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Monday, April 28, 2008

From My Spiritual Diary-41:

Ø True individuality lies not at the level of the finite ego, but at the level of infinite Atman. Man is truly individual only when he becomes universal. He has to transcend the false individuality of the ego to realize his true individuality in the Atman. To the question, “When shall I be free?’, Sri Ramakrishna gives the straight answer, ‘When “I” shall cease to be’. To gain true life, we have to lose our false life first, says Jesus. (Swami Ranganathananda).

Ø All attempts of language calling Him father or brother, our dearest friend, are attempts to objectify God, which cannot be done. He is the eternal SUBJECT of everything. I am the subject of the chair. I see the chair: so God is the eternal subject of my soul. How can you objectify Him, the essence of your souls, the Reality of everything? Thus, I would repeat to you once more, GOD is never knowable nor unknowable, but something infinitely higher than either. He is one with us; and that which is one with us is neither knowable nor unknowable… You cannot know your own self; you cannot move it out and make it an object to look at, because you ARE that, and cannot separate yourself from it. Neither is it unknowable, for what is better known than yourself? It is really the centre of our knowledge. In exactly the same sense, God is neither unknowable nor known, but infinitely higher than both; for He is our real Self. (Swami Vivekananda).

Ø Do you expect anything from your small son, if you do him something? In a similar manner, you will have to work for others also without expecting anything. You will have to expand and think that this whole world is your own self. … When you have tasted a bit of the Bliss of selfless service, you can never leave it. The force of service will induce you to work more with great zeal and enthusiasm. (Swami Sivananda of Divine Life Society).

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

From My Spiritual Diary-40:

Ø Whatever the Lord wills, happens. Whether we understand it or not, whatever the all-auspicious God does undoubtedly good for us. If we can understand this, there would no end to our joy.
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Ø Whether conditions are good or bad, the man of luminous intellect always sees the good. It is only through God’s special grace that a person develops such an attitude. When he is perfected in it, all his miseries cease for ever.
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Ø The more we talk about the Lord and rejoice in His glory, the better it is for us. (Swami Turiyananda)
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Ø The wise man, who realizes all beings are not distinct from his own Self, and his own Self as the Self of all beings, does not, by virtue of that perception, hate anyone.
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Ø What delusion, what sorrow can there be for that wise man who realizes the unity of all existence by perceiving all beings as his own Self? (Isa Upanishad).
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Ø When food becomes pure, the mind becomes pure. When the mind becomes pure, memory of one’s divine nature becomes steady. When this is achieved, all the knots of the heart become completely destroyed. (Chandogya Upanishad)
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Ø The Atman is not an object among objects; it is the subject of all experience, the seer behind all acts of seeing, the knower behind all acts of knowing; and, as such, it is one and non-dual. And it is Vyapaka, it pervades all seeing, knowing and all other processes of living. Realizing Him as his own Self, man becomes truly free from all limiting conditions and consequently, becomes also immortal. (Swami Ranganathananda)

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

From My Spiritual Diary-39:

Ø It is victory when a country is delivered from despotism. In a contest, fair play is all in all. Victory is beside the point. Unscrupulous acquisition of a thing is not victory. It is fraudulence. Defeating the weak and the ignorant is not victory. It is plunder. Fair acquisition by fair play is victory. Gaining victory over a strong opponent is manliness. – Swami Chidbhavananda
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Ø The wise consider the vanquishment of the wicket as victory. They consid4er the putting down of the base propensities as victory. - Mahabharata
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Ø Youth has zest in life; much of religion as taught in society is designed to take away that zest without putting in any new focus of zest. Religion so understood has the effect of contracting a man’s personality, narrowing his interests, and making him self-centered. True religion does not destroy zest, but purifies, expands, and heightens it. The earlier zest was based on self-interest, and derived its force from physical vitality and mental ambition. This is purified and transformed by the new vision of life brought by religion with its intimations of the immo9rtal and the divine within, and its sense of oneness with all outside. The moment I realize myself as one with all, a new zest comes to me, more intense, more pervasive, and more pure. To make others happy is my happiness, to serve others and help them achieve their life’s fulfillment is my fulfillment. This is the essential teaching of the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita; this is the basis, the metaphysical foundation, of all ethics and religion. - Swami Ranganathananda.
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Ø Have the conviction that you are working for the Lord, and then don’t worry anymore. Why do you allow your mind to become disturbed? “Whatever work I do, O Lord, all that is your worship” (Shiva-Manasa-Puja Stotram, 4). He is in everything and He is everything – reflecting and meditating thus one attains realization. Imagination will become reality – that is how it happens. At first, one has to imagine; afterwards, it becomes real. – Swami Turiyananda