Living in the Now
In the spiritual classic, Yoga Vasishtha, we find the following teaching: The way to be rid of this delusion of the mind is to fix our attention upon the present moment, and not to employ our thoughts on past or future events. The mind is clouded so long as the mist of its desires and…
Read MoreFrom Worry to Serenity
Unless a man is insane or super-sane, he must be subject to worries, anxieties, grief, agitation and so forth. These are the stages on the way to lead a man from sanity to super-sanity, that is, spiritual wisdom… Our worries and anxieties can be made footstools towards the higher life of truth, beauty and liberation…
Read MoreAll Light, All Peace, All Bliss
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Read MoreSelf-Development
One of the chief purposes of life is self-development. The mental development means our capacity to love truth. It is expressed through our practice of virtue, of which patience in distress and forgiveness in prosperity are chief characteristics. This gives the mind serenity. A serene mind is essential to the development of love of truth…
Read MoreA Prayer from the Vedas
May my mind ever think of the good of all beings— That mind, which is a means of divine knowledge, which takes man far, far during the waking state, which causes objects to be known to the senses, which abides in the subtle cause in the state of sleep— May that mind ever think of…
Read MoreActualising the Inner Light
The inner life needs light, and that light is the light of meditation. Hari Prasad Shastri We travel on a journey that was accomplished before we set out. The real end is gained when we stay still. Swami Rama Tirtha The light that is uncovered by the practice of meditation, when we are inwardly still,…
Read MoreBeyond Winning and Losing
The philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588 –1679) believed human beings were innately competitive, and that this trait ruled our mind. Even if we appear to mingle peaceably with one another, there is always an interior gladiator, ready to thrust and parry its way to a position of personal gain and glorification. Hobbes justified strong government as…
Read MoreMeditation Practice: One Ocean of Consciousness
A session led by the Warden at Shanti Sadan Meditation helps us to relieve our mind of the cares and concerns of the day—to take a step back, as it were, or rather a step in to a level of our being where there is peace, not stress, silence, not noise, stillness, not movement. It…
Read MoreSayings of Saints Universal (Two)
A further selection from the Sant Vānī—‘speech of the Santas’ compiled by Hanuman Prasad Poddar, translated by Hari Prasad Shastri If your heart is lit with the presence of love, do not publish it. The Inner Ruler knows your heart well. There are three things which you can increase almost infinitely. Be careful! They are:…
Read MoreThe Yogic Conception of the Soul
What is the soul? Does such an entity exist, or is it merely a fiction of the religious imagination? Scientists are mainly concerned with the observation of objective phenomena, and are often inclined to dispense with the idea of a soul, or even of a mind in the generally accepted sense. A common tendency is…
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