Life 42 (Feb 22 - May 22)

[winston]

The Nature of Emotions

All feelings come and go, and are by their nature ephemeral.

But if we don’t train our minds to see that, we end up riding life like the old roller coaster at Coney Island that threatened to hurl people from their seats every now and again.

- Pilar Jennings, “Fear”

[winston]

What is the precious inheritance that the Divine has gifted to each and every one of us?

The Divine has endowed you with all His wealth and Divine potentialities.

You are inheritors of this wealth. You have to discover what that wealth is.

You must inherit this Love, fill yourselves with it and offer it to the world. This is your supreme responsibility as devotees.

What is it that you can offer to the Divine who is omnipotent, omnipresent and all-knowing?

The various things you offer to Him are given out of delusion. Can the Divine Who permeates the Universe be confined in a temple?

What lamp can you light for The One who has the effulgence of a billion suns? His truth is beyond the comprehension.

How can others comprehend Him? What name can be given to The One who is all things? What food can you offer to The One who holds the cosmos in His stomach?

- Divine Discourse, Nov 23, 1986.

Practice the vocabulary of love – unlearn the language of hate and contempt.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

Finding True Silence

Silence is something that comes from your heart, not from outside.

Silence doesn’t mean not talking and not doing things; it means that you are not disturbed inside.

If you’re truly silent, then no matter what situation you find yourself in you can enjoy the silence.

- Thich Nhat Hanh, “The Heart of the Matter”

[winston]

Letting the Breeze In

When the small self let go, at the point where it has been clinging most fiercely —suddenly a breeze can blow in through the windowless room.

- Noelle Oxenhandler, “Twirling a Flower”

[winston]

There Is No Thinker

When passing thoughts appear in our mind, we often take them personally, as though we were the owner and controller of such thoughts.

We’re not. In fact, there is no thinker behind passing thoughts.

They merely exist without an owner.

Once you see this truth clearly, it becomes easier to allow thoughts to simply pass by.

- Haemin Sunim, “Three Methods for Letting Go of Thoughts”

[winston]

As we indulge in Sadhana (Spiritual Practice),what should we be careful about?

Repetition of the Divine’s name and meditation (japa and dhyana) should never be judged on mere external standards.

Their essence is their relationship to the Atma (Inner-Self). The immortal Atmic experience should never be mixed up with low activities of the temporal world. Such activities deserve to be avoided.

If room is given for them, and if one sways between impatience and sloth, and if one always worries oneself, feeling, “Why has it not come yet? Why is it still far away?” then it all becomes simply japa and dhyana done with intent to gain, with an eye on the fruit thereof.

The single fruit of japa and dhyana is this: the conversion of the out-faced into the in-faced; the turning inward of one’s eye, the inward eye seeing the reality of Atmic bliss.

For this transformation, one has to be always active and hopeful, regardless of the time taken and the difficulties encountered.

One should not count the cost, the time, or the trouble. One should await the descent of the Divine’s grace. This patient waiting is itself the austerity (tapas) of meditation.

- Dhyana Vahini, Ch 02.

We display monumental patience in temporary and ephemeral things, whereas we want to hurry up in spiritual matters.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

Mindfulness Is an Action

Mindfulness is not a state but an action, a cultivation of openness, again and again in each moment.

= Alex Tzelnic, “‘Blindfulness’: How to Avoid Moral and Attentional Licensing”

[winston]

What are the fundamental truths and the primary duty we shouldn’t forget?

Man is essentially divine in nature. Owing to various factors man tends to forget his inherent Divinity (Sat-Chit-Ananda).

The veil of ignorance that conceals Divinity in him cannot be removed easily. Neither wealth, position nor scholarship, can rid him of this malaise.

Atma Jnana (Knowledge of Self) alone can provide the remedy.

You shouldn’t be misled by pleasures derived from possessions, position or prosperity. These are transient things, which come and go.

Pain and pleasure are incidental to human existence like kith and kin. Man should endeavour to realise his true nature, experience his inherent divinity, and not yield to temptations of the moment.

Both pain and pleasure are impostors. Man shouldn’t allow himself to be led astray by them.

The Self transcends time and space. It’s eternal and unchanging. Enquiry into the nature of the Self is the message of perennial philosophy. It is also the primary duty of man.

- Divine Discourse, Nov 23, 1986.

Meditation on the Divine, is an unfailing remedy for human suffering if supplemented with the practice of dharma and the strict observance of moral restraints.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

No Birth, No Death

The Buddha taught that there is no birth and no death.

Our belief that these ideas about birth and death are real, creates a powerful illusion that causes us a great deal of suffering.

When we understand that we can’t be destroyed, we’re liberated from fear.

It’s a huge relief. We can enjoy life and appreciate it in a new way.

- Thich Nhat Hanh, “Free from Fear”

[winston]

What are the true traits of a human being?

Man has to become aware of his genuine nature and be established in that. Or else, he ceases to be entitled to that name.

When fire does not burn or when water does not flow, can they lay claim to those names?

Genuineness consists in being true to the deepest core. Man has Truth as his nature. That is to say, man's behaviour should always be true; he will speak out only what he feels to be sincere.

Likewise, he should act according to his words; his thought, word and action should be consistent and complementary.

If in any one case, this concordance is absent, then, that person is a man only in outer form. He is worse than a beast, for, beasts are free from the burdens of thought and speech.

All things in Creation are subject to the law of change and man too is subject to this law. But, man should use the law for progress, and not for sliding lower in the scale.

Dharma (righteousness) is the norm, which he must adhere to, so that he changes from good to better and from better to the best.

- Divine Discourse, Apr 04, 1975.

The heart is the lock, mind the key. When the mind is turned to the Divine, the heart develops detachment. When turned towards the world, it develops attachment.

Source: radiosai.org