Inspiring quotes from hinduism and other sources

Love to pray


Feel often during the day the need for prayer and pray.
Prayer opens the heart, till it is capable of containing God himself.
Ask and seek and your heart will be big enough to receive Him
and keep Him as Your Own.- Mother Theresa

 

So, I went to the Baha'i New Year with some friends (we were invited by a girl we know...long story)...so anyway...we got these little prayer books and the prayers aare beautiful and I wanted to share:

"Create in me a pure heart, O my God, and renew a tranquil conscience within me, O my Hope!Through the spirit of power confirm Thou me in Thy Cause, O my Best-Beloved, and by the light of Thy glory reveal unto me Thy path, O Thou the Goal of my desire"- Baha'ullah

"Rememberance of God is like the rain and dew which bestow freshness and grace on flowers and hyacinths, revive them and cause them to acquire fragrance, redolence and renewed charm...strive thou, then , to praise and glorify God by night and by day that thou mayest attain infinite freshness and beauty."- 'Abdul-Baha

"O God! Refresh and gladden my spirit. Purify my heart. Illumine my powers. I lay all my affairs in Thy hand. Thou art my Guide and my Refusge. I will no longer be sorrowful and grieved; I will be happy and joyful being. O God! I will no longer be full of anxiety nor will I let trouble harass me. I will not dwell on the unpleasant things of life. O God! Thou art more friend to me than I am to myself. I dedicate myself to Thee, O Lord."- 'Abdul-Baha

"In the highest prayer, men pray only for the love of God, not because they fear Him or hell, or hope for bounty or heaven...when a man falls in love with a human being, it is impossible for him to keep from mentioning the name of his beloved. How much more difficult is it to keep from meantioning the Name of God when one has come to love Him...The spiritual man finds no delight in anything save in commemoration of God."- 'Abdul-Baha

 

"If you want to loose your faith make friends with a priest." - Gurdjieff.

 

Prayer for Life's Journey

May we know that it is the journey that is important. May we find our own truths and the divine within ourselves and in doing so help our fellow travelers to find their own. May we see each other through spirit and not through worldly eyes. Namaste

- Beliefnet member DivineJourney

 

Lord, Settle My Soul

O Lord, this is all my desire -- to walk along the path of life that Thou hast appointed me, even as Jesus my Lord would walk along it, in steadfastness of faith, in meekness of spirit, in lowliness of heart, in gentleness of love. And because outward events have so much power in scattering my thoughts and disturbing the inward peace in which alone the voice of Thy spirit is heard, do Thou, gracious Lord, calm and settle my soul by that subduing power which alone can bring all thoughts and desires of the heart into captivity to Thyself. All I have is Thine; do Thou with all as seems best to Thy divine will; for I know not what is best. Let not the cares or duties of this life press on me too heavily; but lighten my burden, that I may follow Thy way in quietness, filled with thankfulness for Thy mercy, and rendering acceptable service unto Thee.

- Maria Hare (1798-1870)

 

"Consider, O my soul, and hear, all that is within me, how much my whole being owes to him! Lord, because you have made me, I owe you the whole of my love; because you have redeemed me, I owe you the whole of myself; because you have promised so much, I owe you all my beingƒ I pray you, Lord, make me taste by love what I taste by knowledge; let me know by love what I know by understanding. I owe you more than my whole self, but I have no more, and by myself I cannot render the whole of it to you. Draw me to you, Lord, in the fullness of love, I am wholly yours by creation; make me all yours, too, in love.

Lord, my heart is before you. I try, but by myself I can do nothing; do what I cannot. Admit me into the inner room of your love. I ask, I seek, I knock. You who made me seek, make me receive; you who gave the seeking, give the finding; you who taught the knocking, open to my knockƒ Good Lord, do not reject me; I faint with hunger for your love; refresh me with it. Let me be filled with your love, rich in your affection, completely held in your care." ~ St. Anselm (1033-1109) from Meditation on Human Redemption

 

This is an extract from a conversation between Bede Griffiths and Andrew Harvey quoted from Harvey's book 'Sun at Midnight'.


"....Bede said, "one last thing...remember that to participate in the birth of the (divine) Child what you most need is a direct relationship with the Divine. Many of the gurus now are not enlightened beings, but black magicians, occult masters manipulating millions of seekers; what Jesus called 'wolves in sheep's clothing'. All the serious mystical systems know of the existence of these occult powers, but modern seekers are naive and uninformed and so vulnerable to them. These 'masters' are not actually helping the Great Birth but working against it, aborting it."

 

"That which makes the eye see but cannot be
Seen by the eye, that is the Self indeed.
This Self is not someone other than you."

-Kena Upanishad

 

This is the result of practicing yoga to attain siddhis or of getting hung up on siddhis during the process...the false ego is not vanquished; rather, it is greatly strengthened by these powers. One becomes a cheater, and will cheat many who want to be cheated, and drag a lot of innocent and well meaning people in as well.

Srila Prabhupada referred to exhibitions of siddhis as "cheap parlor tricks" more than once.

 

Well Spook, as Bede Griffiths says there, all serious mystical systems know about the occult powers or siddhis, so it tends to show that Prabhupada represents an authentic tradition. Father Bede doesn't say all gurus today are cheaters. I don't see Prabhupada as a cheater - he didn't claim siddhis but actually achieved far more then many miracle-mongers and charlatans.

Although as you know I'm not a follower of Prabhupada, I've tried to make clear the fact that I do feel he was a genuine spiritual person with a definite message, even if that is often obscured IMHO by other stuff.
But I don't think he would be at all the category of guru to whom reference is being made here.
Also, perhaps I should note that like Vaishnavas, as a Benedictine, Bede Griffiths was not an advaitin. He believed in, and had had very deep experiences of a spiritual oneness of all things in God, but still believed in the individual soul. As I do myself. As such, Prabhupada's core philosophy of bheda abheda is not far removed from what I believe.

 

Bill...perhaps I went a little overboard by adding the note about Prabhupada...I do sometimes tiresomely push the idea that he's one of the "good guys"...done that enough already for the regulars here.

Regarding bheda abheda, my Christian upbringing figures very strongly in where I'm at spiritually and SP's presentation simultaneously fills the need for me to see God as a supreme person and to incorporate sanatana-dharma into my life as well. That's the reason that I find persons like Sri Krishna Prem and Bede Griffiths so interesting...Western Christian background and irresistibly attracted to the yogic path, long before it became fashionable.

 

I can only say again Spook that I respect your views as similar in many respects to my own. I don't think you are going too far - it is actually very good that you express your devotion to your teacher as you do here.

I guess that this thread is 'tough enough' to go on despite any slight deviations, so I'll add here that in my case, as some of my friends (SGB, Bhaskar, GD Kumar, Trippin BTM, kharakov and others) here are aware, I've had some difficulties over these last couple of years, and I suppose that's been reflected to an extent in my posts here. Overall, it's all been for me a question of seeking for many years for the right path, ie the right path for me personally.

About ten years ago, I became involved with an Indian spiritual teacher ( let them remain nameless) mainly as a result of some very negative experiences I was going through at the time.

I embraced this particular teacher perhaps for entirly the wrong motives, and all along, an aspect of my own consciousness has been aware of that. However, the territory of the inner mind and self is a place mysterious to our surface awareness - and so, with always an underlying feeling of doubt and even insincerity, I lived for a decade with a kind of 'overlay' of an entirely useless and false consciousness.
Truth was still there, thanks to my previous experiences with Christ, Krishna Consciousness (as preached by SP), and my great essence teacher, Gurdjieff, among other things.
It is only now that I am emerging from this. I hope and pray that God will forgive me if I have, through purely egoistic motives, misled anyone, or said things in this public forum that should not be said.
So - I speak here from experience.

Spook - If you are at all interested, pm me and I'll fill you in on all the horrid details of this.

 

.

 

Through self-effort and self-knowledge make the mind no-mind. Let infinite Consciousness swallow the finite mind, and then go beyond everything.

-Maharamayana

 

rayer for Peace on Earth

Send Thy peace O Lord, which is
perfect and everlasting,
that our souls may radiate peace.

Send Thy peace O Lord, that we
may think, act and speak harmoniously.

Send Thy peace O Lord, that we
may be contented and thankful for
Thy bountiful gifts.

Send Thy peace O Lord, that amidst
our worldly strife, we may enjoy Thy bliss.

Send Thy peace O Lord, that we
may endure all, tolerate all, in the thought of
Thy grace and mercy.

Send Thy peace O Lord, that our lives
may become a Divine vision and in Thy light,
all darkness may vanish.

Send Thy peace O Lord, our Father and Mother,
that we Thy children on Earth may all
unite in one family.

- Hazrat Inayat Khan

 

"The body does this, not I."
"My nature is purity."

With these thoughts,
Whatever he does,
He does nothing.

But he pretends not to know.

He finds freedom in this life,
But he acts like an ordinary man.

Yet he is not a fool.

Happy and bright,
He thrives in the world.

-Ashtavakra Gita 18:25-26

 

Prayer for God's Guidance

Govern everything by your wisdom, O Lord, so that my soul may always be serving you
in the way you will
and not as I choose.
Let me die to myself so that I may serve you;
let me live to you who are life itself.
Amen.

- St. Teresa of Avila

 

"Be humble and pray for light to repeal the darkness that makes you believe that croaking with reason is more rewarding han singing in rapture."- Sri Ramakrishna

 

"Dark One, hear me, I am mad with visions. Eaten up by separation, I wander from place to place covered in ash and clothed in skins. My body is wasting all because of you. Distraught and desperate, I go from forest to forest. Immortal and Unborn One, visit your beggar. Extinguish her pain with your pleasurable touch. Mira says: "End this coming and going. Let me forever embrace your sweet feet."

-Mirabai

 

​

From: Sure Ways to Guru Kripa by Sri Swami Chidananda​

​

“Sleep no more; wake up; sit in asana; do japa. Meditate on the Supreme Being. Read one chapter of the Gita. Have sattvic diet. Be simple in life; reduce your wants. Control anger through kshama (forgiveness). Observe mauna for some time every day. Speak the truth at all costs. Observe brahmacharya. Do charity every day according to your ability. Introspect; find out your defects and remove them. Draw inspiration from elevating, inspiring svadhyaya; daily svadhyaya will increase your knowledge and wisdom; your mind will become transformed and your heart purified, elevated and inspired. Read the lives of saints. Thus progress day by day.”​

​