Sri Daya Mata Best Quotes

Attitude

Right attitude is the way to God. Without it one can never know Him. It is the very foundation of the spiritual life. One must strive constantly toward right attitude, or no amount of speaking of God, no amount of reading scriptures, no amount of years at the feet of a guru, is of any avail.

Implicit in right attitude is humility. You cannot know God without first accepting yourself as the least in His eyes. This does not mean you should go around proclaiming and bemoaning how little you are. No. Humility means that no matter what anyone says or does to you, you remain always the same. When a rose is crushed in the hand, it continues to give off its fragrance. When people crush you in their hands of criticism, in their hands of sharp unkind words, the right attitude is to go on giving sweetness, kind words, kind actions, and—above all—kind thoughts in return. Without kind thoughts, one cannot sincerely express kindness in words or actions. (ol)

Duality is the nature of this world. Never dwell upon the negative side. We must learn to take the good and the bad with strong faith in God. We must realize, as Guruji taught, that the trials we meet in life are but the shadow of God's hand outstretched in blessing. Learn to look upon everything in life with one consciousness:

"Lord, You are the Doer. From Your hand I receive the gentle caress and also the slap, because You know what is best for me. You love me through those who are my friends and You discipline me through those who think themselves my enemies."

In this consciousness let us face the new year with courage, faith, strength, willingness to do whatever is placed before us, and, above all, with a constant yearning to feel the love of God. He has not withdrawn Himself from us; we have withdrawn our consciousness from Him, by running after the things of this world, by overindulging our senses and emotions. It is only by learning to still our consciousness, as the great ones have taught, that we are able to perceive within ourselves the presence of the Divine. He has been with us from the beginning of time; He is with us now, and He will be with us through eternity. Hold fast to That which is changeless. (ol)

Spirituality lies not in the power to heal others, to perform miracles, or to astound the world with our wisdom, but in the ability to endure with right attitude whatever crosses we have to face in our daily lives, and thus to rise above them.

Lord Buddha once said: "The profit of the holy life, O monks, lies not in gains and favors and honor, nor in the fulfillment of morals, nor in the fulfillment of concentration, nor in knowledge and vision; but just this, O monks: the sure, unshakable deliverance of the mind. That is the aim of this holy life. That is its heart. That is its goal."

What is meant by the "unshakable deliverance of the mind"? It means that the mind is always free from the compulsion of habits, emotions, and attachments; and is governed only by wisdom, love, and selflessness. It means that the ego no longer controls you; that you, the soul, operating through the mind, are the master of your fate. The expression of right attitude in all conditions and situations is evidence of that self-mastery. (ol)

Every experience is an opportunity to grow. But instead, how often you react in the wrong way.

"All you have to remember in this life is to do the best you can, every moment, every day. God wants continuity of effort from you. He does not want you to become discouraged and give up and run away. Remember that in the midst of all your activities, and throughout all your trials and tests, God is ever with you. Jesus said to St. Anthony, who spent over sixty years in the desert praying to Christ: 'Anthony, though you were suffering, I was with you all the time.'" Let us remember this assurance whenever we face discouraging circumstances. (ol)

Duality is the nature of this world. Never dwell upon the negative side. We must learn to take the good and the bad with strong faith in God. We must realize, as Guruji taught, that the trials we meet in life are but the shadow of God's hand outstretched in blessing.

You look after your attunement with God, and God will look after you.

We do not have the right attitude if we cannot bear to have anyone criticize or say anything unkind about us. Let others say what they will. If our minds are on God, and if we are striving to do our best, does it really matter what people think of us? (fj)

The crosses we are given, we are capable of carrying; their purpose is not to punish, but to strengthen. When we give up and refuse to try, we are actually refusing God’s grace.

If you close one eye and hold a penny very close to the other eye, you cannot see the world beyond: you become blinded by that little object. If you move the penny away from your open eye, you see how vast the world is. So it is with God. (ol)

We must realize that the world owes us absolutely nothing. I find such freedom in that thought. Too often, people feel that the world owes them something, even if they have not worked to merit it. On the spiritual path, one must adopt the attitude: "The world owes me nothing, but I owe the world much." From this truth, let your thoughts continue: "I owe God much: I owe Him my life; I owe Him everything I am. So long as I breathe, there is no time when I am not drawing in His life. So long as I think, there is no time I am not borrowing from His intelligence. I depend utterly upon Him." (fj)

Do not blame others for the way you are. Your situation is exactly what you yourself have created. (ol)

Every human being has attracted to himself every facet of his environment, including the people around him. The resulting experience are essential to his spiritual growth. The devotee can react positively and benefit from his environment, or he can react negatively and be spoiled by it. We always have that choice. (ol)

One who is seeking God should guard against becoming sidetracked and lost in philosophy. One may become very learned in Paramahansaji's teachings, and yet fail to absorb his spirit. I am dedicated to the ideal that the spirit of God and Guru must be manifest in the lives of devotees on this path. (ol)

How to Change Others:

Unsolicited counsel creates tremendous resentment. One should not try to impose his will or ideas upon those around him unless they have asked for such guidance. (ol)

Perfect joy lies in selflessly striving for the best outcome, and then humbly accepting whatever God gives.

It is only by looking to God, loving Him, and then serving Him in all who cross our path, that we begin to know that universality in which real freedom lies. Cultivate this consciousness: "Lord, I am in this world because You sent me here. I am here for one purpose: to love You and to love Your children, whoever they are...

As often as we become lost in this play, we must shake ourselves out of that delusion. Do not shed tears for things of this world. Most of us cannot remember what we cried about five years ago—even one year ago. Weep for only One; weep for God. So long as we allow ourselves to be tossed about on the waves of change, we will be subject to the disturbing contrasts of temporary pleasure and painful sorrow. But when we take our consciousness beneath the waves of change, diving deep into the ocean of God-consciousness, then those external fluctuations no longer affect us. That is why Lord Krishna said, "Be anchored, O Arjuna, in That which is changeless." [The Gita II:45] When we make the effort to reach that state, then true realization begins to come. (fj)

Nothing in this world occurs by accident. Everything that takes place is governed by universal law, and that law operates with perfect justice. No matter what particular ordeals you have to face, always try to understand the spiritual lesson inherent in those experiences. Never feel that outer circumstances are the cause of your difficulties, or that others are trying to do you in.

So long as there is even the slightest yearning in you for anything, that desire must find fulfillment, whether by being

washed away, or
neutralized, or
satisfied.

Cultivate the attitude of willingness, and leave the results in God's hands. (fj)

We should so live our lives that at the time of death we will neither know fear nor harbor any regret; but will pass joyously into the higher realms of Spirit. (fj)

Words are an imperfect medium, and therefore cannot fully convey perfection. And so it is with Truth. The moment Truth, God, is merely talked about and not experienced, something is lost. (ol)

Meditation

Meditation is the ability to withdraw your mind from all external objects of distraction and to put that freed attention upon God alone. It takes regular practice to learn to control the restless mind. (fj)

One of the first necessities in meditation is learning how to relax the body and mind.

Do not think about your problem; otherwise you will remain stuck on the conscious level. Practice Kriya and the other techniques, and deeply surrender heart, mind, and life to the Divine. When we relax and calm the mind by meditation, we begin to draw on the higher levels of consciousness, the eternal vault in which resides everything we have learned in this life and in our countless previous incarnations. (fj)

Devotees who bypass meditation will gradually lose the desire for God. That is why I tell you all again and again, you cannot find God without meditation. And you cannot find happiness on the spiritual path without meditation. Service alone will not suffice.

Make up your mind to set aside a specific time for meditation. You will then find it much easier to maintain a balance in your life. If you meditate and carry over into all of your activities the peace born of your meditation, eventually you will come to the state wherein your entire day is one long stream of God-communion. Whether you are in meditation or working, there is an unbroken flow of divine awareness. But that does not come unless, as well as serving, you meditate deeply, without being absentminded or falling asleep. (fj)

Practicing the Presence of God

Calmness is the only way to achieve a continuous state of God-awareness. In an inwardly calm state of mind you are able to practice the presence of God, to hold on to the consciousness of His presence while you are doing your work. (mg)

Master taught us to live more within; to dwell more in the thought of God; to practice the presence of God all the time. There is no time when we ought not to be silently conversing with God; there is no excuse for not doing so. No environment, no activity can keep us from God. (fj) [more...]

The Nature of the Soul

The nature of the soul is power, bliss, love, eternal consciousness, omniscience, omnipresence. And so in all of the things man seeks in this world, he is trying to experience those qualities that are a part of his true nature. Analyze it; what is fame but the desire for immortality, to be known while we're here, and to go on living in memory after we're gone from this world. Man runs after these things because he is unconsciously seeking to experience his own soul nature.

Man is therefore to be forgiven his frantic search for satisfaction in the material life. It is not wrong to seek fulfillment, but the way in which it is sought is often wrong. That which is eternal cannot be found in that which is temporal.

The body is indeed no more than a cloak over the soul. If a person's overcoat becomes ragged and torn, he does not ordinarily grieve over it; he repairs it, or replaces it with another. Never allow the consciousness to become identified with the bodily coat that the soul is temporarily wearing.

Persons who do not understand the ways of God often have the notion that spiritual perfection means perfection of the body too—that the body of a person who is in tune with God will not be subject to physical disease. Nonsense! One who persists in this idea is himself attached to the physical form; the body is too important to him. I am not saying that one should not give the body reasonable care. Sri Yukteswarji said, 'Why not throw the dog a bone?"* Give the body what it needs and then forget it. And Christ said, "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on… Your father knoweth that ye have need of these things."

The point is, no mortal man will be permitted to live in his physical form eternally, no matter how well he cares for his body. So why concentrate so much attention on something temporal? To be preoccupied with the care of the body to the exclusion of, or in preference to, the nurture of the soul, is a spiritual error. God allows disease and imperfection to visit the body to awaken us—through suffering, if need be—to the realization that as His children we are not this mortal body, and that this world is not our home. We are the immortal soul and our home is in God. (ol)

Sri Daya Mata Life in Pictures

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