An End to Our Short Phase

As the monks climb into a 3-day retreat, we offer some words from holy giants in the following slideshow.

As for the monks, we just want to remind you to work hard and relax too; keep in mind that we are whirling around in space among billions of stars. According to scientists, there are around 100,000,000,000 (one hundred billion) galaxies in the known universe, as far as current telescopes can detect.

So, don't let the small stuff get ya. Maybe it's all small stuff eventually.

\"The little space within the heart is as great as the vast universe. The heavens and the earth are there, and the sun and the moon and the stars. Fire and lightening and winds are there, and all that now is and all that is not.\"

Reach high, for stars lie hidden in you. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.

They indeed are fools who are satisfied with the fruits of their past effort and do not engage themselves in self-effort now.

I tell you one thing. If you want peace of mind, do not find fault with others. Rather learn to see your own faults. Learn to make the whole world your own. No one is a stranger, my child; this whole world is your own.

The magnetic needle always points to the north, and hence it is that sailing vessel does not lose her direction. So long as the heart of man is directed towards God, he cannot be lost in the ocean of worldliness.

\"That man has reached immortality who is disturbed by nothing material.\"

\"The mind covers up reality, without knowing it. To know the nature of the mind, you need intelligence, the capacity to look at the mind in silent and dispassionate awareness.\"

\"Put your awareness to work, not your mind. The mind is not the right instrument for this task. The timeless can be reached only by the timeless. Your body and your mind are born subject to time; only awareness is timeless, even in the now.\"

\"Once you realize that the road is the goal and that you are always on the road, not to reach a goal, but to enjoy its beauty and its wisdom, life ceases to be a task and becomes natural and simple, in itself an ecstasy.\"

\"Most humbly we bow to You, O Supreme Lord. At Your command moves the mighty wheel of time. You are eternal, and beyond eternity.\"

What extracts from the Vedas I have read fall on me like the light of a higher and purer luminary, which describes a loftier course through purer stratum. It rises on me like the full moon after the stars have come out, wading through some far stratum in the sky.

\"The strength of Hinduism lies in its infinite adaptability to the infinite diversity of human character and human tendencies. It has its highly spiritual and abstract side suited to the philosopher, its practical to the man of the world, its aesthetic and ceremonial side attuned to the man of the poetic feeling and imagination; and its quiescent contemplative aspect that has its appeal for the man of peace and the lover of seclusion.\"

\"The Hindu lives in eternity. He is profoundly aware of the relativity of space and time and of the illusory nature of the apparent world.\"

The West regards as truth what the Hindu regards as appearance, and the Westerner can regard knowledge of the the universe as the supreme value, while for the Hindu the supreme value is accession to the divine Absolute. But the most profound difference is based on the fact that the fundamental reality for the West, Christian or atheist, is death, in whatever sense it may be interpreted - while the fundamental reality for India is the endlessness of life in the endlessness of time: Who can kill immortality?

\"Profane time must be abolished, at least symbolically, so that man forgets his \"historical situation\". The highest human ideal is the jivamukta - one who is liberated from Time. Man, according to the Indian view, \

must, at all costs, find in his world a road that issues upon a tran-historical and atemporal plane.\''

\" In Hinduism, there can be as many spiritual paths as there are spiritual aspirants and similarly there can really be as many Gods as there are devotees to suit the moods, feelings, emotions and social background of the devotees.\"

\"Hinduism is so broad. Within it there is a place for the insane and a place for the saint...There is a place for the intelligent person and plenty of room for the fool. The beauty of Hinduism is that it does not demand of every soul perfection in this life, a necessary conclusion for those who believe in a single lifetime during which human perfection or grace must be achieved. Belief in reincarnation gives the Hindu an acceptance of every level of humanity. Some souls are simply older souls than others, but all are inherently the same, inherently immortal and of the nature of the Divine.\"

\"The Keys to unusual success, lie in one\

s ability to be sensitive to opportunities as they arise, and more so, in one\'s courage and willpower to actually act on them. These moments pass quickly and if not seized will often not come again. We are in a flow and must willfully act at the appropriate times to be successful\"'

\"It is fitting to describe the Self as awareness dissolving into itself, as when you come out of it, there is no experience to remember, only a new perspective, a total perspective from which you then view the mind\"

There is a life-force within your soul, seek that life. There is a gem in the mountain of your body, seek that mine. O Traveler, if you are in search of that, don\

t look outside, look inside yourself and seek that...'

When a strong wind blows, the clouds vanish and blue sky appears. Similarly, when the powerful wisdom that understand the nature of the mind arises, the dark clouds of ego disappear...

If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.

Do not ignore your spiritual welfare in the interests of mere living.

The body is cleansed by water, the internal organ is purified by truthfulness, the individual soul by sacred learning and austerities, the intellect by true knowledge. Laws of Manu 5.109

In silence, we can know ourselves. In silence, we observe better. A reacting mind is noisy. In silence, we come upon right action. A noisy mind leads to distorted action. In silence, we understand others. Otherwise we are in our own world. When we are silent, we hear God.

Empty yourself of everything. Let the mind rest at peace. The ten thousand things rise and fall while the Self watches their return. They grow and flourish and then return to the source. Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of nature.

Men are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of things.

Everyone makes mistakes. It is natural and simply shows we do not understand something. Perceptive self-correction enables young ones to quickly learn from their mistakes, refine their still-developing behavior accordingly and thereby make rapid progress on the spiritual path.

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