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.
Alone let him constantly meditate in solitude on that which is salutary for his soul, for he who meditates in solitude attains Supreme Bliss.
The knowledge in your mind is immeasurably greater than all that you learnt, in all manner of ways, since birth, as a child, at school, in life, in the world, in your profession. This immeasurable knowledge sometimes percolates into the dream experience; sometimes it comes as intuitive ideas, as creative feelings.
So long as we believe in our heart of hearts that our capacity is limited and we grow anxious and unhappy, we are lacking in faith. One who truly trusts in God has no right to be anxious about anything.
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.
Either you lead a life which is luxurious on the material level or you lead a luxurious life of God’s blessings - one of the two you have to choose, the time has come…The enjoyment of life is only possible if the world could get connected to the spirit.
Since you alone are responsible for your thoughts, only you can change them. You will want to change them when you realise that each thought creates according to its own nature. Therefore, start now to think only those thoughts that will bring you health and happiness.
He who knows his soul knows this truth: “I am beyond everything finite; I now see that the Spirit, alone in a space with its ever-new joy, has expressed itself as the vast body of nature…I am the wisdom and power that sustain all creation.”
A human being has so many skins inside, covering the depths of the heart. We know so many things, but we don’t know ourselves!
