Life 41 (Oct 21 - Jan 22)

[winston]

What is the foremost enemy that we must strive to subdue and win over?

Ego is the enemy number one of your spiritual progress.

Egoism is the Chief Executive of the Kali (Iron) Age. It is egoism and its attendant evils that stalk the world today.

Egoism breeds the scourges of greed and hate. Even leaders of ascetic orders and heads of monastic institutions, suffer from egoism and indulge in the pastime of competition and conflict with other orders and institutions.

Some of them wear elaborate outward symbols of spiritual splendour, especially when the camera is aimed.

There is a popular adage which says that an aspirant (sadhaka) must eat like a dog and wander about like a fox, meaning that he must be content with whatever he is able to get and rest wherever he can.

Man is but an instrument in the Divine's hands; his plans can win through only when they are in line with His!

- Divine Discourse, Oct 04, 1965.

The ego is very dangerous and powerful. It ruins your character.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

Knowing Yourself Is Enough

You only have to know what you are, how you exist; that’s all.

Just understand your mind: how it works, how attachment and desire arise, how ignorance arises, where emotions come from.

- Thubten Yeshe, “Chocolate Cake”

[winston]

What is the truth we must not forget, when we worship an image or idol of the Divine?

I often tell young college students that they may worship a picture as the Divine but should not worship the Divine as a picture.

They can entertain the concept that a carved stone is the Divine or that a piece of wood is the Divine.

For, in that process, they are raising that substance into that high status. But I also warn them that they should not degrade the Divine into the status of paper, wood or stone.

Of course, the Divine is immanent in every atom and cell of the Universe and if you are able to recognise Him and adore Him therein, you are indeed blessed.

Confirm in your faith that you are the Atma (Inner-Self), which is the Divine Spark in you, and then, move into the world as heroes, whom success cannot spoil or defeat cannot dishearten.

It is not my intention to turn men towards the Divine; for they have already the Divinity residing in them.

There is no need to proceed towards Him or call on Him to come from somewhere outside you.

Become aware of Him, as your Inner Motivator - that is enough.

- Divine Discourse, Mar 22, 1973.

The Divine is immanent in the world. So, treat the world lovingly, as you will treat your Master.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

Drawing Out the Heart

To be truly and wholly present even for the briefest moment, is to be vulnerable, for we have arrived at the point where the obstacle that fear constructs between ourselves and others dissolves.

It is here that the heart is drawn out of hiding and the inherent sympathetic response called compassion arises.

- Lin Jensen, “An Ear to the Ground”

[winston]

Why should we realize that each and every one of us is an inexplicable part of society?

You must realise by constant contemplation that the world is the body of the Divine. And you are a cell in that body.

The prosperity of the world is your prosperity; feel so, think in those terms and act in that spirit. That is real spirituality.

The spiritual aspirant (sadhaka) cannot cut himself away from the world and escape into solitude, for, the world will follow him into the deepest cave or the darkest forest.

The sadhaka can claim progress only when he has established in himself faith in the oneness of humanity.

Everything and every being are but waves on the surface of the vast unbounded timeless ocean, which is Divine.

Waves belong to the ocean and depend on it for their individual existence; but, the ocean has no need for waves. Therefore, you are bound inextricably with all else and all others.

- Divine Discourse, Mar 22, 1973.

One bloodstream circulates through all the limbs; one Divine principle circulates through all the lands and peoples.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

Welcome Whatever Arises

Thoughts come and go. Feelings come and go.

Allow yourself to experience the transient nature of thoughts and feelings, welcoming everything that arises as just this, not me, not mine.

- Sandra Weinberg, “Eating and the Wheel of Life”

[winston]

What are the means to ensure happiness in this uncertain world?

Attach yourself to the Highest, call it by any name, or conceive it in any form. But remember, without Dharma (righteousness) you cannot attain it.

Don't be led away into the by-paths; keep to the highway. If you yield to inferior thoughts, you will be losing theprinciple of the Universal.

Learn the means of winning Grace and earning purity from those who know - that is, the elders and the scholars who have put their learning into practice.

Don't despair; don't hesitate. Grace can wipe off the past;

Good self-effort, good company, and good practices, can ensure happiness in future.

- Divine Discourse, Apr 01, 1965.

Even insurmountable difficulties will vanish like thin mist when you face them
with courage and self-confidence.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

Learning by Doing

Good instruction and good teaching do not provide explanations.

They tell you what to do and to a certain extent, how to do it, and it is through the doing, that you discover how the practice works.

- Ken McLeod, “Where the Thinking Stops”

[winston]

Why is it pointless to chase pleasures in this world?

Man prefers to burn the sandalwood trees for sale as charcoal, for, he does not know the value of the wood.

The goal he has set before himself, is the winning of sukha and shanti (happiness and peace); that is the proper thing to do, but he stops after a few steps, mistaking the pseudo for the real - that is the tragedy.

He believes that if he gets two full meals a day, a few yards of cloth to wear, and a roof over his head, with a few sundry superfluities, he has reached the goal; but the joy he derives is paltry, mixed with grief, easily turning into pain, harmful to others, and is full of pride, envy, malice, greed and other undesirable ingredients.

How can the body that is sustained on food, which does not remain fresh for even a few hours, be fresh for long?

That which is made and marred cannot for that very reason be truth; for, the Truth cannot be made and marred. It is, was and will be, without any modification.

- Divine Discourse, Apr 06, 1965.

Who is an enemy? Who is a friend? One's thoughts are one's friends or enemies.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

Seeing Clearly

When we begin to feel the benefits of meditation practice, it is like putting on glasses for the first time.

Once we learn to sit with the breath, be with the present moment, and create space between ourselves and our thoughts, our lives come into focus and we awaken to the possibility of something else—the alleviation of suffering.

- Jessica Angima, “The High of New Beginnings—and the Joy of What Comes Next”