Monday, March 23, 2009

World of Brahman

The Self is a bulwark against the confounding of these worlds and a bridge between them. Day and night cannot cross that bridge, nor old age, nor death, nor grief, nor evil nor good deeds. All evils turn back there, unable to cross; evil comes not into this world of Brahman.

-Chandogya Upanishad

To those who cannot smile

To those who cannot smile in joy the wide world
Lies engulfed in darkness even in broad daylight.

Great wealth amassed by men devoid of that virtue called courtesy
Is like good milk that has soured in an unclean vessel.

-Tirukkural 100:999-1000

Imperishable Self

It is true the body is perishable, but
within it dwells the imperishable Self. This
body is subject to pleasure and pain; no one
who identifies with the body can escape from
pleasure and pain. But those who know they
are not the body pass beyond pleasure and
pain to live in abiding joy.

-Chandogya Upanishad

Who created Universe

After a year Kabandhi asked the sage:
"Master, who created the universe?"

The sage replied:
"The Lord meditated and brought forth prana
With rayi, the giver of name and form:
Male and female, so that they would bring forth
Innumerable creatures for him.

"Prana is the sun; rayi is the moon.
Matter is solid, matter is subtle;
Rayi therefore is present everywhere.

"The sun gives light and life to all who live,
East and west, north and south, above, below;
It is the prana of the universe."

-Prashna Upanishad

What powers support this body

Then Bhargava approached the sage and asked:
"Master, what powers support this body?
Which of them are manifested in it?
And among them all, which is the greatest?"

The sage replied: "The powers are space, air, fire,
Water, earth, speech, mind, vision, and hearing.
All these boasted, 'We support this body.'
But prana, vital energy, supreme
Over them all, said, 'Don't deceive yourselves.
It is I, dividing myself fourfold,
Who hold this body together.'"

-Prashna Upanishad

Supreme Goddess

This supreme Goddess, Word, inspired by Brahman,
by which the awe-inspiring is created,
through her to us be peace!

-Atharva Veda

Instrument of the Spirit

The body will be turned by the power of the spiritual consciousness into a true and fit and perfectly responsive instrument of the Spirit.

-Sri Aurobindo

Make every act an offering

Make every act an offering to me (God); regard me as your only protector. Relying on interior discipline, meditate on me always. Remembering me, you shall overcome all difficulties through my grace. But if you will not heed me in your self-will, nothing will avail you.

-Bhagavad Gita 18:57-58

Imperishable Brahman

My highest nature, the imperishable Brahman, gives every creature its existence and lives in every creature as the adhyatma. My action is creation and the bringing forth of creatures. The adhiyajna, the supreme sacrifice, is made to me as the Lord within you.

-Bhagavad Gita 8:3-4

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Unite in Love

As the man and the woman in me
unite in love,
the brilliant beauty
balanced on the two-petalled lotus
within me
dazzles my eyes.
The rays
outshine the moon
and the jewels
glowing on the hoods of snakes.

My skin and bone
are turned to gold.
I am the reservoir of love
alive as the waves.
A single drop of water
has grown into a sea,
unnavigable.

-Lalan

Attachment breeds Desire

When you keep thinking about sense objects, attachment comes. Attachment breeds desire, the lust of possession that burns to anger. Anger clouds the judgment; you can no longer learn from past mistakes. Lost is the power to choose between what is wise and what is unwise, and your life is utter waste. But when you move amidst the world of sense, free from attachment and aversion alike, there comes the peace in which all sorrows end, and you live in the wisdom of the Self.

-Bhagavad Gita 2:62-65

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

above the Celestials world

What are life's petty attachments to the man who seeks severance
From future births, when even his body is a burden?

He who slays the conceit which clamors "I" and "mine"
Will enter a realm above the celestials' world.

-Tirukkural 35:345-346

i am One

Two from one!
This is the root of suffering.

Only perceive
That I am one without two,
Pure awareness, pure joy,
And all the world is false.

There is no other remedy!

-Ashtavakra Gita 2:16

You are Free

For see!
The Self is in all beings,
And all beings are in the Self.

Know you are free,
Free of "I,"
Free of "mine."

Be happy.

-Ashtavakra Gita 15:6

Brahman

Brahman is indivisible and pure;
Realize Brahman and go beyond all change.
He is immanent and transcendant.
Realizing him, sages attain freedom
And declare there are no separate minds.
They have but realized what they always are.

-Amritabindu Upanishad

World of Separateness

Those who dwell on and long for sense-pleasure
Are born in a world of separateness.
But let them realize they are the Self
And all separateness will fall away.

-Mundaka Upanishad

Religion exists in Love

It is in love that religion exists and not in ceremony-in the pure and sincere love in the heart. Unless a man is pure in body and mind, his coming into a temple and worshipping Shiva is useless. The prayers of those who are pure in mind and body will be answered by Shiva, and those who are impure and yet try to teach religion to others will fail in the end. External worship is only a symbol of internal worship, but internal worship and purity are the real things. Without them, external worship would be of no avail.

-Vivekananda

Awaken you own Nature

Love your true Self,
Which is naturally happy
And peaceful and bright!

Awaken to your own nature,
And all delusion melts like a dream.


-Ashtavakra Gita 18:1

As clouds are blown away

As clouds are blown away by the wind, the thirst for material pleasures will be driven away by the utterance of the Lord's name.

-Sri Sarada Devi

The Lord is the Operator

The Lord is the operator; we are
But his innumerable instruments.
May we, in our consciousness, realize
The bliss he alone can give us.

-Shvetashvatara Upanishad

Self Supreme

Said Uddalaka to Shvetaketu:
"In the beginning was only Being,
One without a second.
Out of himself he brought forth the cosmos
And entered into everything in it.
There is nothing that does not come from him.
Of everything he is the inmost Self.
He is the truth; he is the Self supreme.
You are that, Shvetaketu; you are that."

-Chandogya Upanishad

Five Senses

Like a tortoise withdrawing five limbs into its shell, those who
Restrain the five senses in one life, will find safe shelter for seven.

-Tirukkural 13: 126

Are you Motivated by Desire

Those who are motivated only by desire for the fruits of action are miserable, for they are constantly anxious about the results of what they do.

-Bhagavad Gita 2:49

Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space

The inner self perceives the outside world,
Made up of earth, water, fire, air, and space.
It is the victim of likes and dislikes,
Pleasure and pain, and delusion and doubt.
It knows all the subtleties of language,
Enjoys dance, music, and all the fine arts;
Delights in the senses, recalls the past,
Reads the scriptures, and is able to act.
This is the mind, the inner person.

-Atma Upanishad

True sustenance is in service

True sustenance is in service, and through it a man or woman reaches the eternal Brahman. But those who do not seek to serve are without a home in this world.

-Bhagavad Gita 4:31

Atman - The Soul

The Atman is the witness-consciousness that experiences the action, the actor, and the world of separate things. It is like a light that illuminates everything in a theater, revealing the master of ceremonies, the guests, and the dancers with complete impartiality. Even when they all depart, the light shines to reveal their absence.

-Panchadashi

The Five Pillars

It is said that all good things are natural to those
Who know their duty and walk the path of perfect goodness.

Perfect men hold as good their own good character.
No other goodness is so perfectly good.

Love, modesty, propriety, kindly look, and truthfulness--
These are the five pillars on which perfect goodness rests.

-Tirukkural 99: 981-83