Gurudev Uvacha

“Wherever God may keep you at any time, from there itself must you undertake the pilgrimage to God-realization. In all forms, in action and non-action is He, the One Himself. While attending to your work with your hands, keep yourself bound to Him by sustaining japa, the constant remembrance of Him in your heart and mind. In God's empire, it is forgetfulness of Him that is detrimental. The way to Peace lies in the remembrance of Him and of Him alone.”

When we identify with the body, the dream giant ego manifests itself – often lust filled, ever passionate, and constantly torn between a thousand contrary feelings, desires, and hopes. The ego alone suffers pain, limitations and finally death. In identifying with the Self, the phantom ego disappears, and in its place we recognise the divine Godhood, peaceful and contented, with nothing to desire or to wish for – our true nature.

The subtle Brahman is only one, yet it is not one. The subtle consciousness has many layers to it.The spirit is one, yet it is many.The whole universe is permeated by the spirit, by Brahman, yet to different degrees. For example, stones have life and gender. As anthropologists and biologists know that plants and trees can be male or female, so too can be stones. The ancient people of every culture knew this. The Shilpis (stone masons) in India know how to identify which stone is male and which is female. The Native Americans choose certain stones for their worship and prayer program. They do the same in Kauai, Hawaii.

“You should thank the one who draws attention to something in you,rather than being offended. Actually that person is doing you a great favour and service by giving you some knowledge about yourself which you, by yourself, have been unable to obtain”

Peace plane : - "If I take up a work, I will not leave it till I am myself satisfied with its completion. Till then not even hunger of thirst can halt the progress. I have never felt tired in the midst of any work I undertake. I cannot pay attention to anything I do not wish to know or do; and I can quickly grasp the idea to which I listen with attention."

 Manu Smriti says : - One-fourth of one's knowledge comes from the Teacher, one-fourth from study, one-fourth from co-students and one-fourth by experience in the passage of time.

Fasting for a day in the name of the "Lord" is tapas. Facing insults and honour equally is tapas. Suffering heat and cold with perfect mental equanimity is tapas. To serve is tapas. To "love" is tapas. To "pray" is tapas. Any "action" consciously done towards one’s own deliverance from the present limitations as a samsarin is tapas. Be a tapasvin and learn to tap the very source of all "life" and "joy" that is within "thyself."

The man of ego loves his own ignorance; he glories in his own foolishness and attaches much importance to his perishable body and thereby he exposes himself to the winds of adversity, storms of woes and strokes of fate and affliction

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.

"Maya" : - is that which makes us regard as nonexistent the Self, the Reality, which is always and everywhere present, all-pervasive and Self-luminous, and as existent the individual soul (jiva), the world (jagat), and God (para) which have been conclusively proved to be nonexistent at all times and places. (From 'Spiritual Instruction': II.5)

Knowledge and love-both are paths leading to God. Those who follow the path of love have to observe a little more outer purity. But the violation of this by a man following the path of knowledge cannot injure him. It is destroyed in the fire of knowledge. Even a banana tree is burnt up when it is thrown into a roaring fire.

You can do everything, but without losing what is essential; do it with love, with care, with interest, with enthusiasm, with motivation and with focus. That way every small action that you take will have a greater impact, will be more fulfilling and will bear a more positive fruit.

Dhruti means that which upholds or sustains life. For many people, the mind goes hay wire. They cannot even sustain or tolerate a small insult. A little bit of imperfection they cannot tolerate.

Whatever is to happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time is all fixed by Him; His arrangements are perfect. ~ 

"Flexibility of the body--especially of the spinal column -- and flexibility of the mind are interrelated. Flexibility of the mind means adaptability. Its opposite, rigidity of the mind, is called ego. And as ego puts stress upon the nervous system, it creates a rigid body. For a spiritual aspirant especially, flexibility is necessary. Once the prana starts flowing, any resistance will prevent its free movement, so every morning you should practice your asanas, pranayama, and mantra japa. Flexibility of the spinal column will allow the energy to flow properly; instead of going downward, it will go upward. It is just like water, which, in a gross state, flows downwards, but when in subtle form (as in steam) it rises. In the same way, a flexible spinal cord will allow your energy to flow upward, past the lower centres and up to the higher centers. That is what is meant by 'the ascent of kundalini Shakti'."

Success in all undertakings is attained as a result of effort; effort put forth in the firm conviction that sincere and earnest human endeavor never goes unfulfilled. Success is not achieved by never encountering failure. Failure is often a part of success.

Who is a fool? He who thinks that the world has any regard for him and is really in need of him.

Substitution of positive thoughts, and flooding the mind with creative ideas are methods by which we can flush out the floor of the mind, littered as it is now with the filth of incomplete thoughts and decaying ideas.

Identification with the body (Deha Adhyasa) brings pain. When one attains knowledge of the Self, he will experience no pain although there is some disease in the body. He is above body consciousness.

All power is within you. You can do anything and everything. Believe in that. Do not believe that you are weak; do not believe that you are half-crazy lunatics, as most of us do nowadays. Stand up and express the divinity within you.

Suffering from the heat of the three-fold desires, all living beings wander in the empty and arid desert of this dream-world, which is created by the whirl of past tendencies. The shade of the Bodhi-tree which can completely cool this heat is only Self, which shines as Turiya (the fourth state). [NOTE: The three-fold desires are for women (for example), wealth and fame.]

Bondage is of the mind, and freedom is also of the mind. A man is free if he constantly thinks: 'I am a free soul. How can I be bound, whether I live in the world or in the forest? I am a child of God, the King of Kings. Who can bind me?' If bitten by a snake, a man may get rid of its venom by saying emphatically, 'There is no poison in me.' In the same way, by repeating with grit and determination, 'I am not bound, I am free', one really becomes so-one really becomes free.

Evaluating ones behaviour should become a daily exercise, not just evaluating but bringing the required changes each day, helps us to continue to develop and grow as human beings and in the quality of our work , also in our personal and professional relationships.

Cravings bring sadness, sorrow, misery or problems.True love is devoid of all that! Fear is lack of love. Only one thing can eliminate fear and that is love. Love is seeing God in the person next to us and meditation is seeing God within us.

The power of divine love cannot be fathomed, it cannot be described. It will follow you wherever you go, whatever you are, whatever you have done. Even if you go to hell, it will reach out for you there and break hell to pieces and redeem you.

  Material amenities and economic needs and the satisfaction of one's emotional side are permissible only so long as this law and order of this eternal truth of the liberation of the Self in universality of being regulates their fulfilment.     

A Sage is a source of perpetual inspiration. He prevents many a ship-wreck in the lives of many human beings. A Sage or Yogi is the master-adept or real hero who has achieved the impossible. A sage is the salt which preserves the society from decay and degeneration. Have the company of saints who will heal your sores, infuse new life into you, rejuvenate you and show you the way to Peace and Happiness.

The human "mind" must have one field or another to engage itself in. Unless it is given some inner field to "meditate" upon, it will not be in a position to retire from its extrovert preoccupations. This is the "secret" behind all "success" in ‘total celibacy’.

All is the Self or Brahman. The saint, the sinner, the lamb, the tiger, even the murderer, as far as they have any reality, can be nothing else, because there is nothing else.

“Your duty is to be and not to be this or that. 'I am that I am' sums up the whole truth. The method is summed up in the words 'Be still'. What does stillness mean? It means destroy yourself. Because any form or shape is the cause for trouble. Give up the notion that 'I am so and so'. All that is required to realize the Self is to be still. What can be easier than that?” 

"Don't find fault with anyone, not even with an insect. As you pray to God for devotion, so also pray that you may not find fault with anyone."

There is one divine Force which acts in the universe and in the individual and is also beyond the individual and the universe. The Mother stands for all these, but she is working here in the body to bring down something not yet expressed in this material world so as to transform life here -- it is so that you should regard her as the Divine Shakti working here for that purpose. She is that in the body, but in her whole consciousness she is also identified with all the other aspects of the Divin

“There is nothing mind can do that cannot be better done in the mind's immobility and thought-free stillness. When mind is still, then truth gets her chance to be heard in the purity of the silence.” 

“In water and on land, in trees, shrubs, and creepers-everywhere in the whole universe abides my Beloved. Further, all the various forms and modes of being that we behold, are they not expressions of my Beloved? For there is none save Him. He is smaller than the smallest, and greater than the greatest.”

“Family life, which is the Ashrama of the householder, can also take you in His direction, provided it is accepted as an asrama. Lived in this spirit, it helps man to progress towards Self-realization".

"O worshipper of the formless infinite, Reject not form, what lives in form is He."

"Always circumstances come to reveal the hidden weakness that have to be overcome."

“Only two kinds of people can attain self-knowledge: those who are not encumbered at all with learning, that is to say, whose minds are not over-crowded with thoughts borrowed from others; and those who, after studying all the scriptures and sciences, have come to realise that they know nothing.”

O Lord! like a rudderless boat adrift  On that vast ocean of the world, I wandered  Hither and thither seeking in darkness  The supreme light and goal that liberates life  From galling bondage and depthless sorrow.

After every happiness comes misery; they may be far apart or near. The more advanced the soul, the more quickly does one follow the other. What we want is neither happiness nor misery. Both make us forget our true nature; both are chains--one iron, one gold; behind both is the Atman, who knows neither happiness nor misery. These are states, and states must ever change; but the nature of the Atman is bliss, peace, unchanging. We have not to get it, we have it; only wash away the dross and see it.

"Likes and dislikes", "success and failure", "joy and sorrow", and such other pairs-of opposites are the wheels on which the "mind rolls forward", "earning experiences in 'life'." To free oneself from the pairs of opposites is to be free from all the "limitations of mortal existence among 'finite' objects."

Raga, Dvesha, Jealousy, passion, and greed are everywhere. You will find the same earth, the same sky, the same air, and the same water. And you carry with you the same mind. Imagination and change of place have deceived not a few. O man! Be contented. Live where you may, but discipline the mind and the senses. Meditate on the Inner Self, the Antaratman, ceaselessly. Here you will find the everlasting peace.

The temptation from the evil one comes, first, in the form of unsettled thinking which makes one immediately forget the Presence of God. This is at once followed by the implementation of the evil move, whether in the shape of passion or anger. When the deed is done and the matter has ended, the remembrance of God might come in, but it rarely appears in the presence of things which we either love or hate.

You are related to the Cosmic Divinity. You have come here to attain that Divinity. May we move forward with a new strength, a new spirit and a new determination, focussing entirely upon the Goal and the Goal alone, making our entire life a total integrated movement towards the supreme consummation! 

Navratri is the occasion where the bridge between the subtle and the gross world is more obvious than other times. Navratri is when you recognize that the universe is governed by the subtle force. The mind is governed by the subtle force, honoring and adoring that subtle force is Navratri. The mind is duality. Mind means Faith – Doubt, Happiness – Sadness, Connectivity – Disconnection. That is the mind. 

A pure vision of love means not getting attracted to the physical form of the other person, which is God’s vision. The ones who are completely in love with God find it very easy to have such a vision, where there is no lust in their eyes when they come in contact with the opposite gender.