Mr. Evans-Wentz: Is solitude necessary for a jnani?

Master.(Raman Maharishi): Solitude is in the mind of man. One might be in the thick of the world and maintain serenity of mind; such a one is in solitude. Another may stay in a forest, but still be unable to control his mind. He cannot be said to be in solitude. Solitude is a function of the mind. A man attached to desire cannot get solitude wherever he may be; a detached man is always in solitude.

Disciple.: So then, one might be engaged in work and be free from desire and keep up solitude. Is it so?

M.: Yes. Work performed with attachment is a shackle, whereas work performed with detachment does not affect the doer. He is, even while working, in solitude.

D.: They say that there are many saints in Tibet who remain in solitude and are still very helpful to the world. How can it be?

M.: It can be so. Realisation of the Self is the greatest help that can be rendered to humanity. Therefore, the saints are said to be helpful, though they remain in forests. But it should not be forgotten that solitude is not in forests only. It can be had even in towns, in the thick of worldly occupations.

D.: It is not necessary that the saints should mix with people and be helpful to them?

M.: The Self alone is the Reality; the world and the rest of it are not. The realised being does not see the world as different from himself.

D.: Thus then, the saint’s realisation leads to the uplift of humanity without the latter being aware of it. Is it so?

M.: Yes. The help is imperceptible but is still there. A saint helps the whole of humanity, unknown to the latter.

D.: Would it not be better if he mixed with others?

M.: There are no others to mix with. The Self is the one and only Reality.

Sri Raman Maharishi’s Discussion with a Disciple
Dated: 30th January, 1935
(Book of Daily Thoughts and Prayers)

O Thou Infinite Deity, in this silent hour May I feel Thy love and protection. May I rest in that love and lose all fear and weakness. In both my sleeping and waking may I have the consciousness of Thy Presence, And may that consciousness destroy in me all self-interest and self-importance.

Swami Parmanand
Book of Daily Thoughts & Prayers (BDTP)

If a man thinks that his happiness is due to external causes and his possessions, it is reasonable to conclude that his happiness must increase with the increase of possessions and diminish in proportion to their diminution. Therefore if he is devoid of possessions, his happiness should be nil. What is the real experience of man? Does it conform to this view? In deep sleep the man is devoid of possessions, including his own body. Instead of being unhappy he is quite happy. Everyone desires to sleep soundly. The conclusion is that happiness is inherent in man and is not due to external causes. One must realise his Self in order to open the store of unalloyed happiness.

Sri Raman Maharishi

Go not to the temple to put flowers upon the feet of God,
First fill your own house with the Fragrance of love…
Go not to the temple to light candles before the altar of God,
First remove the darkness of sin from your heart…
Go not to the temple to bow down your head in prayer,
First learn to bow in humility before your fellowmen…
Go not to the temple to pray on bended knees,
First bend down to lift someone who is down-trodden.
Go not to the temple to ask for forgiveness for your sins,
First forgive from your heart those who have sinned against you.

‘Go not to the temple’
~ by Rabindranath Tagore

At the morning hour of ten, one day after the body
of Lahiri Mahasaya had been consigned to the flames,
the resurrected master, in a real but transfigured
body, appeared before three disciples, each of whom
was in a different city.
“So when this corruptible shall have put on
incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality,
then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written:
Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy
sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (I Corinthians
15:45-55).”

—Paramahansa Yogananda, “Autobiography of a Yogi”

You must do your work with a sense of sanctity
and not feel that it is work. Do it in silence and
without noise. We must not talk of it and make
much of it. We must never bring a critical attitude
towards it. Better not to work at all than to work
with wrong spirit. Nothing is more purifying than
unselfish work.

Swami Parmanana
Book of Daily Thoughts & Prayers (BDTP)

If we keep our mind free, clear and open, then
there is no crisis in our life. We must never leave
our inner house in darkness ; we must ever keep
the light of consecration burning there. Where
there is light, God comes and no sense-robbers can
enter. If we keep our life in harmony, evil will
stay far from us. Some people pray only when in
trouble. If we pray continually, then when trouble
comes, our prayer will go on of itself.

Swami Parmanand
Book of Daily Thoughts

We must inform our minds that no one in this universe depends upon us; not one beggar depends on our charity; not one soul on our kindness; not one living thing on our help. All are helped on by nature, and will be so helped even though millions of us were not here. The course of nature will not stop for such as you and me; it is, as already pointed out, only a blessed privilege to you and to me that we are allowed, in the way of helping others, to educate ourselves. This is a great lesson to learn in life, and when we have learned it fully, we shall never be unhappy; we can go and mix without harm in society anywhere and everywhere.

Swami Vivekananda

He who, with devotion offereth to Me a leaf, a
flower, a fruit and water, that love-offering
I accept, made by the pure-hearted,
Even if the most wicked worships me with
undivided devotion, he should be regarded
as good, for he is rightly resolved.

Bhagavad-Gita

Compassionate One, I pray unto Thee to purify
and spiritualize my whole life.
I have no power to do aught of myself,
But Thou art an inexhaustible Storehouse of
power.
Inspire me to noble thought and action ;
Lift my aspiration and make me steadfast in
seeking and manifesting only that which is
lofty and up-building.
May I never fail to serve Thee with unfaltering
faith and devotion.

Swami Parmanand
(BDTP)

As rivers flow into the sea
and in so doing lose name
and form, so even the wise
man, freed from name and
form, attains the infinite.
— Mundaka Upanishad

The wise man does not rest by the roadside inns. He marches direct to the illimitable domain of eternal bliss, his ultimate destination.

Swami Sivananda

If a man thinks that his happiness is due to external causes and his possessions, it is reasonable to conclude that his happiness must increase with the increase of possessions and diminish in proportion to their diminution. Therefore if he is devoid of possessions, his happiness should be nil. What is the real experience of man? Does it conform to this view?

In deep sleep the man is devoid of possessions, including his own body. Instead of being unhappy he is quite happy. Everyone desires to sleep soundly. The conclusion is that happiness is inherent in man and is not due to external causes. One must realise his Self in order to open the store of unalloyed happiness.

Raman Maharishi

Meditation is not a state of concentration; it is not a state of mind at all. It is a state of
total mindlessness — and not a state of sleep either. No mind, no sleep; no mind, but total
awareness. Out of that awareness you bring a different quality to music, to painting, to
poetry. And out of that meditativeness you can bring a totally different quality to science
too. But before that can happen we will need large numbers of meditative people around
the earth.

Osho

If you try to reconcile Meditativeness and Science, it is not only difficult but impossible. It cannot be done. You will go mad — the very effort to reconcile them will drive you crazy. Avoid such an effort. Rather, on the contrary, simply watch.Life is paradoxical. It is already a synthesis of paradoxes; the opposites are already meeting in it. All that we need is a pure mirror-like consciousness, so that whatsoever life is it is reflected. And you will see in that reflection the meeting of the opposites: the meeting of East and West, the meeting of religion and science.

Osho

We cover all things with the Lord by perceiving the Divine Presence everywhere. When the consciousness is firmly fixed in God, the conception of diversity naturally drops away; because the One Cosmic Existence shines through all things. As we gain the light of wisdom, we cease to cling to the unrealities of this world and we find all our joy in the realm of Reality.

Isa Upanishad
Interpretation: Swami Parmananda

If one should desire to live in this world a hundred years, one should live performing Karma (righteous deeds). Thus thou mayest live; there is no other way. By doing this, Karma (the fruits of thy actions) will not defile thee.

If a man still clings to long life and earthly possessions, and is therefore unable to follow the path of Self-knowledge (Gnana-Nishta) as prescribed in the first Mantram (text), then he may follow the path of right action (Karma-Nishta). Karma here means actions performed without selfish motive, for the sake of the Lord alone. When a man performs actions clinging blindly to his lower desires, then his actions bind him to the plane of ignorance or the plane of birth and death; but when the same actions are performed with surrender to God, they purify and liberate him.

Isa Upanishad
Interpretation: Swami Parmananda

After leaving their bodies, they who have killed the Self go to the worlds of the Asuras, covered with blinding ignorance.

The idea of rising to bright regions as a reward for well-doers, and of falling into realms of darkness as a punishment for evil-doers is common to all great religions. But Vedanta claims that this condition of heaven and hell is only temporary; because our actions, being finite, can produce only a finite result.

What does it mean “to kill the Self?” How can the immortal Soul ever be destroyed? It cannot be destroyed, it can only be obscured. Those who hold themselves under the sway of ignorance, who serve the flesh and neglect the Atman or the real Self, are not able to perceive the effulgent and indestructible nature of their Soul; hence they fall into the realm where the Soul light does not shine. Here the Upanishad shows that the only hell is absence of knowledge. As long as man is overpowered by the darkness of ignorance, he is the slave of Nature and must accept whatever comes as the fruit of his thoughts and deeds. When he strays into the path of unreality, the Sages declare that he destroys himself; because he who clings to the perishable body and regards it as his true Self must experience death many times.

Isa Upanishad
Interpretation: Swami Parmananda

That One, though motionless, is swifter than the mind. The senses can never overtake It, for It ever goes before. Though immovable, It travels faster than those who run. By It the all-pervading air sustains all living beings.

This verse explains the character of the Atman or Self. A finite object can be taken from one place and put in another, but it can only occupy one space at a time. The Atman, however, is present everywhere; hence, though one may run with the greatest swiftness to overtake It, already It is there before him.

Even the all-pervading air must be supported by this Self, since It is infinite; and as nothing can live without breathing air, all living things must draw their life from the Cosmic Self.

Isa Upanishad
Interpretation: Swami Parmananda

I know now that I am a lion of cosmic power.
Bleating no more, I shake the error forest with
reverberations of Thine almighty voice. In divine
freedom I bound through the jungle of earthly
delusions, devouring the little creatures of vexing
worries and timidities, and the wild hyenas of
disbelief.

O Lion of Liberation, ever send through me Thy
roar of all-conquering courage.

— Paramahansa Yogananda, “Whispers from Eternity”

Why do you consider non-essentials so important?
Most people concentrate on breakfast, lunch, and
dinner, work, social activities, and so on. Make your
life more simple and put your whole mind on the
Lord.

—Paramahansa Yogananda, “How You Can Talk With God”

Mystic Trail, which started with the name Spiritual Diary in 2010 Completes 5 years on 22nd November 2015. We made efforts to see that none of the quotes are repeated. They were all different.

Sometimes it is also good to re-look at the quotes and pick out the ones you didn’t understand, or the ones you want to re absorb. So this time I am not giving you a new quote. I suggest you go to the Mystic Trail page and browse through the Masters, their quotes and their pictures.

Make it an occasional habit to visit the page. Sometimes a second look reveals something new you might not have noticed earlier. Also try to contemplate in silence on the quotes that affected you. You will discover a new dimension of experience.

Om Asato Maa Sad-Gamaya |
Tamaso Maa Jyotir-Gamaya |
Mrtyor-Maa Amrtam Gamaya |
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||

The Upanishad

Meaning:
1: Om, (O Lord) Keep me not in the Unreality (of the bondage of the Phenomenal World), but lead me towards the Reality(of the Eternal Self),
2: (O Lord) Keep me not in the Darkness (of Ignorance), but lead me towards the Light (of Spiritual Knowledge),
3: (O Lord) Keep me not in the (Fear of) Death (due to the bondage of the Mortal World), but lead me towards theImmortality (gained by the Knowledge of the Immortal Self beyond Death),
4: Om, (May there be) Peace, Peace, Peace (at the the three levels – Adidaivika, Adibhautika and Adhyatmika).

Path presupposes distance;
If He be near, no path needest thou at all.
Verily it maketh me smile
To hear of a fish in water athirst!

Sant Kabir

Ordinary love is selfish, darkly rooted in desires and satisfactions.
Divine love is without condition, without boundary, without change.
The flux of the human heart is gone forever at the transfixing touch of pure love.

Swami Sri Yukteshwar Giri

…….“Be like the divine leech and suck up a lot of wisdom even though torn to bits.
A smooth life is not a victorious life.”

………..”And I will give you lots of good karma so you will get through.
I will not only ever forgive you, but ever lift you up no matter how many times you fall.
Keep unceasingly trying to conquer. Not only will I invisibly help you,
but visibly through many disciples here”…………………

“I am not building a mansion for you to give you riches which will perish,
but I am making an imperishable home with all riches in my Divine Mother’s mansion.”

Paramhans Yogananda
(From a letter to a disciple)

The fact remains that man has become God and man can become God for the simple reason that, knowingly or unknowingly, man is God. Only so long as man’s ignorance lasts will there seem to be no end to the plural diversity of illusory things. When divine knowledge is gained he realizes that there is no end to the indivisible oneness of God.

Meher Baba

The last message that was sent to you was message no. 800 this is message # 801. The 700th message was sent With this we complete yet another milestone in the history of Mystic Trail (Originally known as ‘Spiritual Diary’) Since you have been receiving these quotes for so many years (Since November 22nd 2010), perhaps you could recommend those you love or care for to join this group so that they too can avail the benefit of these Divine Quotes from the greatest Master in History of Mankind
_______________________________________
The Supreme Entity is the vastest entity; the ultimate source of all cosmic emanations. The Supreme Entity, which is difficult to conceive, is the subtlest of the subtle. He is farther away than any other entity, but again He is nearer than the nearest. Only the one who looks into the innermost recesses of himself can realize the Supreme Entity.
Human society is one and indivisible. Don’t try to divide it. Each and every individual should be looked upon as the manifestation of the Cosmic Entity.
He is infinite. He has no beginning and no end. He is the unbroken flow of pure and serene bliss, stretching from beginninglessness to endlessness.

– Sri Sri Anandamurti

When any supposedly ill behaviour
of your Beloved the Great Lord
will not agitate your mind
upsetting your temperament
thus making you maintain
unbreakable constancy
to your Beloved the Great Lord
beware! It is a test of adherence
which is goading you on
in a modest manner
so that your character gets consoled ;
and that is indeed the way to be a heavenly man.

– Thakur Shri Shri Anukul Chandra

Kabir, referring to the removal of the seven folds of the veil, says:

Tere ghukghata ke pata khola tujhe Rama milega.

“Open the folds of your veil, and you shall find God.” The ghunghat literally means the covering that a woman extends over her head and face in a number of folds; in spiritual parlance it re p resents the heavy folds of ignorance that keep man hidden f rom his real identity. The lifting of it, fold by fold, corresponds to the stage-by-stage journey of a pilgrim from the first through the fifth plane of the divine path.

– Meher Baba (God Speaks)

Under the illusion of cosmic duality the apparent separation between man and God is invariably re f e rred to by masters in terms of the intervenient “veil” and “curtain.” Hafiz, who was a Perfect Master as well as a great poet, says:

Miyanah ’ashiq o m’ashuq hic hayal nist
Tu Kvud hijab-i Kvudi, Hafiz, az miyan barKiz.

“ There is no barrier between the lover and Beloved; Hafiz, lift yourself aside, you are yourself the covering over Self.”

– Meher Baba

Dar asitan-i janan asman biyandish
Kaz auj-i sar bulandi ufti biKak-i pasti.

“On the threshold of the Beloved, beware of the allurements of the heavens, lest you bring about your fall from the heights of progress and greatness to the depths of degradation and ruin.”

Hafiz

If a gift is to be real, then both the giver and receiver of the gift must forget the transaction comp letely. To forget completely would mean that the giver should not feel he has given, and the receiver should not know he has received. If the giver does not forget, then he has obligated the receiver; and if the receiver does not forget, he experiences a sense of obligation towards the giver. The real gift of love bestowed on man 12 comes from God alone, and remembrance is absent in both the One who gives and the one who receives. Because of this complete forgetfulness man can strive eternally to love God, and God remains the eternal Beloved for mankind.

-Meher Baba

If anyone hurts you and you forgive him, you are leading yourself to the kingdom of God. If anyone is quarrelsome and you give understanding, you are taking yourself to the kingdom of God. If someone is suffering and you reach out with aid and compassion, you are moving into the presence of God.

– Yogananda

Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself.
Do not lose courage in considering you own imperfections
but instantly set about remedying them – every day begin the task anew.

– Saint Francis de Sales

Someone asked, “Why is there suffering?” Meher Baba gave this succinct reply: “Suffering is essential for the elimination of the ego, just as it was necessary for you to scrub and scrub in order to wash the stain from my coat.”

To learn the secret of the Unseen is only fitting for that one who can seal her lips and keep silent.
– Rumi

“Happiness is an inside job”
People go through their whole lives chasing everything in the material world, and they fail to discover the greatest treasure of all, which is within them.
Shut your eyes to the outside world. Direct your thoughts and words to the inside of you. The Master within you is the key to all the treasures in the world.
~ from the book ‘The Secret’ by Rhonda Byrne

Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith, “A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!”

– Robert Browning

He who binds to himself a joy
Doth the winged life destroy.
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in Eternity’s sunrise.

– William Blake

I kept searching for meaning and then love embraced me, all search disappeared.

~ Buddha

Lord, the night is gone. The dawn has lighted the sky. How I long to know if You accepted or rejected my prayers. Comfort me, Lord, for only you can comfort this state of mine.
You gave me life and nurtured me; Yours is all the praise. If You would ever drive me away from Your door, I would never abandon it for the sake of Your love, which I carry in my heart.-

~ Rabia Rabia the Mystic

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God.

Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.

– Anne Frank

It doesn’t take much inner listening to know that ” in there ” are many voices: speaking, singing, shouting and whispering.

*********************
What the inner voice says
Will not disappoint the hoping soul.

~ Friedrich Schiller

Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.

― Mother Teresa

Who dares impede my progress? Who presume
The spirit to control which guideth me?
Still must the arrow wing its destined flight!
Where danger is, there must Johanna be;
Nor now, nor here, am I foredoomed to fall;
Our monarch’s royal brow I first must see
Invested with the round of sovereignty.
No hostile power can rob me of my life,
Till I’ve accomplished the commands of God.

Freidrich Schiller
(The Maid of Orleans) (1801), Act II, Scene 4 (as translated by Anna Swanwick)

Never destroy your own happiness through impatience and thoughtlessness. The same thing can produce both happiness and unhappiness. We can make ourselves so uncontrolled, so unworthy of the blessings that surround us that we are not able to take good opportunities when they come. Truth is a light, a glowing spiritual light. When that light shines, there can be no darkness. Heaven is not a vague, visionary thing. It is something we create within ourselves. We make it out of the exuberance and radiance of our own soul.

Swami Parmananda

Prayer.
0 Thou All-abiding Spirit, make Thy care and guidance a reality to me.
May the consciousness of Thy Presence become so vivid
That I may find all my rest and strength in Thee alone.
May I walk by Thy light only and never turn away to follow darkness.

Swami Parmananda
(Book of Daily Thoughts and Prayers)

Our happiness depends on the happiness of others. We should expand our little nature. There is no such thing as selfish happiness in political life ; there is no such thing as selfish happiness in social life ; there is no such thing as selfish happiness in spiritual life. Unhappiness means that we close our hearts to the higher avenues of true joy. True happiness is contained in the Infinite and Eternal.

Swami Parmananda
(Book of Daily Thoughts and Prayers)

Prayer.
May the Divine Spirit protect me from selfishness and pettiness.
May I never yield to dejection or discontent.
May He grant me brightness of spirit and cheerfulness.
May I find all my happiness in Him, not in the things of this world.
May He bestow His peace and blessing upon my life

Swami Parmananda
(Book of daily Thoughts and Prayers)

If the door shuts, do not go away.
Be patient, even if every possibility seems closed.
The friend has secret ways known to no one else.

—- Rumi

He wept when they appointed him judge. The deputy asked, “Why do [you] cry? This is the time to rejoice.” “How can I who does not know decide between two who know?” “Accept no bribe,” the deputy said. “Then you will know. Do not give in to desire; it will make you blind. Since I turned from vain desires, my heart has become like a mirror bright. It recognizes truth from untruth.

-Rumi Mathnawi

Not allowing a day to pass without doing some good is a boulder that will block your passage on the path to rebirth. Only virtuous deeds abound in true joy. All other deeds are empty and devoid of distinction.

Tirukkal.

The degree of freedom from unwanted thoughts and the degree of concentration on a single thought are the measures to gauge spiritual progress.

Raman Maharishi

Lover, sit still and wait ;
Whom thou desirest will come.
Being alone is not lonely.
And how wilt thou receive Him if thou art
not alone ?
Waiting is for preparing ;
Watching with longing is sweet ;
And when He comes all this will end
And thou thyself will be lost in love.

Swami Parmanand

It is necessary to open the deeper side of one’s
nature by patience, humility and obedience before
one can take spiritual teaching. That is why the great
sages of India were so insistent in their discipline.
Those who cannot bear reprimand, it shows they are
shallow and empty. Discipleship is a very sacred
thing and it cannot be given to one who is not fully
prepared for it.

Swami Parmanand
(Book of Daily Thoughts and Prayers)

The Infinite is the source of joy. There is no joy in the finite. Only in the Infinite is there joy. Ask to know the Infinite

– Chandogya Upanishad..

The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer,
and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament.

– Brother Lawrence

Don’t mentally review any problem constantly.
Let it rest at times and it may work itself out; but see
that you do not rest so long that your discrimination is
lost. Rather, use these rest periods to go deep within
the calm regions of your inner Self.

–Paramahansa Yogananda, “The Law of Success”

The East has lived religiously — that is one pole — and because it has lived religiously it
has not been able to produce science. The West has lived scientifically, and because of its
science it has lost track of religion. Now for the first time, the East is no more East and
the West is no more West. The earth is becoming one: the earth is becoming one. global
village. This is the time when the reconciliation can be seen, can be understood.
Man is entering into a new phase; a new consciousness is to dawn. For at least ten
thousand years, as far as consciousness is concerned, nothing new has happened. There
have been Buddhas and there have been Albert Einsteins, but we are still waiting for a
Buddha who is also an Albert Einstein or an Albert Einstein who is also a Buddha. The
day is coming closer and closer. Albert Einstein in his last days was very much interested
in meditation, in religion. His last days were full of wonder. He said in his old age, “I
used to think when I was young that sooner or later all the mysteries of existence would
be solved, and I worked hard. But now I can say that the more we know, the more
existence turns out to be mysterious. The more we know, the less we know and the more
we become aware of the vastness….”

Osho Rajneesh

Twelve Words of Wisdom by Baba Fareed

1. Do not follow a truth which resembles a lie
2. Do not degrade yourself to achieve a rank
3. If you want the position of a saint, remain away from the kings family
4. Always find an excuse to do something good
5. Do not fight with anyone in a way leaving no chance to come back
6. Do not quit your activities because of other’s cold shoulder
7. Look the way you are, otherwise your true face will be unveiled automatically
8. Beware of a wise looking foolish man
9. Don’t buy a slave who is ready to be sold
10. A person should perform such deeds which keep him alive for ever
11. Truthful in love is a person who has only love and nothing else in his heart

Loghman of Sarrakhs cried: “Dear God, behold
Your faithful servant, poor, bewildered, old–
An old slave is permitted to go free;
I’ve spent my life in patient loyalty,
I’m bent with grief, my black hair’s turned to snow;
Grant manumission, Lord, and let me go.”
A voice replied: “When you have gained release
from mind and thought, your slavery will cease;
You will be free when these two disappear.”
He said: “Lord, it is You whom I revere;
What are the mind and all its ways to me?”
And left them there and then — in ecstasy
He danced and clapped his hands and boldly cried:
“Who am I now? The slave I was has died;
What’s freedom, servitude, and where are they?
Both happiness and grief have fled away;
I neither own nor lack all qualities;
My blindness looks on secret mysteries —
I know not whether You are I, I You;
I lose myself in You, there is no two.”

Farid ud-Din Attar
From the Conference of Birds,

Lost in myself
I reappeared
I know not where
a drop that rose
from the sea and fell
and dissolved again;
a shadow
that stretched itself out
at dawn,
when the sun
reached noon
I disappeared.
I have no news
of my coming
or passing away–
the whole thing
happened quicker
than a breath;
ask no questions
of the moth.
In the candle flame
of his face
I have forgotten
all the answers.
In the way of love
there must be knowledge
and ignorance
so I have become
both a dullard
and a sage;
one must be
an eye and yet
not see
so I am blind
and yet I still
perceive,
Dust
be on my head
if I can say
where I
in bewilderment
have wandered:
Attar
watched his heart
transcend both worlds
and under its shadow
now is gone mad
with love.

Farid ud-Din Attar
English version by Peter Lamborn Wilson and Nasrollah Pourjavady
Original Language Persian/Farsi

Do not lament if you see no lights or images in
meditation. Go deep into the perception of Bliss; there
you will find the actual presence of God. Seek not a
part but the Whole.

—Paramahansa Yogananda, “Sayings of Paramahansa
Yogananda”

Not through a desultory life but through a regular
and balanced life will you receive the blessings of the
Masters. Then evil will never use you as an instrument.

—Paramahansa Yogananda, in a talk to disciples

Christ came and lived among men to awaken the Christ-consciousness within them. Christ should be born in each one of you. Then alone you will understand spiritual life. Then alone you will try to live a perfect, divine life. Then alone you will realize the spirit of Christ, which is within each one of us. Every day should be a Christmas Day for us. So bring the spirit of Christ into your daily life. Behold Christ in everything, in all beings. Cultivate sympathy and mercy for all beings. Expand your heart and embrace all. Greet the Christ everywhere. Remember, Christ is in the saint and the sinner. Christ is in the dog and in the laborer. Christ is in all. And Christ is in you!

– Swami Sivananda

Glory to God in highest heaven,
Who unto man His Son hath given;
While angels sing with tender mirth,
A glad new year to all the earth.

-Martin Luther

If this is to be a Happy New Year, a year of usefulness, a year in which we shall live to make this earth better, it is because God will direct our pathway. How important then, to feel our dependence upon Him!

– Matthew Simpson

Told to Sarada Devi: Just as Chanda Mama (`uncle’ moon) is the uncle of all children, so God is everybody’s Own. Whoever calls on Him will be blessed with His vision. If you call on him, you also will see Him

– Ramakrishna Paramhans

God can be realized; one can see and talk to Him as I am seeing and talking to you. But who cares? People shed torrents of tears for their wife and children, for wealth or property, but who does so for the sake of God? If one weeps sincerely for Him, He surely manifests Himself.

Swami Ramakrishna Paramhans

Even if it is agreed that Radha was not a historical personality and that the episode is imagined by some lover of God, why not fix your mind on the intense yearning of Radha and the Gopis for the Supreme? Why dwell on the expression? This may appear human to you, but the yearning and vision you must take as divine.

Swami Ramakrishna Paramhans

Anything that is secret and mysterious in these systems of yoga should be at once rejected. The best guide in life is strength. In religion, as in all other matters, discard everything that weakens you, have nothing to do with it.

Swami Vivekananda

All who have actually attained any real religious experience never wrangle over the form in which the different religions are expressed. They know that the soul of all religions is the same and so they have no quarrel with anybody just because he or she does not speak in the same tongue.

Swami Vivekananda

Be empty of worrying…. Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open?
Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking.

~Rumi, (as interpreted by Coleman Barks)

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.

– The Buddha

Parvardigar the Preserver and Protector of all!
You are without Beginning, and without End,
Non-dual, beyond comparison, and none
can measure You.
You are without colour, without expression,
without form, and without attributes.
You are unlimited and unfathomable,
beyond imagination and conception,
eternal and imperishable.
You are indivisible; and none can see You,
but with Eyes Divine.
You always were, You always are, and
You always will be;
You are everywhere, You are in everything;
and You are also beyond everywhere
and beyond everything.
You are in the firmament and in the depths;
You are manifest and unmanifest, on
all planes and beyond all planes.
You are in the three worlds, and also
beyond the three worlds;
You are imperceptible and independent.
You are the Creator, the Lord of lords,
the knower of all minds and hearts;
You are omnipotent and omnipresent.
You are Knowledge Infinite, Power Infinite,
and Bliss Infinite.
You are the Ocean of Knowledge, all-knowing,
infinitely knowing, the Knower of the past,
the present, and the future, and You are
Knowledge Itself.
You are all-merciful and eternally benevolent;
You are the Soul of souls, the One with
infinite attributes.
You are the Trinity of Truth, knowledge, and
Bliss,
You are the Source of Truth, the Ocean of Love;
You are the Ancient One, the Highest of the High;
You are Prabhu and Parameshwar, You are the
Beyond-God, and the Beyond-Beyond God also,
You are Parabrahma, Allah, Elahi, Yezdan,
Ahuramazda, and God the Beloved.
You are named Ezad the only One
worthy of worship.

– Meher Baba (Universal Prayer )

The friendship that exist between guru and disciple
is eternal. There is complete surrender, there is no
compulsion, when a disciple accepts the guru’s training.

—Paramahansa Yogananda, “Man’s Eternal Quest”

The ability to exercise constant control over one’s low desire s is no mean achievement. Success in establishing a lasting sublimation of all desires is indeed a greater one. But the greatest is the burning away of all one’s desires once and for all, which divine love alone can do.

– Meher Baba (God Speaks)

Lose yourself altogether when bowing down to God with a single-minded devotion and you will obtain joy and power in proportion. If you cannot do anything else, at least morning and evening at the appointed time, lay down your body, mind and life before Him in salutation and surrender, and think of Him just a little.

Anandmayi Ma

True charity remembers not only those in need who ask,
but also those who are prevented by some reason from asking
.
– Sura 51:19

The thought: “I am the doer”
is the bite of a poisonous snake.
To know: “I do nothing”
is the wisdom of faith.
Be happy.

Ashtavakra Geeta 1.8

You are not earth, water, fire or air.
Nor are you empty space.
Liberation is to know yourself
as Awareness alone—
the Witness of these.

Ashtavakra Gita 1.3

If you are destined for good fortune you will be blessed;
if afflictions have been ordained, no matter where you hide they will seek you out.
Submit therefore before the will of God; be grateful in well-being and endure adversity with fortitude that His light may radiate within your being.

– Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jillani

A human being has so many skins inside, covering the depths of the heart. We know so many things, but we don’t know ourselves! Why, thirty or forty skins or hides, as thick and hard as an ox’s or a bear’s, cover the soul. Go into your own ground and learn to know yourself there.

– Meister Eckhart

I love,
because my love
is not dependent
on the object of love.
My love is dependent
on my state of being.
So whether
the other person changes,
becomes different,
friend turns into a foe,
does not matter,
because my love
was never dependent
on the other person.
My love
is my state of being.
I simply love.

~ Osho ~

You are not to do anything to be happy. In fact you have done too much to become unhappy. If you want to be unhappy, do too much. If you want to be happy, allow things, allow things to be. Rest, relax, and be in a let go. Let go is the secret of life. When you are in a letgo many things, millions of things, start happening. They were already happening but you were never aware.

~ Osho

The supreme Self, adored in the scriptures, Can be realized through the path of yoga. Subtler than the banyan seed, subtler Than the tiniest grain,
even subtler Than the hundred-thousandth part of a hair,
This Self cannot be grasped, cannot be seen.

Atma Upanishad

There are two ways to look at life. One is as though nothing is a miracle;
the other is as though everything is.

– Albert Einstein

Let the wise guard their thoughts, which are difficult to perceive,
which are extremely subtle, which wander at will.
Thought which is well guarded is the bearer of happiness.

– The Buddha

Him I call a Mahatman (Great Soul), whose heart bleeds for the Poor, otherwise he is a Duratman (Evil Soul).

So long as the millions live in hunger and ignorance, I hold every man a traitor who, having been educated at their expense, pays not the least heed to them.

Swami Vivekananda

You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.”

~ Mahatma Gandhi

Out of compassion I destroy the darkness of their ignorance.
From within them I light the lamp of wisdom and dispel all darkness from their lives.

– Bhagavad Gita

There is a benefit even in misfortune, for it is the rod With which a man can measure the loyalty of friends.”

– Tirukkural 80:796

Penance is that goodness which refrains from killing.

Perfection is that goodness which refuses to tell others’ faults.

Humility is the strength of the strong and the weapon with which the wise conquer their foes.

– Tirukkural 99:984-985

Try to treat with equal love all the people with whom you have relations.
Thus the abyss between “myself” and “yourself” will be filled in, which is the goal of all religious worship.

– Anandamayi Ma

On this path, effort never goes to waste, and there is no failure.
Even a little effort toward spiritual awareness will protect you from the greatest fear.

– Bhagavad Gita

Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

He who has no desires has no sorrow, but where there is desire There will be ever-increasing sorrows.

When desire, sorrow’s sorrow, dies away, Undying bliss prevails even here on earth.

It is the nature of desire never to be fulfilled, but he who utterly Gives it up realizes eternal fulfillment at that very moment.

– Tirukkural 37: 368-370
(posted by Sukhwani)

There are two kinds of pranamas : Offering to Him your whole body and mind with all thoughts, desires, sense-impressions, love, affection, devotion, just like emptying the contents of a full pitcher to its last drop. The other way is like scattering face-powder through the minute holes of a powder-box : the major portion of your thoughts and desires is kept back in a hidden chamber of your mind, and only a little dust is allowed to escape.

Anandamayi Ma

Your earthly pension expires with your life, but the divine pension continues long, long after death. Those who amass money, store it up in a hidden chamber of their house, add to this store what they can save from time to time, and keep a constant watch over their treasure. So also reserve a little corner of your mind and heart for God and always steal an opportunity to add to your stock in the shape of the invocation of His name or some pious work or divine thought.

Anandamayi Maa

The more one develops spiritually, the deeper becomes his or her love and compassion for humanity. Accompanying love and compassion is the desire to uplift humanity from the throes of ignorance and war and the consequent suffering they bring. However, you must remember to make God first in your heart always. The Father will not be content with second place; He must reign first and foremost in the most tender center of your being–your heart. Through His blessings and grace alone are you able to develop and help humanity emerge from its ignorance.
Meditate regularly and practice Kriya Yoga faithfully with all the concentration of your mind and the intensity of your heart. On Christmas Eve meditate for many hours in the presence of other devotees. Dedicate this extended meditation to the achievement of the love of God and the attainment of World Peace and Brotherhood among all nations.
Yogananda, Christmas, 1950

Share your gifts (material, mental and spiritual) with the less fortunate on Christmas. This will make your holiday a real one,. The gifts need not be expensive but practical ones: durable clothing (new or used) for those who need it, canned and dried foods for people who find them difficult to obtain in their countries, a friendly visit to the physically afflicted, a word of comfort to the depressed, and spiritual manna to those who are seeking the love of God. You can help distant as well as local people in these ways.
Be ambitious for God. Keep seeking Him through meditation and keep working for Him. This will give you the spiritual emancipation you are seeking. Christ and the great ones showed through exemplary living that it can be done. So follow their footsteps quietly and humbly. God bless you always. May your every day become a Christmas of ever-new joy, love, peace, and wisdom in God and the Gurus.
With deepest blessings,
Paramahansa Yogananda, Christmas, 1950

When clutches of the “self” break away, they clap their hands and break into dance as their imperfections fade away. The musicians within; strike the tambourine, and the seas burst into foam at their ecstasy.

– Rumi, “The Life and Thought of Rumi

Hidden away in the inner nature of the real man is the law of his life, and someday he will discover it and consciously make use of it. He will heal himself, make himself happy and prosperous, and live in an entirely different world. For he will have discovered that life is from within and not from without.

– Ralph Waldo Emerson
(posted by Sukh Wani)

Knowledge of ourselves teaches us whence we come, where we are and whither we are going. We come from God and we are in exile; and it is because our potency of affection tends towards God that we are aware of this state of exile.

– Jan van Ruysbroeck

The succession of experiences that one goes through in the process of involution is called the Spiritual Path, and the going through them is likened to a journey. On one stage you hear melodious sounds and music that enchant and overwhelm you. On another stage you see wonderful visions in which most often you get lost. Such experiences are part and parcel of the Great Dream in Illusion, though together they may be called a real or super Dream compared with day to day experiences of the gross sphere.

The experiences are so innumerable and varied, that the journey appears to be interminable and the Destination is ever out of sight. But the wonder of it is, when at last you reach your Destination you find that you had never travelled at all! It was a journey from here to Here. As one Sufi expressed it, When I plucked the date (Fruit of Realization) I found the fruit was within me.

Meher Baba

The journey seems infinitely long while you are passing through the dream-experiences of reincarnation and the six planes of involution, until finally you merge into yourself to emerge as Self.

But the journey is after all no journey: it is simply the momentum of your urge to awaken from the Dream and get established in the reality of the God-state of Infinite Consciousness. To awaken means to consciously experience the sound-sleep State of God. When you awaken you find that the Great Dream containing all the varied illusory aspects of dreaming, has vanished forever. Heaven and hell as well as all the planes vanish within your Self, to remain as nothing. In this Awakened State, there is no scope for anything besides you — the Self, the Existence eternal and the Infinite.

This is the only Experience worth experiencing and aspiring after. To gain this Experience you have to become as dust at the feet of the Perfect Master — which amounts to becoming as nothing. And, when you become absolutely nothing, you become Everything.

Meher Baba

Even as the sun shines and fills all space With light, above, below, across, so shines The Lord of Love and fills the hearts of all created beings. From him the cosmos comes, he who teaches Each living creature to attain perfection According to its own nature. He is The Lord of Love who reigns over all life.

– Shvetashvatara Upanishad

He is not asleep. He is not awake. He never closes his eyes Or opens them. Wherever he is, He is beyond everything. He is free. And the man who is free Always lives in his heart. His heart is always pure. Whatever happens, He is free of all desires.

– Ashtavakra Gita 17:10-11

My Christmas wish for you this year is two fold: that the consciousness of Christ be manifest in you through deep meditation, and that your exemplary actions will persuade others to abandon their evil or worldly ways and become spiritual. Both meditation and action are necessary on the spiritual path, for they contribute toward individual and mass evolution. It is not God’s will to develop spiritually in a selfish way, i.e., without extending help to others who are suffering. So remember always to render service to mass evolution, while seeking the Father through regular practices of deep meditation.

Christmas Massage from Paramhans Yoganand
December 1950

Your children are not your children ; they are the sons & daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you, but not from you. And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you. You are the bows from which your children, as living arrows, are sent forth into the future.

Joel Osteen

Give your life for that cup of divine wisdom.
How can you succeed without endurance and patience?
To wait for the sake of that cup is no hardship.
Show patience, for patience is the key to joy.

– Rumi

Thirst drove me down to the water
where I drank the moon’s reflection.
Now I am a lion staring up totally
lost in love with the thing itself.
Don’t ask questions about longing.
Look in my face.
Soul drunk, body ruined, these two
sit helpless in a wrecked wagon.
Neither knows how to fix it.

RUMİ..

God examines both rich and poor,
not according to their lands and houses,
but according to the riches of their hearts.

– Augustine of Hippo

Pursuit of material pleasures will be like nectar at first, but turns to be poison at the end.

– Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.
Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.
Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.
But, after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it

– Buddha

Ikoankaar Sathnaam Karathaa Purakh Nirabho Niravair Akaal Moorath Ajoonee Saibhan Gurprasaadh||
One Universal Creator God, The Name Is Truth Creative Being Personified No Fear No Hatred Image Of The Undying, Beyond Birth, Self-Existent. By Guru’s Grace~
|| Jap ||
Chant And Meditate:
Aadh Sach Jugaadh Sach ||
True In The Primal Beginning. True Throughout The Ages.
Hai Bhee Sach Naanak Hosee Bhee Sach ||1||
True Here And Now. O Nanak, Forever And Ever True. ||1||

Japji Sahib

Hukamee Hovan Aakaar Hukam N Kehiaa Jaaee ||
By His Command, bodies are created; His Command cannot be described.
Hukamee Hovan Jeea Hukam Milai Vaddiaaee ||
By His Command, souls come into being; by His Command, glory and greatness are obtained.
Hukamee Outham Neech Hukam Likh Dhukh Sukh Paaeeahi ||
By His Command, some are high and some are low; by His Written Command, pain and pleasure are obtained.
Eikanaa Hukamee Bakhasees Eik Hukamee Sadhaa Bhavaaeeahi ||
Some, by His Command, are blessed and forgiven; others, by His Command, wander aimlessly forever.
Hukamai a(n)dhar sabh ko baahar hukam n koe ||
Everyone is subject to His Command; no one is beyond His Command.
Naanak Hukamai Jae Bujhai Th Houmai Kehai N Koe ||2||
O Nanak, one who understands His Command, does not speak in ego. ||2||

Japji Sahib

Sochai Soch N Hovee Jae Sochee Lakh Vaar ||
By thinking, He cannot be reduced to thought, even by thinking hundreds of thousands of times.
Chupai Chup N Hovee Jae Laae Rehaa Liv Thaar ||
By remaining silent, inner silence is not obtained, even by remaining lovingly absorbed deep within.
Bhukhiaa Bhukh N Outharee Jae Bannaa Pureeaa Bhaar ||
The hunger of the hungry is not appeased, even by piling up loads of worldly goods.
Sehas Siaanapaa Lakh Hohi Th Eik N Chalai Naal ||
Hundreds of thousands of clever tricks, but not even one of them will go along with you in the end.
Kiv Sachiaaraa Hoeeai Kiv Koorrai Thuttai Paal ||
So how can you become truthful? And how can the veil of illusion be torn away?
Hukam Rajaaee Chalanaa Naanak Likhiaa Naal ||1||
O Nanak, it is written that you shall obey His Command, and walk in the Way of His Will. ||1||

Japji Sahib

Nothing can nourish the soul but light .

~ Rumi

Right Activity

Before embarking on important undertakings, sit quietly, calm your senses and thoughts and meditate deeply. You will then be guided by the great creative power of Spirit.

–Paramahansa Yogananda, “The law of Success”

You have no need to travel anywhere.
Journey within Yourself,
Enter a mine of rubies and bathe in the splendor of Your Own Light.

Rumi
——
Blessed are the persons who
have recognised their real essence
and thus built for themselves palaces in everlasting beauty.

Rumi, Mathnawi V, 3341
____________________________

Experience life in all possible ways — good-bad, bitter-sweet, dark- light, summer-winter. Experience all the dualities.

Don’t be afraid of experience, because the more experience you have, the more mature you become.

― Osho

If you love a flower, don’t pick it up.

Because if you pick it up it dies and it ceases to be what you love.

So if you love a flower, let it be. Love is not about possession.
Love is about appreciation.”

― Osho

Listen to your being. It is continuously giving you hints; it is a still, small voice. It does not shout at you, that is true. And if you are a little silent you will start feeling your way. Be the person you are. Never try to be another, and you will become mature. Maturity is accepting the responsibility of being oneself, whatsoever the cost. Risking all to be oneself, that’s what maturity is all about.

― Osho

In the world people think they can attain glory by having cows and horses, elephants and gold, family and servants, fields and mansions.

But I do not call that glory, for here one thing depends on another.
Utterly independent is the Infinite.

– Chandogya Upanishad

To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.

― Osho

Yadá yadá hi dharmasya glánirbhavati Bhárata;
Cábhyutthánamadharmasya tadátmánaḿ srjámyaham.
Paritráńáya sádhúnáḿ vinásháya ca duśkrtám;
Dharmasaḿsthápanártháya sambhavámi yuge yuge.

[At a time when dharma is distorted and adharma is ascendant, I create myself out of my own fundamental factors. I incarnate Myself in this world from age to age for the protection of the virtuous, the destruction of the wicked, and the restoration of dharma.]

That is, whenever there is gláni, or downfall, of dharma, God appears on the scene.

Bhagwat Gita

Those who abide by the dictates of dharma are called sádhus. In the traditional sense, a sádhu means a devotee wearing white clothes, with the word dása suffixed to his name, and after whose death the ceremony of shráddha and bháńd́árá is performed.

(A sannyásii, on the other hand, uses saffron clothes. Sannyásiis have the word ánanda appended to their names. No shráddha ceremony is performed after their deaths.)

But this is only a traditional meaning of sádhu. Sádhu really means “one who abides by dharma”. Lord Krśńa says [in effect]: “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” That is, whatever is required by me may also be required by others. This consideration for others is dharma, and one who acts like this is a sádhu.

Anandamurti

Dharma

Dhr means “to [uphold]” or “to support”. Dharma is that which supports life and its properties. Dharma alone stands forward, come what may. The dictates of dharma ought to be heeded. Everything else – wealth, logic, intellect – is secondary.

Dharma is your real friend. So, strengthen dharma when dharma itself starts deteriorating, when life becomes unnatural and [threatens] our destruction; because everything in life has to have its proper place. [When] dharma [is moved from] its place, that is called the gláni of dharma; when dharma gets displaced from its proper position in life, then there is dharma[sya] glánih.

Anandamurti

Most humans are never fully present in the now, because unconsciously they believe that the next moment must be more important than this one. But then you miss your whole life, which is never not now.

Eckhart Tolle

Thinking is a wonderful tool if it’s applied. Thinking, however, can not become the master. Thinking is a very bad master. If you’re dominated by thinking then your life becomes very restricted.

Eckhart Tolle

You can have religion with spirituality. You can also have religion without spirituality.

Eckhart Tolle

What you avoid controls you. What controls you causes fear in you. So, avoiding isn’t the solution. Whatever, face it.”

– Mahatria Ra

What is enquiry into the Truth? It is the firm conviction that the Self is real, and all, other than That, is unreal.

Adi Sankaracharya

Thus one should know oneself to be of the nature of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss[Sat-Chit-Ananda].

Adi Sankaracharya

Knowing that I am different from the body, I need not neglect the body. It is a vehicle that I use to transact with the world. It is the temple which houses the Pure Self within.

Adi Sankaracharya

Thus one should know oneself to be of the nature of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss[Sat-Chit-Ananda].

Adi Sankaracharya

Everything you see has its roots in the unseen world.

~Rumi

Where is That Door of Yours, and where is That Home, in which You sit and take care of all? The Sound-current of the Naad vibrates there for You, and countless musicians play all sorts of instruments there for You. There are so many Ragas and musical harmonies to You; so many minstrels sing hymns of You. Wind, water and fire sing of You. The Righteous Judge of Dharma sings at Your Door. Chitr and Gupt, the angels of the conscious and the subconscious who keep the record of actions, and the Righteous Judge of Dharma who reads this record, sing of You. Shiva, Brahma and the Goddess of Beauty, ever adorned by You, sing of You. Indra, seated on His Throne, sings of You, with the deities at Your Door. The Siddhas in Samaadhi sing of You; the Saadhus sing of You in contemplation.

Granth Sahib

You Yourself vibrate the beat of the breath. Shiva and Shakti, energy and matter You have placed them into the body. By Guru’s Grace, one turns away from the world, and attains the jewel of spiritual wisdom, and the Word of the Shabad. || 2 ||

The Holy Granth Sahib

He Himself created darkness and light.
He alone is pervasive; there is no other at all.
One who realizes his own self by Guru’s Grace,
the lotus of his mind blossoms forth. ||3||

The Holy Granth Sahib

Only He Himself knows His depth and extent. Other people can only listen and hear what is spoken and said. One who is spiritually wise, understands himself as Gurmukh; he praises the True Lord. || 4 ||

The Holy Granth Sahib

Deep within the body is the priceless object.
He Himself opens the doors.
The Gurmukh intuitively brings in the Ambrosial Nectar,
and the fire of desire is quenched.|| 5 ||

The Holy Granth Sahib

According to yoga psychology, mental objects tend to become expressed in the external world. What we think about tends to happen.

If you think you’ll succeed, you’ll succeed. If you think you will fail, you will fail. Either way, you are right.

— Yogananda

In our family life, there are various ways to communicate with one another, such as in the personal relation between a mother and her son. For instance, if the son’s given name is Ram Kumar then naturally the mother does not always like to address her son by his formal or legal name of Ram Kumar. Rather, in the closeness of their day to day living the mother affectionately calls him ‘Ramu’. So the nickname ‘Ramu’ is one loving way for the mother to address her son.

Similar is case in the relation between the bhakta and Parama Purusa. Parama Purusa has countless official names or formal titles– one for each of His infinite attributions. But all along there is one very special & meaningful way for the devotee to call Parama Purusa: That is with one’s Ista Mantra. This is the very personal and intimate way for the bhakta to
call Parama Purusa.

As we all know “Ista” means ‘most loving’, ‘most dear’, ‘most intimate’ etc. So our Ista Mantra is one very loving way for the bhakta to devotionally address Parama Purusa. Thus when we repeat or chant of Ista mantra we are calling Parama Purusa. That is the speciality of our Ista mantra.

Anandamurti , January 1979

When we do any action in this world then we have to remember that Guru is along with us. When we think that Parama Purusa is indeed watching our each and every move, then that itself is Guru Mantra: ‘Parama Purusa is watching me. Wherever I am– I am never alone– constantly He is watching me’. This is the feeling behind Guru Mantra,the practice of which is also known as madhuvidya.

Anandamurti, January 1979

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Psalm 23:1-4
Holy Bible

fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

Arjuna, those who eat too much or eat too little,
who sleep too much or sleep too little,
will not succeed in meditation.
But those who are temperate in eating and sleeping, work and recreation,
will come to the end of sorrow through meditation.
Through constant effort they learn to withdraw the mind from selfish cravings
and absorb it in the Self.
Thus they attain the state of union.”

-Bhagavad Gita 6:16-18
(proposed by Sukh Wani)

I don’t preach revolution. I am utterly against revolution. I say unto you that my word for the future, and for those who are intelligent enough in the present, is rebellion. What is the difference?

Rebellion is individual action; it has nothing to do with the crowd. Rebellion has nothing to do with politics, power, violence. Rebellion has something to do with changing your consciousness, your silence, your being. It is a spiritual metamorphosis.

And each individual passing through a rebellion is not fighting with anybody else, but is only fighting with his own darkness. Swords are not needed, bombs are not needed. What is needed is more alertness, more meditativeness, more love, more prayerfulness, more gratitude. Surrounded by all these qualities you are born anew.

Osho, Satyam Shivam Sundaram: Truth Godliness Beauty, Talk #26

God’s relation with human beings is a family relation. When parents feed the children, they do not give four chapatis to the son who is a Master of Arts and only one to the next son who is only a matriculate. For parents, all their children are equal. Similarly, for God all persons are equal for the spiritual food He will give them. Really, the love of parents is dependent not upon the education of the children but upon the children’s attachment for the parents

Anandamurti (21 January 1971)

The kingdom of my mind is begrimed with ignorance. By steady rains of diligence in self-discipline may I remove from my cities of spiritual carelessness the ancient debris
of delusion.
–Paramahansa Yogananda, “Whispers from Eternity” (a book of prayers)

Purification

Foresake slavery to the desires of the flesh. Until you have established your spiritual mastery over the body, the body is your enemy. Always remember that! Have no other desire than to spread His name and to think and sing of Him all the time. What joy! Can money give us this joy? No! It comes only from God.

–Paramahansa Yogananda, “The Divine Romance”

The Prophet said that God has said,
“I cannot be contained in hallowed places. Heaven and earth cannot hold Me.
But I am contained by true hearts. If you seek Me, search in those hearts.”

– Rumi

Sometimes in order to help He makes us cry.
Happy the eye that sheds tears for His sake.
Fortunate the heart that burns for His sake.
Laughter always follows tears.
Blessed are those who understand.
Life blossoms wherever water flows.
Where tears are shed divine mercy is shown.

– Rumi

Healing

“Physicians should carry on their work of healing
through God’s laws as applied to matter,” Sri Yukteswar
said. But he extolled the superiority of mental therapy,
and often repeated: “Wisdom is the greatest cleanser.”

–Paramahansa Yogananda, “Autobiography of a Yogi”

Guru

Guru — is He whom God appoints to lead you out of darkness into the land of eternal light.

God uses the Guru to attract and guide lost souls back to God. The Guru plays a part in God’s divine plan for each of us.

The Guru extends His hand to act as a personal guide. He holds a light to guide the way, offering encouragement each step of the way.

We may have many teachers, but only one Guru.

We have to take the Guru’s hand and allow Him to guide us. We have to be ready to accept our Guru.

– Sayings of Paramhans Yogananda also known as Prem-Avatar — divine incarnation of love. Prem = love, Avatar = soul who attains union with spirit and returns to earth to help mankind.

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Excerpts from a talk at 2010 Convocation of SRF, August 7, 2010

These notes are not from an official publication of SRF. They were taken by the devotees during talks given by the monks and nuns.
Please be aware that there is a degree of human error involved in taking and transcribing notes.

Said Uddalaka to Shvetaketu: “As bees suck nectar from many a flower And make their honey one, so that no drop Can say, ‘I am from this flower or that,’

All creatures, though one, know not they are that One.

There is nothing that does not come from him. Of everything he is the inmost Self.

He is the truth; he is the Self supreme.

You are that, Shvetaketu; you are that.”

– Chandogya Upanishad

O I will come again and again… if need be a trillion times as long as I know one stray brother is left behind.

– Paramhans Yogananda

When the sun is over your head, there will be no shadow. So, too, when faith is steady in your heart, it will not cast any shadow of doubt. Do not talk ill of others; talk only of the good in them. All are good. If you see bad in them, it is because there is bad in you. If you do not like someone, do not mix with them. Grace is the sunlight which will ripen the fruit; Sadhana (spiritual practice) is the sap which rises from earth. Both are needed by the tree of life in order that it may yield the fruit of liberation.

– Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Man is both the inner and the outer, and it has been a fallacy, a very ancient fallacy, to condemn one in favor of the other.

In the East, people renounce the outer in favor of the inner. They escape from the world into the caves in the Himalayas so that they can devote their whole life and their whole time and their whole energy to the inner journey — but they don’t understand the dialectics of life.

In the West, just the opposite has been done. They have renounced the inner so that they can put their whole energy into the outer world and the conquest of the outer world.

Both have been wrong, and both have been right. Both have been wrong because both remained halves; one part grew bigger and bigger,
and the other part remained retarded. You can see it.

– Osho

Freedom

Swami Sri Yukteswar to Paramahansa Yogananda:
“Freedom of will does not consist in doing things
according to the dictates of prenatal or postnatal habits
or of mental whims, but in acting according to the
suggestions of wisdom and free choice. If you tune in
your will with mine [the wisdom-guided will of a guru],
you will find freedom.”

–Swami Sri Yukteswar, in SRF Lessons

Silence is the sea, and speech is like the river.
The sea is seeking you: don’t seek the river.
Don’t turn your head away from the signs offered by the sea.

– Rumi

Do not treat people with contempt, nor walk insolently on the earth.
Allah does not love the arrogant or the self-conceited boaster.
Be modest in your bearing and subdue your voice,
for the most unpleasant of voices is the braying of the ass.

– Luqman 31:18-19

Practicing the Presence of God

God is approachable. Talking to Him and listening
to His words in the scriptures, thinking of Him,
feeling His presence in meditation, you will see that
gradually the Unreal becomes real, and this world
which you think is real will be seen as unreal. There
is no joy like that realization.

–Paramahansa Yogananda, “Man’s Eternal Quest”

Mahavatar Babaji Commemoration Day was on July 25

Mahavatar Babaji has promised to guard and guide
all sincere Kriya Yogis in their path toward the Goal….
“Whenever anyone utters with reverence the name
of Babaji,” Lahiri Mahasaya said, “that devotee
attracts an instant spiritual blessing.”

–Paramahansa Yogananda, “Autobiography of a Yogi
_________________________________________________
This is the day when Babaji appeared before Paramahansa Yogananda at his Garpar Road home in Kolkata, responding to his prayer for blessing and assurance for his mission in the west.

Babaji told Yogananda:
“You are the one I have chosen to spread the message of Kriya Yoga in the West. Long ago I met your guru Yukteswar at a Kumbha Mela; I told him then I would send you to him for training.”

Practicing the Presence of God

When your mind wanders in the maze of myriad
worldly thoughts, patiently lead it back to remembrance
of the indwelling Lord. In time you will find Him ever
with you–a God who talks with you in your own
language, a God whose face peeps at you from every
flower and shrub and blade of grass. Then you shall
say: “I am free! I am clothed in the gossamer of Spirit;
I fly from earth to heaven on wings of light.” And what
joy will consume your being!

–Paramahansa Yogananda, “Sayings of Paramahansa
Yogananda”

Right Attitude

These three instructions, plus meditation, contain
the only rule of life that any disciple needs:

Detachment;

Realization of God as the Giver; and

Unruffled patience.

As long as we fail in any one of these three, we still have
a serious spiritual defect to overcome.

–Sri Gyanamata, “God Alone: The Life and Letters of a Saint”

Without love in the heart, Life is like a sapless tree in a barren desert. What good is a body perfect in outer ways, If inwardly it is impaired by lack of love? With love enshrined in the heart, one lives.
Without it, the body is but bone encased in skin.

– Tirukkural 8:78-80

Practicing the Presence of God (Madhu Vidya)

Although I am planning and doing things in the
world, it is only to please the Lord. I test myself: even
when I am working I whisper within, “Where are You,
Lord?” and the whole world changes. There is nothing
but a great Light, and I am a little bubble in that
Ocean of Light. Such is the joy of existence in God.

–Paramahansa Yogananda, “Man’s Eternal Quest”

When you forgive, you in no way change the past –
but you sure do change the future.

~Bernard Meltzer

Japji Sahib:

This bani controls one’s “ji,” one’s soul. When your ji, your being, is endangered, when the radiance of your soul is weak, recite Japji Sahib.
Guru Nanak Ji said that the thirty-eight pauris of Japji would liberate the humanity from the cycles of birth and death.
____________________________
Shabad Hazare:

This is the highest love letter by a disciple, written by Guru Arjan Dev Ji to Guru Ram Dass Ji. Its gift is that it gives the benefits of a thousand shabads, and one’s soul will merge directly with God. It makes the separated ones come home with grace. One who recites this shabad will never be separated from their beloved.
___________________________

◆Jaap Sahib:
The naad of Jaap Sahib rouses the soul and the self of the Being. “Sahib” also means grace. Recite it when your position is endangered, or when your authoritative personality is weak. This bani brings grace and greatness. It will also give you the ability that, whatever people say, you will automatically be able to compute what they are actually saying. Once you are able to recite it correctly, it will give you the power, the siddhi, that whatever you say must happen. Man can direct God, and God can direct man Guru Gobind Singh Ji recited Jaap Sahib so we won’t become beggars at the doors of others.

◆Tavprasad Swaiye:
This baani was spoken by Guru Gobind Singh ji. When you are not getting any satisfaction out of life, this is the bani to recite.
______________________________________________
When we celebrate the 7th Century i.e. when we complete 700 quotes we shall rename the Spiritual Diary as ‘MYSTIC TRAIL’

◆Anand Sahib:
Whoever recites the forty pauris of Anand Sahib will have endless bliss, because the Guru is limitless. In this bani, mind and body are explained in relation to cosmic divinity. Guru Amar Das ji gave us the song of bliss, which is Anand Sahib, to qualify the mind and to understand the depth.For husband and wife to get together, recite it together,alternating sutras (lines).

◆Rehras Sahib:
This bani is recited after one has worked and is tired. It adds energy (raa-hu) to one’s being, to one’s total concept. Also, recite it when your principle worldly wealth is endangered. In naad, reh means live, and raas means commodity, so Rehras means living commodity. Rehras Sahib helps you when you are physically weak, or weak in money, property and earthly goods.

◆Kirtan Sohila:
This bani is done before sleep at night. It is the most harmonious naad ever uttered. It multiplies the aura to the sensitivity of protection That it eliminates any negativity for miles and miles.
When you are endangered by any species of direct or indirect source, and when you want to protect yourself with the surrounding of the entire magnetic field of the earth, recite Kirtan Sohila.

Many of you often come to Puttaparthi or visit other holy places. You hear
scholars expounding the scriptures. You have observed great and noble souls.
What is the benefit? How have you improved by all this? Have you succeeded in at
least recognising your Rajasik (passionate) and Thamasik (dark) habits and
tendencies? Recognizing them as deleterious is the first step in removing them.
Have you become more and more serene and poised (Sathvik) as the years go by, or
are you the same dull or perhaps fiery individual? If you must know the Lord,
you must love the Lord and lead your life with good conduct. Hatred or even
indifference will result only in misunderstanding. Develop close association
with the Lord and He will reveal Himself to you.

– Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Kaha bhayo jo dou lochan mund kai baith rahio bak dhian lagaeo.
(What happened if one) shut both eyes, sat and meditated? Nothing!

Nhat phirio leeai sat samundran lok gayo parlok gavaio.
(What happened if one) bathed in seven of the holiest oceans? Time is lost on the earth and chances are lost beyond earth.

Bas kio bikhian so baith kai aise hi aise su bais bitaio.
(What happened if one) wasted time in endless arguments over what is right and wrong? Nothing!

Sach kahon sun leho sabai jin prem kio tin hee prabh paio.
I speak the truth, everyone Listen! Only those who love, realize God. (9)

– 9th stanza of Tav-Prasad Savaiye

Following is a poem based on this shabad written by Simer Kaur

Doesn’t matter how long
my shut eye meditates
and howsoever long
my open mind contemplates

How far I rummage
from place to place;
every holy pilgrimage
just goes to waste!

Or have down deep
many scriptures dug,
but still fail to be
ONE like the lovebug*.

The plain truth remains
the eternal life of spring
that I wish to attain
only true love can bring

“The Lord of Love is one. There is indeed No other.
He is the inner ruler In all beings.
He projects the cosmos From himself, maintains and withdraws it Back into himself at the end of time.
His eyes, mouths, arms, and feet are everywhere.
Projecting the cosmos out of himself, He holds it together.

– Shvetashvatara Upanishad

Sacred speech is the manifestation of divinity. God exists in the form of Sabda Brahman (the divine principle of sound). Under any circumstances, do not let your speech be tainted by harshness. Never become agitated. When you understand that all are one, there will be no reason to get agitated. All bodies are like mirrors, and what you see is your own reflection. How then can you become angry with your own reflection? Understand that there is nothing greater than love. When you fill your heart with love, your thoughts, vision, words and deeds will all be suffused with love.

– Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Shabad Hazare:
bilap karay chaatrik kee ni-aa-ee tarikhaa na utrai saaNt na aavai bin darsan sant pi-aaray jee-o ha-o gholee jee-o ghol ghumaa-ee gur darsan sant pi-aaray jee-o.

( My heart longs for the guru as a thirsty pied-cuckoo longs for water…My thirst is not quenched, and I can find no peace without seeing him…I, my soul is a sacrifice to my loving guru.)
Shabad Hazare:_________________________________
This is the highest love letter by a disciple, written by Guru Arjan Dev Ji to Guru Ram Dass Ji. Its gift is that it gives the benefits of a thousand shabads, and one’s soul will merge directly with God. It makes the separated ones come home with grace. One who recites this shabad will never be separated from their beloved.

chakar chehun ar burn, jati ar pati nehun jeh
roop rung ar raikh, bhaikh kohoo keh na skut keh
achul mooret anbho parkas ametoje kehjai
koti eindar eindran saho sahan gnejai
tirbhavn maheep sur nar asur naiti naiti bun tirun keht
tav sarb nam kathai kavan karm nam barnt sumati. (1)

-Jaap Sahib

(No one can give any explanation of His form, dress, outline and complexion.
God’s form is stable, He is self-illuminated, with immeasurable power.
God is the king of millions of kings, and the King of kings of gods.
God is the Lord of three worlds (land, air, water) not only gods, men and demons, but the whole vegetable world announces that none is equal and alike God.
None can utter all of Your names. Wise men who realise Your virtues, call You in the same way.)

In the path of devotion, for those who bargain and crave for profit, reverence is equated with returns; they sell homage at so much per unit of satisfactory response. They calculate how much they are able to extract, like paid servants clamouring for wages, overtime allowances, bonuses and so on. One must be a member of God’s family, a kinsman, a friend of God. You must feel that you are the Lord’s very own. Then your work will not be tiring, you will be able to carry it out in a better manner and it will yield more satisfaction too. In return the Lord Himself will maintain you in bliss. Leave the rest to Him. He knows Best. The joy of having Him is enough reward. This is the secret of human happiness. Live out your lives on these lines and you will never come to grief.

– Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Purification

The aspiring yogi of the West as well as of the East must discipline himself… He should refrain from making too much fuss about the body. If he sees he is finding time for everything else but is too busy for God, he should take the whip of discipline to himself. Why be afraid? There is everything to gain. If a man will not himself cry and struggle to attain his own salvation, will anyone else do it for him?

–Paramahansa Yogananda, “Man’s Eternal Quest”

Purification

…You cannot make steel until you have made the iron white-hot in fire. It is not meant for harm. Trouble and disease have a lesson for us. Our painful experiences are not meant to destroy us, but to burn out our dross, to hurry us back Home. No one is more anxious for our release than God.

–Paramahansa Yogananda, “Man’s Eternal Quest”

Purification

Kriya Yoga is the real “fire rite” oft extolled in the Gita. The yogi casts his human longings into a monotheistic bonfire consecrated to the unparalleled God. …All past and present desires are fuel consumed
by love divine. The Ultimate Flame receives the sacrifice of all human madness, and man is pure of dross. His metaphorical bones stripped of all desirous flesh, his karmic skeleton bleached by antiseptic suns of wisdom, inoffensive before man and Maker, he is clean at last.

–Paramahansa Yogananda, “Autobiography of a Yogi”