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