Man's Eternal Quest

Truth cannot be wholly proved to any seeker by anyone else; but by the practice of yoga, the aspirant can prove truth for himself through his own experience.
                            - from the intro,   p xviii,   SRF unsigned

Without inner satisfaction, no amount of external good fortune can bring lasting happiness. p3

In times of cosmic dissolution, all creation and its vast activating forces dissolve back into Spirit. There they rest until called upon again by the Great Director to reenact their roles. p4

When in every action you think of Him before you act, while you are performing the action, and after you have finished it, He will reveal Himself to you. p7

Wrest your mind from the mirage of the senses and habit. Why be deluded like that? I am pointing out to you a land more beautiful than anything here can ever be. I am telling you of a happiness that will intoxicate you night and day - - you won't need some sense temptations to enthrall you. p8

Man lives in the body as a prisoner; when his term is over, he suffers the indignity of being thrown out. Love of the body is therefore nothing more than love of jail. p17

People of the world seek the gifts of God, but he who is wise seeks the Giver himself. p19

The Hindu scriptures state that God is beyond comprehension by mind and intellect. Powerful as they are, their scope is insufficient to contain Him. p21

Though mind is incapable of encompassing Omnipresence, it is nevertheless able to feel God. p21, 22

In order to know God you must become like Him.... Those who are not willing to give up all they have to find Him, will not know Him.... Despite all the tests I have gone through for Him, in the end God has given me everything I wanted or needed of this world. And I have given it all back, for He has bestowed on me a gift infinitely greater: Divine Joy, day and night. In that Joy all desires that come into my heart are satisfied. p26

We are here on earth in this particular body-form for just a little while, to learn our lessons and move on. Whither are we headed now? Think how many pages have already been turned in the Lord's dream novel of creation. p27

The only way to catch God is by love.... When you give up sleep to meditate upon Him, when you forsake selfishness and cry because of his suffering in your brothers, He comes to you. When you actually sacrifice for Him, He is caught in the net of your love. Nothing else can capture Him.
      Knowledge prepares the way to love. You cannot love that which you do not know.... When you know God, you will love Him, and when you love Him, you will surrender yourself to Him. p28

There is no use in becoming attached to anything in this world. So many things come and go in the Lord's cosmic drama. p29

The secret of effective prayer is to change your status from beggar to child of God; when you appeal to Him from that consciousness, your prayer will have both power and wisdom. p34

Will power is what makes you divine. When you give up using that will, you become a mortal man. Many people say we should not exercise our will to change conditions, lest we interfere with God's plan. But why would God give us will if we are not to use it?.... [M]an must learn to bend his will, which is governed by desires, to the will of God. Therefore right prayer, when it is persistent, is will. p34, 35

Belief and experience are quite different. A belief comes from what you have heard or read and accepted as fact, but experience is something you have actually perceived. The convictions of those who have experienced God cannot be shaken. If you had never tasted an orange, I could fool you about its characteristics; but if you had already eaten one, I could not deceive you. You would know, you would have had the experience of it. p36

Spirited victrolas who merely mouth truth do not impress us [Indians]. We are taught to recognize the difference between a man's sermon and his life; he must demonstrate that he has experienced what he has learned. p37

The first rule in prayer is to approach God only with legitimate desires. The second is to pray for their fulfillment, not as a beggar, but as a son: "I am Thy child. Thou art my Father. Thou and I are One." When you pray deeply and continuously you will feel a great joy welling up in your heart. Don't be satisfied until that joy manifests.... Then pray to your Father: "Lord, this is my need. I am willing to work for it; please guide me and help me to have the right thoughts and to do the right things to bring about success. I will use my reason, and work with determination, but guide Thou my reason, will, and activity to the right thing that I should do." p42, 43

I am here to tell you that the very joy you are seeking in sex, money, wine, love, fame - - that joy is within yourself. You don't have to go elsewhere. p46

His whole creation is intended to disillusion you, and thus cause you to draw back to Him. p46

Every day I ask Him why He did it. [Created us and this sorrow-filled world].... The Lord replies that you cannot make steel until you have made the iron white-hot in fire. p47

Those who don't meditate regularly and deeply are restless whenever they do meditate, and give up after a short effort. But if you make a greater effort day by day, the ability to go deep will come. I don't have to make any effort now; the whole world is gone instantly when I close my eyes and gaze into the Christ center. And I used to sit for hours trying to forget the body and the thoughts! I came to a point where I thought it was no use. But I saw it was my fault. Between the restless thoughts and God there is a wall; the ordinary person doesn't try, so he never gets over that wall. But the spiritual fighter goes on. When the mind becomes still, you are in the Kingdom of the Infinite. Those who have spent too much time on foolish things remain fruitlessly knocking outside. p49, 50

Communion with god is the only thing to live for. You will have to come to that understanding eventually, often after much suffering. Why not learn now? p50

Without realization through meditation, religion is the most mysterious book of all; you will never be able to understand it. But by meditation you have the proof of God's existence. p52

One who learns and practices the metaphysical methods of living by will power and by consciously tapping the inexhaustible source of life energy is freed from many limitations of the body. p56

The man who considers his body to be different from his mind, and who wants to accept as "real" only the positive, happy, and beneficial aspects of a universe unalterably dual in its nature, is a man deeply asleep in the delusions of the dream world. p58, 59

Life is the greatest adventure imaginable.... Imagine what it would be like to know all about the lives of all the people who are now on earth, and those who are gone, and those who are yet to come! Such is God's power.... It is difficult indeed to conceive of a consciousness that is aware of everything that has ever happened. Yet to fathom the nature of Spirit is the greatest adventure in this universe. p60

Maya: the cosmic delusion that "existence" depends on body and breath. p66

An adventure with wild animals in South Africa is nothing compared to the adventure of life itself. No other tale in history is as interesting. Man with his intelligence knows how to protect himself against animals, but he doesn't know how to protect himself against his own bad habits and evil ways. The greatest of all enemies of man is himself. More than personal or national enemies, more than germs, bombs, or any other threat, man should fear himself when he is wrong. To remain in ignorance of your divine nature and to be overpowered by bad habits is to make an enemy of your own self. The best way to be successful in this adventure of life is to be your own friend. Krishna said: "The Self is the Friend of the (transformed) self, but the Enemy of the unregenerate self." -Bhagavad Gita VI:6 p66, 67

Everything the Lord has created is to try us, to bring out the buried soul immortality within us. That is the adventure of life, the one purpose of life. And everyone's adventure is different, unique. p71

Man should be instructed by this cosmic motion picture of life. It is not being shown without a reason. Each day we behold different scenes, and each day has a lesson to teach. You are meant to learn the lesson by concentrating on the supreme purpose of human existence: to know Who is behind your life. p73

The belief that wine, sex experiences, and money will bring happiness is said by the sages to be the chief delusion that man must overcome in order to realize his true nature. p86

The man who clings to the Divine is bound to be healed; because God knows that the devotee is praying, and He cannot but respond. But when you give up, the Father says, "All right. I see that you can do without Me. I shall wait for you." p89

Every force and object in this universe is a product of the Divine Mind, in the same way that all the things you perceive in a dream are creations of your own mind. On the conscious plane also, if your mind creates the thought that the body will be weak from fasting, it will be weak; or if you have been fasting and momentarily think it is making you weak, the body will actually feel weak. But if you make up your mind that the body is strong, it will not feel any weakness; rather, it will feel great power. Most people do not know this because they have never tried it. The mind will not show its miracle unless you make it work. And it will not work so long as you continue to depend more and more on material things. That is why its marvels remain hidden from ordinary vision. But when, through fasting, you learn to depend on mind, it will work in everything, whether conquering disease, or creating prosperity, or realizing the supreme goal of life - - finding God. p107

The great purpose of your experiences here is to stimulate you to search out their meaning. p108

There are many kinds of religionists in the world, and each religion has its own cross-section of this diversity.... Emotionally excitable types want "pep" in their religion; when you lecture from the intellectual plane they fall asleep. It is too dull, they say. But playing upon others' emotions is simply juggling with their minds; it is not giving them Truth, or God.
      The intellectual religionist delights in hearing about various theological or philosophical concepts, flattering himself that he is on a higher rung of divine understanding than the emotional religionist. But intellectual stimulation, also, is only another kind of "drug," a different form of mental juggling that does not give the seeker what he really needs, any more than does over-stirring of the emotions.
      Religionists who cling blindly to dogma will often parrot what they do not really understand or have not realized. When you ask them questions, they quote scriptures and tenets like spiritual victrolas. It is useless to reason with them because they are so sure they know it all. p113

When you have found it impossible to fulfill some urgent wish by your own effort, you turn to God in prayer. Thus every prayer that you utter represents a desire. But when you find God, all desires vanish, and there is no need for prayer. p121

Life is not what it seems to be. Don't trust it, for it is very tricky, and full of disappointments. Perfection was not meant to be found here. I am not giving you a false picture of life. This is not the Kingdom of God; it is God's laboratory, where He is testing souls to see if they will overcome evil desires by good ones, and make Him their supreme desire, so they can return home to His Kingdom. p126

The hardest obstacle to overcome is yourself. When you sit to meditate at night, your nervousness and restlessness are still with you. Learn to control your mind and body. Be king of yourself. Carry within you a portable heaven, and in life or in death, in heaven or in hades, that inner heaven will be with you. p131

Many people may doubt that finding God is the purpose of life; but everyone can accept the idea that the purpose of life is to find happiness. I say that God is Happiness. He is Bliss. He is Love. He is Joy that will never go away from your soul. p134

With the human mind we cannot know the Infinite Mind or perceive what ineffable Spirit is; but through the superconsciousness of the soul we can taste the Divine Presence as Bliss. p150

God has given us the power of spiritual inspiration - realization of the pure bliss of His presence within us. But the evil force in creation has invented spurious imitations.... The counterfeits are harmful, for they are the lures of maya, the cosmic delusive force that is ever trying to mar all the beautiful expressions of God in this universe. p160

Follow the path of truth steadfastly. Remember that out of thousands, only a few seek God; and out of those seekers, perhaps only one really knows Him. He who is persistent will realize God. So try your best to make meditation a regular experience in your life. May you never forget god and never be satisfied until you have Him! Be able to say, "Behind this finite frame I feel the Infinite." p166

Learn how to shut out of your consciousness all sounds and other earthly distractions. As soon as your consciousness is right, God is there. He isn't hiding from you; you are hiding from Him. p166

God is with you. Why should you think He is not? The ether is filled with music that is caught by the radio -- music that otherwise you would not know about. And so it is with God. He is with you every minute of your existence, yet the only way to realize this is to meditate. p168

Of the three ways to expand human consciousness, into cosmic consciousness, the first is the social way, wherein you shut out "self" and live for all.
      The second way to cosmic consciousness is the way of self-discipline.... To attain cosmic consciousness it is necessary to possess self-control and to rise above dualities -- heat and cold, pleasure and sorrow, health and sickness.
      Lastly is the way of meditation -- the metaphysical path.
      If you put a sealed jar of water in a tank of water, that which is in the jar is separated from that which surrounds the jar; but if you remove the lid, the water in the jar and the water in the tank can mingle. Similarly, ordinary people shut out God because their consciousness is sealed in by the lid of ignorance. p169, 170

The real smile is the smile of bliss that comes when you meditate, when you feel the joy of God's presence. p172

The average man is familiar with four states of mind. When a desire is fulfilled, he is happy. When a desire is denied, he is unhappy. When he is neither glad nor sorrowful, he is bored. When these three emotions, these three states of mind -- pleasure, pain, and boredom -- are sloughed off, he has peace. p172

I am always there now, in that bliss-consciousness of God. Nothing affects me; whether I am alone or with people, that joy of the Lord is always there. I have retained my smile -- but to win it permanently was hard work! The same smiles are there within you; the same joy and bliss of the soul is there. You don't have to acquire them, but rather regain them. You have merely lost them temporarily by identifying yourself with the senses. p175

He wants you to understand that this creation is a show. If you take the show seriously, you are going to get hurt, and you won't like it; you won't be able to stand life, with its sorrow and disease and pain....
      You have already lost so much time -- death may take you away at any moment, and then you won't have time to know him. You must realize Him before you go out of the body cage. Tell Him, "I want to feel Your presence." But He won't let you out of this hospital of delusion permanently until you cure yourself of the disease of desires. p177

Laugh at maya, delusion. Watch life as a cosmic motion picture, then it cannot work its delusive magic on you anymore. Be in God-bliss....
      So by all means get to God. But He won't receive you until you prove to Him that you do want Him and that you have no desire to get mixed up in His show. p178

Nor should you question God. You will reap only doubt. You will not be able to understand His laws until you become one with Him. So why waste time trying to understand them by an intellectual approach?....
      So God is the Master-Novelist, and one is wonderstruck at the paradoxes and intricate plot of His creation. Don't try to solve these riddles, you will be lost. When you find Him, in that last chapter, He will give you the solutions to all the enigmas of human life. And you won't be able to question His wisdom when you hear His replies. That I know! p178

Deep sincerity is necessary in the spiritual path. In guilelessness comes the birth of Spirit. Jesus said: "Thou hast hid these things from the wise and purdent, and hast revealed them unto babes." Matthew 11:25 Before God, our human wisdom is nothing. The only way we can coax Him to surrender Himself to us is by offering to Him the same unconditional love that He gives to us. p180

Our moods are inkmarks traced on the graph of life by the Karma of the past. p185

We will reason, we will will, we will act; but guide Thou our reason, will, and activity to the right thing that we should do in everything. p191

Satan, or cosmic delusion, is always snaring us through our ignorance. That is how he obstructs God. The Lord could easily destroy Satan, but prefers to overcome him by love. Whenever we choose the divine offerings of eternal joy instead of the passing pleasures of the senses, the Adversary is robbed of his dark power. p192

Temptations are alluring, there is no doubt about that. Our sensory powers are all directed to the outer world...., and we tend to like the feeling....
      The trouble is, most people have not had any experience of the Spirit, which is hidden behind matter; hence they have no standard of comparison between the exciting, pleasurable perceptions of the senses and the unknown ineffable bliss of the soul. And there is no chance to compare until one has renounced or become mentally insusceptible to all sense enticements. The only way to avoid the trap is to realize by reason or experience that there are higher joys. p193

You must be able to pass through all experiences of life without attachment. p194

The soul is bound to the body by a chain of desires, temptations, troubles, and worries, and it is trying to free itself.... Meditation is simply reminding yourself again and again that you are not the limited physical body, but the Infinite Spirit. p197

So always think of your mind as a garden, and keep it beautiful and fragrant with divine thoughts; let it not become a mud pond, rank with malodorous hateful moods. If you cultivate the heavenly scented blooms of peace and love, the bee of Christ Consciousness will steal into your garden. As the bee seeks out only those flowers that are sweet with honey, so God comes only when your life is sweet with honeyed thoughts.... The more you develop flowerlike divine qualities, the more God will reveal to you this secret omnipresence in your soul. p208

But why should not spiritual law be investigated by the same methods of experimentation used by the material scientists to discover physical truths? p211

Sudra: sense-bound state of existence. To see in life no greater purpose than the satisfaction of bodily wants and desires.
      Vaisya: business or creative state. Always busy getting things done. Some strive only to earn money, but the best is more evolved and creative.
      Kshatriyas: strive to win the battle with the senses. A desire to overcome evil tendencies and do what is right.
      Brahmin: the wisdom state. Of a contemplative nature, spiritually inspired and inspiring. Thoughts are always of God. p220-222

The first part of life is usually stupidly misspent, in a sort of bewildered state. p219

You must be prepared to give up everything for communion with God. He will test you.... One saint said, "I don't care when He comes -- I know that He will come." That is the attitude one must have. p233, 234