More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
George Orwell said, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” True guru, clear of bondage, does
Let me tell you honestly, my first guiding principle: no one has ever gained enlightenment in an ashram, temple or monastery. When a guru tells you to follow his system for realization or heaven, they are fooling you. You deserve
better. They can call it this meditation or that meditation, this kriya or that kriya, it doesn’t matter. These are merely frameworks and systems, and they work because when it comes to spirituality, a lot of people are happy with very little.
don’t accept someone as your guru just because they have bowled you over. Follow them only if you would like to be like them.
When what these gurus say is not what they do, it’s wrong. For example, if Osho slept with a woman, I wouldn’t call it wrong because he never said he didn’t. If Ramdev did, however, I would flag it as misconduct because he says he’s a celibate. So long as their actions match their words,
The demon within you compels you to do evil and the god in you prompts you to do good. They are not two separate entities; they are simply two aspects of the same mind, like two sides of the same coin. Next
time you find yourself getting angry, when you find yourself getting lured to do the wrong thing, remind yourself that the god in you is losing the battle to the demon.
A sage once asked his disciples, “I’ve two bulls in my mind. One is eternally calm and happy. The other one is always restless and indisposed. If the two go to fight, who will win?” Some voted for the calm bull and others for the restless. “It depends,” the master said, “the one I feed more will win! Their victory depends on their strength. It is not necessary that one will always defeat the other. However, if you constantly feed the calm bull more than the angry one, it will grow stronger, its chances of winning every time go up.”
Your method of feeding your positive side may not be meditation. It could be dancing, cooking, charity, chanting, praying, playing, anything — something you love. If you spend time analyzing yourself, you will discover your own method. In any case though, practice compassion and gratitude, they feed the calm bull. You will experience peace and strength.
“What if, I say, there’s something you can give and be paid Rs. 100,000 in return?”
“You are joking. I don’t have anything worth Rs. 100,000, but, if you think I do, I’ll gladly give it for even a fraction of that sum.” “Are you sure?” “Yes. For Rs. 100,000, I’ll give anything.” “Well, I know someone who will buy a pair of eyes for that much. Will you sell?” “Of course not!” “How about your kidneys, your legs, or your hands?” “How can I give parts of my body?” “But, you just said you have nothing of value. The truth is there are many things you have that are of value; only that you are choosing to not factor them in. You are taking them for granted as if it’s your right to
...more
Peace is a choice, an option, a path. Being grateful is the easiest way to be peaceful.
Charity is not an expense or a gift. It is your contribution to the society. If you ask me, it is every person’s social and moral obligation.
what you have stored in you can only be known from what you give out. Whether you have love, money, arrogance, anger, compassion or kindness, you’ll give out what you have in you.
Just like you save money, bit by bit, every penny adds up. Similarly, every little act of kindness counts. Every small gesture of com...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
While your charity may not be funding your mansion in the heavens, it is certainly building your wealth in the other world. And by “other world”, I’m not alluding to some celestial plane but your own inner world of emotions, your spiritual world of blessings. If you can’t donate money, if you can’t tithe, then consider giving away your old clothes, or something. If nothing, at least offer kind words to others. Be gentle.
Whatever helps you tread the path of truth and self-discovery, choose that fearlessly.
Your God is a product of your belief, samskāra, conditioning and thoughts. If you have made Him into someone who is crossed, pleased or appeased based on what you do or don’t do, you may need to rethink, perhaps. You are entitled to have a god of your choice in “your world”. It does not necessarily need to integrate in the framework of “the world”.
reiterate, if your faith, however labeled, helps you be at peace, increases your utility to the mankind, inspires you to lead a virtuous life, you can safely stick to your belief. However, if it makes you rabid, ties you down, clips your freedom of free thought, you may want to stop, take a deep breath, recess and
The easiest way to experience His grace is to be childlike, to live in the moment. Watch a toddler who has just graduated out of infancy to know what I mean.
Saint Ravidas, a shoemaker by profession, who famously said, “Mana changa te kathauti vich ganga.” (If your heart is noble, then water in your vessel is pure like the ganges). In a yogic and devotional sentiment, his verses in the Guru Granth Sahib say:
You are me, and I am You-what is the difference between us? We are like gold and the bracelet, or water and the waves. If I did not commit any sins, O Infinite Lord, then how would You have acquired the name, ‘Redeemer of sinners’?
When you realize God, you become humble naturally. Arrogance and ego flee you like thieves do in the light. You become an embodiment of goodness; you choose your words carefully. You weigh your actions meticulously. You check your thoughts artfully. You act mindfully. It all happens effortlessly, for you see the same Divine in everyone.
A lot of people are simply prisoners
of their respective belief systems.
As long as one says, “I believe”, it means they have not discovered their own truth yet.
Anything second hand cannot be knowledge; it is merely information. When we use that information and arrive at a conclusion based on our own experience, that is knowledge.
Go on! Be a pet of your lord or the lord of your own world. Don’t settle for anything less.
Human mind is a strange phenomenon. In its cruel moments, it can make death appear more beautiful than life, more attractive than any dream. That still doesn’t mean that death is a choice. Suicide is not a voluntary act, or a conscious selection. No matter how it appears, no one “chooses” to end their life. Given how difficult and miserable life is for most of the seven billion people on our planet, if suicide was a matter of choice, many would have gone for it wholeheartedly by now.
Suicide is a terminal disease. It is the final stage of a mental illness.
Whatever be your past, put it aside, let it go. Make your present so beautiful, worthwhile and meaningful that even death sits by your feet and begs you to stay a bit longer, because with you around, even death enjoys life.
Einstein put it aptly, “You can’t solve a problem with the same mind that created it.”
encourage you to tread the path of attaining quietude to experience a constant flow of bliss, you will get all the answers, more importantly, you will get all the right questions. Onto the question now; let me segregate it into two parts:
One such aspect is strength. The strength suffering gives us, happiness simply can’t. The former stretches you while the latter relaxes you. Suffering is the scorching sun that makes us appreciate the cold. It’s the chilly night that makes us want the warm sun. It keeps us real. If you believe in God, then suffering adds truth to your prayers; it infuses sincerity and devotion in your personal relationship with Him. But, most importantly, suffering keeps us on the ground, it makes us humble. And, humility, I may add, is the most important ingredient of a meaningful and contented life. When you
...more
Let’s not lose what we have in trying to find what we have lost.
The one who is gone is gone, the ones left behind face the greatest challenge, greater than the death itself.
Various religions offer different perspectives. Some promise rebirth, others, heaven, or salvation and so on. All those are theories. Their rewards of promises may inspire an individual to do the right thing while living. They may offer consolation to those left behind. Such promises remain as unproven claims though. Nothing beyond that.
“O Ananda!” said Buddha, “parting from the loved ones is inevitable.”
On one occasion, a certain man had less than three months to live. He was scared of death and confessed his fears to the physician. “What will it be like after I die, doc?” he said. “Will I be alright? What awaits me?” The doctor stopped scribbling on his pad and put down the pen. He got up, opened the door and looked at his dog. The dog wagged his tail, and as much excitedly as triumphantly leaped towards him.
The physician turned to the patient and said, “Do you see this dog? He didn’t have a clue about what all was in this room, on this side of the door. The only thing he knew that I, his master, was here. And, that’s all he was looking forward to.”
don’t really know the whats, the whys and the hows about dying. Like my dog, I’m unsure what all is on the other side of the door. But, I do know that I’ll end up by the feet of my master. And, that’s all I need to know because that’s all that matters to me.”
I find this anecdote particularly beautiful. Ultimately, it boils down to living with grace and peace for as long as we have the chance to breathe.
I have only slipped away into the next room. I am I, and you are you, Whatever we were to each other, that we are still. Call me by the old familiar name. Speak to me in the easy way which you always used. Put no difference into your tone. Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed At the little jokes that we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without an effort, Without the ghost of a shadow upon it.
Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was. There is absolute and unbroken continuity. What is this death but a negligible accident? Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight? I am but waiting for you, for an interval, Somewhere very near, Just round the corner. All is well. – Death is Nothing at All by Henry Scott-Holland
Sarve bhavantu sukhinah, sarve santu niramayah | Sarve bhadrani pashyantu, maa kashcid dukha bhagbhavet || May all sentient beings be at peace, may all be free from diseases. May we see
nobility everywhere, may no one ever be in suffering.
Nature cannot give you what you have not earned just like it cannot take away from you what is rightfully parked in your account. It is impartial. You need to deposit before you can withdraw.
Good karma may or may not give you success as you define it, it may not give you a life of material richness and glamour, but, without fail, it will certainly reward you with peace and contentment. In fact, you can only do good karma when you are at peace within. If you are happy inside, you will not hurt anyone with your words or gestures, you will only see beauty in everything and you will only melt their hearts doing even more good karma. If you are bitter inside, if you are angry, you will find it increasingly hard to heal yourself. Like the wounded lion or frightened snake, you may only
...more
no means am I saying you go around breaking rules just because they are there, but I am suggesting that you examine the rules you have imposed on yourself. The path of compassion is often worth it.
calculations, it is simply about living up to your own benchmark, moral or otherwise. And unconditional morality? That is mostly a misnomer. Do not hesitate to be yourself. Set your own benchmark.
