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Mr. Evans-Wentz: Is solitude necessary for a jnani?

Master.(Raman Maharishi): Solitude is in the mind of man. One might be in the thick of the world and maintain serenity of mind; such a one is in solitude. Another may stay in a forest, but still be unable to control his mind. He cannot be said to be in solitude. Solitude is a function of the mind. A man attached to desire cannot get solitude wherever he may be; a detached man is always in solitude.

Disciple.: So then, one might be engaged in work and be free from desire and keep up solitude. Is it so?

M.: Yes. Work performed with attachment is a shackle, whereas work performed with detachment does not affect the doer. He is, even while working, in solitude.

D.: They say that there are many saints in Tibet who remain in solitude and are still very helpful to the world. How can it be?

M.: It can be so. Realisation of the Self is the greatest help that can be rendered to humanity. Therefore, the saints are said to be helpful, though they remain in forests. But it should not be forgotten that solitude is not in forests only. It can be had even in towns, in the thick of worldly occupations.

D.: It is not necessary that the saints should mix with people and be helpful to them?

M.: The Self alone is the Reality; the world and the rest of it are not. The realised being does not see the world as different from himself.

D.: Thus then, the saint’s realisation leads to the uplift of humanity without the latter being aware of it. Is it so?

M.: Yes. The help is imperceptible but is still there. A saint helps the whole of humanity, unknown to the latter.

D.: Would it not be better if he mixed with others?

M.: There are no others to mix with. The Self is the one and only Reality.

Sri Raman Maharishi’s Discussion with a Disciple
Dated: 30th January, 1935
(Book of Daily Thoughts and Prayers)

O Thou Infinite Deity, in this silent hour May I feel Thy love and protection. May I rest in that love and lose all fear and weakness. In both my sleeping and waking may I have the consciousness of Thy Presence, And may that consciousness destroy in me all self-interest and self-importance.

Swami Parmanand
Book of Daily Thoughts & Prayers (BDTP)

If a man thinks that his happiness is due to external causes and his possessions, it is reasonable to conclude that his happiness must increase with the increase of possessions and diminish in proportion to their diminution. Therefore if he is devoid of possessions, his happiness should be nil. What is the real experience of man? Does it conform to this view? In deep sleep the man is devoid of possessions, including his own body. Instead of being unhappy he is quite happy. Everyone desires to sleep soundly. The conclusion is that happiness is inherent in man and is not due to external causes. One must realise his Self in order to open the store of unalloyed happiness.

Sri Raman Maharishi

Go not to the temple to put flowers upon the feet of God,
First fill your own house with the Fragrance of love…
Go not to the temple to light candles before the altar of God,
First remove the darkness of sin from your heart…
Go not to the temple to bow down your head in prayer,
First learn to bow in humility before your fellowmen…
Go not to the temple to pray on bended knees,
First bend down to lift someone who is down-trodden.
Go not to the temple to ask for forgiveness for your sins,
First forgive from your heart those who have sinned against you.

‘Go not to the temple’
~ by Rabindranath Tagore

At the morning hour of ten, one day after the body
of Lahiri Mahasaya had been consigned to the flames,
the resurrected master, in a real but transfigured
body, appeared before three disciples, each of whom
was in a different city.
“So when this corruptible shall have put on
incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality,
then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written:
Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy
sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (I Corinthians
15:45-55).”

—Paramahansa Yogananda, “Autobiography of a Yogi”

You must do your work with a sense of sanctity
and not feel that it is work. Do it in silence and
without noise. We must not talk of it and make
much of it. We must never bring a critical attitude
towards it. Better not to work at all than to work
with wrong spirit. Nothing is more purifying than
unselfish work.

Swami Parmanana
Book of Daily Thoughts & Prayers (BDTP)

If we keep our mind free, clear and open, then
there is no crisis in our life. We must never leave
our inner house in darkness ; we must ever keep
the light of consecration burning there. Where
there is light, God comes and no sense-robbers can
enter. If we keep our life in harmony, evil will
stay far from us. Some people pray only when in
trouble. If we pray continually, then when trouble
comes, our prayer will go on of itself.

Swami Parmanand
Book of Daily Thoughts

We must inform our minds that no one in this universe depends upon us; not one beggar depends on our charity; not one soul on our kindness; not one living thing on our help. All are helped on by nature, and will be so helped even though millions of us were not here. The course of nature will not stop for such as you and me; it is, as already pointed out, only a blessed privilege to you and to me that we are allowed, in the way of helping others, to educate ourselves. This is a great lesson to learn in life, and when we have learned it fully, we shall never be unhappy; we can go and mix without harm in society anywhere and everywhere.

Swami Vivekananda

He who, with devotion offereth to Me a leaf, a
flower, a fruit and water, that love-offering
I accept, made by the pure-hearted,
Even if the most wicked worships me with
undivided devotion, he should be regarded
as good, for he is rightly resolved.

Bhagavad-Gita

Compassionate One, I pray unto Thee to purify
and spiritualize my whole life.
I have no power to do aught of myself,
But Thou art an inexhaustible Storehouse of
power.
Inspire me to noble thought and action ;
Lift my aspiration and make me steadfast in
seeking and manifesting only that which is
lofty and up-building.
May I never fail to serve Thee with unfaltering
faith and devotion.

Swami Parmanand
(BDTP)

As rivers flow into the sea
and in so doing lose name
and form, so even the wise
man, freed from name and
form, attains the infinite.
— Mundaka Upanishad

The wise man does not rest by the roadside inns. He marches direct to the illimitable domain of eternal bliss, his ultimate destination.

Swami Sivananda

If a man thinks that his happiness is due to external causes and his possessions, it is reasonable to conclude that his happiness must increase with the increase of possessions and diminish in proportion to their diminution. Therefore if he is devoid of possessions, his happiness should be nil. What is the real experience of man? Does it conform to this view?

In deep sleep the man is devoid of possessions, including his own body. Instead of being unhappy he is quite happy. Everyone desires to sleep soundly. The conclusion is that happiness is inherent in man and is not due to external causes. One must realise his Self in order to open the store of unalloyed happiness.

Raman Maharishi

Meditation is not a state of concentration; it is not a state of mind at all. It is a state of
total mindlessness — and not a state of sleep either. No mind, no sleep; no mind, but total
awareness. Out of that awareness you bring a different quality to music, to painting, to
poetry. And out of that meditativeness you can bring a totally different quality to science
too. But before that can happen we will need large numbers of meditative people around
the earth.

Osho

If you try to reconcile Meditativeness and Science, it is not only difficult but impossible. It cannot be done. You will go mad — the very effort to reconcile them will drive you crazy. Avoid such an effort. Rather, on the contrary, simply watch.Life is paradoxical. It is already a synthesis of paradoxes; the opposites are already meeting in it. All that we need is a pure mirror-like consciousness, so that whatsoever life is it is reflected. And you will see in that reflection the meeting of the opposites: the meeting of East and West, the meeting of religion and science.

Osho

We cover all things with the Lord by perceiving the Divine Presence everywhere. When the consciousness is firmly fixed in God, the conception of diversity naturally drops away; because the One Cosmic Existence shines through all things. As we gain the light of wisdom, we cease to cling to the unrealities of this world and we find all our joy in the realm of Reality.

Isa Upanishad
Interpretation: Swami Parmananda

If one should desire to live in this world a hundred years, one should live performing Karma (righteous deeds). Thus thou mayest live; there is no other way. By doing this, Karma (the fruits of thy actions) will not defile thee.

If a man still clings to long life and earthly possessions, and is therefore unable to follow the path of Self-knowledge (Gnana-Nishta) as prescribed in the first Mantram (text), then he may follow the path of right action (Karma-Nishta). Karma here means actions performed without selfish motive, for the sake of the Lord alone. When a man performs actions clinging blindly to his lower desires, then his actions bind him to the plane of ignorance or the plane of birth and death; but when the same actions are performed with surrender to God, they purify and liberate him.

Isa Upanishad
Interpretation: Swami Parmananda

After leaving their bodies, they who have killed the Self go to the worlds of the Asuras, covered with blinding ignorance.

The idea of rising to bright regions as a reward for well-doers, and of falling into realms of darkness as a punishment for evil-doers is common to all great religions. But Vedanta claims that this condition of heaven and hell is only temporary; because our actions, being finite, can produce only a finite result.

What does it mean “to kill the Self?” How can the immortal Soul ever be destroyed? It cannot be destroyed, it can only be obscured. Those who hold themselves under the sway of ignorance, who serve the flesh and neglect the Atman or the real Self, are not able to perceive the effulgent and indestructible nature of their Soul; hence they fall into the realm where the Soul light does not shine. Here the Upanishad shows that the only hell is absence of knowledge. As long as man is overpowered by the darkness of ignorance, he is the slave of Nature and must accept whatever comes as the fruit of his thoughts and deeds. When he strays into the path of unreality, the Sages declare that he destroys himself; because he who clings to the perishable body and regards it as his true Self must experience death many times.

Isa Upanishad
Interpretation: Swami Parmananda

That One, though motionless, is swifter than the mind. The senses can never overtake It, for It ever goes before. Though immovable, It travels faster than those who run. By It the all-pervading air sustains all living beings.

This verse explains the character of the Atman or Self. A finite object can be taken from one place and put in another, but it can only occupy one space at a time. The Atman, however, is present everywhere; hence, though one may run with the greatest swiftness to overtake It, already It is there before him.

Even the all-pervading air must be supported by this Self, since It is infinite; and as nothing can live without breathing air, all living things must draw their life from the Cosmic Self.

Isa Upanishad
Interpretation: Swami Parmananda

I know now that I am a lion of cosmic power.
Bleating no more, I shake the error forest with
reverberations of Thine almighty voice. In divine
freedom I bound through the jungle of earthly
delusions, devouring the little creatures of vexing
worries and timidities, and the wild hyenas of
disbelief.

O Lion of Liberation, ever send through me Thy
roar of all-conquering courage.

— Paramahansa Yogananda, “Whispers from Eternity”

Why do you consider non-essentials so important?
Most people concentrate on breakfast, lunch, and
dinner, work, social activities, and so on. Make your
life more simple and put your whole mind on the
Lord.

—Paramahansa Yogananda, “How You Can Talk With God”

Mystic Trail, which started with the name Spiritual Diary in 2010 Completes 5 years on 22nd November 2015. We made efforts to see that none of the quotes are repeated. They were all different.

Sometimes it is also good to re-look at the quotes and pick out the ones you didn’t understand, or the ones you want to re absorb. So this time I am not giving you a new quote. I suggest you go to the Mystic Trail page and browse through the Masters, their quotes and their pictures.

Make it an occasional habit to visit the page. Sometimes a second look reveals something new you might not have noticed earlier. Also try to contemplate in silence on the quotes that affected you. You will discover a new dimension of experience.

Om Asato Maa Sad-Gamaya |
Tamaso Maa Jyotir-Gamaya |
Mrtyor-Maa Amrtam Gamaya |
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||

The Upanishad

Meaning:
1: Om, (O Lord) Keep me not in the Unreality (of the bondage of the Phenomenal World), but lead me towards the Reality(of the Eternal Self),
2: (O Lord) Keep me not in the Darkness (of Ignorance), but lead me towards the Light (of Spiritual Knowledge),
3: (O Lord) Keep me not in the (Fear of) Death (due to the bondage of the Mortal World), but lead me towards theImmortality (gained by the Knowledge of the Immortal Self beyond Death),
4: Om, (May there be) Peace, Peace, Peace (at the the three levels – Adidaivika, Adibhautika and Adhyatmika).

Path presupposes distance;
If He be near, no path needest thou at all.
Verily it maketh me smile
To hear of a fish in water athirst!

Sant Kabir

Ordinary love is selfish, darkly rooted in desires and satisfactions.
Divine love is without condition, without boundary, without change.
The flux of the human heart is gone forever at the transfixing touch of pure love.

Swami Sri Yukteshwar Giri

…….“Be like the divine leech and suck up a lot of wisdom even though torn to bits.
A smooth life is not a victorious life.”

………..”And I will give you lots of good karma so you will get through.
I will not only ever forgive you, but ever lift you up no matter how many times you fall.
Keep unceasingly trying to conquer. Not only will I invisibly help you,
but visibly through many disciples here”…………………

“I am not building a mansion for you to give you riches which will perish,
but I am making an imperishable home with all riches in my Divine Mother’s mansion.”

Paramhans Yogananda
(From a letter to a disciple)

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