Various reflections...

(Quotes from Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti)

R1. "Be strict with yourself but tolerant with others."

R2. "Love is a question of details. There are so many details. To have salt

on the table at dinner time might be a small detail, but it's important."

R3 "Do not worry about death, it comes by itself. Worry about your

consciousness. Care for receiving death with inner peace, without fear."

R4. "If there exist only one piece of something, then its value is unique.

Every being is unique and irreplaceable."

R5. "Spiritual love cures all deficiencies. There is no other love. There is

no German love, no Chinese love. Love is love. Truth is truth in all

universes. Hate causes disease, and love cures."

R6. "In the same manner as water is lead back into the ocean by clouds and

rivers we have to utilize our energy in the service of God, the source of

all energy. Success, money, children, home, etc. are all gifts of God and

should be engaged in His service. Because we are His eternal servants. That

is our eternal relationship with Him."

R7. "We are all children of the same universal father and everyone is

equally dear to Him. The difference is that every living being has his

individual nature and therefore also distinct duties and a different type of

relationship with God. We are always dependent on the Supreme Personality

because He created us and He is the one who maintains us. Therefore we can

never become God, be equal to or greater than Him."

R8. "Once my Guru was asked how a person can become humble.

He answered: Just act in a way as if you were humble, then you will

learn it."

R9. "How do we serve God? It is stated in the Vedas that by serving the

servant of God one can please God more than by trying to serve the Lord

directly. Therefore it is so important to accept a servant of the Lord, a

spiritual master, as a guidance in life. Because by regularly hearing the

message of the Lord and serving His pure devotee we will be able to make

real spiritual progress."

R10. "In modern societies, the idea of being God has become popular.

Everybody wants to be the controller. Therefore no one is humble. If someone

thinks he is God, why should he be humble? Why should he bow down and

surrender to someone else? In order to make spiritual progress the first

thing we have to understand is that we are not this body. We are eternal

spirit souls whose position is to be servants. Servants of the Lord who

supplies us with all that is necessary to live a peaceful and blissful

life."

R11. "Humility does not mean to be afraid or to look away if some bad things

are going on, but to fight for the truth. That is the duty of a devotee of

the Lord."

R12. "Our eternal, natural position is to be servants. So we have to become

humble. If we are not humble before the Supreme Personality of Godhead we

will bow down before material values and become attached to wealth, power

and lust."

R13. "How many people in Europe are hating foreigners now? Who in the world

educated these people? Who in the world gave them school lessons? How can

they dare to come up with racism, with fanaticism, today in the 21st century?

They are coming together 10-20 idiots and beating up foreign people, because they

have brown or yellow skin or because of anything. This is going on in Europe

all over. Even in Sweden. So what is our educational value? What are we

doing with the people? We are in the hands of materialism and materialism

wants to make you a real rascal."

R14. "The mercy of the devotees of Lord Krishna is the mercy which extends

towards you when you are longing for some communication with the supreme

Lord. If you have that longing something will happen very quickly. Sometimes

you may not feel a longing for communication with God, but nevertheless it

happens. That is because the Lord also has a longing for your company. So he

is sending some message of love to inspire you in your spiritual life, but

instill depends on you to respond to that invitation. You will not be

obliged to come to the spiritual communion and union in the spiritual world

or in this world in the spiritual purpose. Only when you feel a very very

strong desire for this, then you will get it. You will understand it, you

will be able to appreciate it."

R15 "In order to accept something as mythos, revelation,

it has to be: 1. revealed, 2. the truth.

And to know if something is the truth, we have to add logos.

Let's look at it this way: This which is descending, mythos, is a

vertical line (|), and logos is a horizontal line (-). These both form

a cross (+), and this is the Mystical Cross, the Original Cross,

in different cultures also called "la cruz andina", "chacana", etc.

Logos and mythos necessarily have to cross each other, because

logos has to appreciate mythos. And to be able to perceive mythos,

it is required different material senses (sight, hearing, feeling, taste

and olfactory sense), as well as the subtle senses (mind, intelligence

and ego)."

R16. "Chanting the holy name of the Lord is a daily visit to the Supreme

Personality of God and can change your entire existence."

R17. "Considering that one is associating with God by chanting His names, there

are many reasons to start the day chanting."

R18. "In the material world I try to be my own lord and I also would like to rule

over you. And you think in the same way. This is how constant quarrels and

wars pervade our lives."

R19. "If you try to attain a beautiful relationship with God, begin by trying to

have good relationships with everyone. If you want to see Him, try to live

so that He wants to see you. If you treat those around you as a good brother

or sister, you can see God in them, too. This is the culture of spiritual

progress."

R20. "Voltaire said: There is nothing strange about being reborn, if we consider

how special it is to be born just once."

R21. "Two brothers can be fighting, but if they in this very moment realize that

one of them will go away and never return again, they will immediately stop

fighting and instead embrace each other as never before. In this way

separation or the threat of separation, is a great realizer. It makes us

reflect about everything."

R22. "One who praises a pure lover of God, becomes like one."

R23. "Follow what is correct, according to your conviction."

"Everything has to be an offering to God. If not, it is not worth it."

R24. "Philo means friendship and love and sofia means wisdom. Philosophy.

What a beautiful word, but how misused it is."

R25. "Please do not forget: love without the ability to forgive is no love."

R26. "God is amazing! Just look at the flowers... One some he gave the

petal one color on the top, another color on the back, and sometimes

there are two colors on the same side. The colors of mercy though,

are of unlimited shades."

R27. "Since we are conscious beings, we are entitled and we are urged by the

Vedas to focus on the miracle of consciousness and its potentials. And of

all potentials, the highest potential is called love. It is really the only

potential which is really auspicious and attractive. Consciousness without

love is rather a dangerous thing. It is not charming to think of scientists

and their consciousness which is inventing weapons to kill others. More

interesting is the consciousness of those who are looking for ways to

release others from sufferings."

R28. "If anybody in this world is depending on you it is a major challenge and it

is such a task for you that you cannot under any circumstances give them up,

abandon them, forsake them. That is not acceptable."

R29. "How much do we know really? How many books do we have to read

to understand something? How much austerity do we have to practice

to progress? Good questions! But there is no answer to them. Because there

is no possibility to progress in this way. Only if the mercy of God comes

down in the form of a saint, it is possible to advance spiritually. Only by

pure mercy and by being very friendly to others."

R30. "Sadhu means "a person devoted to spiriuality" and sanga means "company".

To always maintain the company of saints is sadhu-sanga. For that which is

called sadhu-sanga in reality, the sadhus have to be more advanced persons

than oneself. My association with a sadhu who is more advanced than me, whom

I admire and from whom I desire to learn; this type of sanga is intensive."

R31. "Family life means to accept responsibility, a spiritual consciousness of

responsibility towards the family. That's why the Srimad Bhagavatam

explains: You should not become a father or a mother if you are not willing

to free your children from the cycle of repeated birth and death (samsara)."

R32. "Television promotes the basic debilities and lowest instincts of people. You sit down in front of the television just like in front of a teacher or guru to hear some message. And although it is not deniable that there are some good programs as well, the defect is that you have to accept the program without being able to ask questions which is the natural process of learning and understanding. So there is no possibility of a real dialogue and almost everybody is reached by television. Therefore it is the perfect instrument for manipulating the masses."

R33. "The great majority of TV programs is contaminating our mind and consciousness with lust, anger and violence, such as killing and mistreating animals, crime, greediness, envy etc. So many false values are imposed and the confusing, hopeless and wrong idea that we are this material body is promoted. Inevitably this leads the consumers to break the principles of dharma and to act against the nature of living beings."

R34. "People are so confused. In some parts there are 400 or more channels in television. And all of them deal with the same superficial prattle and waste which disturbs the consciousness and contaminates the mind. Family life suffers significantly as conversations are almost stopped. All over the world the superficial and artificial Hollywood lifestyle is being spread and people accept false values as part of their lives. They become like slaves of television and advertisements, at the cost of their natural freedom and spirituality."

R35. "The lack of a spiritual education of the Vedic Culture is the reason why we do not appreciate the great opportunity of this human form of life and the great responsibility we received in connection with it. Because of this lack of appreciation we are so much inclined to material enjoyment and sense gratification. Spiritual education, however, the process of getting to know the truth, starts with the appreciation that one is spiritual consciousness and not a piece of meat and bones."

R36. "So we can see that it is not enough to remove the television from our homes but most important is to stop the exploitation of other humans, animals and Mother Nature; to follow the principles of the prescribed duties for humanity. To live a vegetarian life, no illicit sexual activities, no gambling and not to intoxicate our body. This will automatically lead the whole society towards the four pillars of a civilized culture: austerities, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness."

R37. "We must become responsible of our actions and conscious that they will produce reactions. We must activate our natural energy and joy by learning to appreciate all that is good and in this way surpass our laziness and the limitations of our mind and this material existence. We must become conscious that our association has a big influence on our actions, our lives and our future. We have to learn that to know about the Absolute Truth is the actual goal of life and birthright for everyone, independent of our faith, color or social status. We must learn that all of us are children of the same Universal Father and thus we must help and serve each other with Him in our center. To achieve this we simply have to accept the spiritual values of Vedic Culture and chant the Holy Names of God."

R38. "So generally speaking television produces more troubles than good in this world. It should be used to see programs which promote spiritual values but not for anything else."

R39. "By contact with persons who fight to make this world a better place and who try to follow the path of the truth, we will gradually develop a superior taste. With the inspiration of good company and friendship it will not be too difficult to remove the television and to establish higher goals in our lives."

R40. "Pilgrimages to sacred places present the great opportunity to get out of the normal way of life, to forget about the daily troubles, to come closer to yourself and it is perfect for facing the problems of life in a sacred and elevated manner."

R41. "One's unique protection is the purity in one's own purpose."

R42. "Pilgrimage is ideal to step out of daily routines and troubles to dive into a world of mystic and spirituality, to get a better understanding of our true self and our position in the cosmic manifestation."

R43. "The real beauty of every living being is beyond the lusty sexual attraction."

R44. "The soul, the spirit, is very small. It enters into the father's sperm and it is injected in the mother's womb. Then the mother's ovum and the father's sperm unite and form a small body. This body only develops because the spirit soul is already there."

R45. "There are some very impressive documentaries that demonstrate the process of an abortion. It is a crime against the laws of nature, and the consequences for such actions are very strong. It is said that first men kill animals to eat them, then they kill children in the mother’s womb, and finally they even fight themselves on battlefields."

R46. "Family life is something very sacred. The responsibility of family life, of having and caring for a child and teaching it spiritual values, is very important and should be taken serious. Like in every form of community, we can also see that family life will only function nicely if we put God in the center. So I ask you to, if you decide to have children, become exemplary parents who really love their children and give them the most prescious thing of all for their human lives, to show them the path of spiritual life.

R47. "The abortion of a child is like losing the fortune of our life. The decision to kill a child will open many doors for misery. Women that have aborted a child confirm that they cannot forget the little creature that was killed by their decision. Actually we should appreciate being able to receive children in this world. So do not kill your unborn children."

R48. "Life itself is very precious, because it is always a gift from God. We must not put sense gratification or material values above the gift of life. If we listen to our heart, we will understand that we should give protection to our children and that we do not have the right to abort children."

R49. "The yoga monasteries are places of peace, where one can redefine once again what the goal of his life is. Why are you here? What do you want to achieve in this stay on Planet Earth? We are all travelling souls, we came here just for a visit. We have to fulfill many things, we have to learn a lot of things, but we are travellers. The visit is temporary, and later we have to continue our journey, and we have to take our wealth of consciousness, as well as the burden of committed mistakes, with us."

R50. "The yoga monastery is a place of purification. It is a place to open your heart. It is a place where you can find yourself, and get to know who are your brothers and sisters in this world. A Yoga Monastery is an embassy of the eternal world. Simple living, high thinking; with relations in harmony, where one learns to serve. Spiritual science is being perfected when one learns to serve. Normally, in this material world, everybody is very expert in serving himself, but in a Yoga Monastery one learns to serve God, the Lord in the heart of everyone, the creator and maintainer of everyone; He, who makes us brothers and sisters, He, who gave us the chance to purify and get to know ourselves."

R51. "That is what our spiritual master taught us. In practice, yoga monasteries are places where one can participate and follow Vedic ideals. There is no need to be in anxiety. One can live a beautiful life, within spiritual surroundings. Of course, in this world there are lots of duties to fulfill, to make oneself useful in human society. But that is often also the cause of agitation and uncertainty in people. Therefore, in a yoga monastery one learns to live and to be happy as you are and with what you have. You will discover that happiness is something very important and distinct. It is not something you can buy in the supermarket. This security cannot even be found in material wealth, nor in beauty, nor in the health of our body. But it is an internal, superior wellbeing; unreachable by greediness, envy, lust, frevor and other negative impulses that keep us tied to this material world."

R52. "A yoga monastery is a school of preparation. Spending a week or a month in such a place, one learns to serve, one learns to give. And that is the most important thing one has to know. And nowadays persons do not know what to do when they have grown old. In that golden age, they can also come to a monastery, or they can travel from one to another. That too is a very fortunate life. It is called the life of a sannyasi, of a renunciate; who travels and visits persons, knocking on their doors and reminding them of the beautiful meaning of life."

R53. "The yoga monasteries are places that exist so that people can learn the beauty of their being, the development of their individual consciousness. That is what we are trying; to create this kind of atmosphere. And that is a model which can be repeated; hopefully infinitely. Because this world, its beauty, the sounds of nature, the sound of rivers and the waves of the ocean, the wind in the flowers and plants, all we see there, are places to be very close to the Supreme Lord in his universal form. Appreciate it, feel Mother Earth giving her benedictions. That is the way how we can find ourselves. Because in reality our life is exactly for this purpose: to learn about spiritual love."

R54. "Ego means 'identity', or 'self', distinct from the world and other living beings. In other words, Ego means individuality. False ego means wrong identification; identification with something we are not. So, the ego is there, this is not deniable. But we have to know what our real identity is in order to distinguish between the ego, the real self, and the false ego, or wrong identifications. Only then we will be able to get rid of the materialistic, self-centered and false ego."

R55. "False, or materialistic ego is the identification with matter. It is very self-centered. The origin of the false ego is the desire to possess material things in order to enjoy them. In this way we start to identify ourselves with material values and we become conditioned by the three modes of material nature, namely goodness, passion and ignorance.

R56. "In this conditioned state the living entities struggle very hard for gaining material values, but as a matter of fact it cannot solve the real problems of life: birth, death, old age and disease. With this wrong idea of ego, we think that we are a product of material nature and therefore we are runnig after illusory sense enjoyment. So absorbed in bodily consciousness we cannot understand our real identity, situation and purpose. We do not have clear knowledge of the existence and nature of God."

R57 "Often impersonalistic philosophers say that everything is illusion, everything is one, and they want to dissolve the ego. But we cannot give up our ego, as it means 'identity'. What we have to give up is the false ego, the false identification with matter. The self is not the illusion, but the bodily concept of life is the illusion."

R58. "And the first step in the process of realizing our true identity, also called self-realization, is to learn that we are not this body. With this information immediately the questions arise: so who are we? what is our real identity? The answer to these questions can be found in authorized Vedic scriptures such as the Bhagavad Gita: we are spirit souls. We are eternal, spiritual beings. But due to our material desires we had to take birth in the material world and we had to accept this material body. The Lord grants us a free will. So we are responsable for our actions and we decide whether we want to connect with the internal, spiritual energy of the Lord, or the external, material energy.

R59. "To purify our materialistic consciousness we have to become engaged in spiritual devotional service. By engaging in devotional service the original qualities of the self will become manifest. The Bhagavad Gita also tells us that we have to accept a spiritual master, a real representative of God, who is experienced in the science of self-realization and who can tell us how to serve God. Because that is something our mind cannot make up on its own account. In this way we will be able to give up our false identifications and start seeing our real nature, and the respective duties."

R60. "Self-realization is a very scientific process. Due to our long egoistic use of the senses for sense gratification, we are confused by false identifications such as: my country, my house, my money, which make us forget our eternal relationship with the Lord. Sometimes persons even think they themselves have become God. Of course, that is very pleasing to their false ego, as they see themselves as the peak of all creation, having to bow down before nobody. But actually it is easy to see that it cannot be true: we are not able to maintain ourselves, nor anybody else. We are basically dependent on every apple and every corn of rice. We are parts and parcels of the Lord. Our relationship with the Lord is like the relationship of a father and his a son. The son has the same qualities as the father but they can never switch their identity."

R61. "The original existence or nature of living beings is eternal and full of joy and wisdom. We should never forget that. In this material world there are always anxieties and problems. But we do not belong here, because everything in this material world is temporal whereas we are eternal. So we should take this opportunity to get rid of false identifications and to become engaged in the loving service of the Lord by approaching those who are already engaged in His service."

R62. "The virtuous attitude is so luminous itself that all kinds of different

attachments and mistakes we have committed will gradually be removed."

R63. "Acting virtuously is the basis to understand higher principles. Due to our

own experience and expectations we basically have a clear image of how we

would like to be treated and what kind of pleasant environment we would like

to be in. But even if we feel an inner inspiration or an inner invitation to

act virtuously, it is fundamentally important to get in contact with people

who are virtuous. Without this connection it will be impossible for us to

act virtuously."

R64. "The conditions tear on us and force us to act in a way we actually do not

like. To the point where one kills a person only to steal a little bit of

money to finance one's addictions. Unfortunately this is pretty common in

this world. The conditioned existence also constitutes that we are like

prisoners in this world. But at the same time the very situation we are in

can inspire us to seek a way out of it and to desire getting to know

virtuous actions."