Thursday, July 29, 2010
To be free is your birthright, not to be bound...
To be free is your birthright, not to be bound.
It is only when you guide your steps along the
path illumined by the universal unbound Dharma
that you are really free; if you stray away from the light,
you get bound and you are caught.
Some might raise a doubt: How can Dharma,
Some might raise a doubt: How can Dharma,
which sets limits on thoughts and words and regulates
and controls, make a person free?
"Freedom" is the name that you give to
a certain type of bondage.
Genuine freedom is obtained only
when delusion is absent, when there is no
identification with the body and senses,
no servitude to the objective world.
People who have escaped from this servitude
and achieved freedom in the genuine sense are
very few in number.
Bondage lies in every act done with the consciousness
of the body as the Self, for one is then the plaything of the senses.
Only those who have escaped this fate are free;
this "freedom" is the ideal stage to which Dharma leads.
With this stage constantly in mind, one who engages in the
activity of living can become a liberated person
Without perseverance and earnestness, no success can be achieved...
It is mentioned that "Success begets success."
But how is success to be achieved and what is
the success you should aim at?
The persevering seeker secures wisdom.
This means that without perseverance and
earnestness no success can be achieved.
Man is not able to make significant progress
towards the Divine because of absence of strenuous striving
in the spiritual sphere.
Without spiritual practice, reading religious books
and listening to spiritual discourses have no value.
Study of scriptures and reciting God's names
may be good acts in themselves.
But, if there is no love, which is the basis of
all spiritual discipline, they are of no use.
The prayer that yet 'wants' or 'desires' has not known or understood its purpose or reason....
The prayer that yet "wants" or "desires"
has not known or understood its purpose or reason.
One awakens the divinity within by prayer - the divinity,
My dears, that will silence all selfishness and humiliate
the "I" that is present.
Prayers are only answered, My child,
when one stops challenging Me with his pride
and uninquiring questions. The prayer, O child,
is one's effort to reach Me - to know his own self.
It is not a bribe that will satisfy Me, for I am always in bliss.
The prayer must be the plea of purity that must show in
each of your acts.
The prayer must be that strength that must
rise before each storm of confusion.
The prayer must be the truth that will make
you shut yourself to every lie, and every "my".
The one that prides in his spiritual success,
The prayer must be the plea of purity that must show in
each of your acts.
The prayer must be that strength that must
rise before each storm of confusion.
The prayer must be the truth that will make
you shut yourself to every lie, and every "my".
The one that prides in his spiritual success,
has not attained it.
Goals must be set, efforts must be made,
but the success of spirituality can never
be weighed and can never determined in a finite manner.
When one aspires change, the growth has begun -
when one begins to change, the growth has shown
its development - when one has changed, the growth
has resulted, and when one inspires the change,
the growth is at its fullest maturity.
One must instill in his daily routine spiritual practices that will tame the mind from its aggressive behavior from time to time...
One must instill in his daily routine
spiritual practices that will tame the
mind from its aggressive behavior,
from time to time.
Each time it rebels, each time it entices,
each time it teases, each time it judges,
you must quieten it with the final authority
of your supreme control.
Each time the senses awaken,
crying the stubbornness to fulfill their fancy needs,
you must hush it to sleep with the sweet lullaby of God's name.
Yes! I, My dears, must be that constant presence
that dismisses even the possibility of any worldly interference.
It is time, My dears, that you stopped wanting
"from" Me and started only wanting Me.
Every living being responds to some kind of love...
Every living being responds to some kind of love,
and hence, every heart that beats, any existence
that survives to stay alive is a part of the
divine creation and will, one day,
focus its growth towards the only true light
that really exists.
In spiritual growth, one widens the walls
of one's own little world that excludes
most and includes only some and expands
it by tearing down these walls, by breaking
open each shut door and allowing the breeze
of cool winds to soothe the heat and intensity
of pride, anger, greed, lust, malice and envy,
curing one's own burns that have slowly
gnawed like the vulture on one's divine attributes.
Know, My dears, that the vulture only
feeds on dead bodies and will never have
the courage to attack the one that is alive.
Be spiritually alive and alert, at all times,
and do not become the victim or the prey
of the evil eye that hunts.
The duty of the mother lies in nourishing the child's everyday needs...
The duty of the mother lies in
nourishing the child's everyday needs.
She does not focus her attention
in noticing the change in the physical
developments in the child, everyday -
instead, she focuses her attention on
her efforts to bring about the change.
Yes! Once you believe in your efforts,
the change will come - the change for the better -
the change that will symbolize one's growth.
Know, My dears, that with every effort,
one will experience a subtle change that
may go unnoticed.
With every effort that shows its success,
one will only aspire for more.
Spiritual growth is stunted,
only when one is impatient and anticipates
quick results, when one lacks the seriousness
in his own efforts, and when one sets
a final limitation for his change.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Your very nature is LOVE...
Your very nature is Love.
You cannot survive even for a moment,
when deprived of Love.
It is the very breadth of your life.
When the six vices, to which
you were attached so long, disappear,
Love becomes the only occupant of your heart.
Love has to find an object, a loved one.
It cannot remain alone.
You will then direct it to the charming, sweet Lord,
who is Purity Personified, who is the embodiment of service,
sacrifice and selflessness and who has taken residence
in the cleansed altar of your heart.
Then, there will be no scope for any
other attachment to grow.
Step by step, this love for God becomes deeper,
purer, more self-denying, until at last, there is no need for thoughts,
and the individual is merged in the Universal.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
The beauty that is contained in nature is not enjoyed by Nature herself...
The juice that is contained in the fruit
is not enjoyed by the tree which bears the fruit.
The honey that is contained in the flowers
is not enjoyed by the creepers which bear the flowers.
Those beautiful sayings which are contained
in the textbooks and scriptures are not enjoyed by the books themselves.
The beauty that is contained in nature is
not enjoyed by Nature herself.
How can the writer who deals with the material world
enjoy the spiritual bliss that is contained therein?
Monday, July 12, 2010
Cultivate faith...
The greatest obstacle on the path of surrender
is egoism and mine-ness or possessiveness .
It is something that has been inhering to
your personality since ages, sending its
tentacles deeper and deeper with the
experience of every succeeding life.
It can be removed only by the twin
detergents of discrimination and renunciation.
Bhakthi is the water to wash away this dirt
of ages and the soap of repetition of God's name,
meditation and communion will help to remove it
quicker and more effectively.
The slow and the steady will surely
win this race; walking is the safest method
of travel, though it may be condemned as slow.
Quicker means of travel mean disaster;
the quicker the means, the greater the risk of disaster.
You should eat only as much as you feel hunger,
for, more will cause disorder.
So proceed step by step in spiritual effort;
making sure of one step before you take another.
Do not slide back two paces when
you go one pace forward.
But even the first step will be unsteady,
if you have no faith. So cultivate faith.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Friday, July 2, 2010
Renunciation alone can lead to immortality. You will be liberated as soon as you renounce your attachment and desire...
Acquisition of positions of authority and power,
of skill and intelligence which can manipulate people and things,
of fame and supremacy, of personal charm, of good health
and happiness or of a large family with many children or wealth…
none of these can confer liberation.
You cannot attain liberation by undertaking sacrifices,
vows, charities, pilgrimages or donations to holy projects.
Though the objective world appears real,
you must be aware that it is deluding you.
You must give up yearning for deriving pleasure
from the objects that appear and attract -
both here and hereafter.
Renunciation alone can lead to immortality.
You will be liberated as soon as you renounce your attachment and desire.
Melt your desire for gold into the ornament of fulfillment and contentment, tease the enticements of delusion with your strength of rejection...
You, My dears, are born to
exist in this bliss, you are born
to shed each impression made
by the mind in this birth and in
previous births, you are born
to tackle with the hunger of your desires,
you are born to reach inward, and derive
from within, the strength of nobleness that
exists in the true self.
Kill, O child, the perceptions
of your imaginary God that dwells
in another world, far beyond your reach.
Threaten, O brave one,
each fear with your existing
knowledge of the truth and
fight the war of your impatience.
Melt your desire for gold
into the ornament of fulfillment and contentment.
Tease the enticements of
delusion with your strength of rejection.
Accept the blame of ignorance
with the maturity of the wise and sincere spiritual aspirant.
Suffocate the senses with the
ropes of self discipline and control.
Subdue the voice of the ego and
awaken the voice of the conscience.
Exert, My dears, every atom of strength
to rebel against the power of your own inner evil.
Say "No" now, and today,
will be better than yesterday, and tomorrow,
My child, will be perfect!
Know that the efforts in you
are mine - the gain is only yours.
Know that the pain of sacrifice
that you will endure are My tears -
the benefit of sacrifice will be only yours.
Know that the faith that faces
the trials of love, is Me - the reward
of receiving boundless love is only yours!
Yes, that one who has ended his life as a human and become God is God HImself...
The one that fails to make an effort
to inspire within Him the fragrance of purity,
is the human that will live his life with the
uncontrolled passions and the shaky imbalance
of a stray, wild animal.
The one that has admitted to his faults
and makes a sincere effort to wipe the stains of impurity,
will bring in his life the role model of a God
that will lead him, uplift him and will inspire
him to aspire for the goodness, the perfection,
and the stability of his chosen ideal.
The one whose nature is truth,
whose character reflects purity,
whose principles will shake to no threat,
whose virtues and morals are unblemished,
whose reaction is only of selfless compassion,
whose defeat to any worldly temptation
is inconceivable and impossible,
whose service is unrepayable,
whose value can never be finite,
and who can never be sold nor bought,
who gives to find even more of the treasure of love,
such a human, exists in the bliss and contentment of Godhood.
Yes! That one is God that requires
no effort to please for he is pleasing himself.
That one is God, who requires no proof,
for he is the trust in all.
That one is God, who requires no offering,
for he has all to offer and all to give.
That one is God, that drinks all tears,
for he is the one that smiles only to absorb the pain of all.
That one is God, that will punish himself
to correct the wrong of another.
That one is God, My dears, who accepts
willingly the worries of another and keeps his, a secret.
That one is God that will provide for another,
only to sacrifice his very own need. That one is God,
who worries for the one that accuses and blames him of falsehood.
That one is God, whose nature requires
no effort to reflect the purity and simpleness of truth.
Yes! That one has ended his life as a human and become Me.
Differences are the root cause of one facing the dismay of disrespect, so till the mind of evil prejudices, aerate it with acceptance...
Differences are the root cause of
one facing the dismay of disrespect,
so till the mind of evil prejudices,
aerate it with acceptance, nurture
it with the showers of boundless love
and sprout the seeds of recognition
of the Supreme Being that exists in all
which merges to become the source of all energies.
A simple "yes" to all, avoids you
to hurt another with the spear of rejection.
One word of compassion, will develop
the faith of divine love in another.
One smile of understanding,
will wipe the several tears of frustration in another.
The one that has learned to respect all,
is devoid of any fears or insecurities,
lacks the pangs of envy or jealousy
and is unaffected by another's temperament,
passions or restlessness.
He gathers his strength by looking inward,
by searching the reality in him and in all
and remains in God's company, at all times.
At each moment, he is the devotee
that humbly makes his offering of acceptance,
instills his efforts to maintain equality,
and persists with the confidence in the
self in never letting Me down and in
never separating Me from another.
Every child will slowly learn to walk or every disabled soul will one day discover the legs of spiritual truth that will lead him to his ultimate goal...
Know that your disregard for another is nothing
but your judgment that arises from the level of pride
that dwells as evilness within you. It is only the one
of insensitive nature that attacks the self dignity
and self confidence in another.
It is only the one that resides in the
discomfort of the ego and in the inferiority
of pride that will be blinded to the oneness
of the supreme self.
Know that each one already lives
in the punishment of delusions -
in the pains of the mind and the body,
and you must not become the cause
of another's misery by smearing them
with ignorant blame or discouragements.
Let not the faults of your pride and
prejudices affect the peace and wipe
the smile of another.
Just like every child slowly learns to walk,
know that every disabled soul will, one day,
discover the legs of spiritual truth that will
lead him to his ultimate goal.
There is no age limit, power of positions or gender or wealth or education or success or health or handicaps in one's duty of respect!
In one's duty to respect, there must be no age limit -
or any limitations in the power of positions - or gender -
or wealth or education - or success - or health and handicaps.
It is only when one will respect his employees,
recognize their talents and abilities, appreciate
the completion of their given tasks, reward them
with the upliftment of bonuses and promotions,
will he, himself, succeed to accomplish his given project.
Know that he would sit on the chair of failure,
if he was determined only to establish his supremacy
by controlling them, pressuring them, belittling them,
ridiculing their efforts, sneering and scorning at their
attempts and failures and ordering them to serve him.
What is respect?
Respect is nothing but learning to
recognize the strength of one's sacrifice,
accepting and appreciating another's ability
to focus on the self and placing the one before yourself,
by humbly attempting to learn and follow another's lead
of goodness, and thus, being inspired in this process to
eliminate one's own faults by focusing your attention
only on another's spiritual strengths and gains.
Realize and recognize that even the one
you deplore and detest has, at least, one strength
that you can appreciate - live to exaggerate that strength,
and thus, wipe your own weakness of hatred that stains
the purity of your heart.
There is no living being that does not deserve
the offering of respect - there must be no one
that must be degraded or humiliated by exposing
and ridiculing their faults, for each one has buried
himself in another heap of filthy faults.
Test how selfish or unselfish one is...
Selfishness is the chief sin,
thinking of ourselves first.
He who thinks "I will eat first,
I will have more money than others,
and I will posses everything";
he who thinks "I will get to heaven before others,
I will get rewards before others",
is the selfish man.
The unselfish man says,
"I will be last, I do not care to go to heaven,
I will go to hell, if by doing so I can help my brothers."
This unselfishness is the test of religion.
We need fasting, meditation, repetition of God's name to control our bad instincts in pursuit of sense pleasure...
Generally speaking, one gets easily
drawn to sense objects, as one becomes
a victim of instincts.
Instincts readily seek sense objects.
Instincts come along with the body and
do not require any training, just as an infant
and the new born calf nestles at the udder.
But for the infant to walk and talk,
training is necessary. They are not automatic.
These skills are prompted by example and imitation by others.
So also, training is essential for the proper
pursuit of sense pleasure, for it is the wild,
untrained search for such pleasure that promotes
anger, hatred, envy, malice and conceit.
To train them along salutary lines
and to hold them under control, certain
good disciplines such as repetition of God’s Name,
meditation and fasting are essentiale.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)