Sometimes in his life a man becomes dissatisfied and, not content with what he has, he seeks the satisfaction of his desires through prayer to God. His mind is gradually purified until he longs to know God, more to obtain his grace than to satisfy his worldly desires. Then, God's grace begins to manifest. God takes the form of a Guru and appears to the devotee, teaches him the truth and, moreover, purifies his mind by association. The devotee's mind gains strength and is then able to turn inward. By meditation it is further purified and it remains still without the least ripple. That calm expanse is the Self.
The Guru is both external and internal. From the exterior he gives a push to the mind to turn it inwards. From the interior he pulls the mind towards the Self and helps in the quietening of the mind. That is Guru's grace. There is no difference between God, Guru and the Self.
The Guru is both external and internal. From the exterior he gives a push to the mind to turn it inwards. From the interior he pulls the mind towards the Self and helps in the quietening of the mind. That is Guru's grace. There is no difference between God, Guru and the Self.
Identification with the body is dvaita.
Non-identification is advaita.
Non-identification is advaita.
The kingdom of God does not come with signs to be observed or with visible display.
Nor will people say "Look! Here!" or "See, there!"
For behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
Nor will people say "Look! Here!" or "See, there!"
For behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
Once you reach the state of ‘I am’
and are aware of that only, you will have
transcended all the tendencies
(‘Vasanas’)."
‘Vasanas’, tendencies or desires have a very strong pull and act as very potent hindrances in the ‘Sadhana’ (practice). The obvious desires are easy to identify but the subtle ones enter through the back door or are always stubbornly there in the background.
The desire ‘to be’ is at the very root and often missed, it has developed gradually over the years as the verbal ‘I am’ with the ‘I am so-and-so’. But, if you recollect and are observant enough, it will be clear that when the pure non-verbal ‘I am’, or sense of
‘presence’, arrived it had no traces of desire in it, although it was dormant.
This pure ‘I am’ when desire was unexpressed is presently your
goal. As you abide in it with full understanding a stage will come when you are aware of the ‘I am’ only. It is only on reaching this stage you will have transcended all desires and they won’t
trouble you anymore.
and are aware of that only, you will have
transcended all the tendencies
(‘Vasanas’)."
‘Vasanas’, tendencies or desires have a very strong pull and act as very potent hindrances in the ‘Sadhana’ (practice). The obvious desires are easy to identify but the subtle ones enter through the back door or are always stubbornly there in the background.
The desire ‘to be’ is at the very root and often missed, it has developed gradually over the years as the verbal ‘I am’ with the ‘I am so-and-so’. But, if you recollect and are observant enough, it will be clear that when the pure non-verbal ‘I am’, or sense of
‘presence’, arrived it had no traces of desire in it, although it was dormant.
This pure ‘I am’ when desire was unexpressed is presently your
goal. As you abide in it with full understanding a stage will come when you are aware of the ‘I am’ only. It is only on reaching this stage you will have transcended all desires and they won’t
trouble you anymore.
Death is not the opposite of life.
Life has no opposite.
The opposite of death is birth.
Life is eternal.
Life has no opposite.
The opposite of death is birth.
Life is eternal.
Having seen that you are a bundle of memories held together by attachment, step out and look from the outside. You may perceive for the first time something which is not memory. You cease to be Mr-so-and-so, busy about his own affairs. You are at last at peace. You realize that nothing was ever wrong with the world, you alone were wrong and now it is all over. Never again will you be caught in the meshes of desire born of ignorance.
Enlightenment is not about words and thoughts and concepts which can be doubted. Enlightenment is always here. By 'here' I don't mean this present space. Here is somewhere within where mind cannot reach. Presence is always here and you are always That. This here is not the opposite of 'there'. This here is nowhere, it is your Heart. When mind is still all comes back to the Heart. All the cosmos is but a speck in your Heart. Turn mind over into this 'here' and it is lost. Then only light, wisdom and love remain and This you are not different or apart from.
With deep and quiet breathing, vitality will improve, which will influence the brain and help the mind to grow pure and stable and fit for meditation. Without vitality, little can be done, hence the importance of its protection and increase. Posture and breathing are a part of yoga, for the body must be healthy and well under control, but too much concentration on the body defeats its own purpose, for it is the mind that is primary in the beginning. When the mind has been put to rest and disturbs no longer the inner space (chidakash), the body acquires a new meaning and its transformation becomes both necessary and possible.
Pleasure is readily accepted, while all the powers of the self reject pain. As the acceptance of pain is the denial of the self, and the self stands in the way of true happiness, the wholehearted acceptance of pain releases the springs of happiness.
Yesterday
I lived bewildered,
In illusion.
But now I am awake,
Flawless and serene,
Beyond the world.
From my light,
The body and the world arise.
So all things are mine,
Or nothing is.
Now I have given up
The body and the world,
I have a special gift.
I see the infinite Self.
As a wave,
Seething and foaming,
Is only water
So all creation,
Streaming out of the Self,
Is only the Self.
Consider a piece of cloth.
It is only threads!
So all creation,
When you look closely,
Is only the Self.
I lived bewildered,
In illusion.
But now I am awake,
Flawless and serene,
Beyond the world.
From my light,
The body and the world arise.
So all things are mine,
Or nothing is.
Now I have given up
The body and the world,
I have a special gift.
I see the infinite Self.
As a wave,
Seething and foaming,
Is only water
So all creation,
Streaming out of the Self,
Is only the Self.
Consider a piece of cloth.
It is only threads!
So all creation,
When you look closely,
Is only the Self.
Stop thinking about anything which is not your true self, for that is degrading and productive of pain, and instead think about your true nature, which is bliss itself and productive of liberation.
The mental states are of two kinds. One is the natural state and the other is a transformation into forms of objects. The first is the truth, and the other is according to the doer (kartru-tantra). When the latter perishes, jale kataka renuvat (like the clearing nut paste in water) the former will remain over.
The means for this end is meditation. Though this is with the triad of distinction (triputi) it will finally end in pure awareness (jnanam). Meditation needs effort: jnanam is effortless. Meditation can be done, or not done, or wrongly done, jnanam is not so. Meditation is described as kartru-tantra (as doer's own), jnanam as vastu-tantra (the Supreme's own).
The means for this end is meditation. Though this is with the triad of distinction (triputi) it will finally end in pure awareness (jnanam). Meditation needs effort: jnanam is effortless. Meditation can be done, or not done, or wrongly done, jnanam is not so. Meditation is described as kartru-tantra (as doer's own), jnanam as vastu-tantra (the Supreme's own).
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 bear’s, cover the soul. Go into your own ground and learn to know yourself there.
Give all your attention to the question: ‘What is it that makes me conscious?’, until your mind becomes the question itself and cannot think of anything else.
Having crossed the river,
where will you go, O friend ?
There's no road to tread,
No traveler ahead,
Neither a beginning, nor an end.
There's no water, no boat, no boatman, no cord;
No earth is there, no sky, no time, no bank, no ford.
You have forgotten the Self within,
Your search in the void will be in vain;
In a moment the life will ebb
And in this body you won't remain.
Be ever conscious of this, O friend,
You've to immerse within your Self;
Kabir says, salvation you won't then need,
For what you are, you would be indeed.
where will you go, O friend ?
There's no road to tread,
No traveler ahead,
Neither a beginning, nor an end.
There's no water, no boat, no boatman, no cord;
No earth is there, no sky, no time, no bank, no ford.
You have forgotten the Self within,
Your search in the void will be in vain;
In a moment the life will ebb
And in this body you won't remain.
Be ever conscious of this, O friend,
You've to immerse within your Self;
Kabir says, salvation you won't then need,
For what you are, you would be indeed.
If someone we love dies, it causes grief to the one who continues living.
The way to get rid of grief is not to continue living.
Kill the griever, and who will then remain to grieve?
The ego must die.
That is the only way.
The two alternatives you suggest amount to the same.
When all are realised to be the one Self, who is there to love or hate?
The way to get rid of grief is not to continue living.
Kill the griever, and who will then remain to grieve?
The ego must die.
That is the only way.
The two alternatives you suggest amount to the same.
When all are realised to be the one Self, who is there to love or hate?
Distrust your mind and go beyond it.
Then you will realize the direct experience of Being, Knowing,
& Loving.
There are many starting points ~ they all lead to the same goal. You may begin with selfless work, abandoning the fruits of action.
You may then give up thinking and end in giving up all desires.
Or you may not bother about any thing you want,
or think,
or do,
& just stay in the thought & feeling "I am",
focusing, then establishing "I am" firmly in your mind.
All kinds of experience may come to you ~ remain unmoved,
in the moment,
in the knowledge that all that is perceivable is transient,
& that only the "I am" endures eternally.
That only "I am" is Real.
Then you will realize the direct experience of Being, Knowing,
& Loving.
There are many starting points ~ they all lead to the same goal. You may begin with selfless work, abandoning the fruits of action.
You may then give up thinking and end in giving up all desires.
Or you may not bother about any thing you want,
or think,
or do,
& just stay in the thought & feeling "I am",
focusing, then establishing "I am" firmly in your mind.
All kinds of experience may come to you ~ remain unmoved,
in the moment,
in the knowledge that all that is perceivable is transient,
& that only the "I am" endures eternally.
That only "I am" is Real.
6th November, 1935
Talk 86.
The Master gave the true significance of the Christian faith thus:
Christ is the ego. The Cross is the body.
When the ego is crucified, and it perishes,
what survives is the Absolute Being (God),
(cf. "I and my Father are one")
and this glorious survival
is called Resurrection.
Talk 86.
The Master gave the true significance of the Christian faith thus:
Christ is the ego. The Cross is the body.
When the ego is crucified, and it perishes,
what survives is the Absolute Being (God),
(cf. "I and my Father are one")
and this glorious survival
is called Resurrection.
"You must fulfill the vow that I am
not the body but the indwelling principle
‘I am’ only."
In order to understand the true import of whatever
has been said so far you must have the certitude
that I am not the body but the knowledge ‘I am’
only. In order to have this certitude, you have to
meditate on the knowledge ‘I am’ for a reasonable
amount of time. Doing away with the awareness of
the body and getting completely engulfed by the
knowledge ‘I am’ is the first and the last thing to be
done, the only vow to be fulfilled. You can say it is
the practice of being in the ‘Turiya’ or the fourth
state at all times.
not the body but the indwelling principle
‘I am’ only."
In order to understand the true import of whatever
has been said so far you must have the certitude
that I am not the body but the knowledge ‘I am’
only. In order to have this certitude, you have to
meditate on the knowledge ‘I am’ for a reasonable
amount of time. Doing away with the awareness of
the body and getting completely engulfed by the
knowledge ‘I am’ is the first and the last thing to be
done, the only vow to be fulfilled. You can say it is
the practice of being in the ‘Turiya’ or the fourth
state at all times.
Bliss comes to you by sweet grace, through the self-surrender you perform lovingly in the Heart.
Let your mind be like a beautiful flower that may be offered to the Lord in worship.
I desire you more than food or drink.
My body my senses my mind
hunger for your taste.
I can sense your presence in my heart
although you belong to all the world.
I wait with silent passion for one gesture
one glance from you.
My body my senses my mind
hunger for your taste.
I can sense your presence in my heart
although you belong to all the world.
I wait with silent passion for one gesture
one glance from you.
All are seeing God always. But they do not know it.
Love is not of the mind, it is not in the net of thought, it cannot be sought out, cultivated, cherished; it is there when the mind is silent and the heart is empty of the things of the mind.
There is no greater affliction than desire, no greater curse than discontent, no greater misfortune than wanting something for oneself. Therefore he who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.
When the Tao is present the horses haul manure. When the Tao is absent war horses are bred outside the city.
When the Tao is present the horses haul manure. When the Tao is absent war horses are bred outside the city.
The first wisdom: Taking refuge in the Self. You should do this all day long. When something goes wrong with your life, you shouldn't think of material ways to handle it. You should be trained enough to take refuge in the Self, first. Then the Self will move you to do the right things, so that you can go forward.