Spiritual Gems...

However many holy words you read, how many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act upon them?.

- Buddha

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.

- Buddha

You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.

Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is way great spiritual giants are produced.”

- Swami Vivekananda

Along with the meditation on the form of Radha Krishn, you should also remember Their loving leelas and Their virtues, just like: They are the true friend of every humble soul (deen bandhu) and true companions to every fallen soul (patit pavan).

Detach your mind from the world and attach it to Krishn. Practice this again and again—all the time.

- Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj

The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.

If we are not authentic and truthful to ourselves, we build a wall around us that eventually we have to tear down again. It is then literally a resistance to the reality and our own nature where we can hide some time, but life has a way to show us our own faults in the end.

To be true to the best one knows means to come from our own best knowledge and not buy into something outside ourselves blindly, always asking: is this really true to what I know?

In resonance with this quote also is the final one by The Buddha:

"There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting."

Spiritual Quotes:

A donkey with a load of holy books is still a donkey.

- Traditional (Essential Sufism)

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No one throws stones at the barren tree.

- Saadi of Shiraz
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If a gem falls into mud, it will still remain valuable.
And if the dust descends to heaven, it will still of no value.

- Saadi of Shiraz
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Green wood can be bent. But once it becomes dry, it can only be straightened by fire.

- Saadi of Shiraz

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Happy are those who find fault with themselves instead of finding fault with others.

- Muhammad (Essential Sufism)
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I love God: I have no time left
In which to hate the devil.

- Rabia

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Between me and You, there is only me.
Take away the me, so only You remain.

- Hallaj

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Deep in the sea there are riches beyond your imagination.
But if you seek safety, that is at the shore.

- Saadi of Shiraz

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Where do you think you will Be
When God reveals Himself
Inside of you?

- Hafiz

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We tried reasoning
our way to Him:
it did not work;
but the moment we gave up,
no obstacle remained.

- Hakim Sanai
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Kabîr says: "Listen to me, my Friend! My beloved Lord is within."







"sow batan ki baat ek, dharu murlidhar dhyan,
badhabahu sewa wasna, yaha sow gyan na gyan..."

JAGADGUR SHRI KRIPALUJI MAHARAJ

Desire

If a desire can be got rid of by satisfying it, there will be no harm in satisfying such a desire. But desires generally are not eradicated by satisfaction. Trying to root them out that way is like trying to quench a fire by pouring inflammable spirits on it. At the same time, the proper remedy is not forcible suppression, since such repression is bound to react sooner or later into a forceful surging up of desires with undesirable consequences. The proper way to get rid of a desire is to find out `Who gets the desire? What is its source?' When this is found, the desire is rooted out and it will never again emerge or grow. 

God Realization

~ Is anything impossible for the grace of God? Suppose you bring a light into a room that has been dark a thousand years; does it remove the darkness little by little? The room is lighted all at once. Intense renunciation is what is needed.

~ In the scriptures you will find the way to realize God. But after getting all the information about the path, you must begin to work, Only then can you attain your goal.

~ The nearer you approach to God, the less you reason and argue. When you attain Him, then all sounds—all reasoning and disputing—come to an end. Then you go into samadhi—sleep—, into communion with God in silence.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

Know Yourself

~ Knowing others is to be clever.

  Knowing yourself is to be enlightened.

  Overcoming others requires force.

  Overcoming yourself requires strength.

~ The True Person does not wish to be great and therefore becomes truly great.

~ In the pursuit of learning, every day something is added.

  In the pursuit of the Tao, every day something is dropped.

~ True Persons do not hoard.

  Using all they have for others, they still have more.

  Giving all they have to others, they are richer than before.

My Little Story - 3

One day a beggar went to see a Sufi fakir and found him seated on velvet cushion inside a beautiful tent with it's ropes tied to golden pegs in the ground. 

Seeing all this the beggar cried: "What is all this! I have heard so much about you and your spirituality and non-attachment but I am completely disillusioned by all this ostentation around you."

The fakir laughed and immediately jumped up and said Let's go and walked off with the beggar not even waiting to put on his sandals. 

After a while the beggar was distressed. "I left my begging bowl in your tent. What shall I do without it? Please wait while I go back and fetch it." 

The Sufi roared in laughter. My friend said he," the gold pegs of my tent were stuck in the earth, not in my heart; but your begging bowl is still chasing you." 

My Little Story - 2

There was a king who presented his daughter with a beautiful diamond necklace. The necklace was stolen and his people in the kingdom searched everywhere but could not find it. The king then asked them all to search for it and put a reward for $50,000 for anyone who found it.

One day, a clerk was walking home along a river next to an industrial area. This river was completely polluted and filthy and smelly. As he was walking, the clerk saw a shimmering in the river and when he looked, he saw the diamond necklace. He decided to try and catch it so that he could get the $50,000 reward.

He put his hand in the filthy, dirty river and grabbed at the necklace, but some how missed it and didn't catch it. He took his hand out and looked again and the necklace was still there. He tried again. This time he walked in the river and dirtied his pants in the filthy river and put his whole arm in to catch the necklace.

But strangely, he still missed the necklace! He came out and started walking away, feeling depressed. This time he was really bewildered and came out feeling very depressed that he could not get the necklace that would get him $50,000.

Just then, a saint who was walking by, saw him, and asked him what was the matter. The clerk didn't want to share the secret with the saint, thinking he might take the necklace for himself, so he refused to tell him anything.

The saint could see this man was troubled. Being compassionate, he again asked the clerk to tell him the problem and promised that he would not tell anyone about it. The clerk mustered some courage and decided to put some faith in the saint. He told him about the necklace and how he tried and tried to catch it, but kept failing.

The saint then told him that perhaps he should try looking upward, toward the branches of the tree, instead of in the filthy river. The clerk looked up and true enough, the necklace was dangling on the branch of a tree. He had been trying to capture a mere reflection of the real necklace all this time.

Few Things To Remember

No one can ruin your day without YOUR permission. 

Most people will be about as happy, as they decide to be. 

Others can stop you temporarily, but only you can do it permanently. 

When your ship comes in.... make sure you are willing to unload it. 

You will never "have it all together." 

Life is a journey... not a destination. Enjoy and utilize the trip! 

The biggest lie on the planet: "When I get what I want, I will be happy." 

The best way to escape your problem is to solve it. 

I've learned that ultimately, 'takers' lose and 'givers' win. 

Life's precious moments don't have value, unless they are shared. 

If you don't start, it's certain you won't arrive. 

We often fear the thing we want the most. 

Yesterday was the deadline for all complaints. 

Look for opportunities... not guarantees. 

Life is what's coming.... not what was. 

Success is getting up one more time. 

Now is the most interesting time of all. 

When things go wrong.... don't go with the flow.

CUTE SAYINGS...

~ Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present.

~ A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.

~ The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

~ Don’t waste a minute not being happy. If one window closes, run to the next window — or break down a door.

~ Wherever you go, go with all your heart. 

The Four Reliances

First, rely on the spirit and meaning of the teachings,

not on the words;

Second, rely on the teachings,

not on the personality of the teacher;

Third, rely on real wisdom,

not superficial interpretation;

And fourth, rely on the essence of your pure Wisdom Mind,

not on judgmental perceptions.

Saint

A Saint was asked:

"Who is wise?"

"He who always finds something to learn from others," said the Saint.

"Who is strong?"

"The man who is capable of dominating himself," responded the Saint.

"Who is wealthy?"

"He who knows the treasure he has: his days and hours of life, which can change everything which goes on around him."

"Who deserves respect?"

"He who respects himself and his neighbor."

"These things are all so obvious," commented one of those present. The Saint concluded by saying:

"That is why they are so difficult to observe."

Spiritual Journey

A disciple went to Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav:

"I shall not continue with my studies of sacred texts," he said. "I live in a small house with my brothers and parents, and never have the ideal conditions for concentrating on that which is important."

Nachman pointed to the sun and asked his disciple to place his hand over his face, in order to hide it. The disciple obeyed.

"Your hand is small, yet it can completely cover the power, light and majesty of the great sun. In the same way, the small problems manage to give you the excuse you need in order to hinder your progress along your spiritual journey.

“Just as your hand has the power to hide the sun, mediocrity has the power to hide your inner light. Do not blame others for your own incompetence.” 

A Path Of Sacrifice...

"I am willing to give up everything", said the prince to the master. "Please accept me as your disciple."

"How does a man choose his path?" asked the master.

"Through sacrifice," answered the prince. "A path which demands sacrifice, is a true path."

The master bumped into some shelves. A precious vase fell, and the prince threw himself down in order to grab hold of it. He fell badly and broke his arm, but managed to save the vase.

"What is the greater sacrifice: to watch the vase smash, or break one's arm in order to save it?" asked the master.

"I do not know," said the prince.

"Then how can you guide your choice for sacrifice? The true path is chosen by our ability to love it, not to suffer for it."

Heaven and Hell

A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, "Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like. "The Lord led the holy man to two doors.

He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water.

The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. The Lord said, "You have seen Hell."

They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking. 

The holy man said, "I don't understand." "It is simple" said the Lord, "it requires but one skill. You see, they have learned to feed each other. While the greedy think only of themselves."

Surrender, Love and Control

Surrendering completely to love, be it human or divine, means giving up everything, including our own well-being or our ability to make decisions. It means loving in the deepest sense of the word.

The truth is that we don't want to be saved in the way God has chosen; we want to keep absolute control over our every step, to be fully conscious of our decisions, to be capable of choosing the object of our devotion.

My Little Story-1

Once three scholars on the way to the civil service examination stopped to buy refreshments from a woman who sold pastries by the wayside. One man was calm and quiet, while the other two argued over literature. The woman asked where they were going. The latter two told her they were going to take the civil service examination. She said, "You two scholars won't pass the exam: that other man will." The two men swore at her and left.  When the results of the examination turned out as the woman had predicted, the two scholars who had failed went back to find out how she had known they would not pass, while the third man would. They asked her if she knew physiognomy. "No," she said, "all I know is that when a pastry is thoroughly cooked, it sits there quietly, but before it's finished it keeps on making noise."

My Little Story

Everyday a man would carry to the river a set of pots in his cart, to help him transport water. All the pots were brightly painted and sturdy, except for one little cracked pot.
The cracked pot would try its best to hold in the water, so that the man would be proud of it, but to no avail, for on the way back from the river, water would drip from the pot into the ground.
The other pots knew that this little pot was different from them and refused to treat it with respect. Soon the little pot began to doubt itself and asked the man,
“I am a cracked pot, try as I might I cannot hold on to the water inside, why then do you still take me every day and fill me with water?”
The man answered to all the pots. “This little cracked pot deserves more respect from all of you. While you merely transport water, I can replace you at any time, but look below, I have planted little flowers all the way from my home to the river. When I fill this cracked pot with water, the water drips down, falling on the dry earth and making the plants grow.”
The other pots were silent.
Let's ask ourselves - do we take every opportunity to acknowledge and respect the difference?
So let us try to respect and appreciate the differences of all that we meet.

My soul mate

"People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. 

A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then leave. 

A soul mates purpose is to shake you up, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light can get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you have to transform your life, then introduce you to your spiritual master..." 

Myself

All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere i turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory. I was naive. I was looking for my self and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer. It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging to my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: that I am nobody but myself.