Inspirational Prayers and Quotations

....about truth and illusion

....about walking the path back home

The following prayers and quotations are some of my favourites. They are taken from sources other than A Course in Miracles® but relate to themes found in the Course. I have grouped them in two sections which relate to the metaphysical and practical teachings of the Course.

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Truth and Illusion

If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern.
~William Blake

The real does not die, the unreal never lived..... The world and the mind are states of being. The supreme is not a state. It pervades all states, but it is not a state of something else. It is entirely uncaused, independent, complete in itself, beyond time and space, mind and matter.....There is nothing to recognise it by. It must be seen directly, by giving up all search for signs and approaches. When all names and forms have been given up, the real is with you. You need not seek it. Plurality and diversity are the play of the mind only. Reality is one.
~I Am That Nisargadatta Maharaj

What do you mean when you use the term "myself"? As you are many and ever changing, is there an enduring moment when you can say that this is the ever "me"? It is a multiple entity, the bundle of memories that must be understood and not seemingly the one entity that calls itself the "me".
~J. Krishnamurti. Ojai 1945

The common division of the world into subject and object, inner world and outer world, body and soul is no longer adequate.
~Werner Heisenberg. Quantum physicist

If you get even a hint of what enlightenment is, you'll give up everything for it. Because everything that isn't enlightenment is vanishing all the time. At this very moment there's hardly ground beneath our feet, and what ground there is, is vanishing as we speak. People think they're awake when they're walking around in the street, but actually they're asleep then, too. Awakening is when you see through it all-the dream when you're asleep and the one when you're "awake." Then you understand that the viewpoint we have of ourselves is based on a misconception-that because we perceive our personal experience as the ultimate reality when in fact it's not, we don't approach life as we should. That"s why we need enlightenment to straighten us out.
~from an interview with Vernon Turner in What is Enlightenment? Issue 15

The stuff of the world is mind - stuff
~Sir Arthur Eddington, physicist.

What is called "mind" is a wondrous power residing in the Self. It causes all thoughts to arise. Apart from thoughts, there is no such thing as mind. Therefore, thought is the nature of mind. Apart from thoughts, there is no independent entity called the world. In deep sleep there are no thoughts, and there is no world. In the states of waking and dream, there are thoughts, and there is a world also. Just as the spider emits the thread (of the web) out of itself and again withdraws it into itself, likewise the mind projects the world out of itself and again resolves it into itself. When the mind comes out of the Self, the world appears. Therefore, when the world appears (to be real), the Self does not appear; and when the Self appears (shines) the world does not appear. When one persistently inquires into the nature of the mind, the mind will end leaving the Self (as the residue).
~Who Am I? Ramana Maharshi

The world of physics is a world of shadows, we were not aware of it; we thought we were dealing with the real world....... Subject and object are only one. The barrier between them cannot be said to have broken down as a result of recent experiments in the physical sciences, for this barrier does not exist....... I don't like it, and I'm sorry I ever had anything to do with it.
~ Erwin Schrodinger. 1887 - 1961

Even your body is a notion. Let us start with this. If you don't give rise to the notion "I am the body", there is no body. This body is an object of the mind, a thought in the mind, including the senses, and all their activities moving towards different objects of sight, sound, hearing, tasting, and touch. This whole manifestation in front of you is only your notion. Actually it doesn't exist. Only when we successfully understand this will you have tremendous peace and eternal happiness. That has always been your fundamental nature.
~Satsang with Papji. 29 June, 1992

Anyone who is not shocked by quantum theory has not understood it..... Isolated material particles are abstractions, their properties being definable and observable only through their interaction with the other system..... Independent reality in the ordinary sense can be ascribed neither to the phenomena nor to the agencies of observation.
~Niels Bohr. 1885 - 1962

Reality is the ultimate destroyer. All separation, every kind of estrangement and alienation is false. All is one - this is the ultimate solution of every conflict......As long as we imagine ourselves to be separate personalities, one quite apart from another, we cannot grasp reality which is essentially impersonal...... To locate a thing you need space, to place an event you need time; but the timeless and spaceless defies handling. It makes everything perceivable, yet itself is beyond perception. The mind cannot know what is beyond the mind, but the mind is known by what is beyond it.
~I Am That Nisargadatta Maharaj

Enlightenment is first of all coming to understand that there is no self in the conventional sense. People tend to think of the self as, "Well, I'm the guy who went to this high school and had these parents, and I'm the guy who's got an accounting degree, and I worked my way through it all and achieved these things." Now that's purely an illusory self that we're talking about. Enlightenment is coming to understand or experience that there is no objective self-there is a being, but there's no objective self-and it's in the process of letting go of that notion that one experiences what one truly is in the universal sense. That's when enlightenment comes-when you realize that you are not in control. And because of that, you are very much in control.
~from an interview with Vernon Turner in What is Enlightenment? Issue 15

Waking is long and a dream short; other than this there is no difference. Just as waking happenings seem real while awake, so do those in a dream while dreaming. In dream the mind takes on another body. In both waking and dream states thoughts, names and forms occur simultaneously.
~Who Am I? Ramana Maharshi

The universe looks less and less like a great machine and more and more like a great thought.
~Sir James Jeans, physicist.

Having access to that formless realm is truly liberating. It frees you from bondage to form and identification with form. It is life in its undifferentiated state prior to its fragmentation into multiplicity. We may call it the Unmanifested, the invisible Source of all things, the Being within all beings. It is a realm of deep stillness and peace, but also of joy and intense aliveness. Whenever you are present, you become 'transparent' to some extent to the light, the pure consciousness that emanates from this Source. You also realize that the light is not separate from who you are but constitutes your very essence.
~The Power of Now Eckhart Tolle

The seer and the object seen are like the rope and the snake. Just as the knowledge of the rope which is the substrate will not arise unless the false knowledge of the illusory serpent goes, so the realization of the Self which is the substrate will not be gained unless the belief that the world is real is removed. When the mind, which is the cause of all cognitions and of all actions, becomes quiescent, the world will disappear.
~Who Am I? Ramana Maharshi

The real does not begin; it only reveals itself as beginning less and endless, all-pervading, all-powerful, immovable prime mover, timelessly changeless..... Reality is not an event, it cannot be experienced....reality neither comes nor goes. There is no such thing as an expression of reality.....Only reality is: there is nothing else.

The trinity: mind, self and spirit, when looked into, become unity...... "Nothing is me", is the first step. "Everything is me" is the next.
~I Am That Nisargadatta Maharaj

Happiness is the very nature of the Self; happiness and the Self are not different. There is no happiness in any object of the world. We imagine through our ignorance that we derive happiness from objects. When the mind goes out, it experiences misery. In truth, when its desires are fulfilled, it returns to its own place and enjoys the happiness that is the Self. Similarly, in the states of sleep, samadhi and fainting, and when the object desired is obtained or the object disliked is removed, the mind becomes inward-turned, and enjoys pure Self-Happiness. Thus the mind moves without rest alternately going out of the Self and returning to it. Under the tree the shade is pleasant; out in the open the heat is scorching. A person who has been going about in the sun feels cool when he reaches the shade. Someone who keeps on going from the shade into the sun and then back into the shade is a fool. A wise man stays permanently in the shade. Similarly, the mind of the one who knows the truth does not leave Brahman. The mind of the ignorant, on the contrary, revolves in the world, feeling miserable, and for a little time returns to Brahman to experience happiness. In fact, what is called the world is only thought. When the world disappears, i.e. when there is no thought, the mind experiences happiness; and when the world appears, it goes through misery.
~Who Am I? Ramana Maharshi

I saw a wise man dying of starvation.

Leaves fall in the slightest
wind in December.

And I saw a wealthy man beating his cook
for some mistake with the spices.

Since then, I Lalla, have been waiting
for my love of this place to leave me.

- Lalla
14th Century North Indian mystic

It is false to speak of realisation. What is there to realise?
The real is as it is always. We are not creating anything new or
achieving something which we did not have before. The illustration
given in books is this. We dig a well and create a huge pit. The
space in the pit or well has not been created by us. We have just
removed the earth which was filling the space there. The space
was there then and is also there now. Similarly we have simply
to throw out all the age-long samskaras [innate tendencies] which
are inside us. When all of them have been given up, the Self will
shine alone.
This quotation is from "Be As You Are"
The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi
Edited by David Godman, Arkana, 1985


"In the Land of Great Perfection there are no Buddhas and no sentient
beings. In the ground of Great Perfection there are no moral dualities.
There is no near or far on the Great Perfection path. There is no attainment
or non-attainment of the Great Perfection goal. There is no correct or
incorrect behaviour in Great Perfection. There is no meditation or
non-meditation in the reality of Great Perfection. "
~Shabkar Lama

Name and form hide Reality: This is the Teaching.
Giving name and form is an obstacle to Freedom because
then the Substratum, Consciousness, cannot be seen.
Call it a statue of a horse and the granite is hidden,
see a ring and you won't see the gold.
Name and form can never leave Consciousness,
as the ring can never leave the gold.
Even space is in this because only Self is.
~Papaji

To take appearance for reality is a grievous sin and the
cause of all calamities. You are the all-pervading, eternal
and infinitely creative awareness - consciousness. All else
is local and temporary. Don't forget what you are.
~I Am That Nisargadatta Maharaj

All other knowledges are only petty and trivial knowledges;
the experience of silence alone is the real and perfect knowledge.
Know that the many objective differences are not real but are
mere superimpositions on Self, which is the form of true
knowledge.
~Sri Ramana Maharshi

Walking the Path Back Home

Do understand that you are destined for enlightenment. Co-operate with your destiny, don't go against it, don't thwart it. Allow it to fulfil itself. All you have to do is to give attention to the obstacles created by the foolish mind..... The search for reality is the most dangerous of all undertakings for it will destroy the world in which you live. But if your motive is love of truth and life, you need not be afraid.
I Am That Nisargadatta Maharaj

To offer no resistance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness. This state is then no longer dependent upon things being in a certain way, good or bad. It seems almost paradoxical, yet when your inner dependency on form is gone, the general conditions of your life, the outer forms, tend to improve greatly. Things, people, or conditions that you thought you needed for your happiness now come to you with no struggle or effort on your part, and you are free to enjoy and appreciate them - while they last. All those things, of course, will still pass away, cycles will come and go, but with dependency gone there is no fear of loss anymore. Life flows with ease.
~The Power of Now Eckhart Tolle

The self-controlled soul, who moves amongst sense objects, free
from either attachment or repulsion, he wins eternal Peace.
~Bhagavad Gita

There will come a point in everyone's life
where only intuition can make the leap ahead,
without ever knowing precisely how.
One can never know why,
but one must accept intuition as a fact.
~Albert Einstein

Discover all you are not. Body, feelings, thoughts, ideas, time, space, being and not being, this or that - nothing concrete or abstract you can point out to is you. You must watch yourself continuously - particularly your mind - moment by moment, missing nothing. This witnessing is essential for the separation of the self from the not-self ........ be aware of that state which is only, simply being, without being this or that or the other.
~ I Am That Nisargadatta Maharaj

In order to swim one takes off all one's clothes - in order
to aspire to the truth one must undress in a far more inward
sense, divest oneself of all one's inward clothes, of
thoughts, conceptions, selfishness etc., before one is completely
naked.
~Soren Kierkegaard

There are only three kinds of mental business: mine, yours and God's (the God of your understanding).
The effect of mentally being out of my business is separation and loneliness. To assume that I know what's best for you or anyone else is pure arrogance. In the long run, can I really know more than you or God about your life and welfare? The result of this arrogance is tension, worry and anxiety. Being mentally in another's business keeps me from being present with myself. The kind thing is just to know what is best for me, in the moment. This is a full life's work. This is my business, this is my life. This practice keeps me healthy, effective and free of stress. From this inner place, I live as a clear and loving example of peace - a friend without conditions.
P.S. If you practice living mentally in your own business for a while, you may come to see that you are God's business, not the other way around.
~Byron Katie

You need not get at it (Enlightenment), for you are it. It will get at you, if you give it a chance. Let go your attachment to the unreal and the real will swiftly and smoothly slip into its own. Stop imagining yourself being or doing this or that and the realisation that you are the source and heart of all will dawn upon you. With this will come great love which is not choice or predilection, nor attachment, but a power which makes all things love - worthy and lovable.
~ I Am That Nisargadatta Maharaj

Beloved, to thee I raise my whole being, a vessel emptied of self,
Accept Lord, this my emptiness, and so fill me with Thyself -
Thy Light, Thy Love, Thy Life, that these Thy precious Gifts
may radiate through me and over-flow the chalice of my heart into
the hearts of all with whom I come in contact this day
revealing unto them the beauty of Thy Joy and Wholeness and
the serenity of Thy Peace which nothing can destroy.
~Francis Nuttall

Spontaneous activity does not need to be manipulated by intellect, mind, or senses. Spontaneous activity will be conducted by a higher power and it is not your concern! If you are concerned, there is doership, and then karma and the world reappears. To become a doer - "I am doing" - you become responsible. But when you return to discover where this doership arises from, it will leave you. Then some unforeseen, indescribable activity will take charge of you. Unexplainable knowledge will take charge of you. Supreme activity, unheard of, will take charge of you. That is spontaneous activity within itself, and you are not in charge.
~Wake Up and Roar - satsang with H.W.L. Poonja

Doership is a myth born from the illusion of 'me' and 'the mine'.
~I Am That Nisargadatta Maharaj

All the texts say that in order to gain release one should render the mind quiescent; therefore their conclusive teaching is that the mind should be rendered quiescent; once this has been understood there is no need for endless reading. In order to quieten the mind one has only to inquire within oneself what one"s Self is; how could this search be done in books? One should know one's Self with one's own eye of wisdom. The Self is within the five sheaths; but books are outside them. Since the Self has to be inquired into by discarding the five sheaths, it is futile to search for it in books. There will come a time when one will have to forget all that one has learned.
~Who Am I? Ramana Maharshi

Once you are quiet, things will begin to happen spontaneously and quite naturally, without any interference on your part.
~I Am That Nisargadatta Maharaj

Make me a channel of your peace
Where there is hatred let me bring your love;
Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord
And where there's doubt the true faith in you.

O master, grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love with all my soul.

Make me a channel of your peace
Where there is despair in life let me bring hope,
Where there is darkness only light
And where there's sadness ever joy.

O master, grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love with all my soul.

Make me a channel of your peace
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned
In giving to all men that we receive
And in dying that we are born to eternal life.
~Prayer of St Francis of Assisi

Having never left the house you asking for the way home. Get rid of wrong ideas, that is all. Collecting right ideas also will take you nowhere. Just cease imagining..... Don't rely on your mind for liberation. It is the mind that brought you into bondage. Go beyond it altogether.
~I Am That Nisargadatta Maharaj

Every part of the personality you do not love will become hostile to you.
~Carl Jung

Self-surrender is the surrender of all self-concern. It cannot be done, it happens when you realise your true nature..... The first steps in self-acceptance are not at all pleasant, for what one sees is not a happy sight. One needs all the courage to go further. What helps is silence. Look at yourself in total silence, do not describe yourself.
~I Am That Nisargadatta Maharaj

The LOVE PROJECT principles are:

- Be the change you want to see happen, instead of trying to change everyone else.

- Receive all persons, including yourself, as beautiful exactly where they are.

- Provide others with the opportunity to give.

- Perceive problems as opportunities.

- Have no expectations, but rather, abundant expectancy.

- Create your own reality consciously, rather than
living as if you had no control over your life.

REMEMBER: Choice is the life process. In every moment of awareness, you are free to make a new choice.
~"The Love Project" Arleen Lorrance

Try to be, only to be. The all-important word is 'try'. Allot enough time daily for sitting quietly and trying, just trying, to go beyond the personality, with its addictions and obsessions. Don't ask how, it cannot be explained. You just keep on trying until you succeed. If you persevere, there can be no failure. What matters supremely is sincerity, earnestness; you must really have had surfeit of being the person you are, now see the urgent need of being free of this unnecessary self-identification with a bundle of memories and habits. This steady resistance against the unnecessary is the secret of success.
~I Am That Nisargadatta Maharaj

We do not see things as they are.
We see them as we are.
~The Talmud

I am a point of light within a greater Light.
I am a strand of loving energy within
the stream of Love divine
I am a point of sacrificial Fire,
focussed within the fiery Will of God
And thus I stand.

I am a way by which men may achieve.
I am a source of strength, enabling them to stand.
I am a beam of light, shining upon their way
And thus I stand.

And standing thus, revolve
And tread this way the ways of men,
And know the ways of God.
And thus I stand.
The Affirmation of the Disciple
~Alice Baily

As long as you feel competent and confident, reality is beyond your reach. Unless you accept inner adventure as a way of life, discovery will not come to you.
~I Am That Nisargadatta Maharaj

RULES FOR BEING HUMAN

1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period this time around.

2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.

3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial and error experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately "works".

4. A lesson is repeated until it is learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can then go on to the next lesson.

5. Learning lessons does not end. There is no part of life that does not contain its lessons. If you are alive there are lessons to be learned.

6. "There" is no better than "here". When your "there" has become a "here" you will simply obtain another "there" that will, again, look better than "here".

7. Others are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.

8. What you make of life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.

9. Your answers lie inside you. The answers to life's questions lie inside you. All you need to do is look, listen, trust.

10. You will forget all this.
~(Anonymous)

Keep quiet, undisturbed, and the wisdom and the power will come on their own..... Abandon all desires, keep your mind silent and you shall discover..... Desirelessness is the highest bliss.
~I Am That Nisargadatta Maharaj

"Bondage" and "Liberation" are mere linguistic terms. They have no reality of their own. Therefore they cannot function of their own accord. It is necessary to accept the existence of some basic thing of which they are the modifications. If one enquires, "for whom is there bondage and Liberation?" it will be seen, "they are for me". If one enquires, "who am I?", one will see that there is no such thing as the "I". It will then be as clear as an amalaka fruit in one's hand that what remains is one's real being. As this truth will be naturally and clearly experienced by those who leave aside mere verbal discussions and enquire into themselves inwardly, there is no doubt that all realized persons uniformly see neither bondage nor Liberation so far as the true Self is concerned.
~Spiritual Instruction Ramana Maharshi

Reality is the Highest Order What is, is!
I have simply stopped arguing with reality. How do I know the wind should blow? It's blowing. How do I know this is the highest order? It's happening. Arguing with 'what is' is like teaching a cat to bark. It's not very fulfilling. I am my friend and no longer confused. The way I know that reality is good is that when I argue the point I experience tension, fear and frustration. I lose - not sometimes, but 100% of the time. It just doesn't feel natural inside: no balance, no connection. I want reality to change? Hopeless. Let me change my thinking. Some of us mentally argue with 'what is.' Others of us attempt to control and change 'what is,' and then tell ourselves and others that we actually had something to do with any apparent change that took place. This leaves no connection or room for God in my life. In the peaceful experience of no opposition to God, I remain aware of my nature: clear, vibrant, a friend, a listener.
~Byron Katie

Once you realise that the person is merely a shadow of the reality, but not the reality itself, you cease to fret and worry. You agree to be guided from within and life becomes a journey into the unknown..... If you just try to keep quiet, all will come - the work, the strength for work, the right motive. Must you know everything beforehand? Don't be anxious about your future - be quiet now and all will fall into place.
~I Am That Nisargadatta Maharaj

When you find out that you are faced with danger-when you're thinking, "What am I gonna do?"-see what happens if you say, "I'm not worried about it. I don't have to do anything. It'll be done." See what happens if you clear your mind and allow yourself to do exactly what is necessary, exactly what is correct. If you can do that, then when it's all over with, you'll discover that you're just there; you're an observer. And you'll discover that you've observed more than you've actually participated-that you have learned to still your mind so that the spirit can act. The spirit does not deliberate, only the mind does, and this is what you'll discover.
~Vernon Turner

You need not gather any more (experience), rather you must go beyond experience...... To believe that you depend on things and people for happiness is due to ignorance of your true nature; to know that you need nothing to be happy, except self-knowledge, is wisdom.
~I Am That Nisargadatta Maharaj

FOURTH LETTER OF BROTHER LAWRENCE
Writes of himself as of a third person, and encourages his correspondent to press on to fuller practicing of the Presence of God.

"I have taken this opportunity to communicate to you the sentiments of one of our society concerning the admirable effects and continual assistances which he receives from the presence of GOD. Let you and me both profit by them.
You must know, his continual care has been, for above forty years past that he has spent in religion, to be always with GOD; and to do nothing, say nothing, and think nothing which may displease Him; and this without any other view than purely for the love of Him, and because He deserves infinitely more.
He is now so accustomed to that Divine presence, that he receives from it continual succors upon all occasions. For about thirty years, his soul has been filled with joys so continual, and sometimes so great, that he is forced to use means to moderate them, and to hinder their appearing outwardly.
If sometimes he is a little too much absent from that Divine presence, GOD presently makes Himself to be felt in his soul to recall him; which often happens when he is most engaged in his outward business: he answers with exact fidelity to these inward drawings, either by an elevation of his heart towards GOD, or by a meek and fond regard to Him, or by such words as love forms upon these occasions; as for instance, My GOD, here I am all devoted to You: LORD, make me according to Your heart. And then it seems to him (as in effect he feels it) that this GOD of love, satisfied with such few words, reposes again, and rests in the depth and center of his soul. The experience of these things gives him such an assurance that GOD is always in the depth or bottom of his soul, and renders him incapable of doubting it, upon any account whatever."
Brother Lawrence

When you demand nothing of the world, nor of God, when you want nothing, seek nothing, expect nothing then the Supreme State will come to you uninvited and unexpected!
~I Am That Nisargadatta Maharaj

If we ourselves remain angry and then sing world peace,
it has little meaning. So, you see, first our individual self
must learn peace. This we can practice. Then we can teach
the rest of the world .
~The Dalai Lama

The method for abandoning the hold which duality has on con-
sciousness is not simple. The more comfort and pleasure available
to man, the less his chance for a strong enough push to force him to
give up even the temporary happiness of his achievements. And yet
he must eventually do this ( internally ) to bring the full focus of
consciousness to bear on the experience of the eternally inherent
self or soul, with all its blissful freedom of real existence.

This is why God loves most the so-called destitute and helpless.
The greater the helplessness, the greater can and should be the
dependence upon God for His help, which is ever more ready than
are the sincere and earnest wishes for it. The greater the bindings, the
greater the chances for quick, permanent relief, through fully con-
scious experience of man's own original and everlasting freedom.

The unlimited and everlasting spiritual freedom of the self or soul
exists eternally and infinitely in one and all, and is equally available
to every man and woman irrespective of class, creed or nationality.
Spiritual freedom can and does transcend all the illusory phenom-
ena of duality, because divine Oneness is always divine Oneness,
before the beginningless beginning and beyond the endless end.
Contrarily, the illusion of all material binding from first to last is
always illusion, and even its illusory existence depends upon the play
of the eternal spiritual freedom of the soul.

It is only in spiritual freedom that one can have enduring happiness
and unhampered self-knowledge. It is only in spiritual freedom that
one finds the supreme certainty of truth-realization. It is only in
spiritual freedom that there is a final end to sorrow and limitation. It
is only in spiritual freedom that one can live for all, and yet remain
detached in the midst of all activity.
~Listen Humanity Meher Baba


Spiritual maturity lies in the readiness to let go everything. The giving up is the first step. But the real giving up is in realising that there is nothing to give up..... To be, you must be nobody. To think yourself to be something, or somebody, is death and hell...... When you are no longer attached to anything, you have done your share. The rest will be done for you.
~I Am That Nisargadatta Maharaj

Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger
than any material force, that thoughts rule the world.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Once you have seen that you are dreaming, you shall wake up. But you do not see, because you want the dream to continue. A day will come when you will long for the ending of the dream, with all your heart and mind, and be willing to pay any price; the price will be dispassion and detachment, the loss of interest in the dream itself.
~I Am That Nisargadatta Maharaj

We look backward too much and we look forward
too much; thus we miss the only eternity of which
we can be absolutely sure - the eternal present,
for it is always now.
~William Phelps

if you distance yourself
only for an hour
from your endless thoughts
what do you think will happen

if you let yourself sink
just like a fish
into the ocean of our love
what do you think will happen

you are merely
a piece of straw
and we are
that eternal amber

if you leap forth
from your lowly house
to fuse with the amber
what do you think will happen

a hundred times
you've promised yourself
to depart from self-claim
to be humble as earth

only for once
if you keep your word
what do you think will happen

you're a precious
hidden diamond
sunken in the mud

if you wash away
all that impurity
from your gorgeous face
what do you think will happen

if you abandon
for a little while
your ego and greed
tear down your shield
rise with a quest
to unite with the divine
what do you think will happen

~ Ghazal (ode) 844
Translated by Nader Khalili
"Rumi, Fountain of Fire"
Cal-Earth Press, 1994

Fearful, always-moving mind,
the One who has no beginning
is thinking of how hunger
may fall away from you.

No ritual,
no religion
is needed.

Just cry out one
unobstructed cry.

~Lalla
14th Century North Indian mystic

this body's existence is like a bubble's
may as well accept what happens
events and hopes seldom agree
but who can step back doesn't worry
we blossom and fade like flowers
gather and part like clouds
worldly thoughts I forgot long ago
relaxing all day on a peak
~Stonehouse ( 4th century Chinese Taoist )

Self is always Present, Bliss is always Present.
You are not to work at attaining it,
just remove the obstacles by which you can't see it.
The hindrance is only one: Attachment to the past.
~Papaji

Every man is where he is by the law of his being; the
thoughts which he has built into his character have brought
him there, and in the arrangement of his life there is no
element of chance, but all is the result of a law which
cannot err. This is just as true of those who feel "out of
harmony" with their surroundings as of those who are
contented with them.
~James Allen - As a Man Thinkth

Egocentricity is the process of wanting something other than what is.
Egocentricity means there is an "I" who is separate from everything
else and doesn't like it; one thing is happening, but I want a
different thing to be happening. Egocentricity is that constant
concern with how I feel, what I think, what I'm doing, what I want -
looking at what is and seeing it as inadequate.
My identity is maintained by the struggle of wanting something
other than what is; that is how I continue to know myself.

This practice involves finding a willingness to suffer in order
to end our suffering. Instead of spending our time trying to avoid
suffering, we just find the willingness to go directly into it.
Whenever anything causes us to suffer, we can know two things:
suffering is the same as egocentricity, and when it arises, that
is our best opportunity to end suffering. As we open to our
suffering,as we embrace it, as we accept it, our relationship to
it changes. It is no longer something horrible, something to escape
from. Suffering becomes just another opportunity, another chance for
freedom.
Please find out about that for yourself.
~From "Trying to be Human" Cheri Huber, Ed. Sara Jenkins

The ego is like an iceberg.
Ninety percent of it is under water.
As we observe it, the submerged
begins to move into the light of observation,
and melts into the light of awareness.
~Meher Baba

There comes a time when an individual becomes irresistible and his action
becomes all-pervasive in its effects. This comes when he reduces himself to zero.
~Gandhi

When you ride in a boat and watch the shore, you might assume that the shore
is moving. But when you keep your eyes closely on the boat, you
can see that the boat moves. Similarly, if you examine myriad things with
a confused body and mind you might suppose that your mind and nature
are permanent. When you practice intimately and return to where you are,
it will be clear that nothing at all has unchanging self.
~Zen Master Dogen, Moon in a Dewdrop, edited by Kazuaki Tanahashi

Within the prison of your world appears a man who
tells you that the world of painful contradictions,
which you have created, is neither continuous nor
permanent and is based on a misapprehension. He
pleads with you to get out ot it, by the same way
by which you got into it. You got into it by forgetting
what you are and you will get out of it by knowing
yourself as you are.
~I Am That Nisargadatta Maharaj

Symptoms of Inner Peace

Watch for signs of Peace. The hearts of a great many have already been exposed to it and it seems likely that we could find our society experiencing it in epidemic proportions.

Some signs and symptoms of Inner Peace are:

1. A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than from fear-based experience

2. An unmistakable ability to enjoy each other.

3. Loss of interest in judging other people.

4. Loss of interest in judging self.

5. Loss of interest in interpreting the action of others.

6. Loss of interest in conflict.

7. Loss of ability to worry . (A very serious symptom)

8. Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.

9. Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.

10. Frequent attacks of smiling through the eyes from the heart.

11. Increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.

12. Increased susceptibility to Love extended by other as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.

If you have all or even most of the above symptoms, please be advised that your condition may be too far advanced to turn back. If you are exposed to anyone exhibiting several of these symptoms, remain exposed at your own risk. This condition of Inner Peace is likely well into its infectious stage. Be forewarned.

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