If you are willing to look at another person’s behavior toward you as a reflection of the state of their relationship with themselves rather than a statement about your value as a person, then you will, over a period of time cease to react at all. - Yogi Bhajan.

If you want change you have to invite chaos. - Anonymous.

It takes grace to be kind in cruel situations. - Anonymous.

Rub your eyes, and look again with love at love. - Rumi.

You may control a mad elephant; You may shut the mouth of the bear and the tiger; Ride the lion and play with the cobra; By alchemy, you may earn your livelihood; You may wander through the universe incognito; Make vassals of the Gods; be ever youthful; You may walk on water and live in fire: But control of the mind is better and more difficult. - Thayumanavar.

The very things that hold you down are going to lift you up. - Anonymous.

Love is the bridge between you and everything. - Rumi.

If it doesn't open, it is not your door. - Anonymous.

The one who plants trees, knowing that he will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life. - Rabindranath Tagore.

The same energy manifests in a million different ways: as a stone, a tree, an animal, a human being, or in its subtlest form - the Divine. - Sadhguru.

Don't be afraid to choose a different path than others. - Anonymous.

Don't wait to be rich to be happy. Happiness is free. - Anonymous.

A spiritual awakening is usually not pleasant. Often it feels like confusion, frustration, anger, sadness, grief, or being "out of place". A spiritual awakening can be uncomfortable and challenging because it's an intense time of personal growth. But despite how difficult it may feel, you are not going crazy; you are evolving. - Anonymous.

The entire universe is inside you. - Anonymous.

"Jonathan," he said, and these were the last words that he spoke, "keep working on love." - Richard Bach, form 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull'.

Your only true obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself. - Richard Bach.

Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength. - Sigmund Freud.

Like branches on a tree we all grow in different directions but our roots remain the same. - Anonymous.

Indian culture produced phenomenal human beings, because education was not about learning things but enhancing the human being. If human beings are sufficiently enhanced, they are able to learn whatever they want. - Sadhguru.

The meaning I picked, the one that changed my life: Overcome fear, behold wonder. - Richard Bach.

You are a series of mistakes that had to happen for you to find your you. - Atticus.

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. - Viktor Frankl.

The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in its depths, it has its pearls too. - Vincent Van Gogh.

To become learned each day add something. To become enlightened each day drop something. - Lao Tzu.

You must not let anyone define your limits because of where you come from your only limit is your Soul. - Gusteau, Ratatouille.

The very things that hold you down are going to lift you up. - Anonymous.

Love is the bridge between you and everything. - Rumi.

When things change inside you, things change around you. - Anonymous.

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music. - Nietzsche.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. - Leonardo da Vinci.

We are all just walking each other home. - Ram Das.

The sage battles his own ego. The fool battles everyone else's. - Sufi Proverb.

Humble yourself or life will do it for you. - Anonymous.

Water that is too pure has no fish. - Zen Proverb.

My dear, in the midst of hate, I found there was, within me an invincible love. In the midst of chaos, I found there was within me an invincible calm. I realized through it all that in the midst of winter, I found there was within me an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there is something stronger, something better, pushing right back. - Anonymous.

Everything affects everything. - Anonymous.

 

The highest purpose in life is that of service. Salute to another great Soul.

Quiet the mind and the Soul will speak. - Anonymous.

When you call yourself an Indian or a Muslim or a Christian or a European, or anything else you are being violent. Do you see why it is violent? Because you are separating yourself from the rest of mankind. When you separate yourself by belief, by nationality, by tradition, it breeds violence. So a man who is seeking to understand violence does not belong to any country, to any religion, to any political party or partial system; he is concerned with the total understanding of mankind. - J. Krishnamurti.

Enhance in yourself what you search for in others. - Anonymous.

Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress no matter how slow. - Plato.

From the little reading I had done, I had observed that the men who were most in life, who were molding life, who were life itself, ate little, slept little, owned little or nothing. They were interested in truth and in truth alone. They recognized only one kind of activity - creation. - Anonymous.

Loneliness is the absence of connection, not company. - Anonymous.

The unexamined life is not worth living. - Socrates.

Effort well-directed breaks down all obstacles. Be steady in your aspiration and it is sure to be granted. Love. - The Mother.

After becoming President, I asked some of my bodyguard members to go for a walk in town. After the walk, we went for lunch at a restaurant. We sat in one of the most central ones, and each of us asked what we wanted. After a bit of waiting, the waiter who brought our menus appeared, at that moment I realized that at the table that was right in front of ours there was a single man waiting to be served. When he was served, I told one of my soldiers: go ask that man to join us. The soldier went and transmitted my invitation. The man stood up, took the plate, and sat next to me. While eating, his hands were constantly shaking and he didn't lift his head from the food. When we finished, he waved at me without even looking at me, I shook his hand and walked away! The soldier said to me, "Madiba, that man must be very sick as his hands wouldn't stop shaking while he was eating." "Not at all! The reason for his tremor is another", I replied. They looked at me weird and said to them, "That man was the guardian of the jail I was locked up in. Often, after the torture I was subjected to, I screamed and cried for water and he came to humiliate me, he laughed at me, and instead of giving me water, he urinated on my head. He wasn't sick, he was scared and shook maybe fearing that I, now that I'm president of South Africa, would send him to jail and do the same thing he did with me, torturing and humiliating him. But that's not me, that behavior is not part of my character nor my ethics. Minds that seek revenge destroy states, while those that seek reconciliation build Nations.′′ - Nelson Mandela (From Echeverría Martínez ′′ Chicali Wall ′′) via Geoof Pentz.

What is meant to be will always find its way. - Anonymous.

Between what is said and not meant, and what is meant and not said, most of love is lost. - Khalil Gibran.

Eventually, everything connects. - Anonymous.

The things you are passionate about are not random, they are your calling. - Anonymous.

I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. - Lao Tzu.

It is only those who are in a constant revolt that discover what is true, not the man who conforms, who follows some tradition. It is only when you are constantly inquiring, constantly observing, constantly learning that you find the truth. - J Krishnamurti.

It is only when God Himself by His grace draws the mind inwards that complete surrender can be achieved. - Ramana Maharishi.

Education is not the preparation for life, it is life itself. - John Dewey.

Realization of the Self is the greatest help that can be rendered to humanity. A saint helps the whole of humanity, unknown to the latter. The help is imperceptible but is still there. - Ramana Maharishi.

God is not only in the heart of all, He is the prop of all, He is the source of all, their abiding place, and their end. All proceed from Him, have their stay in Him, and finally resolve into Him. Therefore, He is not separate. - Ramana Maharishi.

I live far off in the wild.

Where moss and woods
Are thick and plants perfumed.
I can see mountains rain or shine.
And never hear market noise.
I light a few leaves in my stove to heat tea.
To patch my robe I cut off a cloud.
Lifetimes seldom fill a hundred years.

Why suffer for profit and fame?

But do not ask me where I am going, as I am travelling this limitless world where every step I take is my home. - Dogen.

You can't blend in when you were born to stand out. - Anonymous.

If you have the choice between being right and being kind, choose being kind - Dr. Wayne W. Dyer.

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. - Abraham Lincoln.

The sage stays behind, thus he is ahead. He is detached, thus at one with all. Through selfless action, he attains fulfillment. - Tao Te Ching.

Creating without possessing. Acting without expecting. Guiding without interfering. - Tao Te Ching.

Your deeds are your monuments. - Anonymous.

The taller the bamboo grows, the lower it bends. - Chinese Proverb.

Where love reigns, the impossible may be attained. - Indian Proverb.

Whenever there is a craving, there is pain. - D. T. Suzuki.

What you possess, you lose. - Zen Proverb.

Still waters run deep. - Latin Proverb.

Fear

By Khalil Gibran

It is said that before entering the sea
a river trembles with fear.

She looks back at the path she has traveled,
from the peaks of the mountains,
the long winding road crossing forests and villages.

And in front of her,
she sees an ocean so vast,
that to enter
there seems nothing more than to disappear forever.

But there is no other way.
The river can not go back.

Nobody can go back.
To go back is impossible in existence.

The river needs to take the risk
of entering the ocean
because only then will fear disappear,
because that’s where the river will know
it’s not about disappearing into the ocean,
but of becoming the ocean.

If one abuses another or injures him the remedy does not lie in retort or resistance. Simply keep quiet. This quiet will bring peace to the injured but make the offender restless until he is driven to admit his error to the injured party. - Ramana Maharishi.

If we were all to sit in a circle and confess our sins, we would laugh at each other for our lack of originality. - Kahlil Gibran.

Life knows no failure. Failure exists only for those who are always comparing themselves with others - Sadhguru.

You can't blend in when you were born to stand out. - Anonymous.

We need to look at the subtle, the hidden, and the unspoken. - Anonymous.

The less rigid your personality, the more powerful your presence. - Sadhguru.

Sanskrit words for Teacher based on their unique abilities:

• The Teacher who gives you information is called Adhyapak
• The one who imparts knowledge combined with information is called Upadhyaya
• The one who imparts skills is called Acharya
• The one who is able to give a deep insight into a subject is called a Pandit
• The one who has a visionary view on a subject and teaches you to think in that manner is called Dhrishta
• The one who is able to awaken the wisdom in you, leading you from darkness to light is called Guru

Sanskrit is perhaps the only language that has such a refined vocabulary to distinguish the different kinds of Teachers.

A Teacher takes responsibility for your growth.
A Guru makes you responsible for your growth.

A Teacher gives you things you do not have and require.
A Guru takes away things you have and do not require.

A Teacher answers your questions.
A Guru questions your answers.

A Teacher requires obedience and discipline from a pupil.
A Guru requires trust and humility from the pupil.

A Teacher clothes you and prepares you for the outer journey.
A Guru strips you naked and prepares you for the inner journey.

A Teacher is a guide on the path.
A Guru is a pointer to the way.

A Teacher sends you on the road to success.
A Guru sends you on the road to freedom.

A Teacher explains the world and its nature to you.
A Guru explains yourself and your nature.

A Teacher gives you knowledge and boosts your ego.
A Guru takes away your knowledge and punctures your ego.

A Teacher instructs you.
A Guru constructs you.

A Teacher sharpens your mind.
A Guru opens your mind.

A Teacher reaches your mind.
A Guru touches your spirit.

A Teacher is a systematic thinker.
A Guru is a lateral thinker.

One can always find a Teacher.
But a Guru has to find and accept you.

A Teacher leads you by hand.
A Guru leads you by example.

When a Teacher finishes with you, you celebrate.
When a Guru finishes with you, life celebrates.

One must be a saint and a hero to be a good teacher. One must be a great yogi to be a good teacher. One must have a perfect attitude to be able to exact a perfect attitude from the students. You cannot ask anyone to do what you don't do yourself. That is a rule. - The Mother.

Don't go searching for a Guru. When the pain of ignorance within you becomes a scream, a Guru will come in search of you. - Sadhguru.

If you are in a state of reaction, anyone or anything can take charge of your life. Conscious response is the way forward. - Sadhguru.

Desire and fear are obscuring and distorting factors. When the mind is free of them the unconscious becomes accessible. - Nisargadatta Maharaj.

One who enjoys his own self in himself without depending on what others say or what happens in the outside world, such a person is called a man of steady wisdom. - Sri M.

If you are willing to strive, there is a way to go beyond all the limitations that are considered human. - Sadhguru.

Disciple: How to deal with people?

Nisargadatta Maharaj: Why make plans and what for? Such questions show anxiety. Relationship is a living thing. Be at peace with your inner Self and you will be at peace with everybody.

Horoscopes have no importance for those who take up yoga, because the influence that works through yoga is much more powerful than the influence of the stars. - The Mother.

If you are willing to strive, there is a way to go beyond all the limitations that are considered human. - Sadhguru.

An aimless life is always a miserable life. - The Mother.

He is the Father, Mother, Guru, Friend, Creator, Preserver, Destroyer - everything. Indeed, He is everything and everything is in Him. There is nothing but Him. - Anandamayi Ma.

Whatever you are, whatever you are exposed to, pick up the best from every situation. Let not life's experience go waste. - Sadhguru.

The one who weighs you with your troubles is your burden. But the one who truly loves you will set you free. - Rumi.

Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. - Ephesians.

Everywhere, in all domains and always eternally everything will be possible. - The Mother.

 

The more one knows the less one pronounces judgment on things. - The Mother.

This is a good time to break the status quo of who you are and see if you can transform yourself into a better human being. - Sadhguru.

The great disorder in the world would be mostly neutralized if the mind could admit that it did not know. - The Mother.

When you finally realize that nothing is permanent in this life, you will become more tolerant, more forgiving, and less judgemental. - Anonymous.

A really mature person cannot be serious, there is nothing to be serious about. The whole of life is fun, it is a play, a play of consciousness. And that's what meditation reveals to you - that the whole of life is a beautiful play of energy. The same energy is in the trees, in the stars, in the rivers, in the mountains, in you, in animals. It is the same energy dancing in different forms. We in the East have called it 'Leela'. Leela means God's play. - Osho.

Sometimes we do the wrong things for the right reasons. - Mr. Ping.

The more we are humble better it is for us. - Ramana Maharishi.

It is never too soon to begin, never too late to continue. - The Mother.

Never complain of the behaviour of anyone, unless you have the power to change in his nature what makes him act in this way. - The Mother.

Life isn't about getting and having, it is about giving and being. - Kevin Kruse.

You find all by losing all. - Anandamayi Ma.

Freedom has so many concepts. If you really want to enjoy freedom, you should first figure out that you are bound. Many people are bound but think they are free. To understand the bondage, the chains with which we are bound is the first step to free oneself. - Sri M.

Detaching yourself from all that makes you restless means detaching from all such thoughts. The origin of all your emotions is only thought and if you decide not to entertain these thoughts that create restlessness then those thoughts will let away. Please remember that your life is only what your mind gives attention to! The only attention that does not create any emotion is attention to the silence within your meditation. - Anonymous.

And that is the role of the Guru - to bring you to a point where you can say, "It is obviously true, what is the big deal?" But before you can complete your sentence, you will find that He has vanished. - Jiddu Krishnamurti.

Devotion is a dimension that will allow you to sail across even if you do not know the way. - Sadhguru.

It is all right if the world thinks you are weird. Everyone is different, so everyone is weird in someone's eyes. Happily weird or miserably weird - your choice. - Sadhguru.

Your story may not have such a happy beginning but that does not make you who you are, it is the rest of it - who you choose to be. - Anonymous.

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. - Aesop.

Yesterday I was clever. So I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise. So I am changing myself. - Rumi.

The best students are those who want to know, not those who want to show. - The Mother.

The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work. - Richard Bach.

The world is your exercise-book, the pages on which you do your sums. It is not reality, although you can express reality there if you wish. You are also free to write nonsense, or lies, or tear up the pages. - Richard Bach.

The child does not worry about his growth, he simply grows. - The Mother.

Strange isn't it? You know yourself better than anyone else, yet you crumble at the words of someone who hasn't even lived a second of your life. Focus on your own voice, it is the only one that matters. - Anonymous.

When you feel you know nothing then you are ready to learn. - The Mother.

Lord, we pray to Thee:

May we understand better why we are here.

May we do better what we have to do here.

May we be what we ought to become here.

So that Thy will be fulfilled harmoniously.

God dwells in you, as you, and you don't have to 'do' anything to be God-realized or Self-realized, it is already your true and natural state. Just drop all seeking, turn your attention inward, and sacrifice your mind to the One Self radiating in the heart of your every being. For this to be your own presently lived experience, Self-inquiry is the one direct and immediate way. - Ramana Maharishi.

Never forget that you are not alone. The Divine is with you helping and guiding you. He is the companion who never fails, the friend whose love comforts and strengthens. Have faith and He will do everything for you. - The Mother.

 

The only response that never fails is the Divine' s. The only love that never fails is the Divine' s. - The Mother.

The Rungs of Love
By Mother

At first one loves when one is loved.

Nest one loves spontaneously but one wants to be loved in return.

Then one loves even if one is not loved, but still one wants one's love to be accepted.

And finally one loves purely and simply, without any other need of joy than that of loving.

You are that - here and now. That is the master key for solving all doubts. The doubts arise in the mind. The mind is born of the ego. The ego rises from the Self. Search the source of the ego and the self is revealed. That alone remains. - Ramana Maharishi.

If the Supreme Consciousness got angry over the defect of men, humanity would long since have ceased to be. - The Mother.

Freedom does not come from outer circumstances but from inner liberation. Find your Soul, unite with it, let it govern your life and you will be free. - The Mother.

When man will be disgusted with the falsehood in which they live, then the world will be ready for the reign of the Truth. - The Mother.

 

 

In order to live free and happily, you just sacrifice boredom. It is not always an easy sacrifice. - Richard Bach.

It is the Divine Presence that gives value to life. This Presence is the source of all peace, all joy, all security. Find this Presence in yourself and all your difficulties will disappear. - The Mother.

Happiness has nothing to do with success. - Osho.

Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself. - Richard Bach.

To be above offence or insult makes one truly great. - The Mother.

The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. - Richard Bach.

We should be in no other service but in God's alone. - The Mother.

The moment you start looking for the Self and go deeper and deeper, the real Self is waiting there to take you in. - Ramana Maharishi.

To will what God wills - that is the supreme secret. - The Mother.

Let this be our need in life, to realize the Divine. - The Mother.

When there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm. - African Proverb.

To become conscious of the Divine Love, all other love must be abandoned. - The Mother.

Our trust in the Divine must not depend upon outer circumstances. - The Mother.

Self-mastery is the greatest conquest; it is the basis of all enduring happiness. - The Mother.

True love stories never have endings. - Richard Bach.

The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly. - Richard Bach.

Your friends will know better in the first minute you meet than your acquaintances will know you in a thousand years. - Richard Bach.

All difficulties are solved by taking rest in the Divine arms, for these arms are always opened with love to shelter us. - The Mother.

Turn towards the Divine, all your suffering will disappear. - The Mother.

Although I am a typical loner in my daily life, my awareness of belonging to the invisible community of those who strive for truth, beauty, and justice has prevented me from feelings of isolation. - Albert Einstien.

Without the Divine life is a painful illusion, with the Divine all is bliss. - The Mother.

Who am I? Not the body, because it is decaying; not the mind, because the brain will decay with the body; not the personality, nor the emotions, for these, also will vanish with death. - Ramana Maharishi.

Yoga works miraculously. The only thing is, you have to do it. - Sadhguru.

Talk as little as possible. Work as much as you can. - The Mother.

The greater the outward show, the greater the inward poverty. - J. Krishnamurti.

If you do not wish to say something which is true, instead of lying just keep silent. - The Mother.

The mind, the life, and the body must become and live what the soul knows and is. - The Mother.

The path is long, but self-surrender makes it short, the way is difficult but perfect trust makes it easy. The Mother.

A hero fears nothing, complaints of nothing, and never gives way. - The Mother.

If you go the way of your thoughts you will be carried away by them and you will find yourself in an endless maze. - Ramana Maharishi.

Donald Walters, now known as Swami Kriyananda -- who heads Ananda Sangha – shares some of the yogi’s thoughts. Man was given ego-consciousness to inspire him to seek God. That is the only reason for his existence, job, friends, personal interests: these things, by themselves, mean nothing.

A professor from Columbia University came to lunch with the Master in his third-floor interview room at Mount Washington. I served them, and after lunch sat it in the room and took notes while they conversed. At a certain point in their discussion, the professor asked, “Do your teachings help people to be at peace with themselves?” “They do indeed,” the Master answered, “but that is the least they do. We teach people all how to be at peace with their Creator.”

The Columbia professor had a probing mind.

Among many questions, he asked, “How do you distinguish between yourself and your followers?” “All are waves on the same, one ocean,” the Master replied, “composed, as the ocean water is, of the same substance: Spirit. Some of the waves are higher than others. Some waves don’t even want to distance themselves from the ocean. All waves, no matter how high, are in essence one and the same.

The difference between the guru and the disciples, then, lies only in their respective closeness to the ocean: in how conscious each one is of his essential reality. The greater the sense of ego, the taller the wave, and the greater, in consequence, the ignorance. The greater one’s awareness of the ocean as one’s sole reality, the smaller the wave, and also the less his sense of having a separate individuality.”

Professor: “Is there a difference, then, of evolution?”

The Master: “That much is true if we understand evolution to mean a progressive refinement of awareness. The tall waves participate more exuberantly in the play of delusion. The little waves, which are more enlightened, are no longer excited by the play. Enlightened beings enjoy everything, not for itself, but as a ‘play’ of God’s.”

The professor asked: “Is there any end to evolution?”

The Master replied, “No end. You go on until you achieve endlessness.”

“Is man important in the scheme of things?” the professor wants to know.“Man is important in one sense only,” the Master tells him. “He was made in the image of God: That is his importance. He is not important for his body, ego, or personality. His constant affirmation of ego-consciousness is the source of all his problems.”

At another point in the conversation, the Master tells us, “Man was given ego-consciousness to inspire him to seek God. That is the only reason for his existence, job, friends, personal interests: these things, by themselves, mean nothing.”

“What is the difference,” asks the professor, “between science and religion in the search for truth?”

“True religion,” the Master replies, “is not theology. It is born of deep, inner communion with God. True religion teaches us, for example, how to become the atom, whereas theology, at most, only discusses the atom. Science studies the nature of the atom outwardly, proving its existence by experimentation. Inner religion, however, goes beyond experimentation to actual experience. It helps one to cognize, by direct experience, his oneness with the atom at its vital center.”

The professor, poses another question: “Which came first: the tree or the seed?”

“The tree came first,” the Master answers without hesitation, “as the idea of a deed precedes the deed itself. The tree was, in this way, a special creation. God, when He set the process in motion, gave the tree seeds that it might produce other trees like itself. “Everything, at first,” he added, “is an idea, a special creation.”

He adds: “People spend too much time fussing over their persons and possessions. What a waste it is, to devote so much energy to polishing, polishing, polishing this little body, home, and belongings – all of which, so very soon, must be abandoned forever!”

On the importance of a guru, the Master says: “If you go to a doctor and get a prescription from him, but after your return home, you tear it up and toss it away, how do you expect to get well? The guru is a spiritual ‘doctor’. It isn’t sufficient merely to have a guru: You must do what he tells you. 

If you follow his prescription even a little bit, your life will be transformed. Everyone who practices what he learns here will pass through the portals of death into the radiant kingdom of light. Don’t expect to get there, however, if you merely depend passively on the guru – like a suppositious patient whom one may imagine framing his prescription and hanging it on a wall—as if expecting the writing itself to make him well! And don’t think to get there by merely ‘hanging on’ grimly to the end! Go on with steadfast faith, devotion, and joy. Long before you reach your divine goal, you will have realized how sweet life can be when it is lived rightly. You will be glowing with inner radiance, vitality, and happiness!”

The Master categorically states: “If you practice even a hundredth part of what I teach you, you will reach God.”

The highest form of Grace is silence. It is also the highest spiritual instruction. - Sri Ramana Maharishi.

Weak though my effort was, by Thy grace, I gained the Self, oh Arunachala. - Ramana Maharishi.

We suffer more in imagination than in reality. - Seneca.

Sincere devotion is much more effective than Ganges water. - The Mother.

Gratitude is not an attitude. Gratitude is something that flows out of you when you are overwhelmed by the recognition of what you have received. - Sadhguru.

Give yourself entirely to the Divine and you will see the end of all your troubles. - The Mother.

The Mother is always ready to welcome the child, whatever fault the child may have committed. - The Mother.

Leave all care to the Divine's Grace, including your progress, and you will be in peace. - The Mother.

Perception can sometimes stain reality. That is why I don't tell everything about my past. - Zoo, Netflix TV Show.

It is hard to practice ignorance. - Anonymous.

Why is self-introspection important for devotees? Bhagawan lovingly reminds us and guides us today.

Humanness is a combination of the body and consciousness. One has to embark on self-scrutiny as the first step in spirituality. Only then the reality can be comprehended. No one undertakes self-examination, though everyone is ready to condemn others. Only the person who is prepared to examine and punish himself for his lapses is competent to judge others. Students and devotees should realize that control of the senses is quite simple. What is necessary is not to encourage negative feelings when they arise and adopt positive attitudes. For instance, Buddha confronted the anger of a demon with his love and transformed him. Many students today are subject to depression and are confused in mind. The reason for this is their weakness owing to a lack of self-confidence. When there is total faith in God, then there will be no room for depression.

Disciple: Why is there so much suffering in love?

Nisargadatta Maharaj: All suffering is born out of desire. True love is never frustrated. How can the sense of unity be frustrated? What can be frustrated is the desire for expression. Such a desire is of the mind. As with all things mental, frustration is inevitable.

Human beings need entertainment to hide their madness. If they were perfectly sane, they could just sit and watch the Flower blossom. - Sadhguru.

People are softened by the forced reflection that comes with loss. - Anonymous.

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music. - Friedrich Nietzsche.

Do not worry about who loves you. Concentrate on the people you love. - Sylvia Browne.

This is a temporary place. Your real home on the other side. So live life to the fullest. - Sylvia Browne.

The more you try to be special, the more you get hurt. Just be, melt and become part of the wind and the earth; become part of everything, as creation intends. - Sadhguru.

Everything will come in its time; keep confident patience and all will be all right. - The Mother.

My whole life people have tried to make me into something I am not. To make me "normal" or at least "acceptable". I became skilled at so many things just so I would still have value, despite my flaws, or what I have been taught was a flaw. Of course, I tried to fit in. But when you are punished just for being different, you begin to hate what you are and what you love. What should make you happy only brings you pain! Pain is what made me a Sister Warrior. - Warrior Nun, Netflix TV Show.

It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. - Jiddu Krishnamurti.

None of us deserve His grace, it's not earned, it's given. - Anonymous.

All directions are within the mind! I am not asking you to look into any particular direction. Just look away from all that happens in your mind and bring it to the feeling 'I am'. The 'I am' is not a direction. It is the negation of all directions. Ultimately even 'I am' will have to go, for you need not keep on asserting what is obvious. Bringing the mind to the feeling 'I am' merely helps in turning the mind away from everything else. - Nisargadatta Maharaj.

Nothing is difficult for those who call sincerely the Divine. - The Mother.

Be honest towards yourself, no self-deception. Be sincere towards the Divine, no bargaining in the surrender. Be straightforward with humanity, no pretence and show. - The Mother.

Only the unborn Spirit's timeless power can lift the yoke imposed by birth in time. - Sri Aurobindo.

The only journey is the one within. - Rainer M. R.

Do not worry my dear, you are not a bad person. Your mistakes tend to come from honest stupidity, rather than evil intentions. - Anonymous.

One who sees all beings in oneself and oneself in all beings knows no hatred. - Isa Upanishad.

Attachment destroys courage. The giver is always ready to give. The taker is absent. Freedom means letting go. People just do not care to let go of everything. They do not know that the finite is the price of the infinite, as death is the price of immortality. Spiritual maturity lies in the readiness to let go of everything. - Nisargadatta Maharaj.

It is not necessary to attach any importance to the opinions of people because they are only the passing results of passing impressions; other circumstances and new impressions will easily change them. - The Mother.

The more we talk, the less words mean. - Anonymous.

You can go as far as you want to go, past all limitations, and live a supremely victorious existence. - Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda.

The purpose of life is to be defeated by greater and greater things. - Rainer M. R.

All endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time. - Mitch Albom.

You are here to contact your soul, and that is why you live. Aspire persistently and try to silence your mind. The aspiration must come from the heart. - The Mother.

There is no greater fulfillment than to touch and transform lives. - Sadhguru.

A materialistic person is ruthless with others but kind to himself. A spiritual person is ruthless with himself but kind to everyone else. - Sadhguru.

The only thing that stands between you and your well-being is a simple fact: you have allowed your thoughts and emotions to take instructions from the outside rather than within. - Sadhguru.

I am the servant of that God whom the ignorant call man. - Swami Vivekananda.

My child, hide nothing from me, depend on me for all your needs. - The Mother.

Oh, Soul, you worry too much. You have seen your own strength. You have seen your own beauty. You have seen your golden wings. Of anything less, why do you worry? You are, in truth, the Soul of the Soul of the Soul. - Rumi.

Do you pay regular visits to yourself? Start now. - Rumi.

The individual is not merely the ephemeral physical creature, a form of mind and body that aggregates and dissolves, but a being, living power of the eternal Truth, a self-manifesting Spirit. - Sri Aurobindo.

No one is you and that is your superpower. - Anonymous.

Show some skin and you get everyone's attention. Show some depth and everyone is afraid of heights. - Anonymous.

Do more of what you love, less of what you tolerate, and none of what you hate. - John Assaraf.

Whenever you are alone, remind yourself that God has sent everyone else away so that there is only you and Him. - Rumi.

When you come to a point where you have no need to impress anybody, your freedom will begin. - Anonymous.

In God's plan and play (Lila), the sole function of Satan or Maya is to attempt to divert man from Spirit to matter, from Reality to unreality. - Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda.

O Thou Self-manifested cause and substance of creation, O Thou indwelling Self of all, Thou source of Illumination, guide me beyond Thy rays of creation, transport me beyond Thine objective form that, by Thy grace, I may behold Thy glorious Self. That absolute Self abiding in the transcendental effulgence, verily, I am He. - Isha Upanishad.

The Bhagavad Gita has emphasized again and again, however, that between all beings and their creator is an immortal bond - indulgently elastic but breakable never. None can stray so far as to withstand forever the pulling power of God's saving grace. - Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda.

The paradox of our times is that we have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge but less judgment, more experts but fewer solutions. - Jay Shetty.

The irony of our time is that we have guided missiles but misguided men. - Martin Luther King.

So long as the lower nature is active, the personal effort of the Sadhaka remains necessary. The personal effort required is triple labour of aspiration, rejection and surrender. - Sri Aurobindo.

Everyone can be a perfect expression of the Divine in himself, on condition that he knows his place and keeps to it. - The Mother.

The best journey takes you home. - Anonymous.

What am I to do, but surrender to the will of my beloved. - Rumi.

I am not what I think I am, and I am not what you think I am. I am what I think you think I am. - Charles Horton Cooley.

The only real purpose of life is to explore it in its fullest depth and dimension. - Sadhguru.

When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. - Jimi Hendrix.

What am I to do but surrender to the will of my beloved. - Rumi.

Disciple: What are the signs of progress in spiritual life?

Nisargadatta Maharaj: Freedom from anxiety; a sense of ease and joy; deep peace within and abundant energy without. I found it all in the holy presence of my Guru - I did nothing on my own. He told me to be quiet - and I did it - as much as I could.

In the pursuit of happiness, we have ripped the planet apart, but still, we are not happier. It is time to stop and look, because all human experience happens within you, not outside of you. - Sadhguru.

Disciple: There are a number of spiritual teachers, teaching various paths. Whom should one take for one's Guru?

Sri Ramana Maharishi: Choose one where you find you get Shanti or peace.

Everybody is seeking God for the truth, in different ways, thinking it is somewhere else. One has to just reverse and look within. - Sri M.

To do Sadhana, one has to find an appropriate time to sit in solitude and practice. Once one becomes an expert at this, Sadhana can be done anywhere in the world. - Sri M.

The search for one's true identity and happiness is not just reserved for monks or sanyasis. Every human being, without distinction, can embark upon this search. - Sri M.

Disciple: "Mother, how to go within?"

Mother: "Ah! I have spoken about it many times." She keeps silent for a very long time as if in trance and then speaks again. "Put your body in a comfortable position and start chanting OM. You will find that you are before a tunnel. A long, narrow tunnel. Go on chanting, go on chanting, intensely, wholeheartedly. You will find that the tunnel slowly gets illuminated. Go on, go on doing it as often as possible. You will find one day that you have come to the end of the tunnel, and at the core of your heart where the Lord is. It is a long process. But you are sure to arrive at it if you are sincere."

If you want to know wellbeing, IN is the only way out. - Sadhguru.

What you do should not define who you are, who you are should define what you do. - Sadhguru.

Bernard asked the Master, “What is the best way to transform emotion into devotion?”

“The company you keep” the Master replied, “will determine in what direction your feelings develop. In the company of devotees, those feelings will more easily become devotional.”

“Master,” pursued the disciple, “what if I am alone – for instance when I meditate?”

“Am I not always with you?” the Master replied with a loving smile.

(From the book Conversations with Yoganananda written by Swami Kriyananda)

No matter what kind of karma you gathered in the past, this moment's karma is always in your hands. - Sadhguru.

Each victory gained over oneself means new strength to gain more victories. - Sri Aurobindo.

The future rewards those who press on. I don't have time to feel sorry for myself. I don't have time to complain. I'm going to press on. - Anonymous.

What is the fundamental virtue to be cultivated in order to prepare for the spiritual life?

I have said this many times, but this is an opportunity to repeat it it is sincerity. A sincerity that must become total and absolute, for sincerity alone is your protection on the spiritual path. If you are not sincere, at the very next step you are sure to fall and break your head. All kinds of forces, wills, influences, entities are there, on the look-out for the least little rift in this sincerity and they immediately rush in through that rift and begin to throw you into confusion. Therefore, before doing anything, beginning anything, trying anything, be sure first of all that you are not only as sincere as you can be, but have the intention of becoming still more so. For that is your only protection.

(From the Mother’s answer to a devotees question)

All I want to convert you to is who and what you really are. - Swami Kriyananda.

The spiritual relation of souls united in seeking God is stronger and more binding than any other relation. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

O' Lord, let Thy will be done, Thy work be accomplished. Fortify our devotion, increase our surrender, give us light upon the path. We erect Thee within us as our supreme Master that Thou mayst become supreme Master of all the earth. Our speech is still ignorant; enlighten it. Our aspiration is still imperfect, purify it. Our action is still powerless; make it effective. - The Mother.

It is very simple to be happy, but it is very difficult to be simple. - Guru Rabindranath Tagore.

This world was not built with random bricks of Chance, a blind God is not destiny's architect; a conscious power has drawn the plan of life. There is a meaning in each curve and line. - Sri Aurobindo.

Don't waste your time on trying to make out whether the advice you get flows from knowledge only, or from valid experience! Just follow it faithfully. Life will bring you another Guru if another one is needed. Or deprive you of all outer guidance and leave you to your own lights. - Nisargadatta.

Life cannot be against you, for you are life itself. Life can only seem to go against the ego's projections, which are rarely in harmony with the Truth. - Mooji.

Nothing should go back to normal. Normal wasn't working. If we go back to the way things were, we will have lost the lesson. May we rise up and do better. - Anonymous.

What is God and Why?

By Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya

God is a conscious Being, who is present everywhere, who is all-powerful, who is all-knowing and who is all-perfect.

He cannot be recognized by the mind, understood by the intellect, known by the reason; He has to be felt in the heart.

God expresses Himself through whatever is true, whatever is beautiful, and whatever is good.

He wants to express Himself through many. That is why He has created trees and plants, pests and insects, birds and beasts, animals and men, and this whole universe. Through the evolutionary process, He is taking everything towards His perfection, so that ultimately, everything becomes Himself. In this whole universe, good or bad, whatever is happening, whatever is becoming, all are His will, His play, and His plan.

His presence can be felt everywhere and in everything; everything is a part of Himself, everything is moving under His law, and in accordance with His wishes.

Through the evolutionary process, man has reached such a stage that he can be conscious of God within himself. That is why in the Divine's play, he has a special role, a special responsibility. When everything else in the universe, including nature, moves unconsciously through the evolutionary process, man alone, if he so desires, can realize God within himself, make his will one with His will, go through the evolutionary process consciously, realize within himself God's truth, God's beauty, and God's goodness, and establish them in the material world.

Then in this play of God, man's special role is to realize God and himself, make his will one with the Divine's will, express Him through all his efforts, and make his life and his surroundings God-pervaded.

In each one's life, a moment comes when he has to choose between the path and the muddle. You cannot put one foot here and one foot there. If you try to, you will be torn to pieces. A heart that does not choose is a heart that will die. - Divine Mother.

Don't stop when you are tired. Stop when you are done. - Anonymous.

There was a Master come unto the earth, born in the holy land of Indiana, raised in the mystical hills east of Fort Wayne. 

The Master learned of this world in the public schools of Indiana, and as he grew, in his trade as a mechanic of automobiles. 

But the Master had learnings from other lands and other schools, from other lives that he had lived. He remembered these, and remembering became wise and strong so that others saw his strength and came to him for counsel.

The Master believed that he had the power to help himself and all mankind, and as he believed so it was for him so that others saw his power and came to him to be healed of their troubles and their many diseases.

The Master believed that it is well for any man to think upon himself as a son of God, and as he believed, so it was, and the shops and garages where he worked became crowded and jammed with those who sought his learning and his touch, and the streets outside with those who longed only that the shadow of his passing might fall upon them and change their lives.

It came to pass, because of the crowds, that the several foremen and shop managers bid the Master leave his tools and go his way, for so tightly was he thronged that neither he nor other mechanics had room to work upon the automobiles.

So it was that he went into the countryside, and people following began to call him Messiah, and worker of miracles; and as they believed, it was so.

If a storm passed as he spoke, not a raindrop touched a listener’s head; the last of the multitude heard his words as clearly as the first, no matter lightning nor thunder in the sky about. And always he spoke to them in parables.

And he said unto them, “Within each of us lies the power of our consent to health and to sickness, to riches and to poverty, to freedom and to slavery. It is we who control these and not another.”

A mill-man spoke and said, “Easy words for you, Master, for you are guided as we are not, and need not toil as we toil. A man has to work for his living in this world.”

The Master answered and said, “Once there lived a village of creatures along the bottom of a great crystal river.

“The current of the river swept silently over them all - young and old, rich and poor, good and evil, the current going its own way, knowing only its own crystal self.

“Each creature in its own manner clung tightly to the twigs and rocks of the river bottom, for clinging was their way of life, and resisting the current what each had learned from birth.

“But one creature said at last, ‘I am tired of clinging. Though I cannot see it with my eyes, II trust that the current knows where it is going. I shall let go, and let it take me where it will. Clinging, I shall die of boredom.’

“The other creatures laughed and said, ‘Fool! Let go, and that current you worship will throw you tumbled and smashed across the rocks, and you will die quicker than boredom!’

“But the one heeded them not, and taking a breath did let go, and at once was tumbled and smashed by the current across the rocks.

“Yet in time, as the creature refused to cling again, the current lifted him free from the bottom, and he was bruised and hurt no more.

“And the creatures downstream, to whom he was a stranger, cried, ‘See a miracle! A creature like ourselves, yet he flies! See the Messiah, come to save us all!’

“And the one carried in the current said, ‘I am no more Messiah than you. The river delights to lift us free, if only we dare let go. Our true work is this voyage, this adventure.’

“But they cried the more, ‘Saviour!’ all the while clinging to the rocks, and when they looked again he was gone, and they were left alone making legends of a Saviour.”

And it came to pass when he saw that the multitude thronged him the more day on day, tighter and closer and fiercer than ever they had when he saw that they pressed him to heal them without rest, and feed them always with his miracles, to learn for them and to live their lives, he went alone that day unto a hilltop apart, and there he prayed.

And he said in his heart, Infinite Radian Is, if it be thy will, let this cup pass from me, let me lay aside this impossible task. I cannot live the life of one other soul, yet ten thousand cry to me for life. I’m sorry I allowed it all to happen. If it be thy will, let me go back to my engines and my tools and let me live as other men.

And a voice spoke to him on the hilltop, a voice neither male nor female, loud nor soft, a voice infinitely kind. And the voice said unto him, “Not my will, but Thine be done. For what is thy will is mine for thee. Go thy way as other men, and be thou happy on the earth.”

And hearing, the Master was glad, and gave thanks, and came down from the hilltop humming a little mechanic’s song. And when the throng pressed him with its woes, beseeching him to heal for it and learn for it and feed it nonstop from his understanding and to entertain it with his wonders, he smiled upon the multitude and said pleasantly unto them, “I quit.”

For a moment the multitude was stricken dumb with astonishment.

And he said unto them, “If a man told God that he wanted most of all to help the suffering world, no matter the price to himself, and God answered and told him what he must do, should the man do as he is told?”

“Of course, Master!” cried the many. “It should be (a) pleasure for him to suffer the tortures of hell itself, should God ask for it!”

“No matter what those tortures, nor how difficult the task?”

“Honor to be hanged, glory to be nailed to a tree and burned if so be that God has asked,” said they.

“And what would you do,” the Master said unto the multitude, “if God spoke directly to your face and said, ‘I COMMAND THAT YOU BE HAPPY IN THE WORLD, AS LONG AS YOU LIVE.’ What would you do then?”

And the multitude was silent, not a voice, not a sound was heard upon the hillsides, across the valleys where they stood.

And the Master said unto the silence, “In the path of our happiness shall we find the learning for which we have chosen this lifetime. So it is that I have learned this day, and choose to leave you now to walk your own path, as you please.”

And he went his way through the crowds and left them, and he returned to the everyday world of men and machines.

(An extract from Illusions - The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach)