Pearls of Wise

 Those who are always ready to improve and expand themselves are like receptive children. We should not be afraid of anything in the world but live for God and truth and love everybody. If someone misunderstands me, I try to establish an understanding . But if I cannot change that person, neither can I be moved by his bad behaviour. If a non understanding person has made up his mind against you, why should you change in order to please him? Stand by your principles when you are right, and be willing instantly to change yourself when you are wrong . Will power is easy to develop. Gradually we can get rid of tendencies we thought we cannot overcome. Watch your consciousness. Develop the habit of self examination, of watching and analysing your thoughts and behaviour. We should be able to discriminate and resist with our will power when there are signs of bad habits or inclinations. Swami Udit Chaithanya

Repeat God's name and sing His glories, and keep holy company; and now and then visit God's devotees and holy men. The mind cannot dwell on God if it is immersed day and night in worldliness, in worldly duties and responsibilities; it is most necessary to go into solitude now and then and think of God. To fix the mind on God is very difficult, in the beginning, unless one practises meditation in solitude. When a tree is young it should be fenced all around; otherwise it may be destroyed by cattle. A parrot repeats by rote the holy name of RadhaKrishna, but as soon as it is caught by a cat it screams 'kang, kang', betraying its natural cry. Worldly wise men sometimes repeat the name of Hari (God) and perform various pious and charitable deeds with the hope of worldly gains, but when misfortune, sorrow, poverty and death overtake them, they forget Him and all such deeds. The Jnāni experiences God-Consciousness within himself; it is like the upper Ganges...

Purify, concentrate, reflect and meditate. Transcend the mind, and body. Reach the super-state. Cut the three knots. Rejoice in the Self. Rest in thy own Swaroopa and shine as a Jivanmukta, a selfless Self. Love all, embrace all, be kind to all. Love unites, love elevates, love knows no fall. Love leads, love purifies. Love begets love, love is a ladder to Supreme. Therefore love all. "Do not lose a single opportunity in helping and serving others. Do not expect anything when you serve a man or when you give a gift. Thank him for giving you a good opportunity to serve him." ~ Swami Sivananda

Bhagavan's teaching is to maintain awareness through all states of life. Rebirth means discontent with the present state, and desire to be born where there will be no discontent. Births, being of the body, cannot affect the Self. The Self remains over even after the body perishes. The discontent is due to the wrong identity of the Eternal Self with the perishable body. The body is a necessary adjunct of the ego. If the ego is killed the eternal Self is revealed in all its glory. The body is the Cross. Jesus, the son of man, is the ego or ‘I am-the-body’ idea. When he is crucified, he is resurrected as the Glorious Self - Jesus, the Son of God! — “Give up this life if thou wouldst live”  'Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi' 396.

A devoted couple were trying to start a new business and were feeling despondent : - they had little money, the stress level was high, and the future looked uncertain. The wife went to see Swamiji privately. He consoled her  :- “Don’t worry,” he said, “as long as your feet are set on the right path and as long as you work at it diligently, there’s no need to be afraid. The Lord will take care of you. Trust in Him.” And his words came true :- The couple’s business worked out just fine. Simply watching Gurudev run his vast organisation gave untold opportunities to learn about management. Those who witnessed him overseeing the many construction projects [as well as the countless spiritual camps] at Sidhbari had many opportunities to watch the consummate manager in action. Swami Chinmayananda

In the ordinary course, the human individual identifies himself with the ego-consciousness. He feels that he is a separate individual, utilizing a mind-life-body nexus for his experience of and in the world. This ego consciousness holds itself in opposition to all the other ego-personalities and experiences the entire world-action as a play of separated forms, forces and individuals with which the ego must then engage and find a way to survive and thrive. For those who attain to the status of the pure Existence, the ego-personality is transcended and minimized. At the same time, this status tends to abandon the active life of the world-manifestation and resides in unity with the passive Brahman. The attempt to unify with the active Brahman has, as previously noted, the difficulty of a relapse into the ego-consciousness, given the long and habitual pattern of its action in the world. The solution to the problem of action lies in being able to undertake action in the world in...

(Delivered at the Shakespeare Club House, in Pasadena, California, on January 18, 1900)  For Recap -Read Part-1, 2, 3,4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. THE LECTURE :- Part-9. There she is — the Hindu mother. The son's wife comes in as her daughter; just as the mother's own daughter married and went out, so her son married and brought in another daughter, and she has to fall in line under the government of the queen of queens, of his mother. Even I, who never married, belonging to an Order that never marries, would be disgusted if my wife, supposing I had married, dared to displease my mother. I would be disgusted. Why? Do I not worship my mother? Why should not her daughter-in-law? Whom I worship, why not she? Who is she, then, that would try to ride over my head and govern my mother? She has to wait till her womanhood is fulfilled; and the one thing that fulfils womanhood, that is womanliness in woman, is motherhood. Wait till she becomes a mother; then she will have ...

One must never give up hope of becoming better. A person is old only when he refuses to make the effort to change. This stagnant stage is the real 'old age'. We should try to be more pliable like children. We should develop the capacity to free ourselves from habits which are nothing but repetitions of ones own thoughts. We are here to give to the world. If you are a giver you are always winning. If you are a taker then, without your knowledge , you are losing. If you think what you can do, how you can contribute and how you can make people happy then your needs will be met. When there is joy , silence will come on its own. We are not used to silence so we keep talking. If we can not talk we feel uneasy. The beginning of our silence will be like that, but gradually we will get used to it. Life is mind. Living because of mind . Freedom is in the mind . Mind can destroy us and the same mind uplift us . Swami Udit Chaithanya SWAMI UDI...

One devotee  asked -: A person does something good but he sometimes suffers pain even  in his right activities. Another does something wicked but is also happy. Why should it be so? Maharishi .: Pain or pleasure is the result of past Karma and not of the present Karma. Pain and pleasure alternate with each other. One must suffer or enjoy them patiently without being carried away by them. One must always try to hold on to the Self. When one is active one should not care for the results and must not be swayed by the pain or pleasure met with occasionally. He who is indifferent to pain or pleasure can alone be happy. source: Talk 546 Sri Ramana Maharishi

Jnanam never comes without renunciation of lust and possessions. With the dawn of renunciation is destroyed all ignorance, all Avidya.  Many things can be burnt by Means of a lens held in such a manner that the rays of the sun fall on it directly, but you cannot use it so in the shade of a room. Even so with the mind. You must take it out of the dark cell of this world and expose it to the full blaze of self-effulgent Divinity. Then alone true renunciation will come, and with it all ignorance will be destroyed.  Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna, A PART OF BELUR MATH, RAMAKRISHNA MISSION.

SRI SARADA DEVI (Delivered at the Shakespeare Club House, in Pasadena, California, on January 18, 1900)  For Recap -Read Part-1, 2, 3,4, 5, 6 and 7. THE LECTURE :- Part-8. I belong to an Order very much like what you have in the Mendicant Friars of the Catholic Church; that is to say, we have to go about without very much in the way of dress and beg from door to door, live thereby, preach to people when they want it, sleep where we can get a place — that way we have to follow. And the rule is that the members of this Order have to call every woman "mother"; to every woman and little girl we have to say "mother"; that is the custom. Coming to the West, that old habit remained and I would say to ladies, "Yes, mother", and they are horrified. I could not understand why they should be horrified. Later on, I discovered the reason: because that would mean that they are old. The ideal of womanhood in India is motherhood — that marvellous, uns...

He runs from one object to another. The senses dupe him.  Objects are tantalizing. The moment you get one object, it loses its charm. There is depression you wish to attain another object. But, if you obtain that Bhuma or infinite Imperishable, which is beyond time, space and causation, which you are daily experiencing in deep sleep, you will not allow your mind to wander amidst objects; you will enjoy perennial bliss. The more you run after external objects, the more you increase your wants, the more restless you become. You are a musk-deer that roams fast to enjoy the fragrance of the musk. You are befooled by the notion that the Eternal being is always from you. Close the door of the intellect; shut the windows of the senses; retire into the chamber of your heart, and enjoy the sleepless Sleep of Nirvana. May the Lord bless you! . "Do not feel that you are only an ordinary individual, one in millions. Do not think that unless you have co-operation f...

There are certain rituals like ‘Shraddha’ which only men can perform. Why not women? Why the discrimination? Women should be happy that they do not have to do it. Why should they feel discriminated against? The constitution enjoins duties for different people in different posts. Person X does not ask why he/she cannot do Y’s duties. This does not imply discrimination against anyone. It is the way the constitution is drafted to facilitate the smooth running of the government. Similarly, the scriptures say that men can do certain actions; women cannot. Accept it. It is for our own good. Swami Chinmayananda NOTE - Sabarimala -Ayyappa Swami temple procedure : - Women of the age between 10 and 50 cannot go to Sabarimala! ( Reason - 41 days Brahmacharya vrat  and a long strenuous walk is required, Menstruation problem, privacy is not there , suffocating crowed  and  many to add)

Sri Aurobindo has described the progressive realization of the Universal Self as occurring through three aspects and stages. The first of these is to realise the “containing” aspect of the Brahman. “First, there is the Self in whom all beings exist. The Spirit, the Divine has manifested itself as infinite self-extended being, self-existent, pure not subject to Time and Space, but supporting Time and Space as figures of its consciousness.” While not entirely accurate, the idea of the universal Being spread out as a containing vessel for the manifestation is a useful object of meditation to help bring about this realisation. “In the image of the ether, not physical but an encompassing ether of vast being, consciousness and bliss, he may seek to see with the mind and to feel in his mental being this supreme existence and to identify it in oneness with the self within him. By such meditation the mind may be brought to a favourable state of predisposition in which, by the rending or ...

(Delivered at the Shakespeare Club House, in Pasadena, California, on January 18, 1900)  For Recap -Read Part-1, 2, 3,4, 5 and 6 THE LECTURE :- Part-7. Now, I only suggest comparisons; I would state facts so that we may compare the two sides. Make this comparison. If you ask, "What is an Indian woman as wife?", the Indian asks, "Where is the American woman as mother? What is she, the all-glorious, who gave me this body? What is she who kept me in her body for nine months? Where is she who would give me twenty times her life, if I had need? Where is she whose love never dies, however wicked, however vile I am? Where is she, in comparison with her, who goes to the divorce court the moment I treat her a little badly? O American woman! where is she?" I will not find her in your country. I have not found the son who thinks mother is first. When we die, even then, we do not want our wives and our children to take her place. Our mother! — ...

Those people who behave in the same manner day in and day out are the ones who refuse to change their thoughts. That is all. You don't need the help of anything or anyone else to change yourself, just change your consciousness. VERY SIMPLE, all you have to do is to think away the thoughts you want to destroy, by replacing them with constructive thoughts. This is the key to Heaven . It is in your hands. Swami Udit Chaithanya

"Put the seeds of courage in your heart. Allow courage to grow. Fear will die by itself. The positive always overcomes the negative. This is an immutable psychological law. This is the Pratipaksha-bhavana method of Raja Yogins. Try this method again and again. You are bound to succeed." "Fear has to be conquered. Freedom from fear can be achieved by liberation from the objects of fear. Re-educating the mind, bringing forth the power of the spirit, dealing with practical affairs, diligently putting into practice the knowledge that one possesses, are all essential factors to overcome fear. It must be felt that there is no object which is to be afraid of or to be feared." ~ Swami Sivananda

Devotee .: Jiva is said to be bound by karma. Is it so? Maharishi .: Let karma enjoy its fruits. As long as you are the doer so long are you the enjoyer. D.: How to get released from karma. M.: See whose karma it is. You will find you are not the doer. Then you will be free. This requires grace of God for which you should pray to Him, worship Him and meditate on Him. The karma which takes place without effort, i.e., involuntary action, is not binding. source: Talk 116 Sri Ramana maharishi Sri Ramanasramam.

God is beyond both mind and intellect as long as they are bound within relativity; but He manifests Himself to them when they are purified. It is lust and greed which make the mind impure. So long as Avidya (ignorance) reigns in the heart, the mind and the intellect can never be pure. Ordinarily, mind and intellect are known to be different from each other; but in their purified state, they become one, and are resolved into Chaitanya (Pure Consciousness). Then God, the Chaitanya, becomes manifest to the Chaitanya. Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna,

One day, an assistant who was helping Swamiji with his daily correspondence was overwhelmed at the amount of work before her and said to him : “This is so much!” He said quietly, “See how every day I work and do a little . . . and slowly it all gets done.” Some devotees who also led active professional lives were distraught because the ethical values they had learned to integrate into their lives as part of assimilating Vedanta seemed to be unduly challenged by certain work environments. Swamiji always had wise words to impart. Swami Chinmayananda

The refusal of the ascetic, as Sri Aurobindo has described it in The Life Divine, is based on an experience so all-encompassing and so all-powerful that it is understandable why that path has been accepted by so many throughout history as the true end and goal of their spiritual seeking. This refusal is one that denies reality to the outer world of names, forms and actions, or at least relegates it to a lesser reality. In the view of the ascetic, the only true aim or goal is to abandon the entire outer world, the universal manifestation and the individual ego-personality and become fully, totally absorbed in the Absolute, silent, unmoving, vast and void of all action. Sri Aurobindo states: “Into that abyss of tranquility we must plunge and become that, if we are to annul the hold of this lower nature upon the soul. Therefore the universalized Jiva first ascends into the Silence; it becomes vast, tranquil, actionless. What action takes place, whether of body and these organs or ...

You are not the product of your own destiny but a product of CHOICE. Don't blame the circumstances or the past, use the present and change the Future. We have the power to change our thoughts. Your attraction or craving can exist only as long as you think someone is ' other '. When you understand they are a part of you or your Self , then the attraction dies out. You then enjoy the whole world without a sense of craving. One of the hardest lessons in Life is to LET GO. Whether it is guilt, anger, love, loss etc. Change is never easy , you fight to hold on and you fight to let go. Believe in yourself because you are an Amazing Soul. God should not be a faith but an experience. Once you learn to drop your mind into Silence that is when one is able to feel God within. With regular practice of dropping thoughts and getting into silence we too can achieve this experience/ feeling. Swami Udit Chaithanya .

Devotee .: There must be a scientific approach to this subject. Maharishi .: To eschew unreality and seek the Reality is scientific. D.: I mean there must be a gradual elimination, first of the mind, then of the intellect, then of the ego. M.: The Self alone is Real.  All others are unreal. The mind and intellect do not remain apart from you. The Gita says, “Be still and know that I am God”. Stillness is the sole requisite for the realisation of the Self as God. (From 'Talks with Sri Ramana Maharishi': 402) Sri Ramana Maharishi

Swami Brahmananda, in the course of his morning strolls, visited the Lakshmi-nivasa and inquired about the Mother's health from Golap-Ma and sometimes made fun. One morning, as he came there, Master Mahashaya (M) came out of his room and from the upper verandah Golap-Ma said, 'Rakhal, Mother asks you, why Shakti (Divine Energy conceived as a woman) is worshipped first (before the male aspect)?' Swami Brahmananda replied, 'It is because Mother has in her keeping the key to knowledge of Brahman. There is no other way unless Mother, out of compassion, unlocks the door with the key.' And he sang a song in the baul tune: O mind, remain immersed in meditating the feet of Shiva's wife; Be immersed and avoid all misery. All these three worlds are vain, and in vain you roam about. Meditate within you the Coiled Energy that's of none but Brahman. This is Kamalakanta's (poet's) message, 'Sing the glory of Mother Kali. This indeed is...

(Delivered at the Shakespeare Club House, in Pasadena, California, on January 18, 1900)  For Recap -Read Part-1, 2, 3,4 and 5. THE LECTURE :- Continued from part-6. Now, the ideal woman in India is the mother, the mother first, and the mother last. The word woman calls up to the mind of the Hindu, motherhood; and God is called Mother. As children, every day, when we are boys, we have to go early in the morning with a little cup of water and place it before the mother, and mother dips her toe into it and we drink it. In the West, the woman is wife. The idea of womanhood is concentrated there — as the wife. To the ordinary man in India, the whole force of womanhood is concentrated in motherhood. In the Western home, the wife rules. In an Indian home, the mother rules. If a mother comes into a Western home, she has to be subordinate to the wife; to the wife belongs the home. A mother always lives in our homes: the wife must be subordinate to her. See ...