Happiness depends on something or other and can be lost; freedom from everything depends on nothing and cannot be lost. Freedom from sorrow has no cause and, therefore, cannot be destroyed. Realise that freedom. Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, I Am That, p.147 Is there such a thing as spiritual dating? Is there a way to have...
According to Vedanta, there are only two symptoms of enlightenment, just two indications that a transformation is taking place within you toward a higher consciousness. The first symptom is that you stop worrying. Things don't bother you anymore. You become light-hearted and full of joy. The second symptom is...
Give up all ideas about yourself and simply be. Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj The Veda tells us again and again that all relative world things will work themselves out, with or without our help. That what is 'real' is that which is beyond the relative world. This is not to say that...
[Consciousness] is shining everywhere, but is not perceived, without the eye. Therefore it is necessary to make the eye. [Consciousness'] eye of discrimination is made from one's own religious conduct and by the worship of Bhagwan (The Divine). Guru Dev, Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, Life and Teachings Enlightened men and women through the ages...
My thoughts do not mean anything. Lesson 10, A Course in Miracles Workbook for Students The Veda says that we each are individual expressions of nature. Like waves on the ocean, each wave just a different way for the ocean to experience itself. Yet most of us, most of the time, think of ourselves as...
In spite of ourselves We'll end up a'sittin' on a rainbow Against all odds Honey, we're the big door prize We're gonna spite our noses Right off of our faces There won't be nothin' but big old hearts Dancin' in our eyes. John Prine, In Spite of Ourselves What makes it so difficult to love? It must be because we fear that we...
The first duty of love is to listen. Paul Tillich Sometimes it seems so difficult to hear one another, to listen to each other. So many thoughts to think, so much future to plan, so many fish to fry. Oftentimes we end up multi-tasking as a friend pours out her heart,...
A Brahman saw the Buddha resting under a tree in meditation. The Brahman was impressed with the Buddha's way. He asked, "Are you a god?" "No, Brahman, I'm not a god." "Are you an angel?" "No", replied the Buddha. "You must be a spirit then?" "No, I'm not a spirit," said the...
Giving up desire after desire is a lengthy process with the end never in sight. Leave alone your desires and fears, give your entire attention to the subject, to him who is behind the experience of desire and fear. Ask: who desires? Let each desire bring you back to...
It is wonderful how much time good people spend fighting the devil. If they would only expend the same amount of energy loving their fellow men, the devil would die in his own tracks of ennui. Helen Keller Things do not change; we change. Henry David Thoreau It is our job to live,...