GREAT QUOTES - FROM - SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR - (DT:18-DEC-2013)

GREAT QUOTES

FROM

SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR

(dt : 18-Dec-2013)

Ø  The spirit that is running your life is sacred. Honor this life energy. As you honor the life force, all the other virtues will become your expression effortlessly.

Ø  I welcome the Lokpal Bill though there is a lot of room for improvement, that can keep happening in the future.

Ø  Worrying doesn't make any difference, working does. And spirituality gives one the strength to work.

Ø  The role of women in the development of society is of utmost importance. In fact, it is the only thing that determines whether a society is strong and harmonious, or otherwise. Women are the backbone of society.

Ø  When you respect someone, it only shows your own magnanimity. However many people you do not respect in the world, that much less is your wealth. The wise respect everyone, even a terrorist or a criminal, because he shows you the way at his own cost. Respectfulness is a quality of refined consciousness.

Ø  There can be no love, no wisdom and no true joy without sacrifice. Sacrifice makes you sacred. Become sacred.

Ø  What someone says or does is just a ribbon on the package. Take the ribbon off and look inside. Everybody is like a package. Some packages have firecrackers! Some have sweet candies or some other surprise. Don’t just look at the outside wrappers. Inside each one is a very precious gift.

Ø  When a storm comes, it is the trees that get uprooted. Be as humble as the grass, and nothing can touch you - nothing!

Ø  Hunger drives you toward food, thirst pulls you toward water. In the same way, the soul yearns for meditation.  Meditation is food for the soul.

Ø  The day you feel unhappy and horrible, get out of your room and ask people, "What can I do for you?" The service you do that day will bring a revolution inside you.

Ø  You are always a winner. Sometimes you win; sometimes you make others win.

Ø  When the mind is happy, it expands and time seems too short. When the mind is unhappy, it contracts and time seems too long. When the mind is in equanimity, it transcends time.

Ø  I DON'T KNOW:

We think all the knowledge can be captured in this little brain of ours. We think we can reason out, we can understand all that exists but this feeling “I know it all” can keep us in a little shell of dullness. “I don’t know” creates wakefulness. You need to be awakened - "What is this? - I don’t know!". This “I don’t know” is the key to progress in knowledge.

Ø  The moments of wonder, of inquiry, astonishment and curiosity are very precious. But we let them slip away without observing them. In these moments your chattering mind has stopped and you make a leap from the known to the unknown. -  from Kena Upanishad

Ø  The right way of honoring Nelson Mandela is to take a pledge to work towards making Africa free of violence and poverty.

Ø  The fastest way to go on the spiritual path is to go slow.

Ø  Dream the impossible. Know that you are born in this world to do something wonderful and unique; don't let this opportunity pass by. Give yourself the freedom to dream and think big.

Ø  FIVE ARROWS OF LOVE:

The God of Love in the Indian mythology is called Apanga. Apanga means ‘one who has no parts of the body at all’. It is so because love has no parts, no shape, and no form. It is formless. He has a bow and five arrows. These five arrows are made up of five flowers - the five senses. He hits you with the five flowers and it is through these five senses that you experience something that is beyond the five senses. What gets created is a wave of beauty deep inside you. It produces a sweet honey inside you!

And when you experience such a wave, your eyes close, you’re not in form but you dissolve into the formless. You come back to your nature. When you experience something so great, so wonderful, and so beautiful be it music, a fragrance or touch automatically your eyes shut and you sink into that ocean of beauty. The power, the energy inside you starts moving in a new direction. Like in the spring, the entire creation just springs up. The birds sing, trees blossom. Like that when energy is kindled in you, it creates awe. You spring out of dullness, out of the inertia, out of the routine… New life springs up.

Ø  Flowers have the fragrance but it is the wind which comes and spreads it. In the same way, each one of us is beautiful within - caring and loving, but we don’t know how to spread this fragrance. Satsang is the wind which comes and spreads the fragrance to everybody.

Ø  The test of your peace is only when there are obstacles. Be thankful for obstacles.

Ø  Reason and faith are completely opposite, yet they are an integral part of life. Reason is reeling in the known. Faith is moving in the unknown. Reason is repetition. Faith is exploration.

Reason is routine. Faith is adventure.

While reasoning keeps you sane and grounded, miracles cannot happen without faith. Faith takes you beyond limitations.

Faith is beyond reason, yet you need to have faith in your own reasoning! Faith and reason cannot exist without each other. Every reason is based on some faith. Whenever reason or faith break, confusion and chaos prevail which is often a step for growth.

There are two types of faith: faith out of fear, greed and insecurity; and faith born out of love like the faith between the mother and child, the master and disciple. Whereas faith out of love cannot be broken, faith out of fear and greed is shaky.

An atheist bases himself on reason and a believer on faith. A believer uses God as an insurance policy; he thinks he is special. In the eyes of God there is no “mine” and “others” - all are the same. An atheist rationalizes to keep his eyes shut to reality. Death shakes them both. When someone close dies, an atheist’s eyes are opened and a believer’s faith cracks. Only a Yogi - a wise one - remains unshaken, for that person has transcended both reason and faith. You need a balance between faith and reason.  [From 'An Intimate Note to the Sincere Seeker' by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, http://bit.ly/1b2TuO9]

Ø  Are you tired? If not, get tired! If you are not tired, you will never reach home. Everything in the world will tire you except one thing - love. That is the end; that is home. Tiredness is the shadow of enjoyment. What puts you on the road is wanting to enjoy. What brings you home is being in love.

Ø  Meditation makes you realize that the kingdom of God is within.

Ø  Judgements: Though you have heard "Don't judge", judgement comes unavoidably in day-to-day life. By the actions and behaviour of people, you either approve or disapprove. But always remember that everything is changing, do not hold on to the judgement. Otherwise your judgement gets solidified like a rock. It brings misery for you and for others.

If judgements are lighter, like air, like a breeze, they bring in fragrance, then move away. Or they could bring a foul smell, then move away. But they should not stay forever.

Judgements are so subtle that you are not even aware of their existence. Only when you are full of love and compassion, can you ever be free from all judgements.

Yet the world cannot move without judgements. Until you judge something as good or bad, you cannot do any action. You want to buy only good apples in the market. If someone lies to you ten times, the next time he speaks it could also be a lie - a judgement happens automatically. See the possibility that people and things can change at any time and don’t hold on to judgements.    [From "An Intimate Note to the Sincere Seeker by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar", http://bit.ly/1b2TuO9]

 *  *  *  E  N  D  *  *  *