Spiritual-Teaching.org
Teachings from Various Saints of India on Spiritual Life and Practice
Paramahansa Yogananda on the Importance of Meditation
A rare audio recording from the Master
"Ever-new Joy is God. He is inexhaustible; as you continue your meditations during the years, He will beguile you with an infinite ingenuity. Devotees like yourself who have found the way to God never dream of exchanging Him for any other happiness; He is seductive beyond thought of competition...
On Love of God
"Pashupati (smiling): Everything will continue as long as the Divine Mother will keep it going.
Sri Ramakrishna: That is true. But it is good to keep one's mind on God. It is not good to forget Him.
Nanda Bose: How can our mind turn to Him?
Sri Ramakrishna: It happens if He is gracious.
Nanda Bose: But where is His grace? Has He the power to bestow it?
The Role of Celibacy in Spiritual Life
Question: Celibacy is often seen in the modern West as an outmoded, old-fashioned practice. It is often viewed as repressive, life-denying—even antithetical to what spiritual practice is ultimately all about. These views stand in stark contrast to what the great traditions have always taught. What do you think about this?
How to face life?
We have forgotten our real nature; we have to regain its awareness. Arjuna was Nara incarnate, but being embodied, he forgot his real nature. He was in great grief. A war had to be fought so that the power of right might destroy the evil. When there is trouble, we want to renounce the world. Face the realities of the world with dispassion, without identifying yourself with them.
The Rugged Path, A personal letter from Swami Sivananda Saraswati
“Realization of the Absolute is not a talk, is not a play. It is the most difficult and the hardest of all tasks. It demands the price of one's very self. Will you really and willingly pay it? It demands your ego. It demands your very being as the cost for Self-realization.”
The Poison That Kills
The poison of a king cobra can bring about the death of a person. But more fatal than that are the sense-objects which are more virulent.
Sri Aurobindo on: Until a "Yogic Opening" occurs, the Mind of Man is
Only a little bit of Surface Movement.
In Yoga we insist always on an ‘opening’ - an opening inwards of the inner mind, vital (prana), physical to the inmost part of us, the psychic, and an opening upwards to what is above the mind - as indispensable for the fruits of the sadhana.
“The Up and Down Movement in Yoga” by Sri Aurobindo
Everything once gained is there and can be regained. Yoga is not a thing that goes by one decisive rush one way or the other – it is a building up of a new consciousness and is full of ups and downs.
Nectar from Swami Shantananda Puri on Making the Goal of Life a Living Reality
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"By observing the "I", clinging to it, dogging its footsteps, following it to it's hideout - the source to which it runs, the Sadhaks have transformed a beautiful story of the romance of the soul into a detective fiction. Sherlock Holmes again!
Droplets of Wisdom Sublime
“Since our tendencies from previous births compel us to live in an externalized manner, we must adopt an equally habitual practice for counteracting and reversing the direction of our thought.
This is the purpose of Sadhana!”
Mirabai, a living embodiment that “God is Glorious in His Saints”.
As the lotus dies without water, as the night is blind without the moon,
So is my heart without you, Beloved.
I wander alone at night, driven by my longing for you.
I hunger for you all the day...
Wisdom of Mahatma Gandhi on Prayer and Faith in God
“If we had attained the full vision of Truth, we would no longer be mere seekers,
but have become one with God, for truth is God...
Prayer has saved my life. Without it I should have been a lunatic long ago.”
A Smile, the Highest Operation of Grace
There is so much that can be said about a smile; indeed the exaltation it brings is indispensable even for saints. Saint Francis de Sales once said: “A saint who is sad, is a sad saint!” Indeed, smiling opens the heart and lets your light shine. Scientists claim that it encourages good health; it reduces stress, increases the endorphin flow (the inner happy chemicals in the blood) and it is contagious.
