Those who read books cannot understand the teachings and, what’s more, may even go astray. But those who try to observe the things going on in the mind, and always take that which is true in their own minds as their standard; never get muddled.
The knowledge in your mind is immeasurably greater than all that you learnt, in all manner of ways, since birth, as a child, at school, in life, in the world, in your profession. This immeasurable knowledge sometimes percolates into the dream experience; sometimes it comes as intuitive ideas, as creative feelings.
Love is the scent with the lotus born. It is the silent choirs of petals singing winter’s harmony of uniform beauty. Love is the song of the soul, singing to God. It is the balanced rhythmic dance of planets – sun and moonlit.
Good is that which elevates the mind and evil is that which degrades the mind. Social virtue and vice are temporal entities; they have nothing to do with your relationship with the Supreme.
Fasting in the monastic community is considered an ascetic practice, a “dhutanga” practice. Dhutanga means “to shake up” or “invigoration”. The Buddha, as is well known, emphasized moderation, the Middle Way that avoids extremes, in all things. Fasting is an additional method that one can take up, with supervision, for a time.
Internally I am a hermit, and externally I am a prince. Arms mean protection to the poor and destruction of the tyrant. Baba Nanak had not renounced the world but had renounced maya, that is, self and ego.
The sincere devotee loves God deeply whether he is non-active and silently meditating on God, or in the midst of a whirl of outer activities.
A man’s value depends upon his courage and resolution, his veracity depends upon his traits of nobility and self-respect and his chastity depends upon his sense of honor.
If we only practice compassion at the mind level, we run a great risk of our compassion being just talk. As we know, talk is cheap. To develop true compassion we have to put our money where our mouth is.
