Self-control is the most necessary thing to be learned; a person may have great spirituality, illumination and piety, but in the absence of self-control this is nothing. Self-control also is the way of happiness and peace. ... No thought or feeling should arise without our will. When we have gained mastery over the self, we have mastery over all things. ... Self-control is an attribute which distinguishes man from the animal; both have their appetites and passions, but it is man alone who can control them.
The control of the self means the control of everything. What does it mean when we see a person fail time after time, or another person succeed time after time? It is just a matter of holding the reins of our affairs in our hands. When there is no rein there is failure. Failure means that there has been lack of self-control, whether it is a failure in affairs or in health. Illness always comes when a person has lost the control of the self. It is because this is the main theme of metaphysics that Hatha Yoga has been considered of the greatest value. All the miracles and all the wonders that have ever been known in this world have been done by those who have been able to control themselves by abstinence, and therefore to control life. However much was said upon this subject, it would still not express it. To begin with a person is puzzled by it, and he wonders whether he should believe it or not. That is why in the East the adepts never speak of their experiences in the spiritual life. They only tell their disciples to lead it and practice for years. 'That will make it clear to you', they say.

Commentary by Hazrat Inayat Khan

The Upanishads state that everyone and everything is connected.
Everyone has pure consciousness, experienced as one's Self, or
Atman. The Atman, in fact, is none other than the Self of the
universe, which is called Brahman. One who realizes this has
achieved "yoga", or union with the divine.
The universe is very democratic. Everyone has a Self, or Atman.
Even a rock has consciousness as its basis. It is just a matter
of to what degree one is aware of this reality.

Ten Commandments of Mother Earth

I. Thou shalt love and honour the Earth for it blesses
thy life and governs thy survival.

II. Thou shalt keep each day sacred to the Earth and
celebrate the turning of its seasons.

III. Thou shalt not hold thyself above other living
things nor drive them to extinction.

IV. Thou shalt give thanks for thy food, to the creatures
and plants that nourish thee.

V. Thou shalt educate thy offspring for multitudes of people
are a blessing unto the Earth when we live in harmony.

VI. Thou shall not kill, nor waste Earth's riches upon
weapons of war.

VII. Thou shalt not pursue profit at the Earth's expense
but strive to restore its damaged majesty.

VIII. Thou shalt not hide from thyself or others the
consequences of thy actions upon the Earth.

IX. Thou shalt not steal from future generations by
impoverishing or poisoning the Earth.

X. Thou shalt consume material goods in moderation so all
may share the Earth's bounty.

Author Unknown

Q:If you could tell me what I shall become, it may help me to watch over my development.
M: How can anybody tell you what you shall become when there is no becoming? You merely discover what you are. All moulding oneself to a pattern is a grievous waste of time. Think neither of the past nor of the future, just be.
Q: How can I just be? Changes are inevitable.
M: Changes are inevitable in the changeful, but you are not subject to them. You are the changeless background, against which changes are perceived.
Q: Everything changes, the background also changes. There is no need of a changeless background to notice changes. The self is momentary -- it is merely the point where the past meets the future.
M: Of course the self based on memory is momentary. But such self demands unbroken continuity behind it. You know from experience that there are gaps when your self is forgotten. What brings it back to life? What wakes you up in the morning? There must be some constant factor bridging the gaps in consciousness. If you watch carefully you will find that even your daily consciousness is in flashes, with gaps intervening all the time. What is in the gaps? What can there be but your real being, that is timeless; mind and mindlessness are one to it.
Q: Is there any particular place you would advise me to go to for spiritual attainment?
M: The only proper place is within. The outer world neither can help nor hinder. No system, no pattern of action will take you to your goal. Give up all working for a future, concentrate totally on the now, be concerned only with your response to every movement of life as it happens.
Q: What is the cause of the urge to roam about?
M: There is no cause. You merely dream that you roam about. In a few years your stay in India will appear as a dream to you. You will dream some other dream at that time. Do realise that it is not you who moves from dream to dream, but the dreams flow before you and you are the immutable witness. No happening affects your real being -- this is the absolute truth.
____________________________________________________________

From: Sri Nisargadatta's book "I AM THAT"

Thus the ultimate purpose, for which the soul is seeking every moment of our life, is our spiritual purpose. And you may ask how to attain to that purpose. The answer is that what you are seeking for is within yourself. Instead of looking outside, you must look within. The way to proceed to accomplish this is for some moments to suspend all your senses such as sight, hearing, smell, touch, in order to put a screen before the outside life. And by concentration and by developing that meditative quality you will sooner or later get in touch with the inner Self which is more communicative, which speaks more loudly than all the noises of this world. And this gives joy, creates peace, and produces in you a self-sufficient spirit, a spirit of independence, of true liberty. The moment you get in touch with your Self you are in communion with God. It is in this way, if God-communication is sought rightly, that spirituality is attained.

There is neither creation nor destruction,
neither destiny nor free will,
neither path nor achievement;
this is the final truth.
_______________________________________________

~ Ramana Maharshi ~

The teaching of immortality is to awaken. We must rise above the physical and material conditions if we are to live at all. We must aim at being independent of physical sight and hearing. We know that if we really want to understand a thing, we close our eyes because we can see it better. If we are thinking in this manner, it means that we are listening to some thought coming from some other plane. At such a time we want to cut off and stop outward sound or sight. All the meditations and concentrations of the mystics, as well as their dreams, are their journeys to the inner planes. It is necessary, if the soul has the desire to know the past, the present, and the future, to satisfy its desire by a contemplative life. The more tired and exhausted the mind, the more is meditation needed.

The Story of Baba and the Tiger skin

When Sai Baba was young boy an English officer was hunting on the
far side of the Chitravati River, which runs alongside
Puttaparthy, Baba's hometown. He killed a tiger near Puttaparthy.
(This was when the British still ruled India) He was returning to
Anantapur and his jeep was stopped opposite to Puttaparthy village
and would not start again. The driver who had heard about the
Miracle Boy (Baba) went in search of Him to see if He could help
them get their car started. The driver asked the boy "Are you Sai
Baba"? Then Sai Baba told him that he would come to the jeep.
Baba peeped into the jeep and saw the carcass of the dead tiger
which the officer had shot just two hours ago.

Sai Baba said that he had stopped the jeep at this place. He told
them that the dead tiger was a mother of three cubs just two weeks
old. He said the cubs are at this time wailing for their mother.
He told them to go back, recover the cubs and gift them to the
zoo, where they would be cared for. He told them not to shoot
wild beasts with his guns. Instead, he told the Englishman, he
should shoot them with his camera.

The Englishman obeyed Baba. Swami's counsel touched him very much
and he stopped killing animals. A month later he came to Baba with
the tiger skin. The Englishman told Baba that "I cannot live with
it any more, sir. I would like to present it to you".

There is a tiger skin under the feet of Baba in Prasanthinilayam,
which we presume that is the same tiger skin. Lord Shiva normally
wears a tiger skin and sits on it for meditation.

In the Vedic belief, one "sows what one reaps". If one is a
hunter in this life, then in the next life, he/she becomes the
animal and the animal takes human birth and hunts them! To avoid
this tragedy, it is best to STOP eating meat and become
vegetarian.

People pursue spirituality with their brain: that is where they are mistaken. Spirituality is attained through the heart. What do I mean by the heart? Is it the nervous center in the midst of the breast, the small piece of flesh that doctors call the heart? No, the definition of the heart is that it is the depth of the mind, the mind being the surface of the heart. That in us which feels is the heart, that which thinks is the mind. It is the same thing which thinks and feels, but the direction is different: feeling comes from the depth, thought from the surface. When thought is not linked with feeling it is just like a plant rising up from the earth, the root of which has not gone deep. A thought without feeling is a powerless thought; it is just like a plant without a deep root. A tree the root of which has gone deep into the earth is stronger, more reliable, and so the thought deeply rooted in the heart has greater power.

~Hafiz

Do not be critics, you people, I beg you. I was a critic and I wish I could
take it all back because it came from a smelly and ignorant place in me
and spoke with a voice that was all rage and envy. Do not dismiss a book
until you have written one, and do not dismiss a movie until you have
made one, and do not dismiss a person until you have met them. It is a
f***load of work to be open-minded and generous and understanding and
forgiving and accepting, that is what matters. What matters is saying yes."


-Dave Eggers, *The Harvard Advocate*