He is still afraid of Freedom

He longs to be free…

He has no care for this world
Or the next,
And he knows what is passing
Or forever.

And yet how strange!
He is still afraid of freedom.


-Ashtavakra Gita 3:8

Make every Act an Offering

Be aware of me always, adore me, make every act an offering to me, and you shall come to me; this I promise; for you are dear to me. Abandon all supports and look to me for protection. I shall purify you from the sins of the past; do not grieve.

-Bhagavad Gita 18:65-66

An Instrument of the Divine Will

Conscious spirit and unconscious matter
Both have existed since the dawn of time,
With maya [illusion] appearing to connect them,
Misrepresenting joy as outside us.

When all these three are seen as one, the Self
Reveals his universal form and serves
As an instrument of the divine will.


-Shvetashvatara Upanishad

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Although the limitations of the world disappear for one who knows the Self, they are not destroyed, because they continue to exist for others.

-The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, 2:22

As a Horse Shakes Free

From the Divine Dark to the manifest
To the Divine Dark I pass again.
As a horse shakes free its mane, I have
Shaken off all evil. Freeing myself
From the bonds of birth and death as the moon
Escapes from Rahu's mouth, I have attained
The pure realm of Brahman; I have attained
The pure realm of Brahman.

Brahman is my home. I shall not lose it.
Truly I shall not be lost again.

-Chandogya Upanishad

True Renunciation

It is not those who lack energy or refrain from action, but those who work without expectation of reward who attain the goal of meditation. Theirs is true renunciation.

-Bhagavad Gita 6:1

You and World are One

You are the endless sea
In whom all the worlds like waves
Naturally rise and fall.

You have nothing to win,
Nothing to lose.
Child,
You are pure awareness,
Nothing less.

You and the world are one.

So who are you to think
You can hold on to it,
Or let it go?

How could you!

-Ashtavakra Gita 15: 11-12

From Death.... To Death

What is here is also there; what is there,
Also here. Who sees multiplicity
But not the one indivisible Self
Must wander on and on from death to death.

-Katha Upanishad

Never harm the Wicked

A superior being does not render evil for evil. Never harm the wicked or the good or even criminals meeting death. A noble soul is always compassionate, even toward those who enjoy injuring others or who are actually committing cruel deeds--for who is without fault?

-Ramayana

Between Dreaming and Waking

As a great fish swims between the banks of a river as it likes, so does the shining Self move between the states of dreaming and waking.

-Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

He is Serene

It is all the same to him.
Man or woman,
Good fortune or bad,
Happiness or sorrow.

It makes no difference.
He is serene.


-Ashtavakra Gita 17:15

Harness Body and Mind

May we harness body and mind to see
The Lord of Life, who dwells in everyone.
May we ever with one-pointed mind
Strive for blissful union with the Lord.
May we train our senses to serve the Lord
Through the practice of meditation.

Great is the glory of the Lord of Life,
Infinite, omnipresent, all-knowing.
He is known by the wise who meditate
And conserve their vital energy.

-Shvetashvatara Upanishad

The Lord of Love in Sun

The wise see the Lord of Love in the sun,
Rising in all its golden radiance
To give its warmth and light and life to all.


-Prashna Upanishad

What's the Unitive State

The unitive state cannot be attained
Through words or thoughts or through the eye.
How can it be attained except through one
Who is established in this state himself?

-Katha Upanishad

I am Mad with Visions

Dark One, hear me, I am mad with visions. Eaten up by separation, I wander from place to place covered in ash and clothed in skins. My body is wasting all because of you. Distraught and desperate, I go from forest to forest. Immortal and Unborn One, visit your beggar. Extinguish her pain with your pleasurable touch. Mira says: "End this coming and going. Let me forever embrace your sweet feet."

-Mirabai

Lord of Many Creatures

O Lord of creatures, Father of all beings,
you alone pervade all that has come to birth.
Grant us our heart’s desire for which we pray.
May we become the lords of many treasures!

-Rig Veda

Have Faith

Have faith, my Child, have faith.

Do not be bewildered.

For you are beyond all things,
The heart of all knowing.

You are the Self.
You are God.

-Ashtavakra Gita 15:8

As Storms Drive a Boat

The disunited mind is far from wise; how can it meditate? How be at peace? When you know no peace, how can you know joy? When you let your mind follow the call of the senses, they carry away your better judgment as storms drive a boat off its charted course on the sea.

-Bhagavad Gita 2:66-67

The Dignity of Diligent Effort

Never say in weakness, "This task is too difficult,"
For perseverance will give the ability to accomplish it.

Beware of leaving any work undone, for the world
Will abandon those who abandon their work unfinished.

The pride of profuse giving dwells only
With the dignity of diligent effort.

-Tirukkural, 62:611-613

In the world of embodied creatures

If one fails to realize Brahman in this life
Before the physical sheath is shed.
He must again put on a body
In the world of embodied creatures.

-Katha Upanishad

Who Weeps for God ?

People shed a whole jug of tears for wife and children. They swim in tears for money. But who weeps for God? Cry to Him with a real cry.

-Ramakrishna

And I am happy

The body trembles,
The tongue falters,
The mind is weary.

Forsaking them all,
I pursue my purpose happily.

Knowing I do nothing,
I do whatever comes my way,
And I am happy.

-Ashtavakra Gita 13:2-3

Stay the Moment of Death

He who has realized by himself his souls' Self
Will be worshiped by all other souls.

So potent is the power acquired through austerity
That those who attain it may even stay the moment of death.

-Tirukkural 27: 268-269

Are Atman and Brahman Identical ??

Liberation cannot be achieved except through perceiving the identity of the individual spirit with the Universal Spirit. Atman and Brahman are identical. Their essence is pure Consciousness.

-Sankara

Rise above the Body - Consciousness

Like the wind, like clouds, like thunder and
lightning, which rise from space without
physical shape and reach the transcendent
light in their own form, those who rise above
body-consciousness ascend to the transcendent
light in their real form, the Self.

-Chandogya Upanishad

Have no Fear

I sit in my own radiance,
And I have no fear.

Walking,
Dreaming,
Sleeping,
What are they to me?

What is far or near,
Outside or inside,
Gross or subtle?

I sit in my own splendor.

-Ashtavakra Gita 19:5-6

He will be placed in the Heaven

He who pursues the householder's life well here on earth
Will be placed among the Gods there in heaven.

-Tirukkural 50

Why Grieve for the Body ?

The body is confined
By its natural properties.
It comes,
It lingers awhile,
It goes.
But the Self neither comes nor goes.
So why grieve for the body?

-Ashtavakra Gita 15:9