Great Throughts Treasury

"The individual souls are like the drops in the ocean. Just as each drop in the ocean is fundamentally identical with the ocean, the soul which is individualised due to bhas or illusion is still the Oversoul, and does not really become separate from the Oversoul."

"The proper understanding and use of the law of Karma enables man to become a master of his own destiny, through intelligent and wise action. Each person has become what he is, through his own accumulated actions; and it is through his own actions that he can mould himself according to the pattern of his heart or finally emancipate him-self from the reign of Karmic determination, which governs him through life and death."

"God's nature as the ocean of love cannot be grasped by the mind. God has to be known through love and not through the intellectual search after miracles. That is the reason why, for those who are closest and dearest to me, I do not perform miracles. I would rather have no following than use miracles for convincing others of my Divinity."

"The masses who try to attain the Truth by following rites and rituals are, as it were, in the goods train which is detained indefinitely at various stations. Those who sincerely and devotedly meditate on God or dedicate their lives to the service of humanity are, as it were, in the ordinary train which stops at every station according to the time-table. But those who seek the company of the Truth-realized Master and carry out his orders in full surrenderance and faith are, as it were, in a special train which will take them to the goal in the shortest possible time, without halts at intermediate stations."

"Sincere penance does not consist in perpetuating grief for the wrongs, but in resolving to avoid in future those deeds which call forth remorse."

"The reaching out towards spiritual freedom is throughout accompanied by a sense of effort, which persists until all false perceptions are overcome."

"Solitude is one of the essential conditions of at-taining success in meditation."

"Selfless service is accomplished when there is not the slightest thought of reward or result, and when there is complete disregard of one's own comfort or convenience or the possibility of being misunderstood."

"If a person has done an evil turn to some one, he must receive the penalty for it and welcome the evil rebounding upon himself; and if he has done a good turn to some one, he must also receive the reward for it and enjoy the good rebounding upon himself. What he does for another, he has also done for himself, although it may take time for him to realise that this is exactly so. The law of Karma might be said to be an expression of justice or a reflection of the unity of life, in the world of duality."

"Start learning to love God by loving those whom you cannot love. The more you remember others with kindness and generosity, the more you forget yourself, and when you completely forget yourself, you find God."

"In the world of physical events, there is the law of conservation of energy according to which no energy is ever lost and in the world of values, there is the law that once Karma comes into existence, it does not mysteriously flitter away, without leading to its natural result, but persists until it bears its own fruit or is undone through counter-Karma. Good actions lead to good results; and bad actions lead to bad results."

"Love is nothing if it is not spontaneous. It cannot be a conclusion of reasoning. It is not a fruit of the spirit of bargain. If you want to be certain about the object of love before giving your love, it is only a form of calculating selfishness."

"You are infinite. You are really everywhere. But you think that you are the body, and therefore consider yourself limited. If you think you are the body which is sitting, you do not know your true nature."

"As long as the human mind does not directly experience Ultimate Reality as it is, it is baffled in every attempt to explain the origin and the purpose of creation."

"The way to remain free from karma is to remain completely detached in service."

"God is beyond understanding. The moment you think you understand God you misunderstand him. You miss him when you try to understand him."

"Spiritual freedom is freedom from all wanting. . . When the soul breaks asunder the shackles of wanting, it is emancipated from bondage to body, mind, and ego. This freedom brings realization of the unity of all life and puts an end to all doubts and worries."

"What happened yesterday? Nothing. What will happen tomorrow? Nothing. All happens now . . . the eternal NOW from the beginningless beginning to the endless end."

"Divine desperateness is the beginning of spiritual awakening because it gives rise to the aspiration for God-realisation."

"The only Real Renunciation is that which abandons, in the midst of worldly duties, all sefish thoughts and desires."

"LOVE is essentially self-communicative: those who do not have it catch it from those who have it.... No amount of rites, rituals, ceremonies, worship, meditation, penance and remembrance can produce love in themselves. None of these is necessarily a sign of love. On the contrary, those who sigh loudly and weep and wail have yet to experience love. Love sets on fire the one who finds it. At the same time it seals his lips so that no smoke comes out."

"There is nothing that love cannot achieve, and there is nothing that love cannot sacrifice."

"If we suffer in the sufferings of others and feel happy in the happiness of others, we are loving God. If we understand and feel that the greatest act of devotion and worship to God is not to harm any of His beings, we are loving God. To love God in the most practical way is to love our fellow beings. If we feel for others in the same way as we feel for our own dear ones, we love God."

"Being is Dying by Loving."

"God alone is real, and all else is illusion."

"If we understand and feel that the greatest act of devotion and worship to God is not to harm any of His beings, we are loving God."

"If we suffer in the sufferings of others and feel happy in the happiness of others, we are loving God."

"To love God in the most practical way is to love our fellow beings. If we feel for others in the same way as we feel for our own dear ones, we love God."

"Divine love is qualitatively different from human love. Human love is for the many in the One and divine love is for the One in the many. Human love leads to complications and tangles; divine love is integration and freedom. In divine love, the personal and impersonal aspects are balanced; but in human love the two aspects are in alternating ascendancy. Human love in its personal and impersonal aspects is limited; but divine love with its fusion of the personal and the impersonal aspects is infinite in being and expression."

"Divine love makes us true to ourselves and to others. Divine love is the solution to our difficulties and problems. It frees us from every kind of binding. It makes us speak truly, think truly, and act truly. It makes us feel one with the whole universe. Divine love purifies our hearts and glorifies our being."

"Trust God completely and He will solve all your difficulties. Faithfully leave everything to Him and He will see to everything. Love God sincerely and He will reveal Himself to you. I am never silent. I speak eternally. The voice that is heard deep within the soul is My voice...the voice of inspiration, of intuition, of guidance. To those who are receptive to this voice, I speak. Everything is Mine except for Myself; Myself is for those who love Me. I am the Ancient One, The Highest of the High. Love Me; Love Me; Love Me; and you will find Me. This is Truth but intellect cannot grasp it, wisdom cannot weigh it, space cannot hold it, time cannot check it, angels cannot fathom it, but human beings can realize it through love, the Divine Love, the Love for the Almighty, except whom, nothing is. If you have rock-like faith in God and flame-like love for Him, nothing in this world will affect you. Misery will not trouble you, flattery will not touch you, happiness will not humour you. Such faith and love will cause you to rise above the imaginary phenomenon and make you understand that God alone is real. Trust God completely and He will solve all your difficulties. Faithfully leave everything to Him and He will see to everything. Love God sincerely and He will reveal Himself to you. This love needs no ceremonies and show. Your heart must love so that even your mind is not aware of it. Let nothing shake your faith in Me, and all your bindings will be shaken off. Once you open your wings to fly, you must fly straight like the swan. Do not flit from tree to tree like the sparrow, or many things will distract you."

"Any such negation of life would make man inhuman. Divinity is not devoid of humanity. Spirituality must make man more human. It is a positive attitude of releasing all that is good, noble, and beautiful in man. It also contributes to all that is gracious and lovely in the environment. Spirituality does not require the external renunciation of worldly activities or the avoiding of duties and responsibilities. It only requires that, while performing the worldly activities or discharging the responsibilities arising from the specific place and position of the individual, the inner spirit should remain free from the burden of desires."

"People ask God for forgiveness. But since God is everything and everyone, who is there for Him to forgive? Forgiveness of the created was already there in His act of creation. But still people ask God's forgiveness, and He forgives them. But they, instead of forgetting that for which they asked forgiveness, forget that God has forgiven them, and instead, remember the things they were forgiven - and so nourish the seed of wrongdoing, and it bears its fruit again."

"Strength begets humility, whereas modesty bespeaks weakness. Only he who is truly great can be really humble."

"Live not in ignorance. Do not waste your precious life-span in differentiating and judging your fellow men, but learn to long for the love of God. Even in the midst of your worldly activities, love only to find and realize your true Identity with your Beloved God."

"Awaken from your ignorance and try at least to understand that, in the uncompromisingly Indivisible Oneness, not only is the Avatar God, but also the ant and the sparrow, just as one and all of you are nothing but God. The only apparent difference is in the states of consciousness. The Avatar knows that that which is a sparrow is not a sparrow, whereas the sparrow does not realize this and, being ignorant of its ignorance, identifies itself as a sparrow."

"Everywhere today man is rightfully occupied with the problem of world peace. If there is war, it means nothing short of racial suicide and total destruction. But world peace cannot be ensured through dogmas, however learned, or organizations, however efficient. It can be ensured only by a release of unarguing and unconquerable love which knows no fear or separateness."

"If, instead of erecting churches, fire-temples, mandirs (temples) and mosques, people were to establish the House of God in their hearths for their Beloved God, my work will have been done. If, instead of performing ceremonies and ritual mechanically as age-old customs, people were to serve their fellow beings with the selflessness of love, taking God to be equally residing in one and all, and thinking that by serving others they are serving God, my work will have been fulfilled."