Glory of Mother Earth as described in Atharva Ved

Indian Vedic Dharma teaches us about the presence of God in all things that we see, living and non-leaving. That is why Indians worship stone (carved in the form of God i.e. statue of God), plants (tulsi), animals (cows), rivers (Ganga), Mountains (Kailash), Lakes (Mansarovar), Sun and the Moon. Indians treat them as living entities. The idea of omnipresence of God is very clearly indicated by the saints of India. The purpose is to see and feel the presence of God in everything and be filled with bliss and peace.

We even respect Earth. After our mother, only cow and earth are considered as holy and Indians have respectfully call them as mother. Atharva Ved also gives the importance to mother earth.

Please find the following extract dedicated to our mother earth:

Earth, upon which this moving, breathing life exists;
May she bestow on us the finest of her harvests!
Earth, the all-sustaining, treasure-bearing, resting-place;
Golden-breasted Earth, home of all life,
Who bears the sacred fire.
Pleasant be thy hills, O Earth,
Thy snow-clad mountains and thy forests.
On this Earth do I stand,
Unvanquished, unslain, unhurt.
Set me, O Earth, amidst the nourishing strength
That emanates from thy body.
The Earth is my mother, her child am I;
Infinite space is my father,
May he fill us with plenty.
Peaceful, sweet-smelling, gracious Earth.
Whatever I dig from thee, O Earth,
May that have quick growth again,
May we not injure your vitals or your heart.
Full of sweetness are the plants,
And full of sweetness these my words.
And with things that are full of sweetness,
I prosper in a thousand ways.


Atharva Veda Book XII

Source: http://www.hindu-blog.com
Direct Link to this article: http://www.hindu-blog.com/2008/05/atharva-veda-quotes-on-nature.html

Posted with kind permission of the owner of the Hindu-Blog.

Quotes by Paramhamsa Hariharananda

1. Constant alertness of the inner Self will give you a quick spiritual evolution.
2. Constant alertness of the inner Self will give you peace, bliss, and joy.
3. It is the best policy to remain silent. Silence is golden.
4. Married or celibate, purity is necessary.
5. Where your emotions end and your God perception starts, meditation begins. Leave emotion and be motionless.
6. Calmness and peace are your sleeping pillow.
7. Sadhana is religion in practice.


Surrender & Devotion:


8. Humbly pray, "O Lord, kindly give me an extreme desire for God-realization, and the whole day and night I will search for Thee. I will feel Thee. O Lord, give me extreme desire.
9. As sugar merges in tea and becomes one with it, similarly, when your individual consciousness merges with cosmic consciousness, you become one with the Divine.
10. Constantly remember God before, during, and while performing all actions.
11. Remain always indebted to God.
12. Bow to God and be God.
13. Love Him, then God will love you extremely.
14. God loves you. Love God.
15. Love is sweet. Love is God. Without God, there is no Love.
16. Love God, no matter, you will get everything.
17. Love requires patience. Love gives oneness. Love is kind.
18. Love bears. Love tolerates. Love is not resentful.
19. To bow means to offer oneself with love to the Supreme Almighty Lord
20. God is within and around you. Remember and realize this.
21. Waste time with none but God, then time will not be wasted.
22. As long as you have not cleansed your heart from all impurities, you cannot love.
23. In each thought, in each word, and in each action feel the presence of God.
24. Living in the presence of God means one constantly perceives the power of God in every breath and one loves Him and thanks Him.
25. Be a practical person in spiritual life. Let your every action be an offering.

Meditation:


26. The Self cannot be realized by penance or good work. It is neither revealed by the Vedas, intellect, or learning. It is realized through sincere meditation.
27. Theory will take a devotee outside, while practice will take one inside.
28. Not by talk, but by technique, you are to get success.
29. Those who really want to change themselves can, through prayer and meditation.
30. Study a little, but meditate more.
31. God loves a pure heart. Clean it with love, prayer and meditation.
32. Meditate and be divine.
33. If you really want to meditate, then you are to go beyond your mind, thought, intellect, ego, body consciousness, and worldly consciousness.
34. Emotion is not meditation. When emotion is finished and one is motionless, then one will be able to meditate.
35. Perceive the ultimate Truth. Be calm and be divine.
36. In life you have to peel back the illusion to see God in everything.
37. Constantly watch the source from which all things are coming. Then you will see that thoughts are coming from God.
38. Constantly fix your attention in the fontanel and watch God. It is from this place that He is doing everything through you.
39. Fix your attention on the soul with love.
40. All thoughts come from God. If you remain only in God, human thoughts will not arise.
41. Anchor your body-boat in the fontanel and you will never drift in the worldly ocean.
42. We live because God exists. We exist in God's being. We breathe and move in Him
43. Do your work, but let your mind be on the soul. This is Kriya.
44. Death holds no pain for those who in this lifetime have attained the state of conscious separation of the Self from the body.
45. In the milk you cannot see the cream. Through a technique you are to separate the cream from the milk. Similarly, through the technique of meditation, you can perceive the formless, the invisible soul, in the body form.
46. By annihilating the ego, we reach true universality, a fuller life and life eternal.
47. Shun all negative qualities and be merged in the soul.
48. If you watch your soul in your every thought, word and deed, then you are immortal. All your worldly diseases will disappear.
49. If you can keep Him constantly in your mind, if you can feel always that He is the sole doer in you, then all the worldly diseases will disappear and you will get eternal bliss.
50. Watch the presence of God in you and be divine.
51. If you want to meditate you must shun ego identification and yield to the teachings of a master. Accept a spiritual teacher and maintain faith and loyalty to him or her.
52. Rise from your body sense and worldly sense and reach the divine goal of Self realization.
53. Watch Him in all your activities.
54. Be perfect through sincere effort. Rest not until you attain that state of perfection.
55. Jesus did not attend a university, and neither did Moses, nor Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. They went inside themselves. If you want to be highly realized, you have to practice sincerely.
56. Always be aware of your goal. Do not allow forgetfulness. Be still and know that you are God.
57. Discipline your life. Bring more love and devotion into your heart.
58. Your success, as well as your failure, is in your hands. Make the best use of your time and life.
59. Be sincere and serious in your practice; practice with love, and find inner transformation.
60. Seek your indwelling Self. Study your indwelling Self.
61. Through meditation you can go beyond your body consciousness.
62. One who knows Brahman, becomes Brahman, for It is unknowable by finite intellect.
63. If you take an apple and find it bad, then you should not eat it. You will have to taste it to know whether it is good or bad.
64. Avoiding unnecessary God-less chatter, one will obtain immeasurable mental, intellectual, and spiritual energy.
65. Bliss is our inheritance. To explore it and to be in it, you need sincere practice.
66. To realize God one need not go to the forest, the Himalayas or to holy pilgrimage places, one must rather dive within.
67. We are eating the skin of a banana, but we are throwing the banana away.
68. Ignorance is within every human being. So one is to remove ignorance with the light of cosmic consciousness.
69. The soul is the sole doer in the body. The soul is your living power of God. The soul is the main switch in your body house. Constantly watch the real Doer in you.
70. Matter, life, mind and everything beyond are all mere modifications of Brahman playing in the world as sat-cit-ananda.
71. Know that He is within you, and then transformation becomes possible.
72. Once you lose your ego and cease to identify yourself with your actions, your actions cease to bind you.
73. Illumination is the real body of the soul. That light and illumination can be perceived through deep meditation.
74. Procrastination and laziness are obstacles in the journey to realization.
75. The unripe mango is green and sour. Gradually it ripens and the greenness and sourness disappear, and the mango becomes orange and sweet. Similarly, search your conscience to determine whether your dishonesty, insincerity, frustration, anger, pride, cruelty, etc., have been transformed into love.
76. Always remember and feel that everything is given to you for a short time.
77. If you want to have spiritual advancement, then you are to bring change into your life.
78. Watch who is taking breath in you. In His absence, you have no existence.
79. If you really want to correct and change yourself, you must have implicit faith, love, and loyalty for your teacher.
80. God is giving you constant blows for your correction. But you are not perceiving Him and following Him.
81. The more you follow the teacher, the more you will get good results.
82. By reading the scriptures, you cannot get God-realization. You are to follow the master nicely to be God-realized.
83. Ritualistic people give the oblation of ghee in the external fire. It is only external worship. But the yogi offers the oblation of inhalation and exhalation to the real soul fire inside the cranium.
84. Find out how to be still. The body, the breath, and the mind should be kept in harmony, rhythm, and calmness.
85. Whatever you study in the scriptures should be applied in your daily life.
86. The needle of the compass of your mind should always point to the North to His presence.
87. In reality we are not the individual wave of consciousness separate from the sea of cosmic consciousness, but the ocean itself.
88. God is the sole-doer; this is your constant liberation.
89. Only by introverting the five restless senses and going to the atom point, can one perceive, conceive and realize the indwelling Supreme Soul.
90. Many thoughts and impressions are stored in the midbrain. You are to erase them through meditation.
91. To acquire spiritual education sincere seekers must practice extreme self-restraint and fight their extroverted tendencies.

Uncatagorised

92. To eat or fast, or not to eat certain foods, are all things that belong to your mind, not to the soul.
93. If you read and practice one verse of the Bhagavad Gita or the Bible or any holy scripture in your practical life, then realization is in your hand.
94. Good company will make you good, and bad company will make you bad. All evils such as anger, pride, viciousness, cruelty, insincerity, suspicion, doubt, and jealousy are considered bad company.
95. Many roads go to Delhi. Similarly, there are many ways to realize God. But follow only one to reach the goal.
96. When one becomes desireless, one's actions do not bind any longer and one becomes free.
97. People engrossed in work become absorbed in the ego of doer-ship.
98. Those whom you see are not different from you. We all are one, but playing different parts. Do not forget that it is just a play.
99. People seek company according to their own nature.
100. You are never separated from God, as the wave is never separated from the ocean.
101. The power of God pervades in and out of everything. You are to perceive it and be free.
102. Heaven and hell are within you. Happiness and unhappiness are within you. Liberation and bondage are within you. Divinity and devils are within you. You are to accept one and avoid the other.
103. Spiritual wealth is the only personal property that no one can ever take.
104. When you feel inclined to read the scriptures, it is your soul inspiring and prompting you. The search will eventually lead you within, to Him.
105. Constantly think of Him, no matter what you are doing.
106. For God-realization you do not require any flowers, fruits, or sweets. Your heart is your only flower. If you can give your heart, then you will get no sense of body and you are giving everything.
107. Who will bless whom? The One Who is within you will bless you.
108. The guru opens your mouth, with his finger he puts food in your mouth and closes your mouth, but you are the one who has to chew and digest. The guru cannot do it for you.
109. That person who realizes the truth does not speak about his attainment. Once the experience comes, there is nothing to gain by speaking about it.
110. Observe the bee. If it does not find honey in one flower, it will fly to another flower.
111. Feel the presence of God as much in your friend as in your foe.
112. Anger is the greatest enemy of a person.
113. Love is the principal thing.
114. It is the desire of every human being to attain peace, bliss and joy, because inner peace is our birthright.
115. Every human being has two forces within - centripetal and centrifugal. The centripetal force is the soul, and the centrifugal force is delusion, illusion and error.
116. One who is merged and saturated in the soul, perceiving the power of God within, will feel the divine ecstasy, joy and love.
117. Your five sense organs are your enemies.
118. Your body consciousness is your enemy.
119. If you remain in knowledge, then you will get all-round development.
120. Every moment you are a new person. God is changing your body and mind constantly. Then why should you not change yourself and realize your inner Self?
121. Forgetfulness of the inner Self is a deadly disease.
122. Your divinity is in your hand. Your liberation is in your hand. Your spirituality is in your hand.
123. Karma binds us, but once we turn to the eternal, it can also set us free.
124. All true gurus are alive, regardless whether or not they have retained their physical form.
125. As long as you have body consciousness it will be impossible to forget death.


Source: "Nector Drops" by Paramhansa Hariharananda
To find out more about Paramhansa Harinarananda, please visit
http://www.hariharananda.org/, www.kriya.org

Glory of Mother Earth as described in Atharva Ved

Indian Vedic Dharma teaches us about the presence of God in all things that we see, living and non-leaving. That is why Indians worship stone (carved in the form of God i.e. statue of God), plants (tulsi), animals (cows), rivers (Ganga), Mountains (Kailash), Lakes (Mansarovar), Sun and the Moon. Indians treat them as living entities. The idea of omnipresence of God is very clearly indicated by the saints of India. The purpose is to see and feel the presence of God in everything and be filled with bliss and peace.

We even respect Earth. After our mother, only cow and earth are considered as holy and Indians have respectfully call them as mother. Atharva Ved also gives the importance to mother earth.

Please find the following extract dedicated to our mother earth:

Earth, upon which this moving, breathing life exists;
May she bestow on us the finest of her harvests!
Earth, the all-sustaining, treasure-bearing, resting-place;
Golden-breasted Earth, home of all life,
Who bears the sacred fire.
Pleasant be thy hills, O Earth,
Thy snow-clad mountains and thy forests.
On this Earth do I stand,
Unvanquished, unslain, unhurt.
Set me, O Earth, amidst the nourishing strength
That emanates from thy body.
The Earth is my mother, her child am I;
Infinite space is my father,
May he fill us with plenty.
Peaceful, sweet-smelling, gracious Earth.
Whatever I dig from thee, O Earth,
May that have quick growth again,
May we not injure your vitals or your heart.
Full of sweetness are the plants,
And full of sweetness these my words.
And with things that are full of sweetness,
I prosper in a thousand ways.


Atharva Veda Book XII

Source: http://www.hindu-blog.com
Direct Link to this article: http://www.hindu-blog.com/2008/05/atharva-veda-quotes-on-nature.html

Posted with kind permission of the owner of the Hindu-Blog.

Quotes by Paramhamsa Hariharananda

1. Constant alertness of the inner Self will give you a quick spiritual evolution.
2. Constant alertness of the inner Self will give you peace, bliss, and joy.
3. It is the best policy to remain silent. Silence is golden.
4. Married or celibate, purity is necessary.
5. Where your emotions end and your God perception starts, meditation begins. Leave emotion and be motionless.
6. Calmness and peace are your sleeping pillow.
7. Sadhana is religion in practice.


Surrender & Devotion:


8. Humbly pray, "O Lord, kindly give me an extreme desire for God-realization, and the whole day and night I will search for Thee. I will feel Thee. O Lord, give me extreme desire.
9. As sugar merges in tea and becomes one with it, similarly, when your individual consciousness merges with cosmic consciousness, you become one with the Divine.
10. Constantly remember God before, during, and while performing all actions.
11. Remain always indebted to God.
12. Bow to God and be God.
13. Love Him, then God will love you extremely.
14. God loves you. Love God.
15. Love is sweet. Love is God. Without God, there is no Love.
16. Love God, no matter, you will get everything.
17. Love requires patience. Love gives oneness. Love is kind.
18. Love bears. Love tolerates. Love is not resentful.
19. To bow means to offer oneself with love to the Supreme Almighty Lord
20. God is within and around you. Remember and realize this.
21. Waste time with none but God, then time will not be wasted.
22. As long as you have not cleansed your heart from all impurities, you cannot love.
23. In each thought, in each word, and in each action feel the presence of God.
24. Living in the presence of God means one constantly perceives the power of God in every breath and one loves Him and thanks Him.
25. Be a practical person in spiritual life. Let your every action be an offering.

Meditation:


26. The Self cannot be realized by penance or good work. It is neither revealed by the Vedas, intellect, or learning. It is realized through sincere meditation.
27. Theory will take a devotee outside, while practice will take one inside.
28. Not by talk, but by technique, you are to get success.
29. Those who really want to change themselves can, through prayer and meditation.
30. Study a little, but meditate more.
31. God loves a pure heart. Clean it with love, prayer and meditation.
32. Meditate and be divine.
33. If you really want to meditate, then you are to go beyond your mind, thought, intellect, ego, body consciousness, and worldly consciousness.
34. Emotion is not meditation. When emotion is finished and one is motionless, then one will be able to meditate.
35. Perceive the ultimate Truth. Be calm and be divine.
36. In life you have to peel back the illusion to see God in everything.
37. Constantly watch the source from which all things are coming. Then you will see that thoughts are coming from God.
38. Constantly fix your attention in the fontanel and watch God. It is from this place that He is doing everything through you.
39. Fix your attention on the soul with love.
40. All thoughts come from God. If you remain only in God, human thoughts will not arise.
41. Anchor your body-boat in the fontanel and you will never drift in the worldly ocean.
42. We live because God exists. We exist in God's being. We breathe and move in Him
43. Do your work, but let your mind be on the soul. This is Kriya.
44. Death holds no pain for those who in this lifetime have attained the state of conscious separation of the Self from the body.
45. In the milk you cannot see the cream. Through a technique you are to separate the cream from the milk. Similarly, through the technique of meditation, you can perceive the formless, the invisible soul, in the body form.
46. By annihilating the ego, we reach true universality, a fuller life and life eternal.
47. Shun all negative qualities and be merged in the soul.
48. If you watch your soul in your every thought, word and deed, then you are immortal. All your worldly diseases will disappear.
49. If you can keep Him constantly in your mind, if you can feel always that He is the sole doer in you, then all the worldly diseases will disappear and you will get eternal bliss.
50. Watch the presence of God in you and be divine.
51. If you want to meditate you must shun ego identification and yield to the teachings of a master. Accept a spiritual teacher and maintain faith and loyalty to him or her.
52. Rise from your body sense and worldly sense and reach the divine goal of Self realization.
53. Watch Him in all your activities.
54. Be perfect through sincere effort. Rest not until you attain that state of perfection.
55. Jesus did not attend a university, and neither did Moses, nor Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. They went inside themselves. If you want to be highly realized, you have to practice sincerely.
56. Always be aware of your goal. Do not allow forgetfulness. Be still and know that you are God.
57. Discipline your life. Bring more love and devotion into your heart.
58. Your success, as well as your failure, is in your hands. Make the best use of your time and life.
59. Be sincere and serious in your practice; practice with love, and find inner transformation.
60. Seek your indwelling Self. Study your indwelling Self.
61. Through meditation you can go beyond your body consciousness.
62. One who knows Brahman, becomes Brahman, for It is unknowable by finite intellect.
63. If you take an apple and find it bad, then you should not eat it. You will have to taste it to know whether it is good or bad.
64. Avoiding unnecessary God-less chatter, one will obtain immeasurable mental, intellectual, and spiritual energy.
65. Bliss is our inheritance. To explore it and to be in it, you need sincere practice.
66. To realize God one need not go to the forest, the Himalayas or to holy pilgrimage places, one must rather dive within.
67. We are eating the skin of a banana, but we are throwing the banana away.
68. Ignorance is within every human being. So one is to remove ignorance with the light of cosmic consciousness.
69. The soul is the sole doer in the body. The soul is your living power of God. The soul is the main switch in your body house. Constantly watch the real Doer in you.
70. Matter, life, mind and everything beyond are all mere modifications of Brahman playing in the world as sat-cit-ananda.
71. Know that He is within you, and then transformation becomes possible.
72. Once you lose your ego and cease to identify yourself with your actions, your actions cease to bind you.
73. Illumination is the real body of the soul. That light and illumination can be perceived through deep meditation.
74. Procrastination and laziness are obstacles in the journey to realization.
75. The unripe mango is green and sour. Gradually it ripens and the greenness and sourness disappear, and the mango becomes orange and sweet. Similarly, search your conscience to determine whether your dishonesty, insincerity, frustration, anger, pride, cruelty, etc., have been transformed into love.
76. Always remember and feel that everything is given to you for a short time.
77. If you want to have spiritual advancement, then you are to bring change into your life.
78. Watch who is taking breath in you. In His absence, you have no existence.
79. If you really want to correct and change yourself, you must have implicit faith, love, and loyalty for your teacher.
80. God is giving you constant blows for your correction. But you are not perceiving Him and following Him.
81. The more you follow the teacher, the more you will get good results.
82. By reading the scriptures, you cannot get God-realization. You are to follow the master nicely to be God-realized.
83. Ritualistic people give the oblation of ghee in the external fire. It is only external worship. But the yogi offers the oblation of inhalation and exhalation to the real soul fire inside the cranium.
84. Find out how to be still. The body, the breath, and the mind should be kept in harmony, rhythm, and calmness.
85. Whatever you study in the scriptures should be applied in your daily life.
86. The needle of the compass of your mind should always point to the North to His presence.
87. In reality we are not the individual wave of consciousness separate from the sea of cosmic consciousness, but the ocean itself.
88. God is the sole-doer; this is your constant liberation.
89. Only by introverting the five restless senses and going to the atom point, can one perceive, conceive and realize the indwelling Supreme Soul.
90. Many thoughts and impressions are stored in the midbrain. You are to erase them through meditation.
91. To acquire spiritual education sincere seekers must practice extreme self-restraint and fight their extroverted tendencies.

Uncatagorised

92. To eat or fast, or not to eat certain foods, are all things that belong to your mind, not to the soul.
93. If you read and practice one verse of the Bhagavad Gita or the Bible or any holy scripture in your practical life, then realization is in your hand.
94. Good company will make you good, and bad company will make you bad. All evils such as anger, pride, viciousness, cruelty, insincerity, suspicion, doubt, and jealousy are considered bad company.
95. Many roads go to Delhi. Similarly, there are many ways to realize God. But follow only one to reach the goal.
96. When one becomes desireless, one's actions do not bind any longer and one becomes free.
97. People engrossed in work become absorbed in the ego of doer-ship.
98. Those whom you see are not different from you. We all are one, but playing different parts. Do not forget that it is just a play.
99. People seek company according to their own nature.
100. You are never separated from God, as the wave is never separated from the ocean.
101. The power of God pervades in and out of everything. You are to perceive it and be free.
102. Heaven and hell are within you. Happiness and unhappiness are within you. Liberation and bondage are within you. Divinity and devils are within you. You are to accept one and avoid the other.
103. Spiritual wealth is the only personal property that no one can ever take.
104. When you feel inclined to read the scriptures, it is your soul inspiring and prompting you. The search will eventually lead you within, to Him.
105. Constantly think of Him, no matter what you are doing.
106. For God-realization you do not require any flowers, fruits, or sweets. Your heart is your only flower. If you can give your heart, then you will get no sense of body and you are giving everything.
107. Who will bless whom? The One Who is within you will bless you.
108. The guru opens your mouth, with his finger he puts food in your mouth and closes your mouth, but you are the one who has to chew and digest. The guru cannot do it for you.
109. That person who realizes the truth does not speak about his attainment. Once the experience comes, there is nothing to gain by speaking about it.
110. Observe the bee. If it does not find honey in one flower, it will fly to another flower.
111. Feel the presence of God as much in your friend as in your foe.
112. Anger is the greatest enemy of a person.
113. Love is the principal thing.
114. It is the desire of every human being to attain peace, bliss and joy, because inner peace is our birthright.
115. Every human being has two forces within - centripetal and centrifugal. The centripetal force is the soul, and the centrifugal force is delusion, illusion and error.
116. One who is merged and saturated in the soul, perceiving the power of God within, will feel the divine ecstasy, joy and love.
117. Your five sense organs are your enemies.
118. Your body consciousness is your enemy.
119. If you remain in knowledge, then you will get all-round development.
120. Every moment you are a new person. God is changing your body and mind constantly. Then why should you not change yourself and realize your inner Self?
121. Forgetfulness of the inner Self is a deadly disease.
122. Your divinity is in your hand. Your liberation is in your hand. Your spirituality is in your hand.
123. Karma binds us, but once we turn to the eternal, it can also set us free.
124. All true gurus are alive, regardless whether or not they have retained their physical form.
125. As long as you have body consciousness it will be impossible to forget death.


Source: "Nector Drops" by Paramhansa Hariharananda
To find out more about Paramhansa Harinarananda, please visit
http://www.hariharananda.org/, www.kriya.org

Glory of Mother Earth as described in Atharva Ved

Indian Vedic Dharma teaches us about the presence of God in all things that we see, living and non-leaving. That is why Indians worship stone (carved in the form of God i.e. statue of God), plants (tulsi), animals (cows), rivers (Ganga), Mountains (Kailash), Lakes (Mansarovar), Sun and the Moon. Indians treat them as living entities. The idea of omnipresence of God is very clearly indicated by the saints of India. The purpose is to see and feel the presence of God in everything and be filled with bliss and peace.

We even respect Earth. After our mother, only cow and earth are considered as holy and Indians have respectfully call them as mother. Atharva Ved also gives the importance to mother earth.

Please find the following extract dedicated to our mother earth:

Earth, upon which this moving, breathing life exists;
May she bestow on us the finest of her harvests!
Earth, the all-sustaining, treasure-bearing, resting-place;
Golden-breasted Earth, home of all life,
Who bears the sacred fire.
Pleasant be thy hills, O Earth,
Thy snow-clad mountains and thy forests.
On this Earth do I stand,
Unvanquished, unslain, unhurt.
Set me, O Earth, amidst the nourishing strength
That emanates from thy body.
The Earth is my mother, her child am I;
Infinite space is my father,
May he fill us with plenty.
Peaceful, sweet-smelling, gracious Earth.
Whatever I dig from thee, O Earth,
May that have quick growth again,
May we not injure your vitals or your heart.
Full of sweetness are the plants,
And full of sweetness these my words.
And with things that are full of sweetness,
I prosper in a thousand ways.


Atharva Veda Book XII

Source: http://www.hindu-blog.com
Direct Link to this article: http://www.hindu-blog.com/2008/05/atharva-veda-quotes-on-nature.html

Posted with kind permission of the owner of the Hindu-Blog.

Quotes by Paramhamsa Hariharananda

1. Constant alertness of the inner Self will give you a quick spiritual evolution.
2. Constant alertness of the inner Self will give you peace, bliss, and joy.
3. It is the best policy to remain silent. Silence is golden.
4. Married or celibate, purity is necessary.
5. Where your emotions end and your God perception starts, meditation begins. Leave emotion and be motionless.
6. Calmness and peace are your sleeping pillow.
7. Sadhana is religion in practice.


Surrender & Devotion:


8. Humbly pray, "O Lord, kindly give me an extreme desire for God-realization, and the whole day and night I will search for Thee. I will feel Thee. O Lord, give me extreme desire.
9. As sugar merges in tea and becomes one with it, similarly, when your individual consciousness merges with cosmic consciousness, you become one with the Divine.
10. Constantly remember God before, during, and while performing all actions.
11. Remain always indebted to God.
12. Bow to God and be God.
13. Love Him, then God will love you extremely.
14. God loves you. Love God.
15. Love is sweet. Love is God. Without God, there is no Love.
16. Love God, no matter, you will get everything.
17. Love requires patience. Love gives oneness. Love is kind.
18. Love bears. Love tolerates. Love is not resentful.
19. To bow means to offer oneself with love to the Supreme Almighty Lord
20. God is within and around you. Remember and realize this.
21. Waste time with none but God, then time will not be wasted.
22. As long as you have not cleansed your heart from all impurities, you cannot love.
23. In each thought, in each word, and in each action feel the presence of God.
24. Living in the presence of God means one constantly perceives the power of God in every breath and one loves Him and thanks Him.
25. Be a practical person in spiritual life. Let your every action be an offering.

Meditation:


26. The Self cannot be realized by penance or good work. It is neither revealed by the Vedas, intellect, or learning. It is realized through sincere meditation.
27. Theory will take a devotee outside, while practice will take one inside.
28. Not by talk, but by technique, you are to get success.
29. Those who really want to change themselves can, through prayer and meditation.
30. Study a little, but meditate more.
31. God loves a pure heart. Clean it with love, prayer and meditation.
32. Meditate and be divine.
33. If you really want to meditate, then you are to go beyond your mind, thought, intellect, ego, body consciousness, and worldly consciousness.
34. Emotion is not meditation. When emotion is finished and one is motionless, then one will be able to meditate.
35. Perceive the ultimate Truth. Be calm and be divine.
36. In life you have to peel back the illusion to see God in everything.
37. Constantly watch the source from which all things are coming. Then you will see that thoughts are coming from God.
38. Constantly fix your attention in the fontanel and watch God. It is from this place that He is doing everything through you.
39. Fix your attention on the soul with love.
40. All thoughts come from God. If you remain only in God, human thoughts will not arise.
41. Anchor your body-boat in the fontanel and you will never drift in the worldly ocean.
42. We live because God exists. We exist in God's being. We breathe and move in Him
43. Do your work, but let your mind be on the soul. This is Kriya.
44. Death holds no pain for those who in this lifetime have attained the state of conscious separation of the Self from the body.
45. In the milk you cannot see the cream. Through a technique you are to separate the cream from the milk. Similarly, through the technique of meditation, you can perceive the formless, the invisible soul, in the body form.
46. By annihilating the ego, we reach true universality, a fuller life and life eternal.
47. Shun all negative qualities and be merged in the soul.
48. If you watch your soul in your every thought, word and deed, then you are immortal. All your worldly diseases will disappear.
49. If you can keep Him constantly in your mind, if you can feel always that He is the sole doer in you, then all the worldly diseases will disappear and you will get eternal bliss.
50. Watch the presence of God in you and be divine.
51. If you want to meditate you must shun ego identification and yield to the teachings of a master. Accept a spiritual teacher and maintain faith and loyalty to him or her.
52. Rise from your body sense and worldly sense and reach the divine goal of Self realization.
53. Watch Him in all your activities.
54. Be perfect through sincere effort. Rest not until you attain that state of perfection.
55. Jesus did not attend a university, and neither did Moses, nor Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. They went inside themselves. If you want to be highly realized, you have to practice sincerely.
56. Always be aware of your goal. Do not allow forgetfulness. Be still and know that you are God.
57. Discipline your life. Bring more love and devotion into your heart.
58. Your success, as well as your failure, is in your hands. Make the best use of your time and life.
59. Be sincere and serious in your practice; practice with love, and find inner transformation.
60. Seek your indwelling Self. Study your indwelling Self.
61. Through meditation you can go beyond your body consciousness.
62. One who knows Brahman, becomes Brahman, for It is unknowable by finite intellect.
63. If you take an apple and find it bad, then you should not eat it. You will have to taste it to know whether it is good or bad.
64. Avoiding unnecessary God-less chatter, one will obtain immeasurable mental, intellectual, and spiritual energy.
65. Bliss is our inheritance. To explore it and to be in it, you need sincere practice.
66. To realize God one need not go to the forest, the Himalayas or to holy pilgrimage places, one must rather dive within.
67. We are eating the skin of a banana, but we are throwing the banana away.
68. Ignorance is within every human being. So one is to remove ignorance with the light of cosmic consciousness.
69. The soul is the sole doer in the body. The soul is your living power of God. The soul is the main switch in your body house. Constantly watch the real Doer in you.
70. Matter, life, mind and everything beyond are all mere modifications of Brahman playing in the world as sat-cit-ananda.
71. Know that He is within you, and then transformation becomes possible.
72. Once you lose your ego and cease to identify yourself with your actions, your actions cease to bind you.
73. Illumination is the real body of the soul. That light and illumination can be perceived through deep meditation.
74. Procrastination and laziness are obstacles in the journey to realization.
75. The unripe mango is green and sour. Gradually it ripens and the greenness and sourness disappear, and the mango becomes orange and sweet. Similarly, search your conscience to determine whether your dishonesty, insincerity, frustration, anger, pride, cruelty, etc., have been transformed into love.
76. Always remember and feel that everything is given to you for a short time.
77. If you want to have spiritual advancement, then you are to bring change into your life.
78. Watch who is taking breath in you. In His absence, you have no existence.
79. If you really want to correct and change yourself, you must have implicit faith, love, and loyalty for your teacher.
80. God is giving you constant blows for your correction. But you are not perceiving Him and following Him.
81. The more you follow the teacher, the more you will get good results.
82. By reading the scriptures, you cannot get God-realization. You are to follow the master nicely to be God-realized.
83. Ritualistic people give the oblation of ghee in the external fire. It is only external worship. But the yogi offers the oblation of inhalation and exhalation to the real soul fire inside the cranium.
84. Find out how to be still. The body, the breath, and the mind should be kept in harmony, rhythm, and calmness.
85. Whatever you study in the scriptures should be applied in your daily life.
86. The needle of the compass of your mind should always point to the North to His presence.
87. In reality we are not the individual wave of consciousness separate from the sea of cosmic consciousness, but the ocean itself.
88. God is the sole-doer; this is your constant liberation.
89. Only by introverting the five restless senses and going to the atom point, can one perceive, conceive and realize the indwelling Supreme Soul.
90. Many thoughts and impressions are stored in the midbrain. You are to erase them through meditation.
91. To acquire spiritual education sincere seekers must practice extreme self-restraint and fight their extroverted tendencies.

Uncatagorised

92. To eat or fast, or not to eat certain foods, are all things that belong to your mind, not to the soul.
93. If you read and practice one verse of the Bhagavad Gita or the Bible or any holy scripture in your practical life, then realization is in your hand.
94. Good company will make you good, and bad company will make you bad. All evils such as anger, pride, viciousness, cruelty, insincerity, suspicion, doubt, and jealousy are considered bad company.
95. Many roads go to Delhi. Similarly, there are many ways to realize God. But follow only one to reach the goal.
96. When one becomes desireless, one's actions do not bind any longer and one becomes free.
97. People engrossed in work become absorbed in the ego of doer-ship.
98. Those whom you see are not different from you. We all are one, but playing different parts. Do not forget that it is just a play.
99. People seek company according to their own nature.
100. You are never separated from God, as the wave is never separated from the ocean.
101. The power of God pervades in and out of everything. You are to perceive it and be free.
102. Heaven and hell are within you. Happiness and unhappiness are within you. Liberation and bondage are within you. Divinity and devils are within you. You are to accept one and avoid the other.
103. Spiritual wealth is the only personal property that no one can ever take.
104. When you feel inclined to read the scriptures, it is your soul inspiring and prompting you. The search will eventually lead you within, to Him.
105. Constantly think of Him, no matter what you are doing.
106. For God-realization you do not require any flowers, fruits, or sweets. Your heart is your only flower. If you can give your heart, then you will get no sense of body and you are giving everything.
107. Who will bless whom? The One Who is within you will bless you.
108. The guru opens your mouth, with his finger he puts food in your mouth and closes your mouth, but you are the one who has to chew and digest. The guru cannot do it for you.
109. That person who realizes the truth does not speak about his attainment. Once the experience comes, there is nothing to gain by speaking about it.
110. Observe the bee. If it does not find honey in one flower, it will fly to another flower.
111. Feel the presence of God as much in your friend as in your foe.
112. Anger is the greatest enemy of a person.
113. Love is the principal thing.
114. It is the desire of every human being to attain peace, bliss and joy, because inner peace is our birthright.
115. Every human being has two forces within - centripetal and centrifugal. The centripetal force is the soul, and the centrifugal force is delusion, illusion and error.
116. One who is merged and saturated in the soul, perceiving the power of God within, will feel the divine ecstasy, joy and love.
117. Your five sense organs are your enemies.
118. Your body consciousness is your enemy.
119. If you remain in knowledge, then you will get all-round development.
120. Every moment you are a new person. God is changing your body and mind constantly. Then why should you not change yourself and realize your inner Self?
121. Forgetfulness of the inner Self is a deadly disease.
122. Your divinity is in your hand. Your liberation is in your hand. Your spirituality is in your hand.
123. Karma binds us, but once we turn to the eternal, it can also set us free.
124. All true gurus are alive, regardless whether or not they have retained their physical form.
125. As long as you have body consciousness it will be impossible to forget death.


Source: "Nector Drops" by Paramhansa Hariharananda
To find out more about Paramhansa Harinarananda, please visit
http://www.hariharananda.org/, www.kriya.org

WHO AM I?

The Mahavakya "I AM THAT" (that = SELF).

In these statement, THAT is always the SELF. But to make this statement as non-dual. 'I' should be THAT (SELF). But than, do i know "WHO AM I'. No. So to question 'who am i' is perfectly right.. the origin of the thought or the source of the thought (i.e. 'who am i' is the SELF. The absence or the source of EGO is the SELF. - Sri Ramana Maharshi (40 verses on Truth).

From Sri Ramana Maharshi's 40 Verses on Truth

Parivartan No Pravah Cont. (પરિવર્તનનો પ્રવાહ)

If you cannot read the article, than copy paste into your word document: Font Arial Unicode MS required.

(Created by itrans scheme: to read more about itrans click the label itrans on the right panel)


‘આજે પણ મને નથી સમજાતું કે એ વખતે મારા પ્રાણમાં પ્રેમનાં એવાં પાર વિનાનાં પ્રખર પરમાણુઓ કેમ પ્રકટેલાં. એનાં સ્પંદનો એટલા બધાં શક્તિશાળી કેમ હતાં એનો ઉત્તર મારાથી નથી આપી શકાતો. અને એનો ઉત્તર આપવાની આવશ્યકતા પણ કયાં છે ? એ વખત પાણીના પળે પળે આગળ ગતિ કરતા પુનિત પ્રવાહની પેઠે હવે વહી ગયો છે. છતાં પણ એટલું સાચું કે એ સમયનું મહત્વ ઘણું મોટું હતું અને એ અત્યંત મૂલ્યવાન હતો. એની અસર મારા સમસ્ત જીવન પર અને ખૂબ જ શકવર્તી પડી. એ દિવસોનું સ્મરણ કરીને આજે પણ મારું અંતર અવનવા ગૂઢ ભાવનો અનુભવ કરે છે. એ અનુભૂતિ કેટલી બધી અદ્ ભુત, અનેરી અને આશીર્વાદરૂપ છે ? મીનાક્ષી મંદિરમાં પ્રવેશ કરતો ત્યારે મીનાક્ષી, સુંદરેશ્વર અને ઈશ્વરના અપાર અનુરાગથી આપ્લાવિત અંતરોવાળા નાયનાર ભક્તોની મધુમય મૂર્તિઓનું દર્શન કરતાં મારા પ્રાણમાં પ્રેમનો પ્રવાહ ફૂટી નીકળતો, રોમેરોમમાં રસના ફુવારા ફૂટતાં, આંખમાં અલૌકિક આનંદ અંજાતો ને હૃદય અવનવો ઉત્સવ કરતું હોય તેમ ઊછળવા માંડતું. અંતરમાં પ્રકટેલા ભાવસમુદ્રના પ્રશાંત તરંગો સ્નેહનું સુમધુર સંવાદી સંગીત છોડતાં વિહરવા લાગતાં.’

‘એ અવસ્થાને ગમે તે નામે ઓળખવામાં આવે પણ એ અવસ્થા પરમપવિત્ર પ્રેમની હતી એ નિર્વિવાદ છે. મારું પ્રેમપરિપ્લાવિત હૃદય મીનાક્ષી દેવી સાથે વાતો કરવા માંડતું. એ વાતો પ્રેમોદ્રેકની અથવા ભાવદશાની હતી. મારું અંતર ઈશ્વરના એ સાધારણ અનુરાગથી અલંકૃત બનીને એમનું સ્તવન કરતું ને ઊંડા સુખમાં ડૂબી જતું. એ વખતની મારી દશા ખરેખર અદ્દભુત હતી. એ વખતના દિવસો ઝડપથી પસાર થઈ જતા ને ખૂબ જ મીઠા લાગતા. પરમાત્માના પ્રામાણિક પ્રેમીઓની દશા એવીજ હોય છે એવું અનુમાન હું સહેજે કરી શકતો.’


Source: (શ્રી યોગેશ્વરજી કૃત 'રમણ મહર્ષિ : જીવન અને કાર્ય'માંથી)

Faith

Faith in the name of God and Guru can cause miracles in life. Read this experience of the Direct Disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. The incidents occured after Sri Ramakrishna Left his Physical Body.

Referring to Sri Ramakrishna's disciples, this is what Sri Sarada Maa said.......

Holy Mother said, 'Sri Ramakrishna accepted his disciples after thoroughly examining them. What an austere life they led at the Baranagore monastery after HIS passing away! Niranjan (Swami Niranjanananda) and the others often starved themselves. They spent all their time in meditation and prayer. One day these young monks were talking among themselves: 'We have renounced everything in the name of Sri Ramakrishna. Let us see if he would supply us with food if we simply depend upon HIM. We will not tell anybody about our wants. We will not go out for begging!' They covered thier bodies with sheets of cloth and sat down for meditation. The whole day passed. It was late at night. They heard somebody knocking at the door. Naren (Swami Vivekananda) left the seat and asked one of his brother monks, 'Please open the door and see who is there. First of all, notice if he has anything in his hand.'

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Arunachala Pancharatna - Ramana Maharshi

Ocean of nectar, full of Grace, engulfing the manifold universe with
boundless light, O Arunachala, Self supreme, be the Dawn in order
that the lotus of the Heart may bloom.

In You , O Arunachala, all this, the phenomenal picture, having been
created and sustained, is absorbed. By nature, you dance as `I' in
the Heart. O Lord, they call you by name `Heart'.

He, who seeks from where the `I' arises, with pure mind, turned
inwards, realising his own nature, O Arunachala, merges in You like
the river in the sea.

Having rejected external objects, with breath and mind controlled,
meditating on You within, the yogi sees the splendor, O Arunachala,
and in You enjoys bliss.

With mind surrendered to You, Always seeing all things as your
appearance, he worships You with love for no other, he is victorious,
Oh Arunachala, in you immersed in bliss.

Ramana Maharshi.

Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita - Inspirational Teachings

Sri Ramakrishna said: "Your activities are inspired by sattva. Though they are rajasic, they are influenced by sattva. Compassion springs from sattva. Though work for the good of others belongs to rajas, yet this rajas has sattva for its basis, and is not harmful. Suka and other sages cherished compassion in their minds to give people religious instruction, to teach them about God. You are distributing food and learning. That is good too. If these activities are done in a selfless spirit they lead to God. But most people work for fame or to acquire merit. Their activities are not selfless. Besides, you are already a siddha."

VIDYASAGAR: "How is that, sir?"

MASTER (laughing): "When potatoes and other vegetables are well cooked, they become soft and tender. And you possess such a tender nature! You are so compassionate!" (Laughter.)

VIDYASAGAR (laughing): "But when the paste of kalai pulse is boiled it becomes all the harder."
Uninspired scholarship condemned

MASTER: "But you don't belong to that class. Mere pundits are like diseased fruit that becomes hard and will not ripen at all. Such fruit has neither the freshness of green fruit nor the flavour of ripe. Vultures soar very high in the sky, but their eyes are fixed on rotten carrion on the ground. The book-learned are reputed to be wise, but they are attached to 'woman and gold'. Like the vultures, they are in search of carrion. They are attached to the world of ignorance. Compassion, love of God, and renunciation are the glories of true knowledge."

Source: Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita

Advaita Vedanta (Atma Vichar) According to Swami Vivekananda

"This Âtman is first to be heard of." Hear day and night that you are that Soul. Repeat it to yourselves day and night till it enters into your very veins, till it tingles in every drop of blood, till it is in your flesh and bone. Let the whole body be full of that one ideal, "I am the birthless, the deathless, the blissful, the omniscient, the omnipotent, ever-glorious Soul." Think on it day and night; think on it till it becomes part and parcel of your life. Meditate upon it, and out of that will come work. "Out of the fullness of the heart the mouth speaketh," and out of the fullness of the heart the hand worketh also. Action will come. Fill yourselves with the ideal; whatever you do, think well on it. All your actions will be magnified, transformed, deified, by the very power of the thought. If matter is powerful, thought is omnipotent. Bring this thought to bear upon your life, fill yourselves with the thought of your almightiness, your majesty, and your glory. Would to God no superstitions had been put into your head! Would to God we had not been surrounded from our birth by all these superstitious influences and paralysing ideas of our weakness and vileness! Would to God that mankind had had an easier path through which to attain to the noblest and highest truths! But man had to pass through all this; do not make the path more difficult for those who are coming after you.

Source: Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda: Vol 2

Five Stanzas to Sri Arunachala

Holy Mountain Arunachala is considered as holy as the himalayas. It is believed that even today, there are many saints reciding in this holy hill and helping the mankind unnoticed. Many saints believe this holy hill as live, full of energy. Hymms to Sri Arunachala are a result of  Sri Ramana Maharshi's strong Faith, Deep Respect & Gratitude and Complete Surrender to Sri Arunachala. Below are the hyms in praise of Sri Arunahchala.
 
1. Ocean of nectar, full of grace, engulfing the universe in Thy splendour! Oh Arunachala, the supreme itself! Be Thou the sun and open the lotus of my heart in Bliss!

2. Oh Arunachala! In Thee the picture of the universe is formed, has its stay, and is dissolved; this is the sublime truth. Thou art the inner Self, who dancest in the Heart as 'I'. 'Heart' is Thy name, Oh Lord!

3. He who turns inward with untroubled mind to search where the conciousness of 'I' arises, realizes the Self, and rests in Thee, Oh Arunachala, like a river when it joins the ocean.

4. Abandoning the outer world, with mind and breath controlled, to meditate on Thee within, the yogi sees Thy light, Oh Arunachala, and finds his delight in Thee.

5. He, who dedicates his mind to thee and, seeing thee, always beholds the universe as thy figure, he who at all times glorifies Thee and loves Thee as none other than the Self, he is the master without rival, being one with Thee, Oh Arunachala, and lost in Thy bliss.

These five gems in arya-giti meter are the essence of Upanisads, Sri Ramana Maharshis Vision of Arunachala in the language of the gods.

Ramana Maharshi considers Arunachala to be the Hrdayam / Spirityal Heart of the Planet Earth. This is also stated in Vedic lore and scripture.

Source: http://www.adityahrdayam.com/page4_1.html

Year-Long Meditation - Swami Rama's Himalayan Institute

The Year-Long Meditation – Akhanda Japa has taken on a life of its own. Under the guidance of Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, the Year-Long Meditation commenced on November 2, 2007 in the Himalayan Institute’s new Meditation Hall. This group meditation for infusing the collective consciousness with peace and harmony is ongoing around-the-clock. Why?

Find out more: Download PDF


Check the Website: http://www.himalayaninstitute.org/

Advaita Vedanta Basics - The SELF (Vivek Choodamani)

133. The Knower of the changes of mind and ego, and of the activities of the body, the organs and Pranas, apparently taking their forms, like the fire in a ball of iron; It neither acts nor is subject to change in the least.

134. It is neither born nor dies, It neither grows nor decays, nor does It does not undergo any change, being eternal. It does not cease to exist even when this body is destroyed, like the sky in a jar (after the jar is broken), for It is independent.

135. The Supreme Self, which is different from the Prakriti and its modifications, is the essence of Pure Knowledge, and Absolute. It directly manifests this entire gross and subtle universe, in the waking and other states, as the substratum of the persistent sense of egoism, and manifests Itself as the Witness of the Buddhi, the determinative faculty.

Source: Vivek Choodamani

The Difference between Japa With and Without Japa Mala

Japa mala is useful initially. It helps us to increase concentration. It is like a 3-wheeled cycle. you have to chant the mantra and move the beads. It helps you to extend the time you spend.

Japa without japa mala, is for advanced meditators, who can atleast sit for meditation at a stretch for 45 mins, preferably for 3 hours. It is like a 2-wheeled cycle. initially. Here there is only oone thing to be aware of i.e. japa mantra. initially, you have to chant verbly, than mentally and than later on just try to be aware of the japa mantra. You are seperate from the japa mantra. you are not the mantra. You can go one step ahead in this japa by trying to be aware of the source from where the mantra is originating.

Sri Ramakrishna said " by hearing a sound of waves of ocean, one can follow the sound and reach the ocean shore".

So the origin of the mantra is the heart or the SELF or God or silence, whatever you call it.

In japa with japa mala, you cannot be aware of the origin of the source as some  awareness is still in the physical body (since you need to move the beads even if you do not count them)

That does not mean that japa with japa mala is useless. You can be aware of the mantra if you have recited it for a long time by continous practice. japa with japa mala is a platform (specially for the ones who chant the name of any one form of God e.g. lord Rama). Afterwards you can drop the mala. but in the begining, japa mala helps.

But for some people, it is posible that they do not need to use mala from the begining. specially for  non-dualists.

AUM

Advait Vedanta Basics - Real Nature of SELF (Vivek Choodamani)

124. Now I am going to tell the real nature of the supreme Self,. The one who realises is free from bondage and attains Liberation.

125. There is some Absolute Entity, the source of the consciousness of egoism, the witness of the three states, and distinct from the five koshas:

126. Which knows everything that happens in the waking state, in dream and in profound sleep; which is aware of the presence or absence of the mind and its functions; and which is the background of the notion of egoism. – This is That.

127. Which Itself sees all, but which no one beholds, which illumines the intellect etc., but which they cannot illumine (it cannot be reached by intellect). – This is That.

128. By which this universe is pervaded, but which nothing pervades, which shining, all this (universe) shines as Its reflection. – This is That.

129. By whose very presence the body, the organs, mind and intellect keep to their respective spheres of action, like servants !

130. By which everything from egoism down to the body, the sense-objects and pleasure etc., is known as palpably as a jar – for It is the essence of Eternal Knowledge !

Source: Vivek Choodamani

Practical Vedanta - Swami Vivekananda

Complete works of Swami Vivekananda is the collection of his entire works. There are 10 volumes. It also contains the life and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa.
Following is the extract from Vol 2:

"This Âtman is first to be heard of." Hear day and night that you are that Soul. Repeat it to yourselves day and night till it enters into your very veins, till it tingles in every drop of blood, till it is in your flesh and bone. Let the whole body be full of that one ideal, "I am the birthless, the deathless, the blissful, the omniscient, the omnipotent, ever-glorious Soul." Think on it day and night; think on it till it becomes part and parcel of your life. Meditate upon it, and out of that will come work. "Out of the fullness of the heart the mouth speaketh," and out of the fullness of the heart the hand worketh also. Action will come. Fill yourselves with the ideal; whatever you do, think well on it. All your actions will be magnified, transformed, deified, by the very power of the thought. If matter is powerful, thought is omnipotent. Bring this thought to bear upon your life, fill yourselves with the thought of your almightiness, your majesty, and your glory. Would to God no superstitions had been put into your head! Would to God we had not been surrounded from our birth by all these superstitious influences and paralysing ideas of our weakness and vileness! Would to God that mankind had had an easier path through which to attain to the noblest and highest truths! But man had to pass through all this; do not make the path more difficult for those who are coming after you.

Source: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda - Volume 2

Advaita Vedanta Basics -Three Gunas and Bodies (Vivek Choodamani)

Following is the interpretation of three Gunas and the bodies from Vivek Choodamani.

120. This Undifferentiated, spoken of as the compound of the three Gunas, is the causal body of the soul. Profound sleep is its special state, in which the functions of the mind and all its organs are suspended.

121. Profound sleep is the cessation of all kinds of perception, in which the mind remains in a subtle seed-like form. The test of this is the universal verdict, "I did not know anything then".

122. The body, organs, Pranas, Manas, egoism, etc., all modifications, the sense-objects, pleasure and the rest, the gross elements such as the ether, in fact, the whole universe, up to the Undifferentiated – all this is the non-Self.

123. From Mahat down to the gross body everything is the effect of Maya: These and Maya itself know thou to be the non-Self, and therefore unreal like the mirage in a desert.

Source: Vivek Choodamani 

Parivartan no Pravah (પરિવર્તનનો પ્રવાહ) - Ramana Maharshi

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(Created by itrans scheme: to read more about itrans click the label itrans on the right panel)


વેંકટરામને એ સુંદર મધુમય મંદિરની નિયમિત રીતે મુલાકાત લેવા માંડી. એ અનુપમ સૌન્દર્યસભર સજીવ મંદિરે એમના અંતરનું ઊંડું આકર્ષણ કર્યું. ત્યાંથી એમને પ્રેરણા મળવા માંડી. એમનો પ્રાણ પ્રજ્ઞાના પાવન પ્રકાશથી પુલક્તિ થવા લાગ્યો.

મીનાક્ષી મંદિર એમનું પરમ પ્રેરણાસ્થાન થઈ પડ્યું. ત્યાંના સરસ શાંત વિશાળ મંડપમાં બેસીને એ ભક્તિભાવયુક્ત હૃદયે ઈશ્વરને અંતરના અંતરતમમાંથી પ્રાર્થના કરતાં કહેતા કે પ્રભુ, મારા પર કૃપા કરો ને મને તમારી વિશુદ્ધ ભક્તિનું દાન દો. હું તમારાં શ્રીચરણોમાં મસ્તક નમાવીને એ જ ભિક્ષાની યાચના કરૂં છું. તમારા અનુગ્રહ પ્રાપ્ત અનેક શરણાગતોની શ્રેણીમાં મને પણ સ્થાન આપો. નાયનારોના જીવનમાં પ્રકટેલા ભક્તિપ્રવાહ જેવો જ ઉત્તમ આદર્શ ભક્તિપ્રવાહ મારા જીવનમાં પ્રકટ હો !

એવી પ્રાર્થના કરતી વખતે એમના હૃદયના સમસ્ત તાર રણકી ઊઠતા. એમનું રોમેરોમ રાગે રંગાઈ જતું. એ પ્રાર્થના મુખમાંથી નહોતી નીકળતી પણ પ્રાણમાંથી પ્રકટતી. એનું ઉદ્ ભવસ્થાન આત્મા હોવાથી એ અતિશય અસરકારક થઈ પડતી. એ વખતે એમની આંખમાંથી અશ્રુ ટપકતાં, એમને રોમાંચ થતાં ને હૃદય રાગમય બની જતું. પ્રાર્થના જ્યારે કોઈ પરિપાટીનું પાલન કરવા માટે નહિ પરંતુ જીવનની એક અનિવાર્ય આવશ્યકતારૂપે થતી હોય છે ત્યારે અત્યંત આનંદદાયક, પ્રેરક ને શ્રેયસ્કર થઈ પડે છે. એમની પ્રાર્થનાના સંબંધમાં પણ એવું જ બન્યું. એ એક પ્રકારની આત્મિક સાધના અથવા આરાધના બની ગઈ. એમને એનાથી અનંત આનંદ મળવા માંડ્યો. એમના આતુર અંતરને ખૂબ ખૂબ રાહત મળી. એ એમના આત્મનિવેદનનું એક અસરકારક અમોઘ સાધન થયું.

Source: (શ્રી યોગેશ્વરજી કૃત 'રમણ મહર્ષિ : જીવન અને કાર્ય'માંથી)

Advaita Vedanta Basics - Three Gunas (Vivek Choodamani)

111. Rajas has its Vikshepa-Shakti or projecting power, which is of the nature of an activity, and from which this primeval flow of activity has emanated. From this also, mental modifications such as attachment and grief are continually produced.

112. Lust, anger, avarice, arrogance, spite, egoism, envy, jealousy, etc., -- these are the dire attributes of Rajas, from which the worldly tendency of man is produced. Therefore Rajas is a cause of bondage.

113. Avriti or the veiling power is the power of Tamas, which makes things appear other than what they are. It is this that causes man’s repeated transmigrations, and starts the action of the projecting power (Vikshepa).

114. Even wise and learned men and men who are clever and adept in the vision of the exceedingly subtle Atman, are overpowered by Tamas and do not understand the Atman, even though clearly explained in various ways. What is simply superimposed by delusion, they consider as true, and attach themselves to its effects. Alas ! How powerful is the great Avriti Shakti of dreadful Tamas !

115. Absence of the right judgment, or contrary judgment, want of definite belief and doubt – these certainly never desert one who has any connection with this veiling power, and then the projecting power gives ceaseless trouble.

116. Ignorance, lassitude, dullness, sleep, inadvertence, stupidity, etc., are attributes of Tamas. One tied to these does not comprehend anything, but remains like one asleep or like a stock or stone.

117. Pure Sattva is (clear) like water, yet in conjunction with Rajas and Tamas it makes for transmigration. The reality of the Atman becomes reflected in Sattva and like the sun reveals the entire world of matter.

118. The traits of mixed Sattva are an utter absence of pride etc., and Niyama, Yama, etc., as well as faith, devotion, yearning for Liberation, the divine tendencies and turning away from the unreal.

119. The traits of pure Sattva are cheerfulness, the realisation of one’s own Self, supreme peace, contentment, bliss, and steady devotion to the Atman, by which the aspirant enjoys bliss everlasting.

Source: Vivek Choodamani

Advaita Vedanta Basics - Maya (Vivek Choodamani)

108. Avidya (Nescience) or Maya, called also the Undifferentiated, is the power of the Lord. She is without beginning, is made up of the three Gunas and is superior to the effects (as their cause). She is to be inferred by one of clear intellect only from the effects She produces. It is She who brings forth this whole universe.

109. She is neither existent nor non-existent nor partaking of both characters; neither same nor different nor both; neither composed of parts nor an indivisible whole nor both. She is most wonderful and cannot be described in words.

110. Maya can be destroyed by the realisation of the pure Brahman, the one without a second, just as the mistaken idea of a snake is removed by the discrimination of the rope. She has her Gunas as Rajas, Tamas and Sattva, named after their respective functions.

Source: Vivek Choodamani

Atmabhavana (આત્મભાવના) - Ramana Maharshi

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...condt.

એ પ્રસંગે એમના જીવનપ્રવાહને પલટાવવામાં ને પુષ્ટ કરવામાં મહત્વનો ફાળો પ્રદાન કર્યો. એ દિવસથી એમને અવારનવાર અરૂણાચલનાં સ્વપ્નાં આવવા લાગ્યાં. અંતર એની પ્રત્યે આકર્ષાવા માંડ્યું. પોતાનું ચિરકાળથી છૂટું પડેલું કોઈક સ્વજન પોતાને ફરી પાછું બોલાવી રહ્યું હોય એવો અસાધારણ અનુભવ એમને થવા લાગ્યો.

એ દિવસોમાં એમના હાથમાં પેરિય પુરાણમ્ પુસ્તક આવ્યું. પેરિય પુરાણ ભક્તિરસથી ભરેલો સુંદર ધર્મગ્રંથ છે. ચોર્યાસી વૈષ્ણવોની વાર્તા તથા નાભાજીના સુપ્રસિદ્ધ ગ્રંથ ભક્તમાળની શ્રેણીના એ સરસ ધર્મગ્રંથમાં ભગવાન શંકરના અનન્ય ને આજન્મ ત્રેસઠ ઉપાસકોની જીવનકથાઓનો સમાવેશ કરવામાં આવ્યો છે. દ્રાવિડ દેશમાં જન્મેલા એ એકનિષ્ઠ ઉપાસકો શંકરની પ્રેમભક્તિ દ્વારા જીવનને કૃતાર્થ કરી ગયા. શંકરની એકનિષ્ઠ આરાધનામાં ઓતપ્રોત થઈને એમના અસાધારણ અનુગ્રહરૂપે એમણે મંગલ, રસમય, પ્રેરક ભક્તિગીતોની રચના પણ કરેલી.

પ્રેમભક્તિની ભવ્ય જીવનકથાઓથી ભરેલા એ પેરિય પુરાણના પ્રસિદ્ધ પુસ્તકે બીજા અનેકની પેઠે એમને પણ પ્રેરણા પૂરી પાડી. એનું અધ્યન એમને માટે પ્રેમભક્તિના પવિત્ર પ્રવાહોને પ્રકટાવનારૂં થઈ પડ્યું. એને વાંચતાં એ તલ્લીન બની ગયા. એમના નેત્રોમાંથી આનંદનાં અશ્રુ વહેવા લાગ્યાં. એ શિવભક્તોનાં જીવન એમને ધન્ય લાગ્યાં. એમને થયું કે એમનાં જ જીવન સાચા અર્થમાં સફળ છે - એ પ્રાતઃસ્મરણીય કૃતકામ મહાપુરૂષોનાં, જેમના જીવનમાં ઈશ્વર વિના કોઈ પ્રેય, શ્રેય કે ઉપાસ્ય નહોતું, જેમના હૃદય અને રોમ રોમની રસમય વીણા પર ઈશ્વરના રાગની જ રાગરાગિણીઓ વાગ્યા કરતી, જેમણે પોતાના તનમન પર વિજય મેળવીને આત્માનુસંધાન સાધીને ઈશ્વરના અખંડ અસાધારણ અનુગ્રહની ઉપલબ્ધિ કરેલી, એમનાં જ જીવન સાર્થક હતાં. એમને પગલે ચાલીને જીવનને ધન્ય કરવું જોઈએ. જીવનનો સાચો ને વધારે સારો ઉપયોગ બીજો કયો હોઈ શકે ?

Source: Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi : Life and Works - Sri Yogeshwarji
Source: (શ્રી યોગેશ્વરજી કૃત 'રમણ મહર્ષિ : જીવન અને કાર્ય'માંથી)

Advaita Vedanta Basics - Dispassion, Atma-Anatma Vivek

103. The inner organ (mind) has its seat in the organs such as the eye, as well as in the body, identifying with them and endued with a reflection of the Atman.

104. Know that it is egoism which, identifying itself with the body, becomes the doer or experiencer, and in conjunction with the Gunas such as the Sattva, assumes the three different states.

105. When sense-objects are favourable it becomes happy, and it becomes miserable when the case is contrary. So happiness and misery are characteristics of egoism, and not of the ever-blissful Atman.

106. Sense-objects are pleasurable only as dependent on the Atman manifesting through them, and not independently, because the Atman is by Its very nature the most beloved of all. Therefore the Atman is ever blissful, and never suffers misery.

107. That in profound sleep we experience the bliss of the Atman independent of sense-objects, is clearly attested by the Shruti, direct perception, tradition and inference.

Source: Vivek Choodamani

Sri Ramana Maharshi - (આત્મભાવના) Aatmabhavana

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એ દિવસો એમના તત્કાલીન જીવનના જ નહિ, ભાવિ જીવનના પણ મહત્વના દિવસો હતા. એ દિવસો દરમિયાન ઈ.સ.૧૮૯૫ના ઓગષ્ટ મહિનામાં એક પ્રસંગ બન્યો. એ પ્રસંગ જાણે કે પરમાત્માની પરમશક્તિએ જ ગોઠવેલો. એમને એક વાર અચાનક તિરૂચ્ચુલીનો કોઈક પરિચિત માણસ મળ્યો. એ યાત્રા કરીને પાછો ફરેલો. વેંકટરામને એને પૂછયું કે તમે ક્યાંથી આવ્યા છો ? તો એણે ઉત્તર આપ્યો કે અરૂણાચલથી. વાત છેક જ સાધારણ હતી તોપણ વેંકટરામનને માટે અત્યંત અસાધારણ થઈ પડી. અરૂણાચલનું નામ સાંભળતાં જ એમનું અંતર આનંદથી આપ્લાવિત બની ગયું. એમને રોમાંચ થઈ આવ્યાં. એમનું અંગાંગ નાચી ઊઠયું. શરીરમાં ઝંકૃતિ પેદા થઈ. એમને લાગ્યું કે આ નામ ચિરપરિચિત છે. એના સંબંધી સાંભળ્યું છે તો આજે પણ એનું શ્રવણ મધુમય ને મંગલ લાગે છે. એના સુખમય સંસ્કારો સૂક્ષ્માતિસૂક્ષ્મ બનીને હૃદયમાં ચિરકાળથી સંઘરાયેલા હોય એવું અનુભવાય છે.

એમણે પેલા વૃદ્ધ પ્રવાસીને પૂછ્યું : ‘તમે અરૂણાચલની યાત્રા કરીને તો આવ્યા પરંતુ એ અરૂણાચલ છે ક્યાં ?’

‘તને એટલી ખબર નથી ?’ વૃદ્ધે સ્મિત કરતાં સામું પૂછ્યું.

‘ના. એટલે તો હું એની માહિતી માગું છું.’

વેંકટરામનની અજ્ઞતા દેખીને એ વૃદ્ધ પુરૂષને એના પ્રત્યે ઊંડી સહાનુભૂતિ પેદા થઈ. એણે સ્પષ્ટીકરણ કરતાં કહ્યું : ‘તને ખબર નથી કે તિરૂવણ્ણામલૈ જ અરૂણાચલ છે ?’

વેંકટરામનને એ સાંભળીને શાંતિ થઈ. એમનું અંતર ભાવવિભોર ને ગદ્ ગદ બની ગયું. એમની જિજ્ઞાસાવૃત્તિ તૃપ્ત થઈ. એમના સુષુપ્ત પૂર્વસંસ્કારો સળવળી ઊઠયા. વૃદ્ધના શબ્દો એમને ખૂબ જ પ્રિય ને સુખદ લાગ્યા. એમને થયું કે જે માહિતી મેળવવાની આવશ્યકતા હતી તે જ માહિતી આવી મળી છે. એવું પણ લાગ્યું કે એ સ્થળવિશેષની સાથે પોતાનો જન્માંતરનો સંબંધ છે.

એ પ્રસંગે એમના જીવનપ્રવાહને પલટાવવામાં ને પુષ્ટ કરવામાં મહત્વનો ફાળો પ્રદાન કર્યો. એ દિવસથી એમને અવારનવાર અરૂણાચલનાં સ્વપ્નાં આવવા લાગ્યાં. અંતર એની પ્રત્યે આકર્ષાવા માંડ્યું. પોતાનું ચિરકાળથી છૂટું પડેલું કોઈક સ્વજન પોતાને ફરી પાછું બોલાવી રહ્યું હોય એવો અસાધારણ અનુભવ એમને થવા લાગ્યો.

Source: (શ્રી યોગેશ્વરજી કૃત 'રમણ મહર્ષિ : જીવન અને કાર્ય'માંથી)

Advaita Vedanta Basics - Dispassion, Atma-Anatma Vivek

103. The inner organ (mind) has its seat in the organs such as the eye, as well as in the body, identifying with them and endued with a reflection of the Atman.

104. Know that it is egoism which, identifying itself with the body, becomes the doer or experiencer, and in conjunction with the Gunas such as the Sattva, assumes the three different states.

105. When sense-objects are favourable it becomes happy, and it becomes miserable when the case is contrary. So happiness and misery are characteristics of egoism, and not of the ever-blissful Atman.

106. Sense-objects are pleasurable only as dependent on the Atman manifesting through them, and not independently, because the Atman is by Its very nature the most beloved of all. Therefore the Atman is ever blissful, and never suffers misery.

107. That in profound sleep we experience the bliss of the Atman independent of sense-objects, is clearly attested by the Shruti, direct perception, tradition and inference.

Source: Vivek Choodamani

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Author of more than hundred books, Shri Yogeshwarji was a self-realized saint, an accomplished yogi, an excellent orator and an above par spiritual poet and writer. This site highlights his life and works with the help of his inspirational writings, articles, books, bhajans, lectures, letters, poems, Q&A and teachings. You can explore Ramayan, Bhagavat, Mahabharat, Bhagavad-Gita, Upanishads, Yoga-Sutra, Gopi Geet, Shivmahimna stotra and Vishnu Sahasranam text with his Gujarati translation and comments.

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