Inspiring quotes from hinduism and other sources

very simple and to the point-
"Everyone has choice- when to and not to raise their voices. It's you that decides"

~Layla

 

Another great George Harrison quote...thanks Layla.

 

from "The Secret of Success" by Swami Rama Tirtha (thanks Bhaskar for the site)

Three boys were given one five cent piece by their master to share equally among themselves. They decided to purchase something with the money. One of the boys was an Englishman, the other a Hindu and the third a Persian. None of them fully understood the language of the other, so they had some difficulty in deciding what to buy. The English boy insisted on purchasing a watermelon. The Hindu boy said, "No, no, I would like to have a hindwana." The third boy, the Persian said, "No, no, we must have a tarbooz." Thus they could not decide what to buy. Each insisted upon purchasing the thing which he preferred, disregarding the inclinations of the others. There was quite a wrangle among them. They were quarrelling and walking through the streets. They happened to pass a man who understood these three languagesÑEnglish, Persian and Hindustani. That man was amused over their quarrel. He said, he could decide the matter for them. All the three referred to him and were willing to abide by his decision. This man took the five cent piece from them and asked them to wait at the corner. He himself went out to the shop of a fruitseller and purchased one big watermelon for the five cent piece. He kept it concealed from them and called them one by one. He asked first the English boy to come and not allowing the young boy to know what he was doing, he cut the watermelon into three equal slices, took out one part; handed it to the English boy and said, "Is not that what you wanted?" The boy was highly pleased; he accepted it cheerfully, gratefully, and went away frisking and jumping, saying that it was what he wanted. Then the gentleman called the Persian boy to approach him and handed him the second piece and asked him if that was what he desired. Oh, the Persian boy was highly elated and said, "This is my tarbooz! This is what I wanted!" He went away very merry. Then the Hindu boy was called, the third piece was handed to him and he was asked if that was the object of his desire. The Hindu boy was well satisfied. He said, "This is what I wanted; this is my hindwana." Why was the quarrel or quibble caused? What is it that brought about the misunderstanding among the lads? The mere names. The mere names, nothing else. Take off the names, see behind the veil of names. Oh! there you find that the three different namesÑwatermelon, tarbooz and hindwanaÑimply one and the same thing. It is one object which underlies them all. It may be that the Persian tarbooz, the watermelon that grows in Persia, is slightly different from the watermelon they have in England, and it may be that the watermelons of India are slightly different from the watermelons of England, but in reality the fruit is the same. It is one and the same thing. Slight differences can be ignored.

Just so is Rama highly amused at the quibbles, quarrels, misunderstandings and controversies between different religions; Christians fighting Jews, Jews conflicting with Mohammadans, Mohammadans combating the Brahmanas, Brahmanas finding fault with the Buddhists, and the Buddhists returning the compliment in a similar manner. It is highly amusing to see such quarrels. The cause of those quarrels and misunderstandings is chiefly in names. Take off the veil of names, strike out the curtain of names, see behind them, look at what they imply, and there you will not find much difference.

Rama oftentimes uses the word "Vedanta," a name. It is this name which makes some people prejudiced against hearing anything from Rama. One man comes and he preaches in the name of Buddha; many people do not like to hear him, because he brings to them a name which is not agreeable to their ears. Be more considerate, please. In the twentieth century it is high time to rise above names. What Rama brings to you or what anybody else brings to you, take it on its own merits. Be not confounded by names, be not misled by names. Examine everything by itself, see if it works.

Accept not a religion because it is the oldest, its being the oldest is no proof of its being the true one. Sometimes the oldest houses ought to be pulled down and the oldest clothes must be changed. The latest innovation, if it can stand the test of reason, is as good as the fresh rose bedecked with sparkling dew. Accept not a religion because it is the latest. The latest things are not always the best, not having stood the test of time. Accept not a religion on the ground of its being believed in by a vast majority of mankind, because the vast majority of mankind believes practically in the religion of Satan, in the religion of ignorance. There was a time when the vast majority of mankind believed in slavery, but that could be no proof of slavery being a proper institution. Believe not in a religion on the ground of its being believed in by the chosen few. Sometimes the small minority that accepts a religion is in darkness, misled. Accept not a religion because it comes from a great ascetic, from a man who has renounced everything; because we see that there are many ascetics, men who have renounced every thing, and yet they know nothing, they are veritable fanatics. Accept not a religion because it comes from princes or kings, kings are often enough spiritually poor. Accept not a religion because it comes from a person whose character was the highest; oftentimes people of the grandest character have failed in expounding the truth. A manÕs digestive power may be exceptionally strong and yet he may not know anything about the process of assimilation. Here is a painter. He gives you a lovely, exquisite, splendid work of art, and yet the painter may be the ugliest man in the world. There are people who are very ugly and yet they promulgate beautiful truths. Socrates was such a man. There was Sir Francis Bacon, not a very moral man, not of over-fine character and yet he gave to the world "Novum Organum", and was the first to teach Inductive Logic; his philosophy was sublime. Believe not in a religion because it comes from a very famous man. Sir Isaac Newton is very famous, and yet his emissory theory of light is wrong, his rate or proportion at which a flowing quantity increases its magnitude, method of fluxions (Newtonian calculus) does not come up to the Differential System of Liebnitz. Accept a thing and believe in a religion on its own merits. Examine it yourself. Sift it. Sell not your liberty to Buddha, Jesus, Mohammad or Krishna. If Buddha taught that way or Christ taught this way, or if Mohammad taught in some other way, it was all good and all right for them; they lived in other times. They mastered their problems; they judged by their own intellects; it was so grand of them. But you are living today; you shall have to judge and scrutinize and examine matters for yourselves. Be free, free to look at everything by your own light. If your ancestors believed in a particular religion, it was perhaps very good for them to believe in that, but now your salvation is your own business, your redemption is not the business of your ancestors. They believed in a particular religion which may or may not have saved them, but you have to work out your own emancipation. Whatever comes before you, examine it per se, examine it by yourself, not giving up your freedom. To your ancestors only one particular religion may have been shown; to you all sorts of truths, all sorts of religions, all sorts of philosophies, all sorts of sciences are being demonstrated. If the religion of your ancestors is yours on the ground of its being laid before you, so is the religion of Buddhism yours on the ground of its being placed before you, so is Vedanta yours on the ground of its being put before you.

Truth is nobodyÕs property; truth is not the property of Jesus; we ought not to preach it in the name of Jesus. Truth is not the property of Buddha; we need not preach it in the name of Buddha. It is not the property of Mohammad; it is not the property of Krishna or anybody. It is everybodyÕs property. If anybody basked in the SunÕs rays before, you can bask in the Sun today. If one man drinks the fresh waters of the spring, you can drink the same fresh water. Such should your attitude be towards all religions. Nobody in his heart of hearts would hesitate to divest his neighbours of his worldly possessions, but is it not strange that when our neighbours offer us most willingly their spiritual or religious treasures which are admittedly far superior to worldly riches, we instead of cheerfully accepting stand up in arms against them? Rama brings Vedanta to you, not with the intention of nicknaming you Vedantins, no. Take all that, assimilate it, make it your own, you may call it ChristianityÑnames are nothing to us. Rama brings to you a religion which is not only found in the Bible and in the most ancient Scriptures but also in the latest works on Philosophy and Science. Rama brings you a religion, which is found in the streets, which is written upon the leaves, which is murmured by the brooks, which is whispered in the winds, which is throbbing in your own veins and arteries; a religion which concerns your business and bosom; a religion which you have not to practise by going into a particular church only; a religion which you have to practise and live in your everyday life, in your hearth, in your dining room; everywhere you have to live that religion. We might not call it Vedanta, we might call it by some other nameÑthe term Vedanta simply means the fundamental truth; the Truth is your own, it is not RamaÕs more than yours, it does not belong to the Hindu more than to you. Truth belongs to nobody, everybody and everything belongs to it.....

To read more:
http://www.ramatirtha.org/vol1/successusa.htm

 

Even reading Swami Rama, I can see the power in his oratory and the passion behind his speech. Even among the very many great illuminati of the past century he holds a special and beautiful place.

 

" And he who sees me in all things and all things in me is never separated from me, nor am I separated from such a person." - Bhagavad Gita, VI:30

 

Enlightenment is not seeing something new, but seeing everything anew. - Guruji

 

This I found randomly...and its really beautiful:

'How long will you be poring over that newspaper? Will you come here
right away and make your darling daughter eat her food?'

I tossed the paper away and rushed to the scene. My only daughter
Sindu looked frightened. Tears were welling up in her eyes. In
front of her was a bowl filled to its brim with Curd Rice.

Sindu is a nice child, quite intelligent for her age. She has just
turned eight. She particularly detested Curd Rice. My mother and my
wife are orthodox, and believe firmly in the 'cooling effects' of
Curd Rice!

I cleared my throat, and picked up the bowl. "Sindu, darling, why
don't you take a few mouthful of this Curd Rice? Just for Dad's
sake, dear. And, if you don't, your Mom will shout at me'

I could sense my wife's scowl behind my back. Sindu softened a bit,
and wiped her tears with the back of her hands. 'OK, Dad. I will
eat - not just a few mouthfuls, but the whole lot of this. But,
you should...' Sindu hesitated. 'Dad, if I eat this entire Curd
Rice, will you give me whatever I ask for?'

'Oh sure, darling'.

'Promise?'

'Promise'. I covered the pink soft hand extended by my daughter with
mine, and clinched the deal.

'Ask Mom also to give a similar promise', my daughter insisted. My
wife slapped her hand on Sindu's, muttering 'Promise', without any
emotion. Now I became a bit anxious. 'Sindumma, you shouldn't insist
on getting a computer or any such expensive items. Dad does not have
that kind of money right now. OK?'

'No, Dad. I do not want anything expensive'. Slowly and painfully,
she finished eating the whole quantity. I was silently angry with my
wife and my mother for forcing my child eat something that she
detested.

After the ordeal was through, Sindu came to me with her eyes wide
with expectation. All our attention was on her. 'Dad, I want to
have my head shaved off, this Sunday!' was her demand!

'Atrocious!' shouted my wife, 'a girl child having her head shaved
off?
Impossible!'.

'Never in our family!' my mother rasped. 'She has been watching too
much of television. Our culture is getting totally spoiled with
these TV programs!'

'Sindumma, why don't you ask for something else? We will be sad
seeing you with a clean-shaven head.'

'No, Dad. I do not want anything else', Sindu said with
finality. 'Please, Sindu, why don't you try to understand our
feelings?' I tried to plead with her.

'Dad, you saw how difficult it was for me to eat that Curd Rice'.
Sindu was in tears. 'And you promised to grant me whatever I ask
for. Now, you are going back on your words. Was it not you who
told me the story of King Harishchandra, and its moral that we should
honour our promises no matter what?'

It was time for me to call the shots. 'Our promise must be kept.'

'Are you out your mind?' chorused my mother and wife.

'No. If we go back on our promises, she will never learn to honour
her own. Sindu, your wish will be fulfilled.' With her head clean-
shaven, Sindu had a round-face, and her eyes looked big & beautiful.

On Monday morning, I dropped her at her school. It was a sight to
watch my hairless Sindu walking towards her classroom. She turned
around and waved.
I waved back with a smile. Just then, a boy alighted from a car, and
shouted, 'Sinduja, please wait for me!'

What struck me was the hairless head of that boy. 'May be, that is
the in-stuff', I thought.

'Sir, your daughter Sinduja is great indeed!' Without introducing
herself, a lady got out of the car, and continued, 'That boy who is
walking along with your daughter is my son Harish. He is
suffering from ... ... leukaemia.'

She paused to muffle her sobs. 'Harish could not attend the school
for the whole of the last month. He lost all his hair due to the
side effects of the chemotherapy. He refused to come back to
school fearing the unintentional but cruel teasing of the
schoolmates. Sinduja visited him last week, and promised him
that she will take care of the teasing issue. But, I never imagined
she would sacrifice her lovely hair for the sake of my son! Sir, you
and your wife are blessed to have such a noble soul as your
daughter.'

I stood transfixed. And then, I wept. 'My little Angel, will you
grant me a boon? Should there be another birth for me, will you be
my mother, and teach me what Love is?'

 

Knowledge is Within You
From 'The Sunlit Path' by Sweet Mother.

There is one thing certain about the mind and its workings;it is that you can understand only what you already know in your own inner self. What strikes you in a book is what you have already experienced deep within you. Men find a book or a teaching very wonderful, and often you hear them say 'That is exactly what I myself feel and know, but I could not bring it out or express it as well as it is expressed here'. When men come across a book of true knowledge, each finds himself there, and at every new reading he discovers things that he did not see in it at first; it opens to him each time a new field of knowledge that had till then escaped him in it. But that is because it reaches layers of knowledge that were waiting for expression in the sub-conscious in him; the expression has now been given by somebody else and much better than he could himself have done it. But, once expressed, he immediately recognizes it, and feels that it is the truth. The knowledge that seems to come to you from outside is only an occaision for bringing out the knowledge that is within you.

 

"The demons of the world are in our own hearts, and that is where all our battles should be fought."
- Mahatma Ghandi

 

"People are often unreasonable,
illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind,
people may accuse you
of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful,
you will win some
false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank,
people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building,
someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness,
they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today,
people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have,
and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best
you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis,
it is between you and God;
It was never
between you and them anyway."
- Mother Teresa

 

Opening paragraph of a speech written and delivered in English by Abhay Charan De (later A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami) for the celebration of the birthday of his Guru, Srila Bhaktisddhanta Saraswati, Jagannatha Puri, India, 2-25-1935.

Source: Srila Prabhupada-Lilamrta, Satsvarupa dasa Goswami, italics mine.

Abhay also composed a speech, which he read before the assembled guests and members of the Gaudiya Math. Although his first language was Bengali, his English was clear and natural.

How Shall I Serve You?

Gentlemen, the offerings of such a homage as has been arranged this evening to the Acharyadeva is not a sectarian concern, because when we speak of the fundamental principle of Gurudeva or Acharyadeva, we speak of something that is of universal application. There does not arise any question of discriminating my Guru from that of yours or anyone else's. There is only one Guru who appears in an infinity of forms to teach you, me and all others. The Guru or Acharyadeva, as we learn from the bona fide scriptures, delivers the message of the absolute world, I mean the transcendental abode of the Absolute Personality where everything non-differentially serves the Absolute Truth.

 

From Meister Eckhart.



The soul is one with God and not united. Here is a simile: if we fill a tub with water, the water in the tub is united but not one with it, for where there is water there is no wood, and where there is wood is no water. Now take the wood and throw it in the middle of the water; still the wood is only united and not one with the water. It is different with the soul; she becomes one with God and not united, for where god is, there the soul is, and where the soul is, there God is.

Scripture says ‘Moses saw God face to face’ (ex.33:11). The masters deny this , saying where two faces appear God is not seen, for God is one and not two: for whoever sees God sees nothing but one.

 

If you are blind to the fact that there are individual souls as well.

 

Why assume blindness K if not out of sheer arrogance? Could it be that others have seen a lot further than you? It seems so, given the tone of most of your posts here.

 

When seeing God, we are indeed blind to ourselves as individual souls, just as when we see truth,we are blind to falsehood.

 

This is the mystery of acintya-bheda tattva.

 

Eckhart's teaching is a kind of Christian monism I suppose, but he did believe in the existence of the individual soul. In his work, there is a kind of emphasis on paradox - this dichotomy between the individual soul and the soul which has returned to it's origin and become one with God being one such.

I think Eckhart means to say that the individual only really exists on a level lower than that of God.
Here is another quote:

"Therefore, I say, if a man turns away from self and from created things, then - to the extent that you do this - you will attain oneness and blessedness in your soul's spark, which time and place never touched. This spark is opposed to all creatures; it wants nothing but God naked, just as He is. It is not satisfied with the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Ghost, or all three Persons so far as they preserve their several properties. I declare in truth, this light would not be satisfied with the unity of the whole fertility of the divine nature. In fact, I will say still more, which sounds even stranger; I declare in all truth, by the eternal and everlasting truth, that this light is not content with the simple, changeless divine being which neither gives nor takes; rather it seeks to know whence this being comes, it wants to get into it's simple Ground, into the Silent Desert, into which no distinction ever peeped of Father, Son or Holy Ghost."

And again:

"Therefore I pray God that he may quit me of god, for his unconditioned being is above god and all distinctions. It was here (in unconditioned being) that I was myself, wanted myself, and knew myself to be this person here before you, and therefore, I am my own first cause, both of my eternal being and of my temporary being. To this end I was born, and by virtue of my birth being eternal, I shall never die....if I had not been there would have been no god...
When I flowed forth from God, creatures said "He is a god!"
This, however, did not make me blessed, for it indicates that I too am a creature. In bursting forth, however, when I shall be free within God's will, and free therefore of the will of god, and all his works, and even of god himself, then I shall rise above all creature kind, and shall be neither god nor creature, but I shall be what I was once, now and forevermore. I shall thus recieve an impulse which shall raise me above the angels."

 

"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness" - Dalai Lama

 

"When Ram was very little he showed his father a picture book of Indian Gods and asked: 'How many hands does God have, Pitaji?'
Taken aback by the question, Aakash decided on the spot to take on the role of his son's educator.
'Baba, take a deep breath.' Ram did as he was told while his father watched, his intensity amplifying the silence around them.
'God was in that breath you took. Now do it again.'
Ram took many deep breaths, until every cell of his body was filled with the life force that his father so wanted him to feel as his birthright.
'You see, it's got nothing to do with the pictures of God. God is in your heart. And surely you can always feel the presence of God when you breathe in and intend to feel it. God resides in you, my darling beta, and breath is the life force that's given to you. God is not in the statues or pictures. But you can love the images, just as you love the feeling in you.' "

-from The Seduction of Silence by Bem Le Hunte

 

"A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday."


Alexander Pope.