Reflections

Wisdom of Nisargadatta Maharaj

Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything.

Between these two, my life dances.

- Nisargadatta Maharaj

Meditation

Meditation is a deliberate attempt to pierce into the higher states of consciousness and finally go beyond it. The art of meditation is the art of shifting the focus of attention to ever subtler levels, without losing one's grip on the levels left behind. In a way it is like having death under control.

One begins with the lowest levels: social circumstances, customs and habits; physical surroundings, the posture and the breathing of the body, the senses, their sensations and perceptions; the mind, its thoughts and feelings; until the entire mechanism of personality is grasped and firmly held.

The final stage of meditation is reached when the sense of identity goes beyond the 'I-am-so-and-so', beyond 'so-l-am', beyond 'I-am-the-witness-only', beyond 'there-is', beyond all ideas into the impersonally personal pure being.

But you must be energetic when you take to meditation. It is definitely not a part-time occupation. Limit your interests and activities to what is needed for you and your dependents' barest needs. Save all your energies and time for breaking the wall your mind had built around you. Believe me, you will not  regret.

Living in silence

Unselfish work leads to silence, for when you work selflessly, you don't need to ask for help. Indifferent to results, you are willing to work with the most inadequate means. You do not care to be much gifted and well equipped. Nor do you ask for recognition and assistance. You just do what needs to be done, leaving success and failure to the unknown. For everything is caused by innumerable factors, of which your personal endeavor is but one. Yet such is the magic of man's mind and heart that the most improbable happens when human will and love pull together

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Quotes by Swami Chinmayananda

* What you have is His gift to you; what you do with it is your gift to Him.

* The glory of man is not in 'never falling' but in rising each time he falls

* The sun can illumine dirt and filth as well as beautiful, dancing flowers. The sunlight does not become fragrant, nor does it become dirty. Similarly, you, the light of Consciousness, are not contaminated by anything that happens in the world.

Quotes by Swami Tejomayananda

* If we want to realize our dreams, we have to stay awake

* Knowing how to think is more important than knowing what to think

* A narrow vision is divisive, a broad vision expansive. But a divine vision is all-inclusive

* Contentment is good, but it is not good to be content with one’s spiritual practices. We are often satisfied with our spiritual progress, but our greed for worldly possessions is insatiable; this is where contentment is a vice. We should have very few physical needs and put most of our effort into spiritual matters

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Revelations by Rumi

"Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world.

Today I am wise, so I am changing myself"

- Rumi

Poems by Rumi

*********************

There is a life force

within your soul,

Seek that life

There is a gem in the

mountain of your body

Seek that mine

Oh traveler if you

are in search of that

don't look outside,

look inside yourself

and seek That

*********************

Your task is not to seek for love

But merely to seek & find

All the barriers within yourself

that you have built against it

*********************

The guest house

This human is a guest house, each morning a new arrival

A joy, a depression a meanness,

some momentary awareness comes

as an unexpected visitor

Welcome & entertain them all

even if they are a crowd of sorrows

who violently sweep your house

empty of its furniture,

still, treat each guest honorably

He maybe clearing you out for

some new delight

the dark thought, the shame, the malice

meet them at the door and invite them in

Be grateful for whatever comes

for each has been sent

as a guide from the beyond.

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Personal reflections

The Storm

When the world seems strange

When events go out of the norm

When our lives lose their familiar gaze

And we feel surrounded by a storm

Overpowered by uncertainty and confusion

kindling distrust, fear & insecurity

Arguments, discussions, prayers & more

solutions to combat this calamity

The world however fascinating & mightier

is still so vulnerable & shaky

And beyond the wreckage of the familiar

lies the secret of our identity

And the storm is yet another reminder to seek

That peaceful unchanging eternity

That inner bliss that was and will always be

Our only true identity & security

***************

Being

When in the beauty of a sunrise, you sense the watching

When in the quietness of silence, you notice the hearing

When you feel lost & yet feel your grounding

When the world seems to close in & yet you see the opening

Every morning, dazed from sleep

awakening the you & your world in the making....

Whether in the darkness of confusions scary & limiting

or in the din of noise & activity, busy & happening

or in the midst of laughter & joy, light & uplifting

Thru all your times high & low, old & new

When you keep walking thru it all with a sense of knowing

Born as you, in you

Holding you, never letting you go, nurturing

Your ultimate refuge, your sanctuary, your strength

the source of all your loving

Your solace, your truest voice

the end of your seeking

In this world of manifold versions

your constant, unadulterated being....

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#Innervisions #musings