Sri Paramahansa Yogananda

Make your meditation so intense that its effect lasts throughout all the day's activities. Do not be too busy to seek the One who created you. If you become king of the world, what then? If you conquer all nations, what then?

 

One day you will find you are dying and helpless. Why should you crave to own worldly things? They can be taken away from you anytime—as they surely will when you pass through the portals of death. Rather, make the effort to know that Something which can never be wrested from you.

 

God is the most uncertain to those who do not meditate, yet the yogi knows Him as the most dependable Certainty. And "great will be their reward" who find Him. Real happiness I have seen in the great yogis of India. Their earthly abode may be only a humble cave; but they are kings smiling with the joy of God, the King of kings, secure in their power over all creation.

 

Realize that to attain this consciousness of God is your ultimate and most worthwhile goal; I am telling you all the steps so that you know how to get there. It is not just sitting quietly and saying a little prayer that will give you God-realization; it is churning the silence with your prayer and desire for God. The result will be something wonderful.

 

You must make the effort: I am not here to feed you with words, but to nourish your soul with the love of God. From my researches in the laboratory of life, I have found eternal pleasure.

 

Sri Paramahansa Yogananda

 

Bhagawan Ramana Maharshi

 

Question: Please tell us a method to destroy the mind. Ramana: Find out who has the mind. If the mind is still there after you succeed, you may then look for a method to destroy it. Question: I have a mind. Ramana: Who are you? Are you this body? Why do you not raise questions like this while you are asleep? Do you agree that the mind and the life-force which animates the body are not yourself? Question: No. Ramana: You are the Self. If there is anything separate from you, you can think about doing good or bad things to it. But if you yourself are the only thing that exists, how can there be any likes and dislikes? Desirelessness is absolute bliss. Question: We are asking you again about destroying the mind because of our ignorance. We pray to Sri Bhagavan to forgive us and give us a reply. It is said that one must do spiritual practice to get rid of the mind. How should this be done? Ramana: Enquiring with the mind, "Whose is the mind that ought to be destroyed?" , is the spiritual practice to get rid of the mind. Question: Who am I? I do not know. Ramana: Without even knowing who we are we want to attain something else. That which we want to attain is that which we already are. The experience of any state or heavenly world that comes to us will eventually go away again. That which comes and goes is not the Self. That which is always within the experience of everyone; that alone is our real Self. That is liberation, enlightenment.

 

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Meditate on the SELF   Always have the meaning and purpose of life in view. And experience that purpose and that meaning. You are That; that is the truth. You and the Universal are One; you and the Absolute are One; You and the Eternal are One. You are not the Individual, the Particular, the Temporary. Feel this, know this. Act in conformity with this. Someone came to Ramana Maharishi and asked him thus, “Swami! I have been doing intense dhyana for the last 18 years; but I have failed to realize the Ideal on which my dhyana is concentrated. How many more years should I continue thus?” Ramana answered, “It is not a question of a certain number of years. You have to continue dhyana, until the awareness that you are doing dhyana disappears.” Forget the ego. Let it melt and merge, with all its layers of consciousness. There are some who, while meditating, strike at the mosquitoes that pester them! No, immerse yourselves in dhyanam until you transcend all physical and mental urges and impulses. Valmiki was covered by the anthill that grew over him, people discovered him by the sound of Raama-naama that emanated from that mound. Ignore the deha (body) so that you may discover the dehi (indweller). Do not get engrossed in outer finery but delve deep and discover the inner splendour. What does the saadhana of ignoring the body imply? It means turning aside the temptations of the senses, the overcoming of the six enemies: desire, anger, greed, attachment, pride and malice (kaama, krodha, lobha, moha, madha and maatsarya).   Anger turns a man into a drunken brute. The other impulses are equally vicious. Seek only salutary karma. Eat only sathwik food, food that will not disturb the equanimity you earn through your sadhana. Do not break the even tenor of your spiritual practice. You can be really healthy and happy, only when you are immersed in the Universal. If you are in Aathma thatwa (essential nature of the Self), you will be fresh, happy and healthy. When you separate and feel that you are in deha thatwa (principle of body), you start declining.   Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba