🕉️Week 2026-41: Mahavatar Babaj - Collected Quotes

"Even in the world, the yogi who faithfully discharges his responsibilities, without personal motive or attachment, treads the sure path of enlightenment." (Mahavatar Babaj [in Paramahansa Yogananda's "Autobiography of a Yogi", 1946])

"Few mortals know that the kingdom of God includes the kingdom of mundane fulfillments. […] The divine realm extends to the earthly; but the later, illusory in nature, does not contain the essence of Reality." (Mahavatar Babaj [in Paramahansa Yogananda's "Autobiography of a Yogi", 1946])

"For the faults of the many, judge not the whole. Everything on earth is of mixed character, like a mingling of sand and sugar. Be like the wise ant which seizes only the sugar, and leaves the sand untouched." (Mahavatar Babaj [in Paramahansa Yogananda's "Autobiography of a Yogi", 1946])

"A yogi should always maintain awareness on the subject of his Sadhana. Till now people have come into the lap of the Himalayas to do intense penance .Those who are following the Middle Path and staying in societies for carrying out mass welfare like you must do Dhyanasadhana (meditation practice) but apart from the practice of Dhyan, the next aspect which is of utmost importance is to clean the body and mind." (Mahavatar Babaji)

"Believe in what you saw and will see. Whenever you get to see any vision that ‘seeing’ is nothing but your ‘being’. The moment you put your physical mind in it you cannot see anything. Breathe and be free, let your soul guide you.." (Mahavatar Babaji)

"Body, mind and soul are never a separate entity but One.When you bake a cake you put different layers to it; you decorate it, put some icing on it and use different flavours in the batter and finally when it’s ready you call it a chocolate cake or a butterscotch cake, so on and so forth... Similarly, ‘YOU’ or ‘I’ or the ‘SOUL’ is never a separate entity at all." (Mahavatar Babaji)

"Dreams are a very important part of your soul’s journey while you are in the human form on Earth. Dreams are never vague or meaningless as every dream has its own learning value and a deep hidden message behind it. Remember, dreams show the reality of what you are in the ‘Present State’ and all that is yet to come, the adjacent probabilities." (Mahavatar Babaji)

"Everything is born from mental illness. It’s not about detachment but learning... how will you detach till you know why you have attracted such an experience in life? Life always has a new plan and if you believe this you have to leave old energies behind to accept new energies. This is understanding about love in true sense. He gave you this enriching experience which might be full of happiness and sadness in your life. In reality, however, he helped you to move on. Thank his soul and move on; find the right person for your life. When you heal past wounds and welcome your new life all your discomforts will disappear too." (Mahavatar Babaji)

"Losing belief energy means losing the sense of seeing the world inside out. You believe by taking external perceptions and their effects inside, which is mostly dealing with both truth and untruth.. no matter even if all the time you may think it to be the truth. In short, you are developing some belief system all the time, in all your different incarnations." (Mahavatar Babaji)

"The development of belief energy happens more with the knowledge of soul and you will find this energy becoming very strong by experiencing the truth of one’s life. You can call this as a form of ‘SURRENDER’. Now this energy of surrender has many degrees. To experience this journey, one should become a Yogi." (Mahavatar Babaji)

"The power of belief is always an ever-expanding process. Just allow this energy inside you and you will get to see the miracles happening all around. How does a seed turn into a plant? How do birds leave their babies as soon as they know how to fly? How do clouds know that plants need water? This is all happening just because they never stopped believing in themselves and others too. But humans have lost this miraculous and powerful energy. Now the whole game is to re-build this again and again... till you live in this truth completely." (Mahavatar Babaji)

"Virtual immortality is the deepest ignorance of mankind. [...] On one hand, your so called ‘science’ has developed immensely over these years getting people closer and on the other hand, man-made technology has also developed enormous ignorance." (Mahavatar Babaji)

"We are coming down on Earth in physical body to know and understand the things which lies beyond.. but one must have the faith to behold it all in a deep understanding. Do not be afraid of your thoughts and what you experience. Faith will not travel from one end to the other. You must remember, it is within you like a little child playing hide and seek. If you do Sadhana, you will train this child to grow and nurture it further with your devotion as your wisdom matures along with it. Develop faith in whatever you do and you will find me assisting on your path." (Mahavatar Babaji)

"When you look deep inside, you understand that the soul itself is immortal. One gets inner sounds of 'I am immortal: reverberating like waves in their very core. But when you open your eyes and get into the physical world you feel difficult to experience the same feeling. So what exactly is happening here?" (Mahavatar Babaji)

🕉️Week 2025-18: Haidakhan Babaji - Collected Quotes

"One should not have hatred towards anyone; one should try not to let down other people; one should try to help others; one should try to love all." (Haidakhan Babaji, 1981)

"To follow and demonstrate the path of Truth, Simplicity and Love is man's supreme duty and the highest Yoga. Diligent work is a quality of this path, for laziness is death on earth. Only by work can one claim victory over karma. All must strive to do their duty in the best way possible and not wander from that duty. Service to humanity is the first duty." (Haidakhan Babaji, 1982)

"One can follow any religion, one can follow any practice or path, but one must be humane."  (Haidakhan Babaji, 1983)

"The calamities which are coming to this world are unavoidable. Only he who has strong determination to do good acts and who is strongly devoted to God can survive this destruction." (Haidakhan Babaji, 1983)

"Today the world is playing with fire. We have to be ready to face fire, water and great storms and not be shaken. We have to go beyond the hope of life and the fear of death. Whatever happens we must go ahead. Then only can we benefit the world. We have to bring the path of karma into the light. Now the world is in deep darkness. The Revolution spreading in this world can be controlled by karma alone." (Haidakhan Babaji, 1983)

"Walk on with courage and bravery. Go on working to improve humankind and establish the Path of Truth. (…) Fight for truth! To face life you must have great courage every day." (Haidakhan Babaji, 1983)

"You must awake others and make them arise and be alert. If you are always alert, this will be of great benefit to you. You will achieve happiness and you will be saved from the calamities, which are coming very soon."  (Haidakhan Babaji, 1983)

"You should seek harmony in everything you do. I am harmony. Thank you for your love." (Haidakhan Babaji, 1983

"If you are engaged in doing good deeds and go on doing good acts, you will have good sleep, good appetite and bad thoughts will not cross your mind. Otherwise, you will always be criticizing others. In inaction, your minds will always be engaged in thinking critically of others. Karma - activity - is the only thing which can drive out all evils." (Haidakhan Babaji, 1984)

"Therefore, you must never be disappointed in life and you must remember that what even God cannot achieve, you can achieve through hard work. Karma is a thing, which can even change the course laid down by God." (Haidakhan Babaji, 1984)

)

🕉️Week 2025-12: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

"Meditation is a technique to integrate one's personality, to be able to live and enjoy full life of all glories - worldly and divine." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Meditation - easy system propounded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi", 1962)

"Meditation is the direct means of eradicating the very cause of the majority of diseases, both mental and physical." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Meditation - easy system propounded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi", 1962)

"Meditation is the most effective form of relaxation. It not only relaxes the body and mind but also feeds them with vital energy, peace and happiness." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Meditationeasy system propounded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi", 1962) 

"Meditation is the straight flight of the mind to the Kingdom of Heaven present in the heart of everyone." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Meditation - easy system propounded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi", 1962)

"Meditation makes the man Divine and brings the Divine to the world of man." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Meditation - easy system propounded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi", 1962) 

"If we are able to meet these two requirements - regularity in meditation and leading a good life in society, day-to-day a good life - then nothing would be unattainable by us." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Thirty Years Around the World: 1957-1964", 1986) 

"Let the standard of everybody's mind be raised to the heights of his own inner glory and then man will feel for himself the greatness of the higher values of life and would be tempted to bring them down into practical life and live them." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Thirty Years Around the World: 1957-1964", 1986)

"Meditation is making research into yourself, and into the subtler fields of activity. Day after day we culture our minds with the deep silence of our own Being. This is not the silence of a stone, but creative silence. We have to find it for ourselves. We decrease activity until silence becomes creative, and we sit in creative silence and close the gates of perception for insight into the content of life." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Thirty Years Around the World: 1957-1964", 1986)

"Nothing from outside can stop a man from enjoying lasting peace and permanent joy in life, for it is the essential nature of his own soul." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Thirty Years Around the World: 1957-1964", 1986)

"The fortunate one uses the instrument of deep meditation and probes deep into his heart. Then the waves of love gain the depth of the ocean, and the ocean of love flows and fills the heart and thrills every particle of being. Every wave of life then flows in the fullness of love, in the fullness of divine glory, in the fullness of grace, in bliss and peace." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Thirty Years Around the World: 1957-1964", 1986)

"The philosophy of life is this: Life is not a struggle, not a tension Life is bliss. It is eternal wisdom, eternal existence." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Thirty Years Around the World: 1957-1964", 1986)

"When the conscious mind expands to embrace deeper levels of thinking, the thought wave becomes more powerful and results in added energy and intelligence." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Thirty Years Around the World: 1957-1964", 1986) 

🕉️Week 2025-04: Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita

"The devotee of God wants to eat sugar, and not become sugar. (All laugh.) Do you know how a lover of God feels? His attitude is: "O God, Thou art the Master, and I am Thy servant. Thou art the Mother, and I Thy child." Or again: 'Thou art my Father and Mother. Thou art the Whole, and I am a part.' He does not like to say, "I am Brahman." They yogi seeks to realize the Paramatman, the Supreme Soul. His ideal is the union of the embodied soul and the Supreme Soul. He withdraws his mind from sense objects and tries to concentrate on the Paramatman. Therefore, during the first stage of his spiritual discipline, he retires into solitude and with undivided attention practices meditation in a fixed posture. But the reality is one and the same; the difference is only in name. He who is Brahman is verily Atman, and again, He is the Bhagavan. He is Brahman to the followers of the path of knowledge, Paramatman to the yogis, and Bhagavan to the lovers of God." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna", 1882)

"Meditate upon the Knowledge and Bliss Eternal, and you will also have bliss. The Bliss indeed is eternal, only it is covered and obscured by ignorance. The less your attachment is towards the senses, the more will be your love towards God." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, cca. 1886)

"A truly religious man should think that other religions also have many paths leading to the truth. One should always maintain an attitude of respect towards other religions. Dispute not, as you rest firmly on your own faith and opinion, allow others also equal liberty to stand by their own faith and opinion." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "Râmakrishna: His Life and Sayings", 1898)

"So long as the bee is outside the petals of the lily, and has not tasted the sweetness of its honey, it hovers around the flower emitting the buzzing sound; but when it is inside the flower, it noiselessly drinks the nectar. So long as a man quarrels and disputes about doctrines and dogmas, he has not tasted the nectar of true faith; when he has tasted it, he becomes quiet and full of peace." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "Râmakrishna: His Life and Sayings", 1898)

"The manifestation of the Divinity must be understood to be in greater degree in those who are honoured, respected, and obeyed by a large following, than in those who have gained no such influence." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "Râmakrishna: His Life and Sayings", 1898)

"Many good sayings are to be found in holy books, but merely reading them will not make one religious." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "Sri Ramakrishna's Teachings", 1916)

"Meditate upon the Knowledge and Bliss Eternal, and you will also have bliss. The Bliss indeed is eternal, only it is covered and obscured by ignorance. The less your attachment is towards the senses, the more will be your love towards God." (Sri Ramakrishna, 1916)

"God is directly perceived by the mind, but not by this ordinary mind. It is the pure mind that perceives God, and at that time this ordinary mind does not function. A mind that has the slightest trace of attachment to the world cannot be called pure. When all the impurities of the mind are removed, you may call that mind Pure Mind or Pure Ātman." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna", 1942)

"God is directly perceived by the mind, but not by this ordinary mind. It is the pure mind that perceives God, and at that time this ordinary mind does not function. A mind that has the slightest trace of attachment to the world cannot be called pure. When all the impurities of the mind are removed, you may call that mind Pure Mind or Pure Ātman." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna", 1942)

"God reveals Himself to a devotee who feels drawn to Him by the combined force of these three attractions: the attraction of worldly possessions for the worldly man, the child's attraction for its mother, and the husband's attraction for the chaste wife. If one feels drawn to Him by the combined force of these three attractions, then through it one can attain Him." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna", 1942)

"Live in the world like a waterfowl. The water clings to the bird, but the bird shakes it off. Live in the world like a mudfish. The fish lives in the mud, but its skin is always bright and shiny." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna", 1942)

"One can easily realize God if one is free from guile. Spiritual instruction produces quick results in a guileless heart. Such a heart is like well cultivated land from which all the stones have been removed. No sooner is the seed sown than it germinates. The fruit also appears quickly." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna", 1942)

"One cannot attain divine knowledge till one gets rid of pride. Water does not stay on the top of a mound; but into low land it flows in torrents from all sides." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna", 1942)

"The Pure Mind and the Pure Ātman are one and the same thing. Whatever comes up in the Pure Mind is the voice of God." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna", 1942)

"The waves belong to the Ganges, not the Ganges to the waves. A man cannot realize God unless he gets rid of all such egotistic ideas as "I am such an important man" or 'I am so and so'. Level the mound of "I" to the ground by dissolving it with tears of devotion." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna", 1942)

"A boat may stay in water, but water should not stay in boat. A spiritual aspirant may live in the world, but the world should not live within him." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"A man is truly free, even here in this embodied state, if he knows that God is the true agent and he by himself is powerless to do anything." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"As a piece of rope, when burnt, retains its form, but cannot serve to bind, so is the ego which is burnt by the fire of supreme Knowledge." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"As the shell, the pith and the kernel of the fruit are all produced form one parent seed of the tree, so from the one Lord is produced the whole of creation, animate and inanimate, spiritual and material." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita) 

"As the snake is separate from its slough, even so is the Spirit separate from the body." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"Brahman is beyond mind and speech, beyond concentration and meditation, beyond the knower, the known and knowledge, beyond even the conception of the real and unreal. In short, It is beyond all relativity." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"Disease is the tax which the soul pays for the body, as the tenant pays house-rent for the use of the house." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, 1886)

"Honour both spirit and form, the sentiment within as well as the symbol without." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"It's enough to have faith in one aspect of God. You have faith in God without form. That is very good. But never get into your head that your faith alone is true and every other is false. Know for certain that God without form is real and that God with form is also real. Then hold fast to whichever faith appeals to you." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"It is easy to talk on religion, but difficult to practice it." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"Knowledge leads to unity, and Ignorance to diversity." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"Many are the names of God, and infinite the forms that lead us to know Him. In whatsoever name or form you desire to call Him, in that very form and name you will see Him." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"Meditate upon the Knowledge and Bliss Eternal, and you will also have bliss. The Bliss indeed is eternal, only it is covered and obscured by ignorance. The less your attachment is towards the senses, the more will be your love towards God." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, cca. 1886)

"Right discrimination is of two kinds — analytical and synthetical. The first leads one from the phenomena to the Absolute Brahman, while by the second one knows how the Absolute Brahman appears as the universe." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"Sunlight is one and the same wherever it falls; but only a bright surface like that of water, or of a mirror reflects it fully. So is the light Divine. It falls equally and impartially on all hearts, but the pure and pious hearts of holy men receive and reflect that light well." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"That knowledge which purifies the mind and heart alone is true Knowledge, all else is only a negation of Knowledge." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"The magnetic needle always points to the north, and hence it is that sailing vessel does not lose her direction. So long as the heart of man is directed towards God, he cannot be lost in the ocean of worldliness." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita) 

"The nearer you come to God, the less you are disposed to questioning and reasoning. When you actually attain Him, when you behold Him as the reality, then all noise, all disputations, come to an end." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, [recorded] 1882)

"The young bamboo can be easily bent, but the full grown bamboo breaks when it is bent with force. It is easy to bend the young heart towards God, but the untrained heart of the old escapes the hold whenever it is so drawn." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita) 

"To drink pure water from a shallow pond one should gently take the water from the surface without disturbing the pond in the least. If it is disturbed, the sediments rise up and make the whole water muddy. If you desire to be pure, have firm faith, and slowly go on with your devotional practices, without wasting your energy in useless scriptural discussions and arguments. Your little brain will otherwise be muddled." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita) 

🕉️Week 2024-49: Rabindranath Tagore - Collected Quotes

"A mind all logic is like a knife all blade. It makes the hand bleed that uses it." (Rabindranath Tagore)

"Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time." (Rabindranath Tagore)

"Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark." (Rabindranath Tagore)

"It is very simple to be happy, but it is very difficult to be simple. (Rabindranath Tagore)

"Music fills the infinite between two souls." (Rabindranath Tagore)

"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough." (Rabindranath Tagore)

"The fish in the water is silent, the animals on the earth is noisy, the bird in the air is singing. But man has in him the silence of the sea, the noise of the earth and the music of the air." (Rabindranath Tagore, "Stray Birds", 1916) 

"The fundamental desire of life is the desire to exist." (Rabindranath Tagore)

"The higher nature in man always seeks for something which transcends itself and yet is its deepest truth; which claims all its sacrifice, yet makes this sacrifice its own recompense. This is man's dharma, man's religion, and man's self is the vessel which is to carry this sacrifice to the altar." (Rabindranath Tagore, "Sādhanā: The Realization of Life", 1913) 

"The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence." (Rabindranath Tagore)

"The most important lesson that man can learn from his life is not that there is pain in this world, but that it depends upon him to turn it into good account, that it is possible for him to transmute it into joy... Man's freedom is never in being saved troubles, but it is the freedom to take trouble for his own good, to make the trouble an element in his joy [...] that in pain is symbolised the infinite possibility of perfection, the eternal unfolding of joy." (Rabindranath Tagore)

"The object of education is to give man the unity of truth. Formerly, when life was simple, all the different elements of man were in complete harmony. But when there came the separation of the intellect from the spiritual and the physical, the school education put entire emphasis on intellect and the physical side of man. We devote our sole attention to giving children information, not knowing that by this emphasis we are accentuating a break between the intellectual, physical, and the spiritual life... I believe in a spiritual world -  not as anything separate from this world -  but as its innermost truth. With the breath we draw we must always feel this truth, that we are living in God. Born in this great world, full of the mystery of the infinite, we cannot accept our existence as a momentary outburst of chance drifting on the current of matter toward an eternal nowhere. We cannot look upon our lives as dreams of a dreamer who has no awakening in all time. We have a personality to which matter and force are unmeaning unless related to something infinitely personal, whose nature we have discovered, in some measure, in human love, in the greatness of the good, in the martyrdom of heroic souls, in the ineffable beauty of nature which can never be a mere physical fact nor anything but an expression of personality." (Rabindranath Tagore)

"The picture of a flower in a botanical book is information; its mission ends with our knowledge. But in pure art it is a personal communication. And therefore until it finds its harmony in the depth of our personality it misses the mark. We can treat existence solely as a textbook furnishing us lessons, and we shall not be disappointed, but we know that there its mission does not end. For in our joy in it, which is an end in itself, we feel that it is a communication, the final response of our knowing but the response of our being." (Rabindranath Tagore)

"The progress of our soul is like a perfect poem. It has an infinite idea which once realised makes all movements full of meaning and joy. But if we detach its movements from that ultimate idea, if we do not see the infinite rest and only see the infinite motion, then existence appears to us a monstrous evil., impetuously rushing towards an unending aimlessness." (Rabindranath Tagore)

"The tendency in modern civilization is to make the world uniform... Let the mind be universal. The individual should not be sacrificed." (Rabindranath Tagore)

"Things are distinct not in their essence but in their appearance; in other words, in their relation to one to whom they appear. This is art, the truth of which is not in substance or logic, but in expression. Abstract truth may belong to science and metaphysics, but the world of reality belongs to art." (Rabindranath Tagore)

"Time is a wealth of change, but the clock in its parody makes it mere change and no wealth." (Rabindranath Tagore)

"Time is a wealth of change, but the clock in its parody makes it mere change and no wealth." (Rabindranath Tagore)

"To understand anything is to find in it something which is our own, and it is the discovery of ourselves outside us which makes us glad. This relation of understanding is partial, but the relation of love is complete. In love the sense of difference is obliterated and the human soul fulfills its purpose in perfection, transcending the limits of itself and reaching across the threshold of the infinite. Therefore love is the highest bliss that man can attain to, for through it alone he truly knows that he is more than himself, and that he is at one with the All." (Rabindranath Tagore)

"We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility." (Rabindranath Tagore)

"What is Art? It is the response of man's creative soul to the call of the Real." (Rabindranath Tagore)

"Whatever we treasure for ourselves separates us from others; our possessions are our limitations." (Rabindranath Tagore)

"Where the old tracks are lost, new country is revealed with its wonders." (Rabindranath Tagore)

"With begging and scrambling we find very little, but with being true to ourselves we find a great deal more." (Rabindranath Tagore)

"You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water. Don't let yourself indulge in vain wishes." (Rabindranath Tagore)

🕉️Week 2024-26: Ashvaghosha - Collected Quotes

"All things are originally of the mind only; they in fact transcend thoughts. Nevertheless, the deluded mind, in nonenlightenment, gives rise to irrelevant thoughts and predicates the world of objects." (Ashvaghosha, "The Awakening of Faith", cca. 2nd century)

"Ignorance does not exist apart from enlightenment; therefore, it cannot be destroyed [because one cannot destroy something which does not really exist], and yet it cannot not be destroyed [insofar as it remains]. This is like the relationship that exists between the water of the ocean [i.e., enlightenment] and its waves [i.e., modes of mind] stirred by the wind [i.e., ignorance]. Water and wind are inseparable; but water is not mobile by nature, and if the wind stops the movement ceases. But the wet nature remains undestroyed. Likewise, man's Mind, pure in its own nature, is stirred by the wind of ignorance. Both Mind and ignorance have no particular forms of their own and they are inseparable. Yet Mind is not mobile by nature, and if ignorance ceases, then the continuity of deluded activities ceases. But the essential nature of wisdom [i.e., the essence of Mind, like the wet nature of the water] remains undestroyed." (Ashvaghosha, "The Awakening of Faith", cca. 2nd century)

"The essence of all things is one and the same, perfectly calm and tranquil, and shows no sign of 'becoming'; ignorance, however, is in its blindness and delusion oblivious of Enlightenment, and, on that account, cannot recognize truthfully all those conditions, differences, and activities which characterize the phenomena of the Universe." (Ashvaghosha, "The Awakening of Faith", cca. 2nd century)

"The essence of Mind is free from thoughts. The characteristic of that which is free from thoughts is analogous to that of the sphere of empty space that pervades everywhere." (Ashvaghosha, "The Awakening of Faith", cca. 2nd century)

"The Mind, though pure in its self-nature from the beginning, is accompanied by ignorance. Being defiled by ignorance, a defiled state of Mind comes into being. But, though defiled, the Mind itself is eternal and immutable. Only the Enlightened Ones are able to understand what this means. What is called the essential nature of Mind is always beyond thoughts. It is, therefore, defined as 'immutable'. When the one World of Reality is yet to be realized, the Mind is mutable and is not in perfect unity with Suchness. Suddenly, a deluded thought arises; this state is called ignorance." (Ashvaghosha, "The Awakening of Faith", cca. 2nd century)

"The mind has five different names. The first is called the 'activating mind', for, without being aware of it, it breaks the equilibrium of mind by the force of ignorance. The second is called the 'evolving mind', for it emerges contingent upon the agitated mind as the subject that perceives incorrectly. The third is called the 'reproducing mind', for it reproduces the entire world of objects as a bright mirror reproduces all material images. When confronted with the objects of the five senses, it reproduces them at once. It arises spontaneously at all times and exists forever reproducing the world of objects in front of the subject. The fourth is called the 'analytical mind', for it differentiates what is defiled and what is undefiled. The fifth is called the 'continuing mind', for it is united with deluded thoughts and continues uninterrupted." (Ashvaghosha, "The Awakening of Faith", cca. 2nd century)

"What is called 'consciousness' (vijnana) is the 'continuing mind'. Because of their deep-rooted attachment, ordinary men imagine that I and Mine are real and cling to them in their illusions. As soon as objects are presented, this consciousness rests on them and discriminates the objects of the five senses and of the mind. This is called 'vijnana' [i.e., the differentiating consciousness] or the 'separating consciousness'." (Ashvaghosha, "The Awakening of Faith", cca. 2nd century)

Resources:
[1] Ashvaghosha, "The Awakening of Faith" (link)

🕉️Week 2023-43: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi - Collected Quotes

"Meditation makes the man Divine and brings the Divine to the world of man." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Meditation: Easy system propounded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi", 1962)

"Meditation is a means to discover all the glories of the ocean of mind." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Meditation: Easy system propounded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi", 1962)

"Meditation is a technique to integrate one's personality, to be able to live and enjoy full life of all glories - worldly and divine." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Meditation: Easy system propounded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi", 1962)

"Meditation is the most effective form of relaxation. It not only relaxes the body and mind but also feeds them with vital energy, peace and happiness." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Meditation: Easy system propounded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi", 1962)

"Meditation is the straight flight of the mind to the Kingdom of Heaven present in the heart of everyone." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Meditation: Easy system propounded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi", 1962)

"If a man is able to submit himself to nature, then nature will react to his needs. Almighty nature is all powerful and all loving, for the laws of nature are for the creation and evolution of all beings and creatures throughout the cosmos. There is no greater kindness than the kindness of nature." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Thirty Years Around the World: 1957-1964", 1986)

"In meditation we research the field without time and space and activity, and yet produce a useful effect while conducting the research." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Thirty Years Around the World: 1957-1964", 1986)

"Let the standard of everybody's mind be raised to the heights of his own inner glory and then man will feel for himself the greatness of the higher values of life and would be tempted to bring them down into practical life and live them." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Thirty Years Around the World: 1957-1964", 1986)

"Life is not a struggle, not a tension. Life has not to be suffering. Life is bliss. It is eternal wisdom, eternal existence." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Thirty Years Around the World: 1957-1964", 1986)

"Nothing from outside can stop a man from enjoying lasting peace and permanent joy in life, for it is the essential nature of his own soul." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Thirty Years Around the World: 1957-1964", 1986)

"When the conscious mind expands to embrace deeper levels of thinking, the thought wave becomes more powerful and results in added energy and intelligence." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Thirty Years Around the World: 1957-1964", 1986)

🕉️Week 2023-38: Mahatma Gandhi - Collected Quotes

"A living faith cannot be manufactured by the rule of majority." (Mahatma Gandhi, "India on Trial" 1922)

"The most practical, the most dignified way of going on in the world is to take people at their word, when you have no positive reason to the contrary." (Mahatma Gandhi, Young India, 1924)

"True art takes note not merely of form but also of what lies behind." (Mahatma Gandhi, Young India, 1924)

"Without devotion, action and knowledge are cold and dry and many even become shackles." (Mahatma Gandhi, Young India, 1930)

"Democracy is a great institution and, therefore, it is liable to be greatly abused." (Mahatma Gandhi, Young India, 1931)

"Dignity of human nature requires that we must face the storms of life." (Mahatma Gandhi, Young India, 1931)

"Reason has to be strengthened by suffering, and suffering opens the eyes of understanding." (Mahatma Gandhi, Young India, 1931)

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." (Mahatma Gandhi, Young India, 1931)

"Much that we hug today as knowledge is ignorance pure and simple. It makes the mind wander and even reduces it to a vacuity." (Mahatma Gandhi, "The Gandhi Sutras", 1949)

"Religion is one tree with many branches. As branches, you may say, religions are many, but as a tree, religion is only one." (Mahatma Gandhi, "None High: None Low", 1965)

"Prayer is a sign of repentance, a desire to become better, purer." (Mahatma Gandhi, "The Supreme power", 1963)

"Belief in non-violence is based on the assumption that human nature in the essence is one and therefore unfailingly responds to the advances of love..." (Mahatma Gandhi)

"There is an indefinable mysterious Power that pervades everything." (Mahatma Gandhi)

"You cannot stop big wars if you carry on little wars yourselves." (Mahatma Gandhi)

🕉️Week 2023-14: Bhagavad Gita - Collected Quotes

"A gift is pure when it is given from the heart to the right person at the right time and at the right place, and when we expect nothing in return." (Bhagavad Gita)

"All this visible universe comes from my invisible being. All beings have their rest in me, but I have not my rest in them." (Bhagavad Gita)

"Anyone who is steady in his determination for the advanced stage of spiritual realization and can equally tolerate the onslaughts of distress and happiness is certainly a person eligible for liberation." (Bhagavad Gita)

"As a strong wind sweeps away a boat on the water, so the mind dwelling on even one of the senses carries away the intelligence." (Bhagavad Gita)

"But they that spread a feast all for themselves eat sin and drink of sin." (Bhagavad Gita)

"Curving back within myself I create again and again." (Bhagavad Gita)

"For him who has no concentration, there is no tranquility." (Bhagavad Gita)

"For the uncontrolled there is no wisdom, nor for the uncontrolled is there the power of concentration; and for him without concentration there is no peace. And for the unpeaceful, how can there be happiness?" (Bhagavad Gita)

"It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else's life with perfection." (Bhagavad Gita)

"Looking to thine own duty thou shouldst not tremble; for there is nothing more welcome to a Kshattriya (Warrior) than righteous war offered unsought as an open door to heaven." (Bhagavad Gita)

"The happiness which comes from long practice, which leads to the end of suffering, which at first is like poison, but at last like nectar - this kind of happiness arises from the serenity of one's own mind." (Bhagavad Gita)

"The peace of God is with them whose mind and soul are in harmony, who are free from desire and wrath, who know their own soul." (Bhagavad Gita)

"The self is the friend of a man who masters himself through the self, but for a man without self-mastery, the self is like an enemy at war." (Bhagavad Gita)

"The soul that moves in the world of senses and yet keeps the senses in harmony ... finds rest in quietness." (Bhagavad Gita)

"There's no wisdom from a man without harmony, and without harmony there is no contemplation. Without contemplation there cannot be peace, and without peace there can be no joy..." (Bhagavad Gita)

"Without self-mastery he has no understanding of inner power; without inner power, he has no peace; and without peace, where is joy?" (Bhagavad Gita)

🕉️Week 2023-10: Upanishads

"Equipped with qualities, a doer of works and creator of their consequences, he reaps the result of his actions; he is the ruler of the life and he moves in his journey according to his own acts: he has idea and ego and is to be known by the qualities of his intelligence and his quality of self. Smaller than the hundredth part of the tip of a hair, the soul of the living being is capable of infinity. Male is he not nor female nor neuter, but is joined to whatever body he takes as his own." (Swetaswatara Upanishad)

"From the non-being to true being, from the darkness to the Light, from death to Immortality." (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)

"He becomes the Eternal and departs into the Eternal." (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)

"He fashions one form of things in many ways." (Katha Upanishad)

"He passes in his departure from this world to the physical Self; he passes to the Self of life; he passes to the Self of mind; he passes to the Self of knowledge; he passes to the Self of bliss; he moves through these worlds at will." (Taittiriya Upanishad)

"He strives by these means and has the knowledge: in him this spirit enters into its supreme status. Satisfied in knowledge, having built up their spiritual being, the Wise, in union with the spiritual self, reach the Omnipresent everywhere and enter into the All." (Mundaka Upanishad)

"It is not large, and not minute; not short, not long; without blood, without fat; without shadow, without darkness; without wind, without ether; not adhesive, not tangible; without smell, without taste; without eyes, ears, voice, or mind; without heat, breath, or mouth; without personal or family name; unaging, undying, without fear, immortal, dustless, not un¬ covered or covered; with nothing before, nothing behind, nothing within. It consumes no one, and is consumed by no one. It is the imseen seer, the un¬ heard hearer, the unthought thinker, the unknown knower." (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, cca. 7th century) 

"Long and narrow is the ancient Path, - I have touched it, I have found it, the Path by which the wise, blowers of the Eternal, attaining to salvation, depart hence to the high world of Paradise." (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)

"Made certain of the meaning of the highest spiritual knowledge, purified in their being." (Mundrake Upanishad)

"Seven are these worlds in which move the life-forces that are hidden within the secret heart as their dwelling-place seven by seven." (Mundaka Upanishad)

"The Infinite indeed is below, above, behind, before, right and left—it is indeed all this. Now follows the explanation of the Infinite as the I; I am below, I am above, I am behind, before, right and left - I am all this. Next follows the explanation of the Infinite as the Self: Self is below, above, behind, before, right and left - Self is all this. He who sees, perceives, and understands this, loves the Self, delights in the Self, revels in the Self, rejoices in the Self -  he becomes a Svaraj, [an autocrat or self-ruler]; he is lord and master in all the worlds." (Chandogya Upanishad, 8th-6th century)

"The one Godhead secret in all beings, all-pervading, the inner Self of all, presiding over all action, witness, conscious knower and absolute... the One in control over the many who are passive to Nature, fashions one seed in many ways." (Svetosvatara Upanishad)

"The Swan that settles in the purity... born of the Truth, - itself the Truth, the Vast." (Katha Upanishad)

"The transmigration of life takes place in one’s mind. Let one therefore keep the mind pure, for what a man thinks, so he becomes." (Upanishads)

"There is a birth and growth of the self. According to his action', the embodied being assumes forms successively in many places; many forms gross and subtle he assumes by force of his own qualities of nature..." (Swetaswatara Upanishad)

"There is a light that shines beyond all things on earth, beyond the highest, the very highest heavens. This is the light that shines in your heart." (Chandogya Upanishad)

"They say indeed that the conscious being is made of desire. But of whatsoever desire he comes to be, he comes to be of that will, and of whatever will he comes to be, he does that action, and whatever his action, to (the result of) that he reaches... Adhered to by his Karma he goes in his subtle body to wherever his mind cleaves, then, coming to the end of his Kama, even of whatsoever action he does here, he returns from that world to this world for Karma." (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)

"This bodiless and immortal Life and Light is the Brahman." (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)

"This is the eternal Tree with its root above and its branches downward; this is Brahman, the is the Immortal; in it are lodged all the worlds and none goes beyond it. This and That are one." (Katha Upanishad)

"This Self is to be won by the Truth and by an integral knowledge." (Mundaka Upanishad)

"This whole world is filled with beings who are His members." (Swetaswatara Upanishad)

"Thou art man and woman, boy and girl; old and worn thou walkest bent over a staff; thou art the blue bird and the green and the scarleteyed..." (Swetaswatara Upanishad)

"When a blade of grass is cut, the whole universe quivers." (Upanishads)

"When all the desires that cling to the heart Me loosed away from it, then the mortal becomes immortal, even here he possesses the Eternal." (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)

🕉️Week 2022-49: Sri Aurobindo - Collected Quotes

"Our actual enemy is not any force exterior to ourselves, but our own crying weaknesses, our cowardice, our selfishness, our hypocrisy, our purblind sentimentalism." (Sri Aurobindo, "New Lamps for Old", 1893)

"The deeper we look, the more we shall be convinced that the one thing wanting, which we must strive to acquire before all others, is strength — strength physical, strength mental, strength moral, but above all strength spiritual which is the one inexhaustible and imperishable source of all the others. If we have strength everything else will be added to us easily and naturally." (Sri Aurobindo, "India's Rebirth", 1905)

"A thought is an arrow shot at the truth; it can hit a point, but not cover the whole target. But the archer is too well satisfied with his success to ask anything farther."  (Sri Aurobindo, "Thoughts and Aphorisms", 1913)

"Inspiration is a slender river of brightness leaping from a vast and eternal knowledge, it exceeds reason more perfectly than reason exceeds the knowledge of the senses." (Sri Aurobindo, "Thoughts and Aphorisms", 1913)

"Mankind has used two powerful weapons to destroy its own powers and enjoyment, wrong indulgence and wrong abstinence." (Sri Aurobindo, "Thoughts and Aphorisms", 1913)

"Be conscious first of thyself within, then think and act. All living thought is a world in preparation; all real act is a thought manifested. The material world exists because an Idea began to play in divine self-consciousness." (Sri Aurobindo, "Thoughts and Glimpses", 1916-17)

"Nothing in the many processes of Nature, whether she deals with men or with things, comes by chance or accident or is really at the mercy of external causes."  (Sri Aurobindo, "The Renaissance in India", 1918)

"Suffering makes us capable of the full force of the Master of Delight; it makes us capable also to bear the utter play of the Master of Power. Pain is the key that opens the gates of strength; it is the high-road that leads to the city of beatitude." (Sri Aurobindo, "Thoughts and Aphorisms", 1913)

"The strangest of the soul's experiences is this, that it finds, when it ceases to care for the image and threat of troubles, then the troubles themselves are nowhere to be found in one's neighbourhood. It is then that we hear from behind those unreal clouds God laughing at us." (Sri Aurobindo, "Thoughts and Aphorisms", 1913)

"Transform effort into an easy and sovereign overflowing of the soul-strength; let all thyself be conscious force. This is thy goal." (Sri Aurobindo, "Thoughts and Glimpses", 1916-17)

"Spirituality is not necessarily exclusive; it can be and in its fullness must be all-inclusive." (Sri Aurobindo, "The Renaissance in India", 1918)

"The supreme truths are neither the rigid conclusions of logical reasoning nor the affirmations of credal statement, but fruits of the soul's inner experience." (Sri Aurobindo, "Indian Spirituality and Life", 1919)

"All religions have some truth in them, but none has the whole truth; all are created in time and finally decline and perish."  (Sri Aurobindo, [letter] 1929)

"The way of yoga followed here has a different purpose from others, - for its aim is not only to rise out of the ordinary ignorant world-consciousness into the divine consciousness, but to bring the supramental power of that divine consciousness down into the ignorance of mind, life and body, to transform them, to manifest the Divine here and create a divine life in Matter." (Sri Aurobindo, "Lights on Yoga", 1935)

"Nothing to the supramental sense is really finite; it is founded on a feeling of all in each and of each in all." (Sri Aurobindo, "The Synthesis of Yoga", 1948)

"The material object becomes [...] something different from what we now see, not a separate object on the background or in the environment of the rest of nature but an indivisible part and even in a subtle way an expression of the unity of all that we see." (Sri Aurobindo, "The Synthesis of Yoga", 1948)

 "When mind is still, then truth gets her chance to be heard in the purity of the silence." (Sri Aurobindo)

🧿Week 2022-34: Deepak Chopra - Collected Quotes

"Don't try to steer the river." (Deepak Chopra)

"Even when you think you have your life all mapped out, things happen that shape your destiny in ways you might never have imagined." (Deepak Chopra)

"Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future." (Deepak Chopra)

"Expectations determine outcomes. If you expect your mental and physical capacity to diminish with age, it probably will. If you have the expectation that you will grow younger and live longer, this will be your experience." (Deepak Chopra)

"In every act of perception we create the world," (Deepak Chopra)

"In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you." (Deepak Chopra)

"It helps if you remember that everyone is doing their best from their level of consciousness." (Deepak Chopra)

"One way to access the field is through the daily practice of silence, meditation, and non-judgment. Spending time in nature will also give you access to the qualities inherent in the field: infinite creativity, freedom, and bliss." (Deepak Chopra, "The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to the Fulfillment of Your Dreams", 1994)

"Religion is belief is someone else's experience. Spirituality is having your own experience." (Deepak Chopra)

"Surrender is faith that the power of love can accomplish anything... even when you can not foresee the outcome." (Deepak Chopra)

"The best way to motivate other people to help you fulfill your goals is to help them fulfill their goals." (Deepak Chopra)

"The need for approval, the need to control things, and the need for external power are needs that are based on fear. When we experience the power of the Self, there is an absence of fear, there is no compulsion to control, and no struggle for approval or external power." (Deepak Chopra)

"The way you think about your body leads to the way you treat it. For people to shift their behavior toward self-care and heightened well-being, we don't need just compliance with standard prevention. There also has to be a drop in our addiction to drugs and surgery as the main approaches of medicine." (Deepak Chopra)

"There are many aspects to success; material wealth is only one component. But success also includes good health, energy and enthusiasm for life, fulfilling relationships, creative freedom, emotional and psychological stability, a sense of well-being, and peace of mind." (Deepak Chopra)

"There are no extra pieces in the universe. Everyone is here because he or she has a place to fill, and every piece must fit itself into the big jigsaw puzzle." (Deepak Chopra)

"Through silence, through meditation, and through non-judgment, you will access the first law, the Law of Pure Potentiality." (Deepak Chopra)

"We have to learn to go beyond both a positive mind and a negative mind to become a silent, nonjudgmental, non-analytical, non-interpretive mind. In other words, the silent witness. In the process of silent witnessing, we experience inner silence. In the purity of silence, we feel connected to our source and to everything else." (Deepak Chopra)

"Whatever relationships you have attracted in your life at this moment, are precisely the ones you need in your life at this moment. There is a hidden meaning behind all events, and this hidden meaning is serving your own evolution." (Deepak Chopra)

"You must find the place inside yourself where nothing is impossible." (Deepak Chopra)

"You must learn to get in touch with the innermost essence of your being. This true essence is beyond the ego. It is fearless; it is free; it is immune to criticism; it does not fear any challenge. It is beneath no one, superior to no one, and full of magic, mystery, and enchantment." (Deepak Chopra)

🕉️Week 2022-22: Swami Vivekananda - Collected Quotes

"All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life. He who loves lives, he who is selfish is dying. Therefore love for love's sake, because it is the only law of life, just as you breathe to live." (Swami Vivekananda, [letter] 1895)

"A good practice carried to an extreme and worked in accordance with the letter of the law becomes a positive evil." (Swami Vivekananda, "Bhakti-Yoga", [lecture}] 1896)

"Anything that is secret and mysterious in these systems of yoga should be at once rejected. The best guide in life is strength. In religion, as in all other matters, discard everything that weakens you, have nothing to do with it." (Swami Vivekananda, "Raja Yoga", 1896)

"Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life; dream of it; think of it; live on that idea. Let the brain, the body, 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, and this is the way great spiritual giants are produced." (Swami Vivekananda, "Raja Yoga", 1896)

"We have to go back to philosophy to treat things as they are. We are suffering from our own karma. It is not the fault of God. What we do is our own fault, nothing else. Why should God be blamed?" (Swami Vivekananda, "Worshipper and Worshipped" , 1900)

"Jnana, bhakti, yoga and karma - these are the four paths which lead to spiritual freedom. One must follow the path for which one is best suited. But in this age, special stress should be laid on karma yoga." (Swami Vivekananda, "The Complete Works" Vol. 5, 1907)

"All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secret of everything." (Swami Vivekananda)

"All knowledge that the world has ever received comes from the mind; the infinite library of the universe is in our own mind." (Swami Vivekananda)

"All knowledge, secular or spiritual, is in the human mind. In many cases it is not discovered but remains covered, and when the covering is being slowly taken off, we say, "We are learning." The advance of knowledge is made by the advance of this process of uncovering. The person from whom this veil is being lifted is the knowing person, the person upon whom it lies thick is ignorant, and the one from whom it has entirely gone is all-knowing." (Swami Vivekananda)

"All power is within you; you can do anything and everything. Believe in that, do not believe that you are weak; do not believe that you are half-crazy lunatics, as most of us do nowadays. You can do any thing and everything, without even the guidance of any one. Stand up and express the divinity within you." (Swami Vivekananda)

"All the knowledge that the world has ever received comes from the mind; the infinite library of the universe is in your own mind. The external world is simply the suggestion, the occasion, which sets you to study your own mind, but the object of your study is always your own mind. The falling of an apple gave the suggestion to Newton, and he studied his own mind. He rearranged all the previous links of thought in his mind and discovered a new link among them, which we call the law of gravitation." (Swami Vivekananda)

"Anything that makes weak - physically, intellectually and spiritually, reject it as poison." (Swami Vivekananda)

"Books are infinite in number and time is short. The secret of knowledge is to take what is essential. Take that and try to live up to it." (Swami Vivekananda)

"Dare to be free, dare to go as far as your thought leads, and dare to carry that out in your life." (Swami Vivekananda)

"Do not believe in a thing because you have read about it in a book. Do not believe in a thing because another man has said it was true. Do not believe in words because they are hallowed by tradition. Find out the truth for yourself. Reason it out. That is realization." (Swami Vivekananda)

"Each work has to pass through these stages - ridicule, opposition, and then acceptance. Those who think ahead of their time are sure to be misunderstood." (Swami Vivekananda)

"Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy - by one, or more, or all of these - and be free. This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details." (Swami Vivekananda)

"Education is the manifestation of perfection already existing in man." (Swami Vivekananda)

"I am a voice without a form. It may be that I shall find it good to get outside of my body-to cast it off like a worn-out garment. But I shall not cease to work! I shall inspire men and women everywhere, until the world shall know that it is one with God." (Swami Vivekananda)

"If a man continuously hears bad words, thinks bad thoughts, does bad actions, his mind will be full of bad impressions; and they will influence his thought and work without his being conscious of the fact. He will be like a machine in the hands of his impressions, and they will force him to do evil, and that man will be a bad man; he cannot help it. Similarly, if a man thinks good thoughts and does good works, the sum total of these impressions will be good, and they, in a similar manner, will force him to do good, even in spite of himself. When such is the case, a man's good character is said to be established." (Swami Vivekananda)

"In a conflict between the heart and the brain, follow your heart. " (Swami Vivekananda)

"In a day, when you don't come across any problems - you can be sure that you are travelling in a wrong path." (Swami Vivekananda)

"It is a tremendous truth that if there be real worth in you, the more are circumstances against you, the more will that inner power manifest itself" (Swami Vivekananda)

"Let us work on, doing as we go whatever happens to be our duty, and being ever ready to put our shoulders to the wheel. Then surely shall we see the Light!" (Swami Vivekananda)

"Love is always mutual and reflective. You may hate me, and if I want to love you, you repulse me. But if I persist, in a month or a year you are bound to love me. It is a well-known psychological phenomenon." (Swami Vivekananda)

"Manifest the divinity within you and everything will be harmoniously arranged around it." (Swami Vivekananda)

"Mind is action of its own nature. Mind-activity means creation. The thought is followed by the word, and the word by the form. All of this creating will have to stop, both mental and physical, before the mind can reflect the soul." (Swami Vivekananda)

"My ideal indeed can be put into a few words and that is; to preach unto mankind their divinity, and how to make it manifest in every movement of life. God is in every man, whether man knows it or not; your loving devotion is bound to call up the divinity in him." (Swami Vivekananda)

"Neither seek nor avoid, take what comes." (Swami Vivekananda)

"Never think there is anything impossible for the soul." (Swami Vivekananda)

"Next to spiritual comes intellectual help; the gift of knowledge is a far higher gift... because the real life of man consists of knowledge; ignorance is death, knowledge is life." (Swami Vivekananda)

"No knowledge comes from outside; it is all inside. What we say a we "know," should-in strict psychological language-be what we "discover" or "unveil." What we "learn" is really what we "discover" by taking the cover off our own soul, which is the mirror of infinite knowledge." (Swami Vivekananda)

"No one can get amything unless he earns it. This is an eternal law." (Swami Vivekananda)

"None can hate others without degenerating himself." (Swami Vivekananda)

"Of one hundred persons who take up the spiritual life, eighty turn out to be charlatans, fifteen insane, and only five, maybe, get a glimpse of the real truth. Therefore beware." (Swami Vivekananda)

"Religion is the manifestation of the divinity already in man." (Swami Vivekananda)

"Stand up, be hold, and take the blame on your own shoulders. Do not go about throwing mud at others; for all the faults you duffer from, you are the sole and only cause." (Swami Vivekananda)

"Strength, strength it is that we want so much in this life, for what we call sin and sorrow have all one cause, and that is our weakness. With weakness comes ignorance, and with ignorance comes misery." (Swami Vivekananda)

"Teach yourself, teach everyone his real nature, call upon the sleeping soul and see how it awakes. Power will come, glory will come, goodness will come, purity will come, and everything that is excellent will come when this sleeping soul is roused to self-conscious activity." (Swami Vivekananda)

"The attempt to remove evil from the world by killing a thousand evil-doers only adds to the evil in the world. But if the people can be made to desist from evil doing, by means of spiritual instruction, there is no more evil in the world." (Swami Vivekananda)

"The brain and muscles must develop simultaneously. Iron nerves with an intelligent brain — and the whole world is at your feet." (Swami Vivekananda)

"The gift of knowledge is the highest gift in the world." (Swami Vivekananda)

"The greatest help to spiritual life is meditation. In meditation we divest ourselves of all material condition and feel our divine nature." (Swami Vivekananda, "Hints on Practical Spirituality", [lecture] 1900)

"The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves." (Swami Vivekananda)

"The greatest sin is to think yourself weak." (Swami Vivekananda)

"The greatest truths are the simplest things in the world, simple as your own existence." (Swami Vivekananda)

"The help which tends to make us spiritually strong is the highest help, next to it comes intellectual help and after that comes physical help." (Swami Vivekananda)

"The mistake is that we want to tie the whole world down to our own plane of thought and to make our mind the measure of the whole universe." (Swami Vivekananda)

"The more our bliss is within, the more spiritual we are. Let us not depend upon the world for pleasure." (Swami Vivekananda)

"The powers of the mind are like the rays of the sun when they are concentrated they illumine." (Swami Vivekananda)

"The present system of education is all wrong. The mind is crammed with facts before it knows how to think. Control of the mind should be taught first. It takes people a long time to learn things because they can't concentrate their minds at will." (Swami Vivekananda)

"The will is not free - it is a phenomenon bound by cause and effect - but there is something behind the will which is free." (Swami Vivekananda)

"There is no limit to the power of the human mind. The more concentrated it is, the more power is brought to bear on one point." (Swami Vivekananda, "Raja Yoga", 1896)

"This is the gist of all worship - to be pure and to do good to others." (Swami Vivekananda)

"This life is short, the vanities of the world are transient, but they alone live who live for others, the rest are more dead than alive." (Swami Vivekananda)

"This universe is the wreckage of the infinite on the shores of the finite." (Swami Vivekananda)

"Time, space, and causation are like the glass through which the Absolute is seen. [...] In the Absolute there is neither time, space, nor causation." (Swami Vivekananda , "Jnana Yoga")

"To be good and to do good that is the whole of religion." (Swami Vivekananda, [letter to Govinda Sahay], 1891)

"Truth is purity. Truth is all knowledge; truth must be strengthening, must be enlightening, must be invigorating." (Swami Vivekananda)

"Truth, purity and unselfishness - whatever these are present, there is no power below or above the sun to crush the possessor thereof. Equipped with these, one individual is able to face the whole universe in opposition." (Swami Vivekananda)

"We are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have the power to make ourselves. If what we are now has been the result of our own past actions, it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in the future can be produced by our present actions; so we have to know how to act." (Swami Vivekananda)

"We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far." (Swami Vivekananda)

"What is education? Is it book-learning? No. Is it diverse knowledge? Not even that. The training by which the current and expression of will are brought under control and become fruitful is called education." (Swami Vivekananda)

"What is now wanted is a combination of the greatest heart with the highest intellectuality, of infinite love with infinite knowledge." (Swami Vivekananda)

"When an idea exclusively occupies the mind, it is transformed into an actual physical or mental state." (Swami Vivekananda)

"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." (Swami Vivekananda)

🕉️2021-52: Osho [Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh] - Collected Quotes

"A single word from you will show the mind inside; a single word and your whole being is exposed. Not even a word is needed; just a gesture and your chattering mind will be there. Even if you are silent, your silence will not reveal anything other than the chattering monkey within." (Osho, "Hsin Hsin Ming: The Book of Nothing", [talks] 1974)

"The mind cannot be healthy because it can never be whole. Mind is always divided; division is its base." (Osho, "Hsin Hsin Ming: The Book of Nothing", [talks] 1974)

"Tantra says there is nobody above you whom you have to follow, through whom you have to get your pattern." (Osho [Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh], "Tantra: the Supreme Understanding", 1975)

"Mindfulness is Buddha's word for meditation. By mindfulness he means: you should always remain alert, watchful. You should always remain present. Not a single thing should be done in a sort of sleepy state of mind. You should not move like a somnambulist, you should move with a sharp consciousness." (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, "The Discipline of Transcendence: Discourses on the Forty-two Sutras of Buddha", 1978)

"One has to reach to the absolute state of awareness: that is Zen. You cannot do it every morning for a few minutes or for half an hour and then forget all about it. It has to become like your heartbeat. You have to sit in it, you have to walk in it. Yes, you have even to sleep in it." (Osho [Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh], "Walking in Zen, Sitting in Zen", 1982)

"All the Buddhas of all the ages have been telling you a very simple fact: Be - don't try to become. Within these two words - being and becoming, your whole life is contained. Being is enlightenment, becoming is ignorance." (Osho [Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh], "The Book of Wisdom", 1983)

"Remain in wonder if you want mysteries to open up for you. Mysteries never open up for those who go on questioning. Questioners sooner or later end up in a library. They end up with scriptures, because scriptures are full of answers. And answers are dangerous, they kill your wonder." (Osho [Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh], "The Book of Wisdom", 1983)

"Enlightenment is always through surrender, but surrender is achieved through intelligence. Only idiots cannot surrender. To surrender you need great intelligence. To see the point of surrender is the climax of insight; to see the point that you are not separate from existence is the highest that intelligence can give to you." (Osho [Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh], "From I to Q", 1984)

"Thinking goes on in your head. It is not really deep into the roots of your being; it is not your totality." (Osho [Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh], "From R to Z", 1984)

"When you really laugh, for those few moments you are in a deep meditative state. Thinking stops. It is impossible to laugh and think together... If you are still thinking. laughter will be just so-so... It will be a crippled laughter." (Osho [Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh], "From I to Q", 1984)

"Meditation is the awareness that I am not the mind." (Osho)

"Meditation is nothing but an effort to look at reality without the thinking mind - because that is the only way to see reality. If thinking is there it distorts, it corrupts. Drop the thinking mind and see reality - direct, immediate, face to face. And then there is no problem." (Osho)

"Sadness gives depth. Happiness gives height. Sadness gives roots. Happiness gives branches. Happiness is like a tree going into the sky, and sadness is like the roots going down into the womb of the earth. Both are needed, and the higher a tree goes, the deeper it goes, simultaneously. The bigger the tree, the bigger will be its roots. In fact, it is always in proportion. That's its balance." (Osho)

"Suffering is a challenge; when you suffer you are challenged, when there is a problem you are challenged. When you encounter the problem, only then do you grow. More insecurity, more growth; more security, less growth. If everything is secure around you, you are already in your grave, you are no longer alive. Life exists in danger, life always exists in the possibility of going astray. But one who goes astray can come back, one who fails can succeed." (Osho)

"When mind knows, we call it knowledge. When heart knows, we call it love. And when being knows, we call it meditation." (Osho)