Responsibility

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 future can be produced by our present actions; so we have to know how to act.”


Swami Vivekananda.

Dakshinamurthy

SILENCE IS THE TRUE SPIRITUAL INSTRUCTION

Once a devotee came to visit Bagawan Sai Baba and said that the great Sages of the past had travelled extensively preaching the Truth and thus had served the world at large. Similarly, if Bhagavan were to travel thus it would be beneficial to many. Smilingly, Bhagawan replied, that His being settled in one place is also beneficial and narrated the following story.

“Brahma, the Lord of Creation, once lost interest in the work of creation and thought of taking to a life of tapas (penance). So, out of his mind he created Sanaka, Sanatkumaru, Sanandana and Sanatsujata, with the intention to hand over to them his job in the course of time. They grew up and mastered all of the branches of study. Brahma then decided to hand over to them his job and to retire. Sage Narada came to know of his father’s intention. Since Narada knew that his brothers were full of dispassion and fit to be initiated into the path of Self-knowledge, he decided to warn them beforehand of Brahma’s intention. On hearing this, the four brothers, who had no intention to follow the path of action, left home in search of a Guru without informing their father. They all proceeded to Vaikunta, the abode of Vishnu. There they saw Lakshmi sitting on Vishnu’s couch massaging His feet. On seeing this, they thought, “How can this family man bound by the intimate glance of his consort render us any help in learning adhyatma-vidya (Knowledge of the Self). Look at the splendour of this palace and this city! This is enough. Let us seek the help of Lord Siva”.

Lord Siva, who was in Kailas with His family, knew beforehand about their coming and understood their plight. He was sure that they would be disappointed on seeing him with a family, so taking pity on them, He decided to impart spiritual knowledge to them. The kind-hearted Lord, left Mount Kailas and taking the youthful form of Dakshinamurti, seated Himself with Chinmudra (lotus position), under a Banyan tree on the Northern side of Lake Manasarovar, just on the way by which these disappointed devotees were returning to their respective homes.
When they came and sat before Him, He went into samadhi (Absorption in the self). He was in Perfect Repose. Silence prevailed. They saw Him. The effect was immediate. They fell into samadhi and their doubts were cleared.

Silence is the true upadesa. It is the perfect upadesa. It is suited only for the most advanced. Others are unable to draw full inspiration from it. Therefore they require words to explain the Truth. But Truth is beyond words. It does not admit or explain. It merely indicates the truth through self-discovery.”


-story told to devotees by Shri Sathya Sai Baba

Guru

 Need of a Guru

A Devotee : Sir, is it necessary to have a guru?"

Sri Ramakrishna : "Yes, many need a guru. But a man must have faith in the guru's words. He succeeds in spiritual life by looking on his guru as God Himself. Therefore the Vaishnavas speak of Guru, Krishna, and Vaishnava.

One should constantly repeat the name of God. The name of God is highly effective in the Kaliyuga. The practice of yoga is not possible in this age, for the life of a man depends on food. Clap your hands while repeating God's name, and the birds of your sin will fly away.

One should always seek the company of holy men. The nearer you approach the Ganges, the cooler the breeze will feel. Again, the nearer you go to a fire, the hotter the air will feel.

But one cannot achieve anything through laziness and procrastination. People who desire worldly enjoyment say about spiritual progress: 'Well, it will all happen in time. We shall realize God some time or other.'

I said to Keshab Sen: 'When a father sees that his son has become restless for his inheritance, he gives him his share of the property even three years before the legal time. A mother keeps on cooking while the baby is in bed sucking its toy. But when it throws the toy away and cries for her, she puts down the rice-pot and takes the baby in her arms and nurses it.' I said all this to Keshab.

"It is said that, in the Kaliyuga, if a man can weep for God one day and one night, he sees Him



Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

Joy

Those who preach do not know and those who know do not preach.

Krishnamachari Santhanam.

Friendship

The relationship that exists between friends is the grandest of human loves. Friendly love is pure, because it is without compulsion. ... Such pure friendship has existed between saints and between others who truly love God. If you once know divine love, you will never part with it, for there is nothing else like it in the whole universe.
Paramahamsa Yogananda.

Lightworker

Heaven fills my lamp with oil and I place it at my window to direct the stranger through the dark ~

 Kahlil Gibran.

Finding Joy

We think we find joy in External objects, but that is seldom the case. The joy is within us. It wells up at each instance giving us a feeling that the external object is giving us joy. In the countryside we find village folk hiring a bamboo basket to ply the river and the boatman gives them an extra rush of adrenalin by giving the basket a twirl now and then. In cities you find huge monstrous Giant wheels operated by electricity giving the same apparent joy. The adolescents may prefer a roller coaster or preferably a static drive in a three dimensional sphere. I once had a drive in such a cabin in Universal studio in Florida. The cabin was not moving but a giant screen in the front and a 3-D projection did all the magic. You felt as if you were being catapulted along with Spiderman down the empire street building. 

The world is such. There is nothing happening inside the field of relativity. We fail to remain as a witness and chose to be participants in the Roller coaster drive. Just as a dog which chews a bone licks and sucks its own blood dripping from its jaws , chose  to believe that the bone is giving all the joy and clings to it we also choose to cling to the objects of the extraneous and truly believe that it is giving us joy and get attached to it. If that is true the external object should be giving us joy always. Is that the case?

Today's apple of our eye is tomorrow's eye sore.

Be a witness and watch what happens around you or be a participant and throw up now and then in the roller coaster of life.

Krishnamachari Santhanam.

Keepers Brother

One day the zookeeper noticed that the orang-utang was reading two books — the Bible and Darwin’s Origin of Species. In surprise he asked the ape, “Why are you reading both those books”? “Well,” said the orang-utang, “I just wanted to know if I was my brother’s keeper or my keeper’s brother.”

Where Stillness moves.

Would a circling surface vulture
know such depths of sky

as the moon would know?
would a weed on the riverbank
know such depths of water
as the lotus would know?
would a fly darting nearby
know the smell of flowers
as the bee would know?
O Lord white as jasmine
only you would know
the way of your devotees:
how would these
these
mosquitos
on the buffalo’s hides?

Akka Mahadevi.

Mind Trick

This is a mind trick. Think of a number. Double that number. Add eight. Minus half that number. Minus the number you started with. Is the answer 4? I bet it is.


Krishnamachari Santhanam.

Wonder

All is verily the absolute Self.
Distinction and non distinction do not exist.
How can I say, "It exists; it does not exist"?
I am filled with wonder!
Avaduth Gita.

The Witness

The Zen Master had a visitor. The Zen Master asked the visitor," Had we me met before? ". The visitor replied in the affirmative. The Zen Master then invited him for tea and took him in.

There was a second visitor.The Zen Master asked the visitor," Had we me met before? ". The visitor replied in the negative. The Zen Master then invited him for tea and took him in.


Krishnamachari Santhanam.

Illusion

It is quite evident that fortune is fleeting like a shadow. Youth is unsteady like a wave. Sex-enjoyment is brief and illusory like a dream. Life is short. Even then, man is frantically attached to the body.
Samsara resembles a dream. It is replete with diseases and the like. It is like a castle in the air. Only a fool resorts to it. (Samsara is an interminable series of births and deaths; some times in our dream, we experience our own death and birth. On waking we realise that these births and deaths are mere illusions. Likewise, one who has awakened from this long dream of life realises that Samsara is as illusory as a dream. For a man who is attached to the body, Samsara is real. But for a wise man who realises that he is the Self, Samsara is shadowy like a dream.)


Sri Rama Gita.

Atman

"As the moon is perfect, in spite of its waning and waxing, which do not exist in it, so is Atman ever perfect, in spite of its seeming imperfections. This is what the moon, my Guru, has taught me."



Avaduth Gita.

Fulfilling Desires

Desire is storm, Greed is whirlpool, Pride is precipice, Attachment is avalanche, And ego is volcano.

Discard these and you will be liberated.

Desire is a bonfire that burns with greater fury, asking for more fuel. Desire is the sole cause of sorrow and distress.

SAI.

Desire

Desire is like the shadow caused by the morning sun; it gets longer when you run to catch; it makes you a fool.

Desire is the worst enemy; it ruins many a human life. Desire when fulfilled breeds further desire.

Desire leads to ultimate ruin; It can never be destroyed by fulfilment; Dispel desire; Develop true love.

SAI.

Devotion

Single-minded devotion engenders deep thought, which expresses itself in action. The Lord’s Light descends on the devotee, His power awakens in him and, as a result, profound inner inquiry blossoms forth.”
“It may be asked, why there cannot be one and the same path for all? Because He reveals Himself in infinite ways and forms — verily, The One is all of them.”

Anandamayi Ma.

Hell Hole

Hell's Door
Kara Kum Desert, Turkmenistan

It has a beautiful view especially at night since its glow is visible miles away. This was a result during an excavation on 1971 for natural gas but the floor collapse like a sink hole and then the authorities decided to ignite the cave rather than letting the gas fume out and poison people. As a result a never ending glow due to a burning natural gas.


Krishnamachari Santhanam

The Great Blue Hole

This natural sinkhole lies 60 miles off the coast of the Central American country of Belize. Formed when sea levels were much lower, it was originally a limestone cave.
As sea levels rose, the cave collapsed, leaving a hole more than 300 metres across and 125 metres deep. Jacques Cousteau declared it one of the best dive sites in the world.



Krishnamachari Santhanam.

Bee of the Heart

There the woods of spring are a-bloom, and the fragrant scent "He is I" is borne on the wind:
There the bee of the heart is deeply immersed, and desires no other joy.

~ Kabir