Insight is enough

Related imageYou have to see what I am saying, you are not to learn what I am saying. Here, sitting with me every day, listening to me, don’t start collecting knowledge. Here, listening to me, don’t start hoarding. Listening to me should be an experiment in insight. You should listen with intensity, with totality, with as much awareness as is possible for you. In that very awareness you will see a point, and that very seeing is transformation. Continue reading

Great Mother Questions

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“WHAT ON EARTH HAVE YOU DONE?” This is one of the great Mother Questions. The second great question mothers ask is the theological one: “WHAT IN THE NAME OF GOD ARE YOU DOING?” Another Mother Question anticipates the future: “AND WHAT WILL YOU THINK OF NEXT?” (My father rolled all these questions into one—only the tone changed: “WHAT THE HELL . . . ?”) Children know these questions have no reasonable answers. Any child who has half a brain will go mute or mumble, “Nothing. Nothing.” Or resort to pity-invoking sobs that plead innocence, ignorance, and helplessness: “I don’t know (snork) I don’t know (snork) . . .” And the child is telling the truth. Most of the time a kid doesn’t think about what he’s doing, or why. This is the privilege of childhood………

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man is a budding buddha

There is a very famous saying of Emerson: “Man is a God in ruins.” I agree and I disagree. The insight has some truth in it – man is not as he should be. The insight is there but a little upside down. Continue reading

Create the energy to act against cruelty

To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. Continue reading

Growing Old or Growing Up

Image result for stop time and mindGrowing old is not of any worth; every animal does it, it needs no intelligence. Growing up is a totally different experience. Growing old is horizontal; growing up is vertical, it leads you to heights, it leads you to depths.   And strangely enough, you will be surprised to know that time is horizontal. One moment passes, another moment comes, another moment, another moment … in a line, a horizontal line. Time is horizontal, and mind is also horizontal. Continue reading

When you smile at the world, the world does tend to smile back

Image result for smileAs the Archbishop has said, “We are all cousins, really, perhaps just a few thousand times removed.” Think of someone you love—a child, parent, close friend, or even a cherished pet. Bring their image into your mind and allow yourself to feel the love that you have for them. Notice the sense of warmth and openheartedness that comes from feeling your love for them. Imagine their desire to be happy and to avoid suffering. Reflect on how they live their life to achieve these aspirations. Continue reading

The spirit is the life, mind is the builder, and the physical is the result…

Image result for power of intentionYou can begin now with the following next steps:

First, take a piece of paper, a journal or diary or a dream recording book. Write a list of words which have an impact upon you, elicit a sense of high or proper motivation. Choose one word and begin to dwell upon it, making decisions based upon the quality of motivation which is awakened by that word. Continue reading

when we heal something in ourselves, we heal it for the world

Image result for when we heal something in ourselves, we heal it for the worldWe learn that the answer to the problems we face is within us. By letting go of the inner blocks to it, the truth of our inner Self shines forth and the path to peace is revealed. Other spiritual teachers have emphasized the cultivation of inner peace as the only real solution to personal difficulties, as well as collective conflicts: “Inner disarmament first, then outer disarmament” (The Dalai Lama); “Be the change you want to see in the world” (Gandhi). Continue reading

Nothing in all this is yours….

When you were born you didn’t come with a name. A name was given to you and you became that name. You didn’t come with any knowledge when you were born. You were taught and made to study, you went to school, to college. Many thoughts were poured into your brain. You were thrown into knowledge. Then you began to think it is your knowledge. Image result for drop and the ocean Continue reading