~~OM~~
June 12 – June 18
- Become so firm in your faith that you will never swerve from your ideal.
– from Gems of Wisdom
- Ramakrishna: You may discriminate a thousand times, yet the I who is the thinker does not leave. For devotees to regard me with devotion is a very good thing. To the devotees I am the Supreme Divinity embodied in a human form, meaning that the Supreme Divinity Beyond Form has taken on qualities. When individuals take a form, they express through that form, and God listens to the prayers of a pure individual.
– from Ramakrishna: The Nectar of Eternal Bliss
- Ramakrishna: When a Devotee has a belief in a particular form of God and further develops a living relationship with that form, then there is no more confusion whatsoever. If you have vision of God in any form, then He Himself explains it all to you.
– from Ramakrishna: The Nectar of Eternal Bliss
- I was reminded of a time that I had a physical problem and I remarked to Maa that I was slowing down. Rather than commiserating with me Maa smiled sweetly and replied, Your body is getting closer to God! One day we will leave our bodies and be with God. Isn’t that wonderful! At that moment I found a new depth in our mantra, Om Aim Hrim Klim Camundayai Vicce – One who can see birth, preservation, and destruction in all things is enlightened.
– from Shree Maa: The Life of a Saint
- It’s not hard. Every day you need to brush your teeth. In the same way, every day you have to think, I am a child of God.
– from Before Becoming This
- Outside the temples there were often signs posted that read:
Entrance for Hindus only. According to the true definition, a Hindu is one who abhors violence in every form, who always practices harmonious behavior, who loves wisdom, who is respects all teachers of wisdom and practices one pointed meditation. Such a one may be said to be a Hindu. Being Hindu has nothing to do with the country of your birth, the color of your skin, or what religion your mother or father practiced. Being a Hindu is and attainment.
– from Sahib Sadhu: The White Sadhu
- Call upon the Divine Mother, sing Her names, narrate the tales of her saints, and become inspired to greater achievement. She is our beautiful, Beloved Mother. She grants the fruit of all karma. Worship Her with all your heart.
– from Shree Maa: The Guru and the Goddess
June 5 – June 11
- A balanced life consists of 8 hours of work, 8 hours of sleep and 8 hours of spiritual practices.
– from Gems of Wisdom
- Many people say this is the Kali yuga age or age of darkness. But the yugas are modes of perception. We choose to live in the Satya yuga age, the age of truth.
– from Gems of Wisdom
- The Sanatana Dharma touches on every aspect of life. It is about how you can manifest perfection in every action you perform. The Sanatana Dharma is about spiritual life. It’s not about practices. Practices are tangential to the main thesis. They are tools for reminding ourselves always to be engaged in the spiritual path.
– from Before Becoming This
- In the morning remember the divine name in the brilliant lotus in the head, along with the Guru with two eyes and two arms, who grants the boons of freedom from fear and peace.
– from The Guru and The Goddess
- Swami Satyananda has said over the years that the true spiritual aspirant gathers together all the loose threads of his or her life in order to focus on the goals and methods to reach them. To be a true sadhu is to be efficient, and give more than one takes.
– from Sahib Sadhu: The White Sadhu
- Ramakrishna: I’m telling you the truth. It’s no fault of yours to be worldly, but you should keep your mind focused of God. If you don’t do that, you won’t be able to achieve your spiritual goals. Do your work with one hand and with the other hand grab onto God. When your karma is complete, then you’ll be able to hold onto God with both hands. The mind is both the source of your liberation as well as the source of your bondage.
– from Ramakrishna: The Nectar of Eternal Bliss
- Ramakrishna: If you wear fancy shoes on your feet, then you will sing or whistle like an Englishman. In whatever way you apply your mind, that way the mind will reflect. If a pundit studies Sanskrit, then from his mouth the shlokas will pour out very quickly. If you keep your mind with bad influences, you’ll begin to think about bad influences. That is the way you’ll begin to think; that is the way you’ll begin to speak. If you keep your mind with devotees, then your mind will think about God. You’ll speak about God.
– Ramakrishna: The Nectar of Eternal Bliss
May 29 – June 4
- There are many gifts more valuable than money: a kind word and a friendly smile often are regarded as the greatest wealth.
– from Shree Maa: The Life of a Saint
- It is possible to receive injury or put yourself at a disadvantaged position, if you pronounce incorrectly or say the wrong thing.
We consider such statements as absurd and useless, tantamount to saying, Unless I direct your prayer, it is of no value at all, or it is not a real prayer unless I lead it. It is absolutely ridiculous to think that God would not appreciate the sincerity of our efforts, even though we may make technical errors. – Swamiji
– from Pronunciation and the Chandi Samputs
- Ramakrishna: If you perform your activities in the world without first contemplating God, you are going to fall into worldliness. The burden of responsibility and worldliness will become unbearable.
– from Ramakrishna: The Nectar of Eternal Bliss
- Be content with small gains.
– from Gems of Wisdom
- Ramakrishna: The more you contemplate worldly attachments, the more your energy becomes weaker by the day. Before you cut open a jackfruit, cover your hands with oil. The jackfruit is extremely sticky, and without oil your hands will become stuck together. Just so, rub your mind with the oil of devotion to God. Then you can perform your worldly duties.
– from Ramakrishna: The Nectar of Eternal Bliss
- Everyone is looking for a miracle outside rather than looking at the power within.
– from Gems of Wisdom
- Ramakrishna (to Keshab’s devotees): You tell me, who has the capacity to offer a benefit to the world? Is this world so small that you can benefit it? Who are you who can actually do some benefit to the world? In order to really benefit the world, one must realize God through sadhana. Then you gain Godliness. If she gives you the energy, then you can perform welfare for others. In the absence of divine inspiration it’s impossible.
– Ramakrishna: The Nectar of Eternal Bliss
May 22 – May 28
- If you don’t know the answer, surrender.
– from Gems of Wisdom - Show respect through your every action. If you serve truth, even disregarding all temptation to forsake the truth then you will attain divine strength.
– from Gems of Wisdom - At the crack of dawn the next morning, we bathed at the banks of the Niranjana River. There were no flowers there to use in our worship, but Swamiji was unperturbed. “We shall do our puja an yagya with sand and leaves”, he told me. The puja went on for the entire day. All we had were leaves and a few sticks of incense. Swamiji drew the yantra in the sand, the sacred symbol which is the seat of the deity, and for each of the mantras of the Chandi Path, he placed a dry leaf on the yantra. – Sushil Choudhury
– from Sahib Sadhu The White Sadhu - This creation is a collection of souls who are making their personal pilgrimages by means of the laws of harmony and unity, of peace and truth. Or we could say that dharma comes about in creation when every individual soul strives in its pilgrimage towards perfection.
– from The Guru and the Goddess - The creation has come about in order to fulfill the quest for perfection. To our limited prejudiced perceptions we may think that others require greater harmony in their lives. In reality they are only fulfilling their dharma, which is the dharma of their particular yatra (pilgrimage).
– from The Guru and the Goddess - Not every one is able to have faith. Everyone has their own samskaras, their own karma. Not everyone will realize their divinity in this lifetime. It is a cycle of life, a cycle of karma. It takes many lifetimes of purification to come to a place where you have real faith. – Shree Maa
– from Before Becoming This - Books are filled with the wisdom of those great souls. Read the scriptures and commune with their wisdom. – Shree Maa
– from Before Becoming This
May 15 – May 21
- The first step in cultivating pure devotion is participating in satsanga.
– from Gems of Wisdom
- We are trying to propagate the dharma by preparing teaching tools. We don’t want to proselytize or start enrolling people and create an organization. We just want to share the dharma and inspire people to make their relationship with God vibrant. – Swamiji
– from Before Becoming This - Realizing the Supreme Divinity within is possible and not some pie in the sky ideal for the privileged few or chosen ones. God is for everyone.
– from Sahib Sadhu The White Sadhu - Shree Maa: Gita is the definition of the goal. It says again and again, What ever you do, do for God. Surrender your attachment. Give up your selfishness. The Chandi shows us how to do that. The Chandi says, sit down in one asana, in one posture and recite. Don’t move your knees until it is complete. Watch the Divine Mother cut down your attachments. Away with your anger, away goes desire. One by one She takes them away. The Chandi is the path to the realization of Gita.
– Shree Maa The Life of a Saint - Ramakrishna: When we attain to wisdom that is full, complete, and perfect, the human mind becomes silent.
– Ramakrishna The Nectar of Eternal Bliss - Ramakrishna: So long as you persist in inviting the deluding power of maya into your life, how can you expect to become free of the bondage of I consciousness? Only if you stop inviting maya, will it be possible.
– Ramakrishna The Nectar of Eternal Bliss - Ramakrishna: Whether you accept the Divine with form or not, if you have the understanding that God is real, then your prayers will be heard. If you don’t believe that God is real, then you’re wasting your time.
– from Ramakrishna The Nectar of Eternal Bliss
May 8 – May 14
- The greatest power in the world is the mind. But the mind, like a restless unruly horse, does not remain still. When by the practice of yoga an individual disciplines the mind, the mind is then ruled by the all-pervasive soul. Such a person controls all the powers of the world.
– from Shree Maa The Life of a Saint - Oh,Goddess, Mother of the Universe, to the people who are devoted to you, you give inexpressible Peace and Delight. Give us your form, give us victory, give us welfare, remove all hostility.
– from Chandi Path - Worship does not mean the memorization of mantras, or even the proper placement of the flowers and other objects. Worship is an attitude of respect, of dedication, of devotion to the exclusion of selfishness.
– from Siva Puja and Advanced Yajna - Shiva is the Guru of all Gurus, and the five lettered mantra (Om Namah Shivaya) is the most basic building block of all Sanskrit sadhana. From the five-lettered mantra, we go to the nine-lettered mantra, to the mantra with eleven syllables, and so on. It grows and grows in complexity, sophistication and in the various qualities that a seeker will want to increase as he or she proceeds along the path. Start with the five-lettered mantra if you don’t have a Guru. If you worship Shiva, He will send the Guru who is appropriate for your personal development.
– from Before Becoming This - Only those who perform selfless expressions of love for the Guru have understood the wisdom of the Vedas and Puranas. They have attained to sannyas (the establishment of truth within). Others are merely making a pretense (of renunciation).
– from The Guru and the Goddess - The fruit of the attempt to satisfy desire is either knowledge or ignorance. Whenever we attempt to satisfy a desire we produce action. All action yields either the fruit of ignorance, strengthening the ego, the identification of individuality, or strengthening of unity, surrender of the ego. Either we have knowledge, which is communion, or ignorance, which is division.
– from The Guru and the Goddess - Serve a Guru. When we take material burdens from our example and inspiration, we get the opportunity to see what actions a pure soul performs in the material world. How has he or she organized their life? How do they sit? How do they breathe? How do they chant? How do they meditate? What do they do with their free time? What do they talk about? We get to work with them. What do they think about? What do they share? Do they talk about boats, about sports, about traveling? Or do they talk about inner space and how to go there? As you perform selfless actions, you get the opportunity to cultivate friendship with someone who can share with you inspiration and instruction, who can motivate you to make changes in your life. When we make ourselves into disciples and start effectively applying those changes in our own lives, we are going to find greater organization, a greater efficiency, a greater energy. Don’t be surprised if someone comes along and asks, Can I help you?
– from The Guru and the Goddess
May 1 – May 7
- Most people perform puja to get a boon. They pray for something like a new car, winning the lottery, etc. In our tradition we just pray because it is a privilege to demonstrate our love for God.
– from Gems of Wisdom
- Cultivate the attitude of appreciation for the bounteous gifts of God, especially for the privilege of being able to sit in the presence of God. Cultivate the attitude of gratitude, and carry it with you throughout your daily activities. Only then will worship pervade our lives.
– from Siva Puja and Advanced Yajna - Ramakrishna: Please think about this very deeply and intensely. There are many forms of desires and many forms of what is required to fulfill them. They are all transient. God is the only true reality. What do you get with money? When you have money, you get rice, clothes, and a place to stay. You don’t get God with money, so money cannot be the goal of life. This is called discrimination between the real and the unreal. Do you understand?
– from Ramakrishna The Nectar of Eternal Bliss - So long as the body may remain, remember your Guru as a worshipful God. Do not give up on the Guru, even if he moves according to his own rhythm.
– from The Guru and the Goddess - A true guru is always thinking for the welfare of others, whereas a false teacher is always thinking for his or her own personal gain or even of destroying others. A true teacher does good even to those who do him or her harm. Just like the sandalwood tree: if anyone cuts into the tree, even still, the tree gives forth its beautiful fragrance. The saintly beingn is always engaged in striving for the upliftment and welfare of everyone. An unsaintly being is known by the capacity to do harm to others and do harm even to himself in the process.
– from Shree Maa The Life of a Saint - In the Eighteenth Chapter of the Bhagavad Gita it says:
Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, patience, the purification of knowledge, wisdom, the application of wisdom, and the continuous pursuit of self-realization are the actions natural to a brahmana.
– from Pronunciation and the Chandi Samputs - Question to Swamiji:
Why do you consider Human birth the highest birth?Humanity has the capacity to reason. Humans have the capacity to dedicate their minds to the contemplation of whatever their desired objective is. In so doing, they can perform sadhana and realize their total potential.
– from Before Becoming This