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 Ritual worship, in it's own right, is a complete science, but today much of the science has been replaced by custom, dogma, and superstition.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