Acceptance of the world is acceptance of plurality. Acceptance of plurality means being influenced by it. And to be influenced by dvandvas (pairs of opposites) means to be afflicted by desires, ego and possessiveness. These notes alone and nothing but these very notes of your own mind are the source of your afflictions. Their disappearance contributes to spirituality. When these notes begin to fall one by one, the worldliness dissolves and godliness shines forth.
Read MoreOnly when you ensure that throughout the day, whatever actions or reactions you have, there is a progressive enrichment and purification taking place in you, can you be considered a sādhaka. The extent to which you are able to remain equal, able to accept favourable and unfavourable outcomes with equanimity, will depend on the purity of the mind.
Read MoreWhat is purity? How to gain it? The Upanishads are not merely enlightening, but through a process of enlightenment they also compel purity. So, by reading this verse a seeker has to focus on the task of purifying himself.
Read MoreA devotee may initially seek God – a glimpse or vision of the God of his imagination. But as he progresses on the path of devotion, the focus shifts from God to his own personality.
Read MoreYou may wonder how this śraddhā or subtle refinements are going to help you in God-realization. In the pursuit of God-realization, your focus should always be on your mind. It is your mind that has to be purified.
Read MoreIt is wrong to think that we cannot work without desires. Desire need not be a motivating force at all if one learns to live naturally. Does the earth need any desire to go around the sun? Do the trees grow and blossom motivated by any desire? In fact, desires hinder our natural efficiency and perfection.
Read MoreOne day, during the early morning darshan, a brahmachārin came and prostrated at his feet. Apparently, he was one of the most intelligent students learning Sanskrit from Maharaj Ji. The brahmachārin mentioned that he had been listening to the Ramayana Katha of the famous exponent, held in the Ashram premises.
Read MoreA Mahatma had a rich disciple who, in spite of repeated advice of the Guru, would make no effort to purify his heart and mind. But at the same time, the disciple used to pester the Guru for bestowing on him Brahma- jnāna (knowledge of Truth – Brahman).
Read MoreThrough the Teacher’s responses to various situations, we get a touch of his vision – his love and his dispassion. In receiving his comments and accepting the corrections, our ego gets sublimated. In working with the co-disciples and accommodating others lovingly as the Guru does, our minds expand.
Read MoreThe real purpose of all religious as well as spiritual practices is to purify and transform our own mind.
Read MoreIt is only to inculcate purity that all the religious and spiritual practices and disciplines have been evolved. Through all these practices, once purity is attained, meditational absorption will become easy and spontaneous.
Read MoreWhatever you do, wherever you are, you can pursue constant introspectional sadhana of refinement and purification. In fact it should be so.
Read MoreFulfillment will be had when the mind is properly treated to become pure and the hindrances to fulfillment are removed. And, when the mind is properly developed to have fulfillment, will it need any of these external objects, situations or possessions?
Read MoreSuppose you have a little depression or disinterestedness today – what of that? Let it remain. Be at home even with that. Know that as it has come in so also will it pass off. If you keep this elevated attitude, soon you will find that the depressive moods will become less frequent.
Read MoreThe existence of the Atma is always absolute. Its manner of expression includes that which you call ‘the world’. This is the truth. But this truth will remain a mystery until the seeker’s mind becomes crystal clear, desire-free and stable under all conditions. The least trace of impurity any time will impair his vision
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