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…
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,…
God is love. Love is God. God is nectar. God is prem. Bhakti is supreme love towards God. Bhakti is the greatest power on earth. It gushes from one’s pure heart. It redeems and saves. It purifies the heart. Devotion is the seed. Faith is the root. Service of the saints is the shower. Communion…
To define God is to deny God. You can give definition of a finite object only. How can you define the limitless or infinite being who is the source and ultimate cause for everything? If you define God you are limiting the limitless one, you are confining him within the concept of the mind. God…
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…
Prema is intense, concentrated, pure love of the Lord. Prema brings the devotee face to face with the Lord. Bhakti culminates in prema. Prema is pure nectar. Prema destroys pains and sorrows. It makes one immortal and blissful and peaceful. It is very difficult to describe the nature of prema. You will have to experience…
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…
The innate nature of all beings is to love an external object – we cannot but cherish something in the heart. For, truly, the absolute alone is existent. Man is only an ego, apparently separated from it. Love for external things is an unconscious internal urge to become unified with everything. For, in reality, man…
To love man is to love God alone. Man is the true image of God. He is his aṃśa (part). In the Gita you will find: “A portion of mine own self, transformed in the world of life into an immortal spirit, draweth around itself the senses, of which the mind is the sixth, veiled…
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…
Truth, mercy, humility, self-control, purity, devotion, courage, dispassion, discrimination, serenity, equilibrium are the doors to liberation. Contentment is the greatest virtue – it makes a man richer than an emperor. It brings every blessing and everlasting peace. Bearing insult and injury is saintliness. Justice, mercy, compassion, honesty, selfless service, sacrifice, self-restraint, are the ingredients or…
Question: How do I know the difference between going with the flow and being out of control? Answer: That’s where you should learn to apply moderation; be neither too tight nor too loose. If you can’t figure it out by yourself, seek the aid of someone who can help you. Consult a more experienced person.…