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.
Just don’t seek from another or you’ll be far estranged from Self. I now go on alone meeting it everywhere, it now is just what I am; I now am not it. You must comprehend in this way to merge with thus-ness.
Human beings protect the purity of manmade temples. Similarly, looking after the sanctity of this human body, a temple created by God, should become a spiritual endeavour that is of utmost importance.
This new life is endless, and even after my physical death it will be kept alive by those who live the life of complete renunciation of falsehood, lies, hatred, anger, greed and lust and who, to accomplish all this, do no lustful actions, do no harm to anyone.
There’s nothing more advanced than relating with others. There’s nothing more advanced than communication – compassionate communication.
Christ was crucified once, but his teachings suffer crucifixion every day at the hands of men of limited vision. Christ’s teachings cannot be understood just by reading the Bible…but by living and trying out in everyday life the principles taught in the book.
What parents inculcate in the child is permanently there because childhood is the most impressionable time of life.
The ornament of the night is the moon, that of the day is the sun. The ornament of the devotee is devotion, that of devotion knowledge. The ornament of knowledge is meditation, and that of meditation is renunciation. The ornament of renunciation, says Tulsi, is pure, unalloyed peace.
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.
A yogi who perceives his real Self as separate from his active senses and their objects never becomes attached to anything. He is aware of the dream nature of the universe and watches it without being entangled in its complex but ephemeral nature.
