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Kindle Notes & Highlights
‘The right practice leads to an inevitable expansion of consciousness.’
‘Simplicity of the heart is the seed of happiness’
‘Self-realization is not an outcome but a journey.’
I came to realize that small actions have big consequences, consequences that we can’t fathom at that time.
Holding other people responsible, even if they are at fault, is only going to muddy your mind.
‘You alone are responsible for your happiness, Sadhviji. No one is supposed to make you happy or fill your life with joy. That responsibility is solely yours.’
Self-doubt is the enemy we love.
The more you doubt yourself and your intentions, the weaker you become. It is as if the mind enjoys being self-destructive. It cannot stand the thought of abandoning its negativity, its drama. It thrives on unrest and feels threatened in the face of peace and bliss. Sometimes, self-doubt takes on the guise of boredom or shows up in the guise of guilt if you fall for the slightest overindulgence.
Doubting myself and feeling guilty was like digging my own grave. By entertaining thoughts of worthlessness, I was weakening my own roots.
Women and their vain quest for true love never really ends. Regardless of whether their partners are the most loving or the most abusive, most women feel something is missing. That ‘something’, in due course, either turns into ‘someone’ or a simmering emptiness that grows into a quiet depression.
All that an unhappy woman needs is a bit of loving attention and care, and she is willing to change the course of her whole life to chase this elusive togetherness. This constant need for attention and approval tends to weaken the inherent strength and resilience Nature has blessed women with.
‘If you keep walking with courage and strength, the universe works with you and for you. My search for love ended in infinite divine love.’
The knowledge that no one is there for you is the hardest thing to accept at first.
When you start accepting that you have only yourself to rely on, things start moving pretty quickly.
Wherever you are in life, just be there. Don’t chase anyone or anything; don’t run after love. If you keep doing what you do with sincerity and hard work, love will find you. It’ll come to you.
Yet, in the name of love and togetherness, there is so much sadness everywhere. We disappoint each other at every turn. It is like a maze in which you are stuck with this other person, going through the motions of life every day with bitter resignation.
Respect is that missing link. Respect has the softness of humility, gentleness of care and authority of love.
Love without respect is like an overgrown garden. In the face of neglect and disrespect, it only grows weedier and wilder. All those fights in families, between couples or parents and children point to a deeper issue—a grave lack of respect.
That’s the thing about respect—it always compels you to act nobly. Out of deference, out of reverence, it is hard to hurt another, either with speech or action. The moment respect walks into a relationship, the relationship can never be the same again. Respect transforms love into something eternally youthful; it makes love divine.
control of the mind brings liberation.
And this liberation can only be achieved by a deliberate, conscious effort to weed the mind of negativity. This practice alone is the basis of all spiritual practices. It is the purification of the mind that leads to better control of our thoughts, feelings and emotions.
Discipline has a way of curbing even the most rampant chaos in the head.
‘It is by practice alone that you can override the tendencies of the mind.’
Put it in hall
In all the time that I have worked on improving my mental and spiritual state, I have realized that we must create our own discipline.
Your discipline becomes your guardian of peace and composure.
A life of discipline is a life of fulfilment and ease.
sound mental and emotional well-being can never be complete without the discipline of physical exercise.
Human bodies are designed for moderate to intense physical labour, in the absence of which both the mind and body start to degenerate.
The more productive and disciplined our daily routine, the more meaningful our lives will feel.
The sanity of our lives depends heavily on the sanity of our daily routine. Stability and happiness come from having an unfailing discipline in life. Be madly self-disciplined.
If you were to take a hard look at your life, you would realize that no matter how challenging your circumstances, it was your outlook that determined the quality of your experience.
There is nothing greatly wrong with me or my life, or most people’s lives. We have all just been living with an untrained and untamed mind, conditioned to be unhappy.
