by hope.

Nothing true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history;
Therefore, we are saved by faith.

Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone.
Therefore, we are saved by love.

No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as from our own;
Therefore, we are saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.

– Reinhold Niebuhr

Grief, clouds thought and reason, and, harms both the soul and the body. So you should repel it, or reduce it, as much as possible. This can be done in two ways: you can strive to prevent grief from occurring; and you can banish grief when it does occur.

– Razi, “Kitab al-Muluki”

Freedom

The soul is bound to the body by a chain of desires, temptations, troubles and worries, and it is trying to free itself. If you keep tugging at that chain which is holding you to mortal consciousness, some day an invisible Divine Hand will intervene and snap it apart, and you will be free.

–Paramahansa Yogananda, “Man’s Eternal Quest”

Grief, clouds thought and reason, and, harms both the soul and the body. So you should repel it, or reduce it, as much as possible. This can be done in two ways: you can strive to prevent grief from occurring; and you can banish grief when it does occur.

– Razi, “Kitab al-Muluki”

Freedom

The soul is bound to the body by a chain of desires, temptations, troubles and worries, and it is trying to free itself. If you keep tugging at that chain which is holding you to mortal consciousness, some day an invisible Divine Hand will intervene and snap it apart, and you will be free.

–Paramahansa Yogananda, “Man’s Eternal Quest”

You are what your deep, driving desire is
As your desire is, so is your will
As your will is, so is your deed
As your deed is, so is your destiny

Kaama maya evayam purusha iti
Sa Yatha kaamo bhavati tat kratur bhavati
Yat kratur bhavati tat karma kurute
Yat karma kurte tad abhisam padyate

काममया एवायं पुरुष इति
सा यथाकामो भवति तत्क्रतुर भवति
यात्क्रतुर भवति तत कर्म कुरुते
यत कर्म कुरुते तद अभिसम पद्यते

-B R I H A D A R A N Y A K A UPANISHAD (4, 4.5)

Freedom

To be able to do whatever one pleases is not the
real meaning of freedom of action. You should under-
stand to what degree you are free, and how much
you are influenced by bad habits. To be good just
because it has become a habit to be good is not free-
dom, either. To be tempted is not sinfulness, but to be
able to resist and overcome temptation is greatness;
this is freedom, for you are acting by free will and
free choice only.

–Paramahansa Yogananda, SRF Lessons

The way to freedom is through service to others.
The way to happiness is through meditation and being
in tune with God…. Break the barriers of your ego;
shed selfishness; free yourself from the consciousness
of the body; forget yourself; do away with this prison
house of incarnations; melt your heart in all, be one
with all creation.

–Paramahansa Yogananda, SRF Lessons