Question: Please explain the meaning of Jesus’ teaching, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Sri Gurudev: Poverty is not in things. You need food, shelter, a body. Poverty means giving up “mineness,” or calling things “mine,…
How do you know if what you decide to do is the right thing? It’s very simple. The right thing will not affect your health and happiness. That’s all. Anything that would affect your physical and mental peace, your health and happiness, is wrong. Anything. This might bring another question: “Suppose I want to help…
There is a simple way of finding out how far away you are from God. Take a pencil and paper, and start writing down all the things that you call “mine.” However long the list is, that’s how far away you are from God. Reduce the list, and you are coming closer to God. If…
Enlightenment is the same for one and all. Is the sun in Australia different from the sun in America? There is the same sun, the same light, the same rain, the same air. Is there a man’s sleep and a woman’s sleep, a dog’s sleep and a cat’s sleep? No. Sleep is the same. Death…
Question: How can a devotee honor God? Answer: God doesn’t look for your honor. If you want to honor God, express God’s image, that part of God that is functioning in you. Put yourself into God’s hands. As the Bhagavad Gita proclaims, “Whatever you do,whatever you enjoy,whatever penance you perform,in essence everything that you think,…
What is disease? “Disease is that which caused you to lose your ease. Is it not so? You were at ease; all of a sudden, something happened, you did something and you lost your ease. Thus, you are diseased. Then, the doctor takes away the dis, putting you back at ease. So anything that marred…
When we want to understand God’s Will, God has a way of helping us subdue our ego. In a way, ego is always dependent on the spirit. We are never independent in that respect. But once we consciously submit ourselves completely to that spirit, then we are independent because God’s will takes over. Then instead…
If you died this minute, what would people be saying about you? If the majority of people would feel sorry about your departure, if they would feel they had gotten a lot of help from you and that you hadn’t hurt anyone, then certainly God is happy with you and the gates of heaven are…
Preparation for sleep is more important than sleeping itself. As soon as you walk into the house, don’t just jump into bed and expect to get a good night’s sleep. First release your soles from your shoes, have a nice shower and put on some loose, comfortable clothing. As you loosen your body, loosen your…
Question: Can a spiritually-minded person have a harmonious life together with someone who is not spiritually-minded? The person I care about does not understand or accept my God-centeredness. Answer: You can still care about that person. Just remember that you have to stabilize yourself before you help someone else. Ideally, your companion should be somebody…
He who has no love cannot know God – for God is love. Love is the greatest force in this world. Love is immortal Love is God. Where love is there God is. Therefore become an embodiment of love. Love is God. Love is light. Light is wisdom. Wisdom is divine life – it is…
I always recommend speaking with measured words—not going to the extremes of either complete silence or constant talking. Speak only when there is a need, and even then measure your words. Talking takes a lot of energy; and unnecessary speaking creates a lot of problems. You often make enemies by talking too much. Occasionally observing…