Bhagavan Speaks - II

1. God is the only reality and everything else is unreal. Know this and dwell in the world. Remain with the Self. Shed all secondary details.

2. Everything is Maya. This body also is Maya or delusion. My thoughts about this body are also Maya.

3. We notice the evils of others very easily, but it is more evil to think wrong about others. If you have to think, think of God.

4. Happiness and sorrow constitute this world. This is the divine sport. There is neither cause nor effect of anything. The balance will be achieved when we can keep God in everything.

5. Increase your patience, let time move on. Time is the greatest healer, and the solution to your problem.

6. It is not that sorrow won't come when your mind is fixed on God. However, your inner strength to resist all mental disturbances will increase.

7. Before all the actions and attachments are exhausted you cannot have renunciation. And if you do not have renunciation, your love for God will never increase. You need extreme desire to realize God.

8. There is no room for narrow–mindedness in spirituality. Love the one whom your heart wants you to. Nevertheless, you cannot make others inferior to you. The war between Shiva and Rama had ended, but the monkeys and the ghosts still continue fighting. Devotees often suffer from sectarianism.

9. To attain the knowledge of the Self, one has to become fully devoid of outer objects. Objectless mind means a mind which has dissolved all objects.

10. Standing in the water is something and taking a dip is something else. After taking a dip does the depth of water becomes known.

11. Remain like a maid servant amongst worldly affairs. Stay separate even remaining within the world. Everything worldly fades away. They pass by even if you need them.

12. Remain within the world but don't let the world remain within you.

13. Sufferings? Where are sufferings? We are all the Self. Sufferings are within the mind. We can recover within a minute. What should I suffer about? The bliss is within.

14. You have given me a lotus bud. I give you a full blossomed lotus. You too have the bud within you. Come to me and let it blossom.

15. We have to perform every work with sincerity. My past creates my present. If I work hard for the entire year, I will secure good marks.

16. Be within the world, but the moment you discover you are quite happy there, come to me immediately, because while you are enjoying yourselves, you fail to notice how much you have become vulnerable to a big shock.

17. Let me see if you can live without doing anything. If you can remain not doing anything, you are one always established within the Self.

18. We love to praise ourselves but hearing others' praise becomes difficult to digest. Good and bad are the two sides of a man, but if you always speak good of others, your mind will remain blissful.

19. Some thought or another is always rising up within our mind. Because we are always with God, we shall notice that all our negative thoughts will disappear and the thought about the Almighty persists within.

20. Though the thoughts still appear with the practice of Vedanta, they can be minimized. We have to do a lot of works as a result of one single thought. However, if the thoughts cease to function and remain within, then we are free from our mind.

21. To live with truth is to accompany truth.

22. How will you recognize a true Master? When you find out that it is possible for another lamp to be lighted. Maybe you have a golden lamp with you which is not lighted. Though I have an earthen lamp, it is lighted. So, light your lamp from me.

23. He is enlightened whose everything has been destroyed. Nothing will ever be created within Him. Our desires are creating everything always.

24. If we put a normal egg and a boiled egg together, it will be impossible for us to point out which one is capable of hatching a chicken, or which isn't. Similarly, though I appear to be a very ordinary man, I am an enlightened soul.

25. As it takes time for a speeding bicycle to come to rest, similarly, those who have more past impressions and desires need time to come to a rest. Nevertheless, they will come to rest for sure one day. Motion is to become motionless.

26. The lion is the king of the wild. He is fearless. A deer, however, always fears at every step. A living being (jiva) has fear, An enlightened soul (Shiva) is fearless. I am Shiva.

27. To think about the world, we don't need to think actively. The thoughts come spontaneously. So, why do you need a separate time to think about God? Let it come naturally.

28. Knowledge is free from any difference of sex. How can I touch myself with my hands? Do my hands or feet exist in Knowledge? I am the whole.

29. With mere outer renunciation, nothing can happen. We need renunciation from inside. The tongue increases our greed, but, it is the stomach which has to digest.

30. Our birth is a preparation for death. When we learn to stand up, we start approaching towards Death. And a disease means a run towards death.

31. Face everything. Don't be attached to anyone, care for all. Only love.

32. Our real fight is with our own ego not with any external object.

33. Everything is like table – 2*1= 2, 2*2=4 etc. Everything moves on as it has been. Nobody wants to come out of this scheme.

34. To come to the path is the only path.

35. Here ghee is found. Pure ghee is very rare. An adjective means losing the essence. How does time become right or wrong? Time is always right. There is no gender in Knowledge. Knowledge is knowledge absolute.

36. Why can man not hold what he achieves? Because he forgets his past, from where he came. He sees the man next to him and thinks – 'I don't have these'. He forgets his own progress.

37. To win a war is your goal. You need time to prepare for that. Make friendship with your enemy, because you are proceeding towards success. If you take a head–on collision, your speed will be reduced.

38. If we seriously search something, we will definitely achieve that. If you are tired while searching for God, God will help you.

39. There is always a still object behind every moving object. The Rajdhani mail cannot run without the railway track. If you move the mirror at random, you will be unable to see the reflection of the sun in it, but when it is still, you can. Similarly, if our mind is always disturbed, we cannot feel the presence of God within.

40. The path of knowledge is the path of discrimination, of intellect. There is risk here, but if you are steady, success is yours. With an aeroplane we can reach there faster, but if it meets with an accident, everything is finished.

41. The one who will surrender unto me will attain Self–Knowledge.

42. Rice comes out from within grains, Brahman comes out from within meditation.

43. Your shadow is like you, but it is not you. That is, the shadow is not true. Our body is also false, and the world which we dwell in through this body is also false. These are all apparent. They seem to be real, but they are in fact not at all real.

44. Perform all worldly duties thinking of God. Everything in this world is here because of His power. That power is within you. Try to feel Him. You are neither weak nor unfortunate. You are the son of God, and to understand this is religion.

45. Whatever you do, do perfectly. This is the only austerity.

46. I am young, I am old, I am in my death bed – in all these, there is only the change of states. The 'I' is changeless here. Religion is to search for the eternal I within myself. Therefore, religion is always useful. Without religion, we cannot take any step forward.

47. We are all busy with ourselves. Still, however, there is no end to our sufferings, because while introducing myself, if I say that this shirt is me or this chest is me, all worries are brought forward. People go about decorating themselves with various colors of dresses. They do not find themselves.

48. All enlightened souls have said – ''Knock, and the door will open unto you''. If we start approaching, then no path is difficult.

49. Is the world the same as you see, or is there something behind this? We have to search for that truth. We need courage because this journey is the journey against the flow, a journey towards the source, the end of whose search brings the solution to all sufferings. This is God.

50. This body is the result of all your past desires and their effects which run according to the law of nature. Therefore, while you remain in this body, you have to obey its rules. The enlightened soul enjoys himself knowing this, the ignorant one doesn't. This is the only difference. Thakur Ramakrishna, Vivekananda and Sankaracharya etc suffered physically, but were not deluded.

51. If you desire God, know yourself first.

52. Know this that there is no truth other than God. If you ever come to know this with His mercy, you will become a king, or else, you have to be a slave of others.

53. The external world is a reality for worldly people, and thus their endeavor towards God is very weak.

54. Sometimes an atheist is better than a theist. One who doesn't accept the existence of God at least follows a certain ideal, he is strong. But the one who says he believes in God and acts just the opposite is a hypocrite.

55. Remember that your mind will take care of your body, and that your mind will be taken care of by God. So, if you think of God, then only your body and mind will be healthy.

56. Don't fear others. You are the only truth. Therefore, to know yourself is the absolute knowledge.

57. Your thoughts and actions in line with Truth will take you forward. You will definitely prosper. Be assured. Such thoughts are the saviors. You don't need other support.

58. Jealousy is a dangerous disease in human life. It has no cure at all. Till you attain Self–Knowledge, you will have jealousy. Merely wearing a saffron robe doesn't make you a renunciant. Knowledge is renunciation.

59. Know this that if God is known, everything is known. The more you depend on Him, the more He comes to stand by you. This is the truth of all truths. His mercy is flowing through us always.

60. I feel myself always in everything. The irony however is that I think I am feeling others. This is illusion or ignorance. The day you know that no one ever exists other than you, all your mental blocks will be cleared. And who are you? Search – search by holding your thoughts. And you have to find it because this is the only truth.

61. Don't leave God. It is hard to hold him, but once He takes hold of your hands, you will have no worries left.

62. After enjoyment comes sorrow. Enjoyment and sorrow create sufferings in both enlightened and unenlightened souls. The enlightened face everything with a smile, whereas the unenlightened shout.

63. Everybody is asking for something or other from God in this world, but nobody desires God. And those who desire God are always looked down upon by the worldly. This is Maya.

64. The day you understand that you have none other than God with you, that day the door of the Almighty will open unto you.

65. Concentrate on the source, which is the source of all thoughts. We have to destroy the process of thought formation. How? Just keep your eye there. You will find the source of all thoughts within you. That is austerity.

66. Destruction of all past impressions, and Self–Knowledge, are the same thing.

67. Meditation means to hold on to one specific thought. We can meditate while walking also. The way you calm down your mind, your actions become likewise.

68. Truth is bigger than any individual.

69. Until we calm down our mind, we cannot understand it. Moreover we have to come to know ourselves with the help of our mind. Therefore, keep your concentration pointed towards the mind.

70. The moment a person prospers, he is obstructed by the person next to him. This is normal. And the more he is obstructed, the more he advances. When a river is obstructed, floods occur – they wash away everything.

71. Both the world and God are within our mind. Just guide your thoughts carefully. You will find that you have become God.

72. Truth is within. The day you realize the truth within, you become free. Before this occurs, you will always be chased by your thoughts.

73. Why does man do whatever he wants? He doesn't know the truth behind his life. When he realizes that life and death are but his own idea, that is he realizes his eternal nature beyond birth and death, then no falseness remains in his behavior. Everybody is searching for truth, and one who finds the truth is a real man.

74. You are the only truth. This world exists because of your existence. You remain neither in deep sleep nor in the waking state. The world is as your mental condition is. Therefore, if you can change the condition of your mind, everything will change. This is the science of knowledge.

75. If you desire to search for God, you have to remove the veil of ignorance. The veil is your own likes and dislikes, so it is important for an aspirant that he should remain careful about his desires. Worldly desires will take him gradually downwards. Desire for God is not a worldly desire.

76. To get rid of ignorance, a continuous thought of the Self is essential. Without the help of the Guru, it is impossible to think about the Self in this dense forest, as until you have the consciousness of the body, you need a Guru in a body. Attention towards the Master is consciousness of the Self. The Self is the gateway to Liberation.

77. The Atman is your only support. You don't need any other support. And when you have become the Self, then you won't find anyone to support you and neither will you need that.

78. Man understands falseness very well while living in falsehood always. If we put many blind people in a bright place, they will say – ''darkness, darkness''. Therefore, you must pray to God earnestly – ''O God, explain me everything".

79. Search within yourself – in the process you will find the formless within form. And you are that.

80. Trying to gain pleasure for a moment, what is the justification of suffering for your whole life? God is the truth and everything else is false. This is the essence of knowledge.

81. To expect help from somebody other than God is none other than weakness. We must come out of this weakness. The only way to come out of weakness is to engage in the thought of God.

82. To help the Guru in His works is called devotion towards the Guru. Just staying close to the Guru doesn't mean devotion to the Master.

83. God is love.

84. The Guru always has mercy. God is also merciful. Primarily however we have to have mercy towards ourselves. I have to decide first what I need.

85. We have to know the truth by remaining within the world. Thakur said, hold the world with one hand and God with the other. That means not to be in the world with two hands, not by dedicating your heart and soul to the world, because this is not the truth.

86. Although you have heard about God, you cannot dedicate your complete mind to God, because you do not feel that God is the only truth. In such a case, hold on to both with each hand. Any moment, if he makes it clear to you what he is, then there is no need to say with how many hands we should hold Him.

87. When you receive a day, try to spend it with the best possible beauty, for beauty is God Himself.

88. My desire to visit Delhi will be strong enough if I hear about Delhi from someone who stays there. Similarly, we have to hear about God from somebody who always stays within Him.

89. What is truth? I myself am the truth. However, I do not know myself, am always trying to discover other things, and so am tired. Our austerity is to make the extrovert mind introvert. This is renunciation and sacrifice. We have to meditate on our self, become the Master of our self.

90. Living near the lake increases our knowledge of the lake. Thoughts of God will gradually make God clearer to us.

91. When the mind leaves all other thoughts and concentrates on a particular thought, that is meditation.

92. The already attained Self cannot be attained again. To remove the veil is my only task – to clear the dust from the surface of the mirror is my sole task. In this effort, only the thought of the Self or God is helpful. You don't need to acquire anything, just to realize that nothing is lost.

93. There is no gradual growth of truth. We grow while searching for truth.

94. Man acquires an innocent mind after austerity for many lives. And God manifests within innocent minds.

95. This world is full of emotions. Truth is beyond all emotions. We have to approach emotionally only to go beyond all emotions. Emotions cannot be entertained at all. We have to know our Self. Till we know our Self, we are surrounded by all kinds of problems. And I am the biggest problem. So, the biggest solution shall be attained by myself alone.

96. Thought of the Self is company of the Guru.

97. Attainment of truth is the essence of God.

98. Without knowing our Self, everything is mysterious and unclear. Knowing the Self is the real knowledge. The main aspect is to make my Self or the Atman my subject. Then only there will be a gradual improvement of thoughts process.

99. Worldly love has separation but the love of the Self doesn't. Because after discriminating a bit we come to now that I always exist. Meditation of this 'I' is the real meditation. Meditation of something else is ignorance. Think about your Self.

100. To become fearless is knowledge. We are driven by fear in every aspect of our life. The consciousness of my body is the cause of this fear. The root cause of all sufferings is the tremendous attachment towards the body. So, attainment of the state where there is no consciousness of the body is liberation. The body itself is the world.

101. To acquire sameness in speech and thought is austerity.

102. God is truth. He is within truthful words. Learn to love truth gradually. Truth will hold you and carry you forward.

103. Worldly love brings frustrations. The world is not true. Therefore you feel tired. God's love does not have limitations. Truth is God.

104. God is full of divine moods. We have to understand the one beyond normal moods with these divine moods.

105. It is impossible to love God and the world together. Most of us desire God in this way. Nevertheless, it cannot be like this. Where there is God, there is no world. Where there is God, there is absolute peace. God cannot be realized by chanting or meditation. Love, love is the easiest way.

106. God is truth. The effort or meditation or love by which we realize God is the truest path. An aspirant chooses his path according to his own tendency. The one upon whom God showers His mercy becomes devoted to Him completely.

107. Be aware that the moment you can elevate yourself from body consciousness or selfishness, then only the Self will become the subject of attention. Through travelling from consciousness to greater consciousness, from Samadhi to deeper Samadhi, from knowledge to profound knowledge will our journey be completed. Life should be transformed into a pilgrimage whose divine touch will transform thousands of other lives.

108. Nothing goes in vain. We cannot reject anything. Know that He is with you irrespective of whatever happens. When we deny the event, it is only He who remains.

109. Don't leave the thought of the Self. The Atman is present within its thoughts.

110. One who considers the Guru as God will definitely attain Self–Knowledge. Guru is God. And He is the Master of all. It is the responsibility of a disciple to respect His Guru.

111. Who is a Jiva will? Creation of thought is Jiva. We need relief from its clutches. It is possible to go beyond the thoughts holding their hands. It is possible only if we try. Your effort is the mercy of the Guru.

112. There is an inner connection between the Guru and the disciple. When we become a perfect disciple, there is no difference of time and space. There is no space or time in the infinite. This is our objective.

113. It is impossible to see the world and God. While you have a desire for this world, God is not with you. We need renunciation. The company of the Master brings that.

114. Whatever is selfless is love. Whatever is meant to meet our ends is desire.

115. As the world is the cause of all trouble, so is God the solution. God is truth and everything else is falsehood. Everything is God and His divine sport. An effort to realize Him silently is better. Mind and intellect, life and death are Him.

116. The oneness of the Self and Sakti is the ultimate knowledge. We observe ourselves while remaining separate. The Self without the Sakti and vice versa is absurd.

117. The world of duality is contradictory. Therefore, while there is the existence of mind, there is a problem. The destruction of mind is peace. King Janaka had said, "kill the mind by dipping it into the ocean of consciousness". We have to kill the mind within the ocean of the Self by any means. There is no other way. And the only way to do this is by meditating upon the Self continuously.

118. The way our mind changes, the world changes likewise. The moment our mind is dissolved in the ocean of Atman, this world also becomes the Self or Love. The one who has received the touch of this love is the greatest human being. Without proper attainment of renunciation, Self–Knowledge cannot be attained.

119. The Guru is the greatest. Still, we become misers while devoting ourselves to Him. We only desire, so we receive nothing. Give something of what you have, then you will be able to receive something. To attain the supreme knowledge, you have to surrender.

120. Practice Self–Knowledge again and again, and engage in the thought of the Guru. You don't need to perform any austerity if your devotion towards your Guru is perfect.

121. There is no duality – only Oneness prevails. This is Me. Your I and you don't exist. Only I exist, because your You is not true.

122. Whatever happens in the external world shouldn't distract me. The only duty of an aspirant is to remain in the eternal I. The destruction of all distractions.

123. One who desires to work can perform all works. The greatest example is Swami Vivekananda.

124. Just as an ignorant man cannot become calm, similarly a wise man cannot become distracted.

125. The more you can diminish your ego, the more this world that is Maya will lay down at your feet. Therefore, there is a need to fight with yourself.

126. There shouldn't be anyone other than God in our lives. We should be able to say in the midst of disease, grief, happiness and sorrow that everything is You. Our birth is from God, our growth and end are in God. The other name of God is truth. Stand firm on truth.

127. We cannot see God, He manifests Himself unto us. We cannot touch Him, He holds us. We cannot understand Him, He makes us understand His divinity and that He is God.

128. To become is austerity. To supersede someone, you don't need to fight him or put in an effort to make him inferior. While you are weak, you will be resisted. Become strong.

129. To manifest the love of the mother is the ultimate of spirituality.

130. The moment you can stop all contradictions within, the external world will become still. When you become still and introverted, then only do you become a great worker.

131. Be courageous and honest. Your inside and outside should be filled with renunciation. There is nothing in this world whose separation will bring sorrow to you.

132. The one who thinks for others, God thinks for Him. Hence, the service of humanity is service to the Lord. This is the easiest way.

133. The goal of life is to expand yourself. Live and let live.

134. Devotion towards the Master is the greatest praise for the Master. The Guru is God Himself. If you cannot keep this faith burning within you, you cannot attain devotion.

135. Think of God at every step of your life. While thinking about Him, you will become Him.

136. To be grateful is the greatness of a noble man. Everybody is engaged in the process of receiving and taking. They move aside silently whenever the question of sacrifice arises. Where are noble men? Most of them are ungrateful!! You all learn to give. Don't blow your own trumpet. Remain as a drum. Let God play it. The sound will be very sweet then. Become noble.

137. God never deluded anyone with His Maya. Man gets drowned into Maya because of his own ignorance. He cannot see the truth.

138. Through lack of confidence does a man fall. Krishna helped Arjuna through the teachings of the Gita. Arjuna regained his confidence by attaining Self–Knowledge. Be aware of your strength. Become introverted. Discover your true identity. Eliminate your weaknesses. Have faith in yourself.

139. One who is devoted to Allah always is a true Muslim.

140. There is no end of desires in the mind. His throne is where the desires end. Hence, nobody wants to know Him and therefore they fail to attain Him.

141. The motorcycle is running on its own power, but the moment I sit on it, I begin to have tensions. The motorcycle doesn't have any tension. Only knowledge is being used, but when "I" come and sit on it, I forget this. To know the truth of this, we have to listen, contemplate and meditate on Vedanta.

142. What you say once, try to fulfill. Say only that what you do.

143. Whatever has to happen in a given time will definitely happen. What would not happen will never happen. So, do everything that comes to you perfectly.

144. A proper Vedantic mind only has this present moment. Neither past nor future. Time, space, causality, sacrifice and enjoyments are all creations of ignorance. There is no room for frustration in Vedanta. Nobody but me to blame – this is the essence of everything.

145. Who suffers? The ego. And this ego is nothing but the residue of bounded old thoughts and actions, known as Sanskaras or past impressions. Is it not powerful? It drives back the Guru or the scriptures. The Guru also throws Himself to crush the ego. Like Ravana, the ego also has ten heads. Therefore, it takes time to cut those. However, they will be cut off, if the Guru is a Sat Guru.

146. The "I" that I have now is not real and as a result is the abode of all sufferings. The solution to this problem is to destroy this "I". It has to be dipped into the infinite spacelessness time and again. Then there will be relief. The infinite is also present within. So, if we try, we can get dissolved. This is not a suicide, but a death which wins over death. Initially it brings fear, but later on this is the only bliss.

147. Searching for the Self is the prime objective of the Vedanta. Standing upon this objective shall a Vedantic mind dissect his mind to dissolve it into the ocean of consciousness, eternal meditation and discrimination. You will lose every possession. Gain everything by losing all. It is like diving blindly into the depths of an ocean. The ocean will return the dead body full of consciousness, which will have been given the boon of immortality. There is no room for self–satisfaction in this path of becoming the Self. Discrimination, devotion, faith, courage, untiring strength of action and love are needed.

148. Man is deceived by the tendency of judging everything through his own past impressions. Still, man holds and lives with these past impressions. Actions which comes out of a mind free of all past impressions is Godhood or Incarnations.

149. My last words for everyone – ''Learn to love all – love, love and only love".