From ‘The Guiding Presence of Sri Ramana’ by K. K. Nambiar

This knowledge of the Truth makes an eloquent wise and active person mute, inert, and inactive. Therefore, it is shunned by those who want to enjoy the world.

- Ashtavakra Gita, XV.6


Sri Bhagavan said, “There is nothing better than giripradakshina. That alone is enough. If you do japa or meditation sitting in one place, the mind may wander. But during giripradakshina, the limbs move but the mind will be still. Doing japa or meditation without any thought while walking is called samadhi in movement. That is why in those days walking was considered so important. Giripradakshina is particularly important. As there are several medicinal herbs on the hill, their breeze will be good for health. There are several siddhas and sages on the hill even now, though we cannot see them. They also go round the hill unseen by us. When we go round the hill, we should walk on the left side of the road, otherwise we shall be obstructing their movement. …….”



Sri Bhagavan has said in Atma Vidya:
When you haven’t understood yourself,
What’s the point of understanding other things?
When you have understood yourself,
What else is there to understand?

From ‘Living with the Master. Reminiscences’ by Kunjuswami

Sri Bhagavan said there were three kinds of japa. Uccha japa, Upamsa japa and Manasika japa. Uccha japa is that which you do by moving your lips. Upamsa japa is japa that is done without movement of lips. The best is Manasika japa which is mental japa

From ‘Sri Ramana Maharshi. The Supreme Guru’ by Alan Jacobs

“Arunachala is the place, that which of all places deserves to be called the holy place! Of all places it is the greatest! Know that it is the Heart Centre of the Earth. It is Shiva Himself. It is a secret place representing the Spiritual Heart. Lord Shiva always abides there as a glorious hill called Arunachala”
- V, 1, Sri Arunachala Mahatmya


Sri Bhagavan recommended that his devotees should practice Giripradakshina (take a slow walk around the Hill), like a pregnant woman, with reverence and attention. This practice would be of spiritual and physical benefit as the natural herbs growing in the vicinity filled the air with a healing fragrance.

From ‘Devotions. Wisdom from the Cradle of Civilization’ collected by Danielle and Olivier Follmi

Be melting snow
Wash yourself or yourself

- Rumi (13th Century)



If we become aware that each one of us is an aspect of the face of
God – like the facet of a diamond -
then we can adore God in brotherhood and mutual love.

- Khaled Bentounès (20th – 21st Century)



Talk of tomorrow is not one of the conditions of the path.

- Rumi (13th Century)



That which sings and contemplates in you is still dwelling within the
bounds of that first moment which scattered the stars into space

- Kahlil Gibran (20th Century)



Set your eyes on life’s ephemera and you will see eternity

- Faouzi Skali (20th – 21st Century)



There are many ways to search but the object of the search is always
the same. Don’t you see that the roads to Mecca are all different, one
coming from Byzantium, the other from Syria, others running through
land or sea? The roads are diverse, the goal, one …

- Rumi (13th Century)



My friend, you lost yourself along this path because it is not your own.
You followed the alleyways and avenues that others travelled because
they were bustling and you thought you knew them

- Faouzi Skali (20th – 21st Century)



Elevate yourself above time and space:
leave the world and be a world unto yourself

- Mahmud Shabistari (13th – 14th Century)



My heart can take on any form:
a meadow for gazelles, a cloister for monks,
A temple for idols, the Ka’ba for pilgrims,
the tablets of the Torah, the leaves of the Qur’an.
I believe in the religion of love whichever way it's caravan turns;
love is my religion and my faith.

- Ibn ‘Arabi (12th – 13th Century)



Never ask directions from someone who knows the way,
or you will never be able to get lost.

- Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (18th – 19th Century)



Set your eyes on your death and
you will receive each breath of life as a gift.

- Faouzi Skali (20th – 21st Century)



Look for the answer in the same place that you found the question.

- Rumi (13th Century)



Live every day as if you were
going to live one hundred years.
Live as if you were living the
last day of your life.

- Proverb attributed to Ibn ‘Arabi (12th – 13th Century)



Verily all things move within your being in constant half embrace
the desired and the dreaded, the repugnant and the cherished,
the pursued and that which you would escape.

- Kahlil Gibran (20th Century)



Wisdom is a view from on high, from the narrow path
between two precipices, two extreme ideas.

- Amin Maalouf (20th – 21st Century)



Lack of sincerity, my friend, turns you into a shadow. You
live only for the image of yourself. What a strange spectacle to
see a man driven by his shadow! Come, life your eyes to the
sun of Being and understand the source of truth and illusion.
Do not remain a prisoner of the eyes of this world

- Faouzi Skali (20th – 21st Century)



The deeper that sorrow carves into your being,
the more joy you can contain

- Kahlil Gibran (20th Century)



Where is God? Any place you let him in.

- Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotsk (19th Century)



Should you sit upon a cloud you would not see the boundary lines
between one country and another,
not the boundary stone between a farm and a farm.
It is a pity you cannot sit upon a cloud.

- Kahlil Gibran (20th Century)



When you are joyous, look deep into your heart, and you shall find it is
only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.

- Kahlil Gibran (20th Century)



The chains of the world exist nowhere but within you.
Protect yourself from your own tricks, and the demon itself will give up
the battle for lack of allies

- Faouzi Skali (20th – 21st Century)



You often say, “I would give, but only to the deserving.”
The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.
They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.

- Kahlil Gibran (20th Century)



One good word is enough warmth for a whole winter

- Arab proverb



He who wears his morality as his best garment were better naked

- Kahlil Gibran (20th Century)



A being capable of a destiny other than his own is a fertile soul.

- Rabbi Elisha ben Abuyah (1st Century C.E.)



If you feel more important than many human beings, think of only one
thing your entire life: releasing your soul from this malady

- Faouzi Skali (20th – 21st Century)



Close
the language-door and open the love-window.
The moon won't use the door,
only the window.

- Rumi (13th Century)



For thought is a bird of space, that in a cage of words may indeed
unfold it's wings but cannot fly.

- Kahlil Gibran (20th Century)



To know yourself is to live one hundred lives.

- Attar (12th – 13th Century)



If you respect someone and respect his history
it's because you believe he belongs to the same human race as you do,
not to some inferior version

- Amin Maalouf (20th – 21st Century)



The Truth you are seeking, my friend, is always beyond yourself.

- Faouzi Skali (20th – 21st Century)



You are the way and the wayfarers.
And when one of you falls down he falls for those behind him,
a caution against the stumbling stone.
Ay, and he falls for those ahead of him,
who though faster and surer of foot,
yet removed not the stumbling stone.

- Kahlil Gibran (20th Century)



That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor.
This is the entire Torah; the rest is commentary. Go and learn

- Hillel the Elder (1st Century B.C.E – 1st Century C.E)



Neither on a world scale nor within any society
should anybody feel so scorned, depreciated, mocked, or demonized
that in order to be able to live among his fellow-citizens
he is forced to conceal or be ashamed of his religion, color, language,
name, or any other ingredient of his identity

- Amin Maalouf (20th – 21st Century)



As a single leaf turns yellow
but with the knowledge of the whole tree,
So the wrong-doer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all.

- Kahlil Gibran (20th Century)



Come, come, whoever you are,
Wanderer, idolater, worshipper of fire, come
Even though you have broken your vows a thousand times,
come, and come yet again,
Ours is not a caravan of despair

- Rumi (13th Century)



My friend, stop searching
For the why and the how
Stop spinning the wheel of you soul.
Right where you stand
At this moment
Everything is given you
In the utmost perfection.
Accept this gift
Squeeze the juice of the passing moment.

- Faouzi Skali (20th – 21st Century)



Listen to the words of the passing moment:
“At this very moment of this long journey, where are you?”

- Faouzi Skali (20th – 21st Century)



A society that neglects its youth looks like an old-age home. When it
abandons it's elderly, it looks like an orphanage. Blessed are the young
who are inspired by the wisdom of the ancients! Blessed are the old
who take heart in the enthusiasm of the young!

- Jewish saying



Truth is a mirror that fell
from the hand of God and was
broken. Everybody picked up a
fragment and announced that
he had found the whole truth

- Arab proverb



Sometimes you have to keep quiet to be heard

- Stanislas Jerzy Lec (20th Century)



Set your eyes on your limits and you will perceive the Unlimited.

- Faouzi Skali (20th – 21st Century)



Thanks to the repentance of a single person,
the entire world is forgiven.

- Rabbi Meir (2nd Century C.E.)



When you pray you rise to meet in the air those who are praying at
that very hour, and whom, save in prayer, you may not meet.

- Kahlil Gibran (20th Century)



It would be disastrous if the current globalization were to be a
one-way process, with “universal transmitters” on one side and
“receivers” on the other, with the “norm” set against the “exceptions”;
with on the one hand those who think they have nothing to learn
from the rest of the world, and on the other those who believe that
the rest of the world will never listen to them.

- Amin Maalouf (20th – 21st Century)



The vision of his essence does not take place except when what has
never been disappears, and what has never ceased to be remains.

- Ibn ‘Arabi (12th – 13th Century)



When I want to understand what is happening today or try to decide
what will happen tomorrow, I look back.

- Omar Khayyam (11th – 12th Century)



Love calls:
Everything, at every moment.
We are leaving for the heavens.
Will you accompany us?

- Rumi (13th Century)

From ‘The Four Seasons. Japanese Haiku Second Series’ Translation by Peter Beilenson

Spring
A CHILDLESS HOUSEWIFE …
HOW TENDERLY
SHE TOUCHES
LITTLE DOLLS FOR SALE

- RANSETSU



OH YOU BAWDY BREEZE …
THATCHER BENDING
ON THE ROOF
I SEE THE BOTTOM

- ISSA



SPRING MORNING MARVEL …
LOVELY NAMELESS
LITTLE HILL
ON A SEA OF MIST

- BASHO



PAPER-WEIGHTS PROTECT
GAY PICTURE-BOOKS
IN THE SHOP …
INQUISITIVE BREEZE

- KITO



GOOD MORNING, SPARROW …
WRITING ON MY
CLEAN VERANDA
WITH YOUR DEWY FEET

- SHIKI


Summer
HANDS UPON THE GROUND
OLD ARISTOCRATIC FROG
RECITES HIS POEM

- SOKAN



SOFTLY FOLDED FAWN
SHIVERS, SHAKING OFF
THE BUTTERFLY …
AND SLEEPS AGAIN

- ISSA



RAINY AFTERNOON …
LITTLE DAUGHTER
YOU WILL NEVER
TEACH THAT CAT TO DANCE

- ISSA



EXPERIMENTING …
I HUNG THE MOON
ON VARIOUS
BRANCHES OF THE PINE

- HOKUSHI



THE DEVOTED CLERK …
NOT TO WASTE
A JOT OF BREEZE
NAPS ON A LEDGER PILLOW

- ISSA



I SCOOPED UP THE MOON
IN MY WATER
BUCKET … AND
SPILLED IT ON THE GRASS

- RYUHO


Autumn

NIGHTS ARE GETTING COLD …
NOT A SINGLE INSECT
NOW
ATTACKS THE CANDLE

- SHIKI


Winter

THE OLDDOG LIES INTENT
LISTENING …
DOES HE OVERHEAR
THE BURROWING MOLES?

- ISSA

From ‘Cherry Blossoms. Japanese Haiku Series III’ Published by the Peter Pauper Press

Spring

IT IS SPRING AGAIN …
GAY IN THE GARDEN
GATHER
SUN-BATHING SPARROWS

- ONITSURA


Summer


A BABY SPARROW …
HOPPING
WITH CURIOSITY
TO WATCH MY BRUSHWORK

- SHOHA



ON THE GIDDY SWING …
TINY GIRL-CHILD
CLUTCHING TIGHT
HER SPRAY OF BLOSSOMS

- ISSA



THAT FAT OLD BULL-FROG
SAT THERE STARING
BACK AT ME
WITH A SOUR FACE

- ISSA



BOUNCING THE BALL …
SHE BENDS TO MAKE
A FACE AT HER
MEOWING KITTEN

- ISSA


Autumn


MY SACRED SWALLOW …
TWITTERING OUT
FROM YOUR NEST IN
GREAT BUDDHA’S NOSTRIL

- ISSA


Winter
FEEBLE FEEBLE SUN …
IT CAN SCARCELY
STRETCH ACROSS
WINTER-WASTED FIELDS

- BAKUSUI

From ‘Japanese Haiku’ Translated by Peter Beilenson.

MY TWO PLUM TREES ARE
SO GRACIOUS …
SEE, THEY FLOWER
ONE NOW, ONE LATER

- BUSON



ONE FALLEN FLOWER
RETURNING TO THE
BRANCH? … OH NO!
A WHITE BUTTERFLY

- MORITAKE



ARISE FROM SLEEP, OLD CAT,
AND WITH GREAT YAWNS
AND STRETCHING …
AMBLE OUT FOR LOVE

- ISSA



DIM THE GREY COW COMES
MOOING MOOING
AND MOOING
OUT OF THE MORNING MIST

- ISSA



ON HER DEAD SON
IN WHAT WINDY LAND
WANDERS NOW
MY LITTLE DEAR
DRAGONFLY HUNTER?

- CHIYO-NI



OLD DARK SLEEPY POOL …
QUICK UNEXPECTED
FROG
GOES PLOP! WATERSPLASH

- BASHO



GOOD FRIEND GRASSHIPPER
WILL YOU PLAY
THE CARETAKER
FOR MY LITTLE GRACE?

- ISSA



NOW BE A GOOD BOY
TAKE GOOD CARE OF
OUR HOUSE …
CRICKET MY CHILD

- ISSA



NOW MY LONELINESS
FOLLOWING
THE FIREWORKS …
LOOK! A FALLING STAR!

- SHIKI



CAN’T IT GET AWAY
FROM THE STICKY
PINE-BRANCHES …
CICADA SINGING?

- GIJOENS



VOICES OF TWO BELLS
THAT SPEAK FROM
TWILIGHT TEMPLES …
AH! COOL DIALOGUE

- BUSON



CAMELLIA-PETAL
FELL IN SILENT DAWN …
SPILLING
A WATER-JEWEL

- BASHO



FRIEND, THAT OPEN MOUTH
REVEALS YOUR
WHOLE INTERIOR …
SILLY HOLLOW FROG!

- ANON.



BUTTERFLY ASLEP
FOLDED SOFT ON
TEMPLE BELL …
THEN BRONZE GONG RANG!

- BUSON



GOD EVENING BREEZE!
CROOKED AND
MEANDERING
YOUR HOMEWARD JOURNEY

- ISSA



SEE THE MORNING BREEZE
RUFFLING HIS SO
SILKY HAIR …
COOL CATERPILLAR

- BUSON



THE TURNIP FARMER ROSE
AND WITH A FRESH-
PULLED TURNIP …
POINTED TO MY ROAD

- ISSA



FLOWER IN THE STREAM
THUS TOO MY LOVELY LIFE
MUST END, ANOTHER
FLOWER …
TO FALL AND FLOAT AWAY

- ONITSURA



I AM GOING OUT …
BE GOOD AND PLAY
TOGETHER
MY CRICKET CHILDREN

- ISSA



ANGRY I STRODE HOME …
BUT STOOPING IN
MY GARDEN
CALM OLD WILLOW-TREE

- RYOTA



OH DO NOT SWAT THEM …
UNHAPPY FLIES
FOREVER
WRINGING THEIR THIN HANDS

- ISSA



SEE … THE HEAVY LEAF
ON THE SILENT
WINDLESS DAY …
FALLS OF ITS OWN WILL

- BONCHO



I MUST TURN OVER …
BEWARE OF LOCAL
EARTHQUAKES
BEDFELLOW CRICKET!

- ISSA



VISITING THE GRAVES …
TROTTING ON TO SHOW
THE WAY …
OLD FAMILY DOG

- ISSA



NO OIL TO READ BY …
I AM OFF TO BED
BUT AH! …
MY MOONLIGHT PILLOW

- BASHO



WINDY WINTER RAIN …
MY SILLY BIG
UMBRELLA
TRIES WALKING BACKWARD

- SHISEI-JO



BUDDHA ON THE HILL …
FROM YOUR HOLY
NOSE INDEED
HANGS AN ICICLE

- ISSA

From ‘Be Love Now. The Path of the heart’ by Ram Dass with Rameshwar Das

Imagine a mountain of solid rock six miles long, six miles wide, and six miles high. Once every hundred years a crow flies by with a silk scarf in it's beak, just barely caressing the top of the mountain with it. The length of time it would take to wear away that mountain is how Buddha described the journey to enlightenment.



A perfected being lives in harmony with the universe with no clinging whatsoever. In Buddhism that state may be called “nothing special,” “crazy wisdom,” or the arahat. Taoists call it wei wu wei. Hindus may refer to such beings as avadhoot, without body consciousness, or siddha purusha, merged in the cosmos, or, again, as sat guru, gurus who bestow ultimate truth.

Perfected beings rest in emptiness, in presence, in nonconceptual, nondiffrentiated awareness of every moment. Out of them comes the optimal response to any life situation.



You have to let go of your self-pity, feelings of unworthiness, feelings of inadequacy, and the desires that increase your separateness and push the universe away.



Although the Guru and disciple appear to be two,
It is the Guru alone who masquerades as both.
When you look in a mirror and see your own face,
You know that both are only yourself.


If one could see his own eye without a mirror,
There would be no need of this sport of the Guru.
Therefore he nourishes this ultimate relationship
Without causing duality or disturbing the Unity.

- Jnaneshwar



As the karma lightens, your faith gets stronger and you become more attuned to the feeling of that presence or guidance, even though you can’t know it through your senses or your thinking mind. That faith allows you to come into a deeper intimacy with your guru.



The guru is constantly showing you where you’re not, your most secret places where you’re holding on to your stash of attachments.



When asked how to get enlightenment, Maharaj-ji sad, “Bring your mind to one point, and wait for grace.” ……. The end of karma is a quiet mind completely concentrated on God, and what take you beyond that is truly grace.



O servant, where dost thou seek Me?
Lo! I am beside thee,
I am neither in temple nor in mosque; I am neither in Kaaba nor
in Kailash;
Neither am I in rites and ceremonies, nor in Yoga and renunciation.
If thou are a true seeker, thou shalt at once see Me: thou shalt meet
Me in a moment of time.
Kabir says, “O Sadhu! God is the breath of all breath.”

- Kabir



………. saint standing in the river who saw a scorpion floating by. He thought to save it's life and picked it up from the water, but it stung him with it's tail, causing immense pain, which he could not bear, so the scorpion fell back in the water as his hand recoiled. Again, the saint picked it up, and the same story repeated itself. Someone asked the saint why he kept doing this, when the creature was causing him so much pain. The saint said, “It is following it's nature. When such a creature does not leave it's nature, why should I leave mine?”



Shirdi Sai Baba …….. His statement, “I give people what they want in the hope that they will begin to want what I want to give them,”



Ramana Maharshi …… He said, “Each one thinks of God according to his own degree of advancement,” and told people to “Worship God with or without form until you know who you are.” ……….
Q: What are the hindrances to the realization of the true Self?
R: Memory chiefly, habits of thoughts, accumulated tendencies.
Q: How does one get rid of these hindrances?
R: Seek for the Self through meditation in this manner, trace every thought back to it's origin which is only the mind. Never allow thought to run on. If you do, it will be unending. Take it back to it's starting place – the mind – again and again, and it and the mind will both die of inaction. The mind exists only by reason of thought. Stop thought and there is no mind. As each doubt and depression arises, ask yourself, “Who is it that doubts? What is it that is depressed?” Go back constantly until there is nothing but the source of all left. And then, live always in the present and only in it. There is no past or future, save in the mind.



Dwell, O mind, within yourself;
Enter no other’s home.
If you but seek there, you will find
All you are searching for.
- Sri Ramakrishna

From ‘Touched by Fire. The Ongoing Journey of a Spiritual Seeker’ by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait PHD

…. he met a great saint ……. who told him, “Your job is to continue walking. When you really get exhausted, then simply stop and wait, and remember that He will pick you up.”



Rituals are a valid path of spirituality, provided they are performed with full purity and precision. Ritual worship, in it's own right, is a complete science, but today much of the science has been replaced by custom, dogma, and superstition.



Swami Sadananda …… “Intense austerity, intense meditation, recitation of mantra, grace of God, selfless service, and living in the company of saints create a powerful, positive karma in a short period of time. …….. purification is what enables you to become a conduit through which grace can flow.”



“Human beings have a hard time going beyond the realm of their minds. On one hand, they know the Supreme Being is too big to fit in their small little heads, and yet they wish it would fit. To reconcile fact with wish, they project human characteristics onto God, and thus they create gods in their own image. Then using the power of faith, they breathe life into the gods they have created. Thereafter they pray to these gods to help them overcome their problems. These are lower-grade gods born from our own minds. We empower them to help us overcome our self-created misery. Once empowered, they become our masters. And if we have confused minds, then we definitely become their slaves and live at their mercy.” …….. In order to bring the concept of God closer to our daily experience, we superimpose characteristics onto God that are compatible with our personal tastes, interests, preferences, and choices…….. once these gods and goddesses have seeped into the collective unconscious of a particular group of humanity, they exert their powers regardless of whether or not the members of that group believe in them at a conscious level.

From ‘Haiku Harvest. Series IV’ Translation by Peter Beilenson and Harry Behn

OH THAT SUMMER MOON!
IT MADE ME GO
WANDERING
ROUND THE POND ALL NIGHT

- BASHO



IF I COULD BUNDLE
FUJI’S BREEZES
BACK TO TOWN …
WHAT A SOUVENIR!

- BASHO



SOME POOR VILLAGES
LACK FRESH FISH
OR FLOWERS …
ALL CAN SHARE THIS MOON

- SAIKAKU



POPPY PETALS FALL
SOFTLY QUIETLY
CALMLY
WHEN THEY ARE READY

- ETSUJIN



NEW YEAR DAWNING CLEAR …
CHEERFUL SPARROWS
CHATTER
ALL DAY LIKE PEOPLE

- RANSETSU



PINE TREE SILHOUETTE
PAINTED BY THE
HARVEST MOON
ON A SHINING SKY

- RANSETSU



GAZING AT FALLING
PETALS
A BABY ALMOST
LOOKS LIKE A BUDDHA

- KUBUTSU



HIGH ON A MOUNTAIN
WE HEARD A SKYLARK
SINGING FAINTLY
FAR BELOW …

- BASHO



IT IS NICE TO READ
NEWS THAT OUR
SPRING RAIN ALSO
VISITED YOUR TOWN

- ONITSURA



TIDES OF THE SPRING SEA,
TIDE AFTER INDOLENT TIDE
DRIFTING
ON AND ON …

- BUSON



THE LEAVES NEVER KNOW
WHICH LEAF
WILL BE FIRST TO FALL …
DOES THE WIND KNOW?

- SOSEKI



THE BEST I HAVE
TO OFFER YOU
IS THE SMALL SIZE
OF THE MOSQUITOES

- BASHO



ON THE TEMPLE’S GREAT
BRONZE BELL,
A BUTTERFLY SLEEPS
IN THE NOON SUN

- BUSON



SINCE MY HOUSE
BURNED DOWN, I NOW OWN
A BETTER VIEW
OF THE RISING MOON

- MASAHIDE



BROKEN AND BROKEN
AGAIN ON THE SEA,
THE MOON
SO EASILY MENDS

- CHOSU



O MOON,
WHY MUST YOU INSPIRE
MY NEIGHBOUR TO CHIRP
ALL NIGHT ON A FLUTE!

- KOYO



WHAT A SPLENDID DAY!
NO ONE IN ALL
THE VILLAGE
DOING ANYTHING!

- SHIKI



THE ROOSTER, FIGHTING,
SPREADING
HIS RUFF OF FEATHERS,
THINKS HE’S A LION

- KIKAKU



HE IS UNKNOWN,
THE POET WHO SINGS
THIS GREATEST
OF ALL SONGS – SPRING

- SHIKI

From ‘Travelling Light. Walking the path of letting go. A compilation of columns from Life Positive magazine’ by Suma Varughese

Even a pin cannot drop to the ground, they say, without the whole universe conspiring.

Krishnamurti never managed to clear a single exam in his life. He sat for his matriculation three times but failed. Mary Lutyens, his biographer and childhood friend, whose mother, Emily, was virtually a surrogate mother to him, describes him in his university years as “vague, gentle, fallible, shy, simple-simpled, compliant, affectionate, delighting to laugh at the silliest jokes.” He also, she said, had a terrible memory and could remember nothing of an event after it had passed.

From ‘In Search of the Mahabharata. Notes of travels in India with Peter Brook 1982-1985’ by Jean-Claude Carriere. Translated from the French original by Aruna Vasudev

India …… a place where everything seems to have been foreseen, from one extreme to the other. Anything that one can do with this or with that. Complete. The least boring in the world, that is certain. A meticulous exploration of reality. Continuity of ancient kingdoms, the only one left. A gigantic anomaly: unless all the other countries are shadows of India.



Vyasa, the legendary author of the poem, says that the aim of the Mahabharata is “to inscribe the Dharma in the heart of man”. ……. There is an individual dharma which each one must know and follow, and also a collective, universal, cosmic dharma which one could call the world order. And one depends on the other. If a great number of people respect their individual dharmas, the cosmic dharma will be maintained. ……. Lavastine says that for him the most important sentence of the book is: “The dharma when it is protected, protects. When it is destroyed, it destroys”.



…… Cioran: “Man is a deceitful animal. History is his punishment.”



The African actors who are part of the journey ……….. They all find themselves in India for the first time and their reactions are similar: everything reminds them of Africa. They keep saying: this is like at home, it is like in Africa. Direct and profound links, even with the landscapes. But most of all in the way of thinking, the rituals, the rhythms.



A sentence of Henri Michaux which could be applied to the Mahabharata: “You tell this story to an old stick: it will sprout leaves and take root.”



What has India given us? Impossible to say. A secret dimension that will probably remain forever secret – beyond wonder, charm, irritation, repulsion. The pulsating energy, above all else, and the mixture of things.



As Krishna said to Vyasa, the god to the man: “Which one of us invented the other?”

From ‘Quotes of Jalaluddin Rumi’ by The Wisdom Tree. Compiled by Harish Dhillon

If you could untie your wings

and free your soul of jealousy

you and everyone around you

would fly like doves.

If you love love look for yourself.

How is it with this love?

I see your world but not you.

Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere.

They’re in each other all along.

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

A polished mirror cannot help reflecting.

What matters is how quickly you do

what your soul directs.

All religions, all this singing one song.

The differences are just illusion and vanity.

Sunlight looks slightly different on this wall

than it does on that wall and a lot different

on this other one, but it is still one light.

Lovers feel a truth inside themselves

that rational people keep denying.

Every object and being in the universe

is a jar overfilled with wisdom and beauty.

Don’t do daily prayers like a bird pecking,

moving it's head up and down,

Prayer is an egg -

hatch out the total helplessness inside.

Watch the man beating the rug.

He is not mad at it.

He wants to loosen the layers of dirt.

Ego accumulations are not

loosened with one swat.

Continued work is necessary.

Do not keep talking about the garden.

Eat the grapes

Not Christian or Jew or Muslim,

not Hindu, Budhist, Sufi, Zen,

not any religion or cultural system,

I belong to the beloved

and know the first, last, outer, inner

only that breath breathing human being.

If it is true that rules rise from love

it is also true that

lovers pay not attention to rules.

No matter how hard

you stare into muddy water,

you will not

see the moon or the sun.

Hold on to your particular pain.

That too can take you to God.

Why should I seek? I am the same as He,

His essence speaks through me

I have been looking for myself.

Open your hands, if you want to be held.

When I was apart from you

this world did not exist,

whatever I was looking for was always you,

Why did I ever learn to count till three?

I used to want buyers for my words.

Now I wish someone would

buy me away from words

Spiritual arrogance is the ugliest of all things,

It's like a day that’s cold and snowy,

and your clothes are wet too.

Let the lover be

Disgraceful crazy absentminded

Someone sober will worry

about things going badly.

Let the lover be.

How long will you complain about money

and our prospect for money?

Don’t worry about transient things.

Think how the animals live.

The dove on the branch giving thanks,

the glorious singing of the nightingale

Every living thing trusts in God

for it's nourishment

The mystery does not get clearer

by repeating the questions,

nor is it bought with going to amazing places,

Until you’ve kept your eyes

and your wanting

still for fifty years,

You don’t begin to cross over

from confusion.

When I am with you, we stay awake all night

when you are not here, I can’t go to sleep.

Praise God for these two insomniacs

and the difference between them.

I honour those who try to rid themselves

of any lying, who empty the self

and have one clear being then.

Your loving doesn’t know it's majesty

until it knows it's helplessness.

A little while alone in your room

will prove more valuable than anything else

that could ever be given to you.

I swear by the one who never says tomorrow

as the circle of the moon refuses to sell

instalments of light.

It gives all it has.

The rose does not care

if someone calls it thorn or jasmine

Ordinary eyes categorize human beings,

that one is Zoroastrian, this one Muslim,

Bow to the essence in a human being.

Curing a hide, the tanner rubs in acid

and all manner of filth.

This makes a beautiful soft leather.

Every hard thing that happens

Works on you like this.

Humble living does not diminish,

It fills.

Going back to a simpler self gives wisdom.

From ‘Strength in the Storm. Creating Calm in difficult times’ by Eknath Easwaran

I Weave a Silence

I weave a silence onto my lips.
I weave a silence onto my mind.
I weave a silence within my heart.
I close my ears to distractions.
I close my eyes to attractions.
I close my heart to temptations.
Calm me, O Lord, as you stilled the storm.
Still me, O Lord; keep me from harm.
Let all tumult within me cease.
Enfold me, Lord, in your peace.

- A Gaelic prayer



Even if you do nothing in prayer but bring your mind back whenever it wanders, one Catholic mystic says, your time is very well spent.



The Mirror of this World

Every particle of the world is a mirror,
In each atom lies the blazing light
of a thousand suns
Cleave the heart of a rain-drop,
a hundred pure oceans will flow forth.
Look closely at a grain of sand,
The seed of a thousand beings can be seen
The foot of an ant is larger than an elephant;
In essence, a drop of water
is no different than the Nile.
In the heart of a barley-corn
lies the fruit of a hundred harvests;
Within the pulp of a millet seed
an entire universe can be found.
In the wing of a fly, an ocean of wonder;
In the pupil of the eye, an endless heaven.
Though the inner chamber of the heart is small,
the Lord of both worlds
gladly makes his home there.

- Mahmud Shabestari



…….. inspired words such as these, from Saint Augustine:
Imagine if all the tumult of the body were to quiet down, along with all our busy thoughts about earth, sea and air;
if the very world should stop, and the mind cease thinking about itself, go beyond itself, and be quite still;
if all the fantasies that appear in dreams and imagination should cease, and there be no speech, no sign:
And imagine if that moment were to go on and on, leaving behind all other sights and sounds but this one vision which ravishes and absorbs and fixes the beholder in joy:
Would this not be what is bidden in scripture,
Enter into the joy of thy Lord?



I once went with a friend to see what we thought was a harmless comedy. It turned out to be savage and violent, with attempts at humor that I found degrading. When we leave the theater after an experience like this, I think most of us feel a little worse inside. Shows like this are at the expense of the mind …… In most of us …… incessant exposure to violence in the media doesn’t build up until we erupt in mayhem. Instead, there is a gradual shift in character. Over time, we find we have developed a more belligerent attitude, aggressive language, abusive behavior, increasingly frequent urges to strike back at someone ………we should remind ourselves every time we go out for entertainment or switch on the TV, “This experience is going to become part of me. Will I be the better for it? Will it leave me calmer, or will it agitate me? Will it make me more compassionate, or will it stir up anger or leave me depressed?”

From ‘Walking with a Himalayan master’ by Justin O'Brien

“The key to meditative posture is the spinal column. Keep it erect,” he instructed. “In this way, the lungs are free to breathe and the energy of the body can travel uninterruptedly.”



Mantra, “that which removes the disturbances of the mind.” ……. Mantra is a sacred sound – a vibration – that affects reality …… the vibration of the mantra affects the energy levels composing one’s nature, manifesting the qualities specified by the particular vibrations of the mantra.



Progress in life only comes when we understand ourselves ……. We are never truly satisfied with just belief. Christians especially hold themselves back …… Faith can never make an intelligent person secure. Borrowed beliefs are not very helpful since they are not tested by experience …….



Swamiji told us that when the body undergoes a profound expansion of conscious energy, it needs preparation. Otherwise an imbalance will occur when the power opens. Some teachers of yoga allow their students to have a taste of the pure universal force, guiding them through the experience, but usually a student is asked to prepare the body and mind through regular practice

When yogis reach a certain level of pacification within, the natural sensory powers, such as hearing, are expanded enormously. The range of their acuity far exceeds normal hearing distances. In fact, the yogi can focus his hearing awareness to any location.



Apparently, continuous meditation on the space between the two eyebrows stimulates the pineal gland to deposit a sandy secretion that forms a circular pattern beneath the skin resembling the shape of the eye. When the biological secretion has reached a certain consolidation, the power of sight can be manifested there without the customary physical eyes. When this third eye or divya chaksu is used, a wide range of energy levels can be perceived.



…… Ramana Maharshi ….. was the reincarnation of Shankara, the great eighth century philosopher-yogi



“Sir,” the young man ….. “it has been said that you are an incarnation of the apostle Peter.”

Swamiji looked at the young man, saw his sincerity, and answered softly, “If I say yes, I will be bragging; if I say no, I will be lying.”



“People have habits of irregular breathing due to demands and stresses of life. Unless these habits are corrected, you will be held back from going to tranquility. In inspecting the flow of your breath, first note if the exchange is jerky, or shallow, or noisy, or interrupted by long pauses during the flow. Then make the flow smooth, deep, silent, and close down the gaps between the exchange. …. note how gentle and fine the breathing becomes. Both mind and breath will become subtle. Those moments lead to peace.”



“…. to seriously study breath behavior you need to have both nostrils open simultaneously. Then you can study the conditions of the mind and even the realms of intuition and pre-cognition.”



Mantras are sounds …… vibrations …. The more you remember the sound quietly, silently, without moving the tongue, even without using breath, the more the sounds vibrate and transform the whole personality … When you remember your mantra continuously, your practice is called japa. When you continue assimilating it and make it a predominate part of your nature, it is then called ajapa-japa.



Someone says you look pretty, and you feel good about yourself; someone says the opposite, and you brood. Who is controlling whom? …… You have to decide whether you want to direct your life or just be a conglomeration of sense impressions with an endless parade of thoughts



He talked about the importance of resting for a few minutes after each meal, making sure that the right nostril flowed freely, for this assisted in digestion