Failure to share one's love is gross ingratitude to society

Love and compassion are inherent in every person. Each has to share love with others. Failure to share one's love is gross ingratitude to society, to which one owes everything. One should give one's love freely to others and receive love in return. But when the forces of evil and hatred overwhelm them, the Good accept the Lord as the Charioteer and He enables to overpower foes.

- Sai Baba

Τhe natural food of man

In men of all races we find that their senses of smell, sound, and sight never lead them to slaughter animals; on the contrary they cannot bear even the sight of such killings. Slaughterhouses are always recommended to be removed far from the towns. Can flesh then be considered the natural food of man, when both his eyes and his nose are so much against it?

-Sri Yukteswar

Man forgets that it is the Spirit that activates his senses

It is naive to try to search for God in any particular place. Man is himself the cause of all his sorrows and difficulties because, forgetting his inherent divinity, he regards the body as real and pursues mundane and physical pleasures. Man forgets that it is the Spirit that activates all his senses. When a fan turns or a bulb burns, it is the current that makes them work. When a car is driven, the engine revolves and the horn works because of the current from the battery. Likewise, for the car of the human body, the eyes are the lights, speech is the horn and all sense organs function because of the current from the Atma (the Spirit).

-Sai Baba
Divine Discourse, 8th February 1990.

It will go away...

A disciple once went to his master say, excitedly,
"Master, I just had a vision!"
The master replied,
"Sit down. Meditate. It will go away."

Loving is an act of service

Loving is an act of service. When you love somebody you give him courage; you uplift, transform, and cause enlightenment in that person. You evoke creativity. Has anybody loved you in a way that increased your energy, creativity, and enlightenment? If his love did not do that, you have not yet tasted love.

-Torkom Saraydarian

Prayer brings man and God together

Prayer alone makes life happy, harmonious and worth living in this universe.
Prayer brings man and God together and with every sigh nearer and nearer.

-Sai Baba

Smoking tobacco or marijuana

Smoking tobacco or marijuana dulls the pineal gland and the sensitive cells around it that transmit communications from the Solar Angel. It is a very slow process, but eventually the damage reaches large proportions. Chewing tobacco kills the haemoglobin of the blood and opens the person to invite in unwanted entities.

-Torkom Saraydarian

The state of craving blocks all deeper experience

The state of craving for anything blocks all deeper experience. Nothing of value can happen to a mind which knows exactly what it wants. For nothing the mind can visualize and want is of much value.

-Nisargadatta Maharaj

Making the river Ganges flow uphill

The difficulty in weaning the mind from objects and fixing it on God is the same as in making the river Ganges flow uphill towards its source instead of its natural flow towards the ocean. Through strenuous efforts and renunciation, the mind must be trained to flow towards God, much against its will, if you want to free yourself from birth and death. There is no other way if you want to escape from worldly miseries and tribulations.

-Sivananda

Sensitivity - You must not be afraid to suffer

The more sensitive you become, the more likely you are to suffer over all that you see and hear around you. But should we become insensitive in order to avoid suffering? No, with such reasoning, we would quickly become as hard as rock. You must not be afraid to suffer, and in this regard, suffering must not even be given much consideration. It is preferable to enhance one's sensitivity, even if we have to suffer, because it is the degree of sensitivity which determines the grandeur, the nobility of the human being.

You must not, however, confuse sensitivity with sentimentality. According to initiatic science, to be sensitive is to be able to open oneself more and more to the splendour and wealth of heaven, to capture the marvels of the divine world to the point of barely sensing the stupidity, the vulgarity, and the meanness of human beings. The great masters, and above them the angels and archangels, do not suffer over ugliness; they no longer notice it. They see only beauty, and they live in unceasing joy.

-Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov

With the least effort one can obtain a vegetable diet

You know how repulsive the very sight of meat becomes to the organism accustomed to a vegetable diet. Thus, in practice one must accustom oneself to refinement and remember that even an elephant increases his strength through plants alone. One should not think that people eat meat because of poverty. With the least effort one can obtain a vegetable diet; besides, many nourishing herbs and roots are not utilized.

-Agni Yoga

How to find your soul mate

You are all seeking this love of the so-called soul mate. Well, if you want to find your soul mate, above all, do not look for it. Concern yourself only with living a pure, intense, and luminous life. Simply live this life and let it take its course; it is this that will attract your soul mate to you. You do not yet know what such a life can do to bring you the beings who have an affinity with you. One day you will say: 'I did not seek my soul mate, I did not go searching for my beloved, and yet she came...from the far reaches of the universe.'

To find this soul mate, many people put advertisements in the papers and go to all kinds of receptions and night-clubs, but what do they find? Is it so difficult to understand that it is by nourishing something vital and luminous within ourselves every day that we end by attracting this marvellous being we have hoped for?

-Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov

Sacrifice of the lower nature

People speak of sacrificing themselves as if it were a matter of giving up or losing something. When we make a sacrifice, we do not sacrifice 'ourselves', but rather something useless, harmful or inferior, in order to obtain something great, powerful and precious. It is impossible to escape this law: our divine nature cannot live if we do not sacrifice our lower nature.

-Aivanhov

No more holy function than that of the sex relation between man and woman

There is no more holy, sacred function than that of the sex relation between man and woman; nothing more god-like than the right use of the great creative principle, and nothing more fiendish in its final results than the abuse and misuse of the same. It matters not what forms and ceremonies or customs may be used to hedge the guilty, a marriage without true love, confidence and perfect trust, is only one form of prostitution.

-Hilarion, TT

No true Teacher collects sheep around himself

A disciple must prove that he has 'independence of action.' No true Teacher collects sheep around himself. He collects disciples. A disciple is one who can think and take action. He is not a sheep; he is not a blind follower; he is not a machine. A real disciple initiates actions, projects, and plans. He cultivates ideas and visions in his own way, in his own proper time, and at his own speed.

-Torkom Saraydarian

The causes of the maladies

What are the causes of the maladies afflicting people today? Impure air, polluted water, adulterated foodstuffs, etc. Even the minds are polluted. Most of the diseases are caused by aberrations of the mind. Ninety per cent of the diseases are psychological. Constant thinking about one's health is also the cause of many diseases. When the mind is directed towards sacred things, everything in a man's life becomes sacred.

-Sai Baba

The real significance of sex has been lost

Man has prostituted the truth, and the real significance of sex has been lost. Sex now means the satisfaction of the male desire for sensuous pleasure, and the assuaging of a physical appetite through the prostitution of the feminine aspect to that desire and appetite. This relation leads to no result as intended, but to a momentary second of satisfaction, and all of it is confined to the animal nature and the physical plane.

- Alice Bailey, EPI 299

The fear of death

All this concentration upon disaster is nothing new. You see, when humans are consumed with the end of the world, this is merely symbolic of their true fear. Their fear of death. Understand? The body will become no-thing. No matter what we do or how we shall prepare, the final disaster can not be overcome. Understand this and you will understand most of human thought, emotion, and activity.

-Babaji

Waste of sexual energy

Sex energy is a very valuable energy because it proceeds to become vitality, sensitivity in the brain cells, impressionability in the aura, creativity in the mind, magnetism and healing radiation in the centers. Through it we provide the materials or substance to build our higher vehicles on individual and global scales. For this reason it should not be wasted, but should be used for procreative purposes, and to create beauty, transmutation and bliss. When wasted in massive quantities by nations or large groups of human beings, the entire mechanism of human beings or nations cannot respond to creative energies, but rather distorts them, causing imbalance which invites destruction. Many nations and groups have been destroyed in this way.

People sometimes think that the source of energy is inexhaustible. This is true if you are at a stage in which you do not use the energy for any personal pleasure and satisfaction, but use it only to further the Divine Purpose. Below this level, your quota of energy is limited. This accounts for the fact that when people feel a lack of sexual energy, they consume more food and use more alcohol or other stimulants to fill the vacuum.

-Torkom Saraydarian

Voluntary Service - Agni Yoga

We say that life is service for evolution. One might find it simpler to say that life is evolution, but We emphasize the idea of service. Indeed, everything is in the process of evolution, but life's full expression can come only under conditions of voluntary service. It is the voluntary quality of service that indicates the rightness of the path.

In general, people dislike the concept of service. They dream about a time when there will be no need for it, and would be horrified to learn that all of life is unending service. They prefer to hear about Us, about Our labor and Our joy, and puzzled, they ask, “What kind of continual service is it when one can hear singing in the Brotherhood?”

People cannot understand that We use singing not as a pastime, but as a method for achieving harmony. It is hard for them to understand that art is a refined aid for evolution, and that We recommend the mastery of any art or craft as a rapid approach to service. A master will willingly agree to perpetual service in the perfection of his art, and feels no need to count the hours of labor.

Our life is a voluntary mastership and is not concerned with limits. Even on Earth it is possible to almost forget time, and service becomes joy. I affirm that one can prepare oneself for such service under all circumstances. One need not be a sage to accept life as something important and responsible. There are examples of even simple farmers who were ready to devote themselves to the idea of service. It was the loss of this concept of service that turned earthly life into slavery and insanity. But the time is approaching when people will be looking, even unwittingly, for the purpose of life. They will first refer to evolution in scientific terms, but the next step will be the acceptance of service as the right approach to life.

The Thinker taught that the concept of service can solve the riddles of life.

-Agni Yoga

The only value of the world

Use the world as a training ground for sacrifice, service, expansion of the heart and cleansing of the emotions. That is the only value it has.

-Sai Baba

To be loved, learn to live a poetic life

In their lives, most people are cold, stiff, dull, prosaic and unimaginative; nothing subtle emanates from them. They need to be loved, they need good relationships, but they seem to do everything possible to repel each other by remaining closed, gloomy and ponderous. How can anyone so unpleasant be loved? To be loved, you must learn to live a poetic life so you can bring warmth and light to others.

-Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov

Live in Love

Start the day with Love. Live the day with Love. Fill the day with Love. Spend the day with Love. End the day with Love. Love calls; love responds. Live in Love. This is the way to God.

-Sai Baba

True Regret

When we meditate, things from the past come up. We may remember times when we treated others horribly -hurting their feelings, deceiving, manipulating them. While regret is necessary to purify these karmas, we often fall into guilt instead. Guilt and shame are obstacles, because they keep us trapped in our self-centered melodrama entitled "How Bad I Am." Regret, on the other hand, motivates us to refrain from acting like that again.

-Dalai Lama

Do you want to know if you truly love others?

Do you want to know if you truly love others? Then, here is a simple criterion: do you feel grateful to them? If you ask nothing of them, if you are moved to thank them in words - or merely in your thoughts - simply because they are there, because they exist, then yes, you can be sure that you love them. Otherwise, describe your feelings however you wish, but this is not love.

-Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov

Building our Future

It is very important that we control our future. In what way? By living in a way that will lead us to our future. For example, if you want to have a great mind in the future, you must work on your mind now. If you want to have a healthy mind, you must think healthy thoughts. If you want to have a beautiful physical body, you must perform only those actions, emotions and mental activities that are in harmony with each other, and this harmony will create a harmonious body in the future.

People are very careful about putting money in the bank. They say, "Twenty years later I will have 20,000 dollars." But they do not think about what bank they are putting their thoughts into and what kind of thoughts they are putting into it. There is a more important bank than the bank where we are putting our dollars. In that bank you are putting all your capital; you are building the capital of your future and it will create earthly joys and heavenly joys. If you deposit material money and do not pay attention to your future becomingness, then you are losing whatever you build here. Your unfoldment of the future is like a garden in which you are going to bloom.

-Torkom Saraydarian

Meat eating makes man descend to the demonic level

I have been stressing the vital importance of people giving up this habit of eating non-vegetarian food even from my boyhood days. Meat eating fosters animal qualities in man making him descend to the demonic level; it is a heart-rending sight to see cows being slaughtered to serve as food for man. Violence in any form is evil and to kill innocent animals in tantamount to blatant savagery.

-Sai Baba

To know the truth, remove the idea that you are somewhere

You are always thinking you are somewhere, in some place. You have to remove that idea. There is a peculiar habit of the mind asserting itself as located in some place, in a particular form, in a particular condition, etc. This must be removed so that you may know the truth.

-Swami Krishnananda

Patience brings charm to your life

Patience is like a beautiful ornament. When you become a person with great patience, it brings a certain element of charm to your life. You are loved by others, and you give no problems to your friends. You bring an element of joy, happiness, and calmness to other people's lives - your friends, your family, and the community. You do not have to ask to be accepted; everyone longs for your presence.

-Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche

The external world reflects your thoughts

The external world will reflect your thoughts. If you view the world with love, it will appear as filled with love. If you view it with hatred, everything will appear antagonistic to you. Eyes filled with love shine with brightness and cheerfulness. Eyes filled with hatred appear bloodshot and fearful. Our thoughts determine our good and bad actions.

The spark of Love in you has to be cherished and fed so that it may reach God; then, every being will be God, every act will be Divine; every reaction you get from the outside world will be charged with Prema and sweetened with that nectar. You love the God in all beings and the God in all beings responds with love.

-Sai Baba

The contemplation of death is the foundation of spiritual discipline

The contemplation of death is the very foundation of spiritual discipline. Without it, human is certain to fall into falsehood, pursuing the objects of sense-pleasure, and trying to accumulate material, worldly riches. Death is no ominous calamity; it is a step into the auspicious brightness beyond.

-Sai Baba

Habits prevent our evolution

We must try to annihilate habits. No one must be the slave of any habit because habits use our willpower and prevent our evolution, unfoldment, blooming and right relations. The destruction of habits opens the way for us to develop our life and expand our consciousness.

-Torkom Saraydarian

Compare yourself with Christ

You can work toward perfection by comparing yourself with Christ and seeing what you are. This is how you can change yourself. It is a clear tactic to find the difference between perfection and yourself.

-Torkom Saraydarian

The end of pain lies not in pleasure

The end of pain lies not in pleasure. When you realize that you are beyond both pain and pleasure, aloof and unassailable, then the pursuit of happiness ceases and the resultant sorrow too. For pain aims at pleasure and pleasure ends in pain, relentlessly.

-Nisargadatta Maharaj

Like troglodytes

People do not slaughter a vast number of cattle from a sense of refinement. Like troglodytes, they are ready to devour bears. One must realize that the mass slaughter of animals is carried on in full consciousness. People know that vegetables or fruit give more vital energy than a cup of blood, yet they prefer being served with bloody meat, greatly relishing this coarseness.

-Agni Yoga

Today, human is shaped by the head, rather than the heart

Few seek real Ananda (Bliss); the many are led away by the pseudo-ananda of the senses, the intellect and the mind. Today ideals must become higher and grander. Desires must become more and more selfless and sublime. Attachment must be transmuted into nobler and subtler emotions. Laziness too is the bane of modern civilization; people want rest, they complain of overwork, they talk of being tired.

Today, human is shaped by the head, rather than the heart. It is cleverness that is admired, that pays. But, peace and joy emanate from the heart not the head. The heart teaches compassion, awe, reverence, humility, equanimity, sympathy - qualities that bind people in love, and turn them towards righteousness and the source and sustenance of the Universe.

-Sai Baba

Thoughts follow their parent

Thoughts follow their parent, good or evil. They come and find you, whether you are in astral, mental, or physical incarnation. Good thoughts return to you with flowers an fruits. Dark thoughts return to you with heavy taxation, pain and suffering.

-Torkom Saraydarian

Service is Joy

I slept and dreamt that life was joy.
I awoke and saw that life was service.
I acted and behold, service was joy.

-Rabindranath Tagore

Do not blame others for your condition

The importance of the mind in the process of transformation should be properly understood, because it is the mind that is the cause of both bondage and liberation. Your own actions are the cause of your happiness or sorrow. Do not blame others for your condition. Every thought, every word and every action has its reflection, resound and reaction. It is a sign of weakness to blame others for your troubles. You have to bear the consequences of your own actions. If they are unbearable, pray to God for relief. God alone can give relief in such cases.

- Sai Baba

People who swear

People who swear -even if it's just under their breath -are cursing themselves. What does that mean? It means they are holding themselves back in life. They are demeaning themselves and making themselves unsuccessful. Their lack of success will create more frustrations within the home, and more swearing. Even thinking a swear word is a mantra.

-Gurudeva

"Why don't I see goodness and beauty everywhere?"

"Why is everyone here so happy except me?"
"Because they have learned to see goodness and beauty everywhere," said the Master.
"Why don't I see goodness and beauty everywhere?"
"Because you cannot see outside of you what you fail to see inside."

-Anthony de Mello, SJ

Culture bridges the hearts

Wholeness means that the parts are serving the whole, and the whole is serving the parts. This fact, if understood internationally would solve all our political and social problems. Culture breaks separative walls between people, walls made by prejudices, emotions, thoughts and traditions. Culture bridges the hearts.

-Torkom Saraydarian

What is spirituality?

People talk about spirituality. What does it mean? Spirituality means discovering the unity in the multiplicity. Unity can be achieved through truth, nonviolence and love. (Preoccupation with one's own destiny is not spirituality. That also is a form of selfishness).

The essence of spirituality is mental transformation. (Without mental transformation, what is the use of all spiritual sadhanas? What is the use of prayers)? Develop spirituality, love, unity, and forbearance. All these can be achieved through God's grace. People do not even need to undertake any rigorous spiritual practices. (Japa, meditation, and yogic practices confer only temporary satisfaction). It is enough if you develop love in your heart. It is Love and Non-violence that sustain the world. So, the true spirituality consists in filling the heart with Love, dedicating all actions to the Divine and striving for the welfare of all.

- Sai Baba

We are here on Earth to ...

We are here on Earth to enter the path of perfection. We are here on Earth to finish our schooling with honor. We are here to unfold the beauty that exists within our Core. We are here to establish greater communications with the higher forces of Nature. We are here to create human unity. We are here to master time, space, matter, and death. We are here to release the light in our Core. We are here to learn the value of life and how to continue to live in higher spheres consciously. These are our main lessons, if we do not learn them, we will perpetuate suffering, pain, again and again, in the Subtle World and on Earth.

-Torkom Saraydarian

You have just dined...

You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Beautiful men and women must be very careful

Frequently it is beautiful men and women, those who are full of magnetism, who become trapped in the messes of life. This happens because dark forces try the hardest to destroy those who give promise of being universal in their thinking and creativity, who seem destined to bring some great beauty to the world.

Dark forces try to block love; they do not want beauty, goodness, truth, joy, and freedom to increase. Especially when a man or woman is beautiful, intelligent, and creative, he or she must be very careful not to be misused in sex or pseudo-love. They must try not to end in the traps of dark forces that would prevent them from expressing their beauty and worth in the world.

-Torkom Saraydarian

Sex, Family, and the Woman in Society, Chapter 4

Regressing to animality

Peace cannot be found in the external world but within oneself. One should realize that the whole universe is pervaded by the Divine. Today the world is filled with strife. It is not possible to make a distinction between a human being and a demon. Man, who evolved from the animal, instead of proceeding towards Divinity, is regressing to animality. Man's primary duty is to uphold the human values of Truth, Righteousness, Peace and Love. However, man today is enveloped in attachment and hatred. The moment he casts them off, he will realize his divinity.

-Sai Baba

The concept of want makes you a beggar

The mind is a beggar because the concept of want makes you a beggar! Be only "I AM" and try to lift the begging bowl. Throw away the begging bowl of ego for the throne.

-Papaji

Mind is the worst pollution

Where there is mind there is two-ness and past. Where there is no mind there is Freedom. Mind is strong in other-ness because mind is mind only when it touches an object. Mind is the worst pollution because it is the concept of time which steals you from Love. Mind is samsara, the cycle of hitchhiking through wombs. Mind is description so see what cannot be described by thought.

-Papaji

Man has to wake up from the sleep of ignorance and realize his divine essence

By constant contemplation on God the mind should be turned away from mundane desires. That is the way to transcend the dualities of pain and pleasure. Man has to wake up from the sleep of ignorance and realize his divine essence. When worldly desires are reduced, bliss will be experienced.

Along with the control of desires, men should also get rid of Ahamkara (ego). Men today are filled with fear because they have no confidence in themselves. A bird can brave a storm because it has faith in its wings. But man succumbs to the slightest reverses of fortune because he does not rely on the power of the Spirit. People must rely primarily on the power of the Divine. With confidence in the Self, they should devote themselves to good deeds. This is the purpose of life. Every step you take must bring you nearer to God.

- Sai Baba

When ignorance dissolves

When ignorance, the mother of sin, dissolves, destiny, the compulsion to sin again, ceases. With ignorance coming to an end, all comes to an end. Things are then seen as they are, and they are good.

-Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Habits are the decay of life

A yogi has no habits, because habits are nothing more than the decay of life. However, it is natural for a yogi to have his own way of action. It is not difficult for a yogi to cut the bonds of habit, because his state of tense alertness constantly reveals to him new approaches to problems. Inertia is the skeleton on which ignorance grows. How many kingdoms have collapsed because of inertia!

- Agni Yoga, 198

Stay only in holy company

The relationships you keep have a great effect on you: you become what you associate yourself with. So stay only in holy company, only travel with those in the same boat. Nothing is better than satsang so keep your friends here. Associate only with those going in the same direction and go to Truth at any cost.

- Papaji

Cannibalism

Strange, that man should attribute cannibalism only to those, who eat the flesh of their own kind. Slaughter of animals for food can exist only in a barbaric society.

-Akbarali Jetha

* Stimulation*

Sex, coffee, liquor, and cigarettes
Are the totems of today.
Stimulation has replaced feeling.

In today's world, these are the unfortunate equations:
Do you want intimacy? Have sex.
Do you want to be energetic? Drink coffee.
Do you want freedom from inhibitions? Drink wine.
Do you want a fashionable prop? Smoke cigarettes.
Why is it that these things have replaced what should naturally be done? Because people have lost the knowledge of how to do these things without artificial stimulation. Why not seek intimacy through sensitivity? Energy through good health? If we overcome our obstacles, we won't need inhibition. Pretension will fall away. Only then will there be a blossoming of Tao.

-Deng Ming-Dao

Karma as an echo - Sai Baba

Once there was a cowherd who used to take the cows for grazing to a place surrounded by three mountains. One day when the cows were grazing, he sat down under a tree and started singing a song in praise of God. As he sang the song, he heard its echo. He thought that someone was imitating his song to tease him. Therefore, he shouted in anger at the invisible intruder, and heard its resound in the same angry tone. In this state of anger, he went home and did not even take his food. His mother asked him why he was so upset. He narrated what had happened. Next day, his mother accompanied him and came to know that it was his own echo which was the cause of his trouble. In the same manner if you criticize or abuse anybody, all that will come back to you. The world is nothing but reaction, reflection and resound. Whatever you do will come back to you, and nothing else. This is the divine law. Those who are full of love will see love everywhere. Those who are full of hatred will see enemies all around. Therefore, love and hatred do not come from outside. They have their origin within you. The good and bad you experience arise out of your own feelings. God is not responsible for any of these. God is Nirguna, Niranjana, Sanathana (attributeless, pure, final abode). It is only your feelings that change. God is changeless.

-Sai Baba

"I am dying and this person too is dying"

The monks of a neighboring monastery asked the Master's help in a quarrel that had arisen among them. They had heard the Master say he had a technique that was guaranteed to bring love and harmony to any group.

On this occasion he revealed it: "Any time you are with anyone or think of anyone you must say to yourself: I am dying and this person too is dying, attempting the while to experience the truth of the words you are saying.
If every one of you agrees to practice this, bitterness will die out, harmony will arise."

Having said that, he was gone.

Anthony de Mello, S.J

"It will pass"

A student went to his meditation teacher and said, "My meditation is horrible! I feel so distracted, or my legs ache, or I'm constantly falling asleep. It's just horrible!"

"It will pass," the teacher said matter-of-factly.

A week later, the student came back to his teacher. "My meditation is wonderful! I feel so aware, so peaceful, so alive! It's just wonderful!"

"It will pass," the teacher replied matter-of-factly.

This span of life was lent for lofty duties

This span of life was lent for lofty duties, not for selfishness; not to be wiled away for aimless dreams, but to improve ourselves, and serve mankind.

-Sir Aubrey De Vere

It is more difficult to commit sin than to be good - Sai Baba

Some people say that they are too weak to scale spiritual heights. But you have the strength to commit sins and do wrong actions. The strength required for good or bad actions is the same. In fact, it is more difficult to commit sin than to be good and meritorious. To utter an untruth is difficult. To speak the truth is easy. Speaking the truth calls for no effort. But to declare what is not true as true calls for considerable ingenuity. Uttering an untruth is therefore more difficult. Equally, cheating is more arduous than being honest.

- Sai Baba

Self-responsibility

Placing the blame or judgment on someone else leaves you powerless to change your experience; taking responsibility for your beliefs and judgments gives you the power to change them.

Byron Katie

Buddha - All that we are is the result of our thoughts

All that we are is the result of our thoughts; it is founded on our thoughts and made up of our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world. If you speak or act with a harmful thought, trouble will follow you as the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart.

All that we are is the result of our thoughts; it is founded on our thoughts and made up of our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world. If you speak or act with a harmonious thought, happiness will follow you as your own shadow, never leaving you.

-Dhammapada

Your inner self is your master - Sai Baba

Past is past. Do not think of the future, because it is not in our hands. What is the guarantee that we will live until tomorrow? Therefore, this present time is very important. Make good use of it. Do not go against your inner self...

I always say, "Follow the master". Who is your master? Your inner self is your master. So there is no need for anyone else; follow your own inner self. That is your God. That is your happiness. That is your wealth. That is your peace. Happiness and peace are not outside”.

-Sai Baba

Only love brings happiness, not science, not even philosophy

Only love brings happiness, not science, not even philosophy. Science and philosophy may -at best- guide us, enlighten us, but they cannot make us happy. Solomon had understood this when he said: 'For in much wisdom is much vexation, and those who increase knowledge increase sorrow.' People who know a great deal are not so very happy. Only people who carry a lot of love in their heart are happy, even if they do not know much.

-Aivanhov

Ingratitude is utter cruelty - Sai Baba

Always be grateful, even for a small help. Do not be ungrateful; ingratitude is utter cruelty. Any help received should be reciprocated to the extent possible. Hurting someone who has helped you will result in your losing your eyesight. It is only through the radiance of the sun that you see things, and the sun withdraws its radiance from those who commit the sin of ingratitude. This is the suffering that an ungrateful person has to undergo. Therefore, we should always be grateful and return help for help, to the utmost extent possible.

- Sai Baba, Divine Discourse, 6th May 2002.

Total surrender

Not by developing a keen intellect which can indulge in hair-splitting arguments and logic-chopping, not by getting by heart hundreds of texts, nor by all kinds of austerities, can the Atman be realised; through self-surrender alone can you realise Him.

- Swami Sivananda

Meat harms the aura - Agni Yoga

People often do not suspect how meat can construct and disfigure the aura. But a disturbance may be felt particularly when the organism has become accustomed to the advantages of a vegetable diet. People sometimes discriminate less than animals in the matter of food and its quality. Such meditation is useful on the path to the Fiery World.

-Agni Yoga

Tests - Sai Baba

Tests must be welcomed for they alone can give confidence. When you drive a nail into the wall, you shake it a little to ensure that it has been driven firmly in. Tests are essential everywhere, and more so in the spiritual field where success is often deceptive and short-lived.

- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. V, P. 149

Santosham (contentment), the greatest gift - Sai Baba

Of all the gifts you receive from God, the greatest gift is Santosham (contentment). The opposite of Santosham is sorrow, which is the fruit of desire that arouses hope and almost always results in disappointment or despair. One desire engenders another and proliferates into a hundred, even when it is fulfilled. It knows no justification and has no end. So, Santosham is the supreme blessing of the Lord, who, in His infinite Love, puts an end to that unquenchable thirst. No wealth or worldly attainment can equal it in efficacy; Santosham is the culmination of desire in full contentment and sacred satiety.

-Sai Baba

The power of giving - Buddha

If you knew what I know about the power of giving, you would not let a single meal pass without sharing it in some way.

- Buddha

Take a deep breath and summon courage - Yogananda

The spiritual aspirant hopeful of obtaining ultimate illumination must "take a deep breath" and summon courage for a long-drawn struggle to conquer flesh consciousness.

-Yogananda

Worshipping the Fire

Worshipping the Fire means woshipping the Inner Light. Worshipping the Fire burns Karma. It is spiritual purification.

-Babaji