Gems and Pearls of wisdom-hi
Gems and Pearls of wisdom
Even by the falling of waterdrops, a
Water pot is filled;
Likewise, man becomes full of good,
If he gathers wisdom even little by little.
O ye that are young,
Rejoice in your ancient heritage,
And enrich it for service of the world,
Not yet is India played out;
A mightly mission still awaits her,
Hear then her voice;
Guard ye her great ideals;
And with courage in both hands go forward,
To build a future more mighty
Than even Her ancient past
(SADHU VASWANI)
When we are conscious of our soul,
We perceive the inner being that
Transcends our ego and has its
Deeper affinity with all..
(RABINDRANATH TAGORE)
The physical does not get its full sense until it stands in right relation, to the supra-physical i.e., God. To look upon the world as self-sufficient or to believe one’s empyirical self (jiva) as one’s true self (atman) is to be caught in delusion (Maya). Life on earth is meaningless apart from its eternal (spiritual) background.
(SRI AUROBINDO)
The body is like a chariot, the Atman is the Lord seated in the chariot; the horses are the sense, the reins of the horses are the mind; the charioteer is buddhi (the intellect); the roads, are the objects of senses; and the ordained destinations is Paramatma / Iswara. The charioteer (buddhi) has to control the reins (mind), the reins have to restrain the horses (senses). The charioteer (buddhi) has to drive the chariot safety to the destination, in obedience to the directives of the Lord of the chariot (the atman), This implies that the goal of life can be reached if the senses are restrained by the mind, the mind is controlled by the intellect and the intellect functions subservient to the Atman. Otherwise the life’s journey will end in grief, and will not attain its fulfillment.
(KATHOPANISHAD)
The life of the body means the function of the senses through a consciousness which does not reach deeper than the mind. The mind which is only an instrument and means, i.e., which is subordinate with reference to the soul, usurps and assumes absolute sovereignity; it creates ceaseless worries or builds up wild plans, all directed towards the purely physical existence and with utter disregard to the life of the Spirit.
The ego is a reflex of the soul (i.e of atman) and is known in spiritual terminology as Jiva. Unawakened, this is like a rider who is dazed, wounded or unconscious, and entirely at the mercy of his horse. The consciousness in such cases functions very imperfectly and superficially it is in order to sharpen this consciousness and to arouse the Jiva, that the sages have suggested a preliminary enquiry as to “Who am I”? Whence am I? and whither am I going?” They have suggested a more frequent if not a permanent thought regarding evil, birth, death, old age and pains of all kinds.
When a man is under control of his senses, his life is of the world; When he has controlled his senses, his life is of the spirit.
The mind that succeeds is the mind that is concentrated. In such concentration in action, there will be no consciousness of the lower ego present. There will be no sense of ‘me’ and ‘mine’. Hence there will be no bondage of Karma.
Everything is in the mind; nothing bears fruit unless the mind is pure.
From desire comes the body into being. When there is no desire at all, the body falls away. With complete cessation of desires there comes the final end, the consummation – Moksha. Rebirth is inevitable so long as one has desires. The longing for good, the longing for God is not like a desire for the worldly pleasures. It is called aspiration. Desires degrade man whereas aspirations uplift him.
Attach yourself to the Lord and to nothing else, because everything else in unreal. Attachment to the Lord leads to happiness and joy, and attachment to the unreal will bring misery. Spiritually cannot be obtained until all material ideas are given up.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. As one grows wise, the fear changes into love, and perfect love casts out fear altogether.
The first and surest means to enter into communion with the divine is by sincerity. If we pray with sincerity, we will surely feel the divine presence. Sincerity is the chief virtue that blinds the divinity and man into one.
First offer to God whatever you eat. One must not eat food without first offering it to God. As your food is, so will be your blood. From pure food you get pure blood, pure mind and strength. Pure mind begets love and devotion to God.
By eating Prasad one’s mind gets purified.
Use of enjoyment of anything, except after fulfilling the necessary obligations (towards other fellow-beings) is tantamount to theft and is, therefore, most reprehensible.
Religion is realization of Spirit as spirit, whereas what we do is just the opposite. We take Spirit as matter.
In moments of our silience, we can hear the still voices of the soul with its plaintive cry-of the prisoner for freedom, of the wanderer for home, the cry of the finite for the Infinite.
The final truths, which sound simple, carry little meaning to most men. These truths, such as “I am He” are necessarily abstruse. They have to be worked up to by a constant realization that, what is destructible is the body, which is imperfect, unsound, limited, fruitless and lastly unreal.
Nagamahasaya, the house-holder disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was able to escape the chains of Samsara by becoming humbler and humbler and smaller and smaller, with less and less egoism, and there by he could creep through to safety. Vivekananda, on the other hand, expanded himself until he was identified with the entire universe and so, the chain broke, unable to contain his majesty. Nagamahasaya felt “I am the servant of God-Dasoham”. Vivekananda felt that he was the Master, the Isha who was “Idam-Sarvam”, Sada Soham”. He was always steady in the conviction- that he was ‘That’. This is called Jiva – Brahma – Aikya – Anusandhanam, the practice of consciousness of the identify will not develop Aham-kara, egoism. It will merge the ego in the Universal; the idea of ‘I’ will disappear in ‘Thee’ which will be the only Entity one will be aware in the higher states of consciousness.
(Sri Sathya Sai Baba)
The ideal of “SIVOHAM” – let it be your Adarsa (Goal). The attitude of ‘DASOHAM’ – Let it by your practice, Acharana.
(Sri Sathya Sai Baba)
As long as there is a sense of “I” and “Mine, God’s grace does not flow freely. If we think of ourselves, He stands at a distance. When we give up our arrogance, then our sails get set to receive the winds of His Grace and His Grace will come to us abundantly. Our arrogance impedes the flow of His grace.
When one attains true knowledge, God ceases to exist separately. As we mediate we will realize that He who is in me is in everyone too; only then will humility grow in our mind.
Leave not the world; live with it, but remember “he truly liveth who in silence has learnt to renounce his own”
Look at that little lad whirling round and round that post. However fast he may turn, he keeps firm hold of the post. Even so, hold fast to God and whirl round in worldly life…
The essential attitude that one should cultivate is to engage in all activities that are one’s duty, but without getting attached to the work. As the sky’s clear-blue is not affected by the clouds or rain, lightning or thunder, but remains the same inspite of those temporary disturbances, the mind of man must be clear and clean, inspite of all the storms and stresses life.
Many are known to do great works under the stress of some strong emotion. But a man’s true nature is known from the manner in which he does his significant daily tasks.
Virtues (divine qualities) kindle the light of the soul within, for one’s own good and for the good of all.
Rites are like the husk which covers the rice. Without the husk, a rice grain will not sprout when it is sown in the soil. Thus it is to preserve our dharma and to give it the vital force to take root and grow, the rites, ceremonies and festivals are prescribed by the religion.
How many things can I describe to you in details one by one? Inflame your sense of service and then serve everything that comes to your eye, realizing that they are all but forms of Mine; and abandoning hatred of all living beings, bow down everywhere through humility with the full conviction that I exist everywhere. In this way you will secure My full protection. Then in this world, no third or other things will exist for you, and you will find complete unity between Me and You. Then you will enjoy union with Me at all times.