Silence is the first door to spiritual eminence.
People do not know what the name of God can do. Those who repeat it constantly alone know its power. It can purify your mind completely…
O Lord! I may have increased desire for the objective world like other people but with this difference that I shall look upon it as Thyself without any idea of duality.
When you chant the Name, it actually moves through your whole being - purifying you, bestowing grace, and making you sacred…Chanting breaks down the barriers between you and your own heart.
If we only practice compassion at the mind level, we run a great risk of our compassion being just talk. As we know, talk is cheap. To develop true compassion we have to put our money where our mouth is.
Fasting in the monastic community is considered an ascetic practice, a “dhutanga” practice. Dhutanga means “to shake up” or “invigoration”. The Buddha, as is well known, emphasized moderation, the Middle Way that avoids extremes, in all things. Fasting is an additional method that one can take up, with supervision, for a time.
What parents inculcate in the child is permanently there because childhood is the most impressionable time of life.
When we see everything in life as a game, we will be equally joyous when falling as we are when rising. If we can fully understand this – if we can see life as swinging on a swing – we will never fall apart when failure comes our way.
The greatest freedom is to be obedient and faithful to God. As we yield ourselves to God’s love and mercy, we are liberated from the suffering of sins. No longer are we dominated by unreasonable fears, compulsions and addictions. We live in peace and unity with all people. Despair and rage pass away.
Flood your mind with love. Look into the eyes of the other and embrace the person with whom you have quarrelled. Words are not necessary. Both will have their eyes flooded, and the joy of tears will wash away all quarrels.