On Qualities of a Spiritual Seeker

Detachment

"A coconut seed cannot sprout before it falls from the mother tree. Detachment is necessary for spiritual growth."

"Just as the flower falls when the fruit takes shape, worldly desires will disappear when detachment ripens."

"A spiritual seeker shouldn't maintain his family bonds. That is like rowing a boat tied to the shore. No matter how hard you row the boat, you won't get to the other shore. Attachments are a hindrance to spiritual progress."

Discrimination

"If we know that fireworks are being shot, the next bang won't startle us. In the same way, know the nature of this world and do not lose equilibrium."

"With fire we can burn down our home or cook our meal. With a needle we can pierce our eye or stitch our clothes. Move along your path with constant discrimination."

"When we know the juice is inside the fruit, we peel the fruit and throw the peel away. With such an attitude, a sadhak will look for the essence of everything."

Learning from Sorrows

"If a thorn pricks your foot when you walk, you will step more carefully. Thus you may escape falling into a ditch that may be just ahead. God gives us small sorrows to save us. Learn to see all the joys and sufferings that come to you as sent by God for your own good."

Faith

"A person who believes in God and follows the spiritual principles as his ideal cannot become a slave to bad habits. If you have firm faith in God, there will be only happiness in your life."

"It is not enough to believe in the doctor, you have to take the medicine that he prescribes to get cured. Likewise both faith and sadhana (practices) are needed."

Alertness

"Some people working night shifts at factories don't sleep for two or three nights in a row. Still they don't fall asleep in front of the machines. If they lose concentration even for a moment, they know they would lose their hands and jobs as well. So they manage to keep awake. We should have the same alertness and wakefulness when we sit for meditation."

God Awareness

"There are no obstacles on the path of a person who is constantly aware of God. For him, all situations are regarded as favourable."

Looking Within

"A musk deer searches for the source of the fragrance of musk, but it won't find it, because the fragrance comes from within itself. Bliss is not to be found outside of us; it exists within us."

"The keeper of a wild animal has to watch it all the time. But the keeper of a garden just has to keep watch at the gate, enjoying the sight and fragrance of flowers. Likewise, if you go after worldly life, your mind will bother you constantly; if you turn your attention within, you can enjoy the beauty of life."

Compassion

"No one can experience the Self until his heart is filled with compassion. You cannot build a house just by piling up bricks; you need cement to hold the bricks together. Similarly, we cannot build the steps leading to God without adding the binding quality of love."

Forgiveness

"Suppose you accidentally poke your eye with one of your hands. Your other hand doesn't slap the hand that hurt the eye. You simply forgive your hand. Similar should be the attitude if others hurt you. Returning anger with anger is like poking a wound; forgiveness is like applying medicine."

"When you accidentally stumble against something, your foot is hurt. Sometimes you accidentally cut you hands. But you don't get angry towards your hands and legs, because they are parts of your own body. Look upon others as being parts of yourselves. Then you will forgive those who do harm to you."

Patience

"Don't feel bad if someone speaks ill of you. Isn't it because of darkness that we see the light? The seed of courage sprouts only in the soil of patience."

Good Company

"The company of dark-minded people is like entering a room full of coal. Even if we don't touch the coal, our bodies will be black when we come out."

Tyaga (Renunciation)

"Every act done without a personal interest is tyaga . Taking your sick child to the hospital under adverse situations is not tyaga; when you do that for somebody else's child that is tyaga."

Love for God

"A real sadhak doesn't do meditation according to some schedule; his love for God is beyond all rules."

"To someone who has a fever, even sweet things will taste bitter. Similarly if you have the fever of love for God, your mind will not go towards anything else."

"A sadhak should have towards God the same attitude that a lover has towards his beloved."

Intent on the Goal

"When you set out with a strong desire to reach a certain place, no obstacle can stop you. Such should be your intent for your spiritual goal."

"When two lovers are sitting together, they won't like it if anyone comes near them. Similarly, a real sadhak doesn't like anything that is not related to God."

"Students who want to pass an examination will not feel like sleeping. They will stay up at night and study. Such an attitude comes naturally to a sadhak."

"Think of someone who cannot swim properly and falls into deep water. How hard he will struggle to save his life. You have to keep a similar constant urge to reach your spiritual goal."

"If someone smeared chilly paste all over your body, think how you would struggle to escape the burning. You should pine to see God with the same intensity."

"Suppose strong winds and heavy rains start just as we are about to go somewhere. If we become scared and stay back, we won't reach our destination. One who has a strong desire to reach the goal will ignore all obstacles and go forward."

Surrender

"If a thread is thick or out of shape, it will not pass through the eye of a needle. The thread has to be compressed. That surrender on the part of the thread enables it to sew together countless pieces of cloth."

"We have to explain the background of our case to the lawyer; we have to describe our symptoms to the doctor. But we don't need to present our problems to God. He knows everything. So surrender everything to Him and remember Him constantly."

Humility

"The bubbles in the water will break if we try to pick them up. Attachment and aversion are not things that we can pick up and discard. We should recognise that we are God's instruments and develop the attitude of a servant."

"Think of yourself as God's servant. Then you won't feel angry with anyone. You will become humble."

"However powerful a cyclone is, it cannot do anything to a blade of grass. All grace will flow to us if we are humble. God will not abide where there is ego."

"The seed contains the tree, but if it is left lying in the storeroom, mice will eat it. Only by going under the soil will its true form emerge."

"The road signs glow when the lights of the approaching vehicles shine on them. Can the road sign say: "Those vehicles run because of my light."