Philosophers From India

"Shri Dharampal has documented from old British archives, particularly those in Madras, that the indigenous system of education compared more than favourably with the system obtaining in England at about the same time. The Indian system was admittedly in a state of decay when it was surveyed by the British Collectors in Bengal, Bombay and Madras. Yet, as the data brought up by them proved conclusively, the Indian system was better than the English in terms of (1) the number of schools and colleges proportionately to the population, (2) the number of students attending these institutions, (3) the duration of time spent in school by the students, (4) the quality of teachers, (5) the diligence as well as intelligence of the students, (6) the financial support needed to see the students through school and college, (7) the high percentage of lower class (Sudra and other castes) students attending these schools as compared to the upper class (Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaisya) students, and (8) in terms of subjects taught."

"We may legitimately conclude: "Th ere were a number of Saka Eras. Two of them were much older than that of 78 A.D ., and one of them which both Bhattotpala and Varahamihira have used to indicate the epochs of their works went back to the middle of the 6th century before Christ: the year 551-550."

"Whatever we may say, by way of criticism, about fixing the Kaliyuga in 3102 B.C., the Bhārata War in 3138 B.C., the coronation of Mahapādma Nanda in 1638 B.C. or, since the Nandas Purānically reigned 100 years, the beginning of the Mauryas in 1538 B.C, we cannot help being struck by the precision with which this chronology leads us to synchronise Chandragupta I with Sandrocottus."

"Even without our calculations about the kingdoms and dynasties of the post-Andhra epoch, the very fact that the Puranas can terminate the Andhras in 390 B.C. and that a Chandragupta of Pataliputra arrives on the scene not long after—this very fact is enough, with Sandrocottus in the last quarter of the 4th century B.C., to make us sit up and take sharp notice of the extraordinary coincidence."

"Surely, there is a limit even to the lack of the historical sense we may attribute to Indian chronologists. Critics of the Puranic time-scheme would definitely overshoot the mark by asking us to believe that an Indian living day after day under a particular king could be mad enough to push publicly the same monarch back in history by more than 6 centuries. Here is a reductio ad absurdum of the modern criticism and of the chronology currently accepted."

"Hari Dass Baba – this little 90 pound fellow – architecturally designed all of the temples and schools, supervised all the buildings and grounds, had many followers of his own, slept two hours a night. His food intake for the last 15 years had been 2 glasses of milk a day. That's it. His feces are like two small marbles each day. His arms are about this big around, tiny, but when the workmen can't lift a particularly heavy rock, they call for 'Chota Maharaji' – the little great king. As in a comic strip, he goes over and lifts the rock, just with one-pointedness of mind."

"The aphasia has introduced silence into my conversation...I had training for this kind of thing when I was with Baba Hari Dass in India (1967). I was mauna (in silence) for a period of time, and he and I wrote to each other on tiny slates that we wore around our necks."

"Each morning around 11:30 Hari Dass Baba would come from Hanuman Garh sixteen kilometers away to give me lessons in yoga, asanas and pranayama, for about twenty minutes..."

"Q: Babji, if you had only two words to say to the people of the world, what would they be? A: Attain Peace."

"He was very loving and very demanding. He told me Hindu stories like those of Ramayana. He kept silence, so he would write on a chalkboard, things likem “Desire is the creator, desire is the destroyer, desire is the universe.”"

"In early 1971 I received preliminary copies of the book [Be Here Now] in India. When it was read to Maharaji-ji (Neem Karoli), he told me to change some of the parts about Hari Dass Baba, who had been my sadhana tutor while I lived in Kainchi that first year."

"Haridas [Baba Hari Dass] with his band of enthusiastic and active associates, was managing the affairs of the temples and ashram at Hanumanghar [near Nainital]. He was well-versed in pujas and rituals, as well as in pranayama and meditation, and an experienced practitioner of hatha yoga... he also looked after the devotees who who would come there. Those staying there were sometimes taught the preliminaries of yoga, especially hatha yoga. Ram Dass stayed there in 1967 and Lawerie in 1964, among others."

"Haridas was also very active in building the Kainchi temples and purchasing materials for them. His associates, mostly from Nainital, were his friends and companions... Some of them were so attached to him that they parted from Babaji [Neem Karoli] when Haridas left in 1968. The work ran smoothly under Haridas's leadership, with the full cooperation of his associates."

"No religion can grant enlightenment or salvation. Your own faith, devotion, and love for God can bring about enlightenment. Your spiritual practices and your desire to attain God are the main thing."

"Control of the mind can be achieved by understanding yourself, the aim and the energy which is blocking us from progressing. Between God and the Self, the blocking energy is the ego."

"I am the logic of all arguments - Arguments are of three kinds: 1) jalpa (arrogant argument) – In this type of argument one tries to establish one's point of view by contradicting the opponent's argument without considering whether the opponent's argument is right or wrong. 2) vitanda (destructive criticism) – In this type of argument the person simply destroys the opponent's viewpoint by misleading argument. 3) vada (logical argument) – In this type of argument one uses a method of discussion with reasoning with an aim to find out what is truth and what is untruth. Reasoning is the best method of discussion to achieve the truth. This is why the Lord says, “Among arguments, I am vada or logical argument.”"

"Knowledge, action, and actor are declared in the science of the gunas to be of three kinds only, according to distinctions of gunas; hear them also duly."

"Having made pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat the same, you engage in battle for the sake of battle; thus you shell win and not incur sin. (Bhagavad Gita, Ch II, verse 38) Here, Sri Krishna is saying that if Arjuna has neither desire for heaven nor for sovereignty over the earth, then he should achieve equanimity of the mind. With equanimity of the mind one can achieve success in the war of life. Without it, one cannot remain unaffected by the pairs of opposites and will be continually tossed about by the waves of egocentric likes and dislikes."

"Among creations I am the beginning, the middle, and also the end, O Arjuna, I am the science of the Self, and I am the logic of all arguments."

"Q: How are peace and happiness related? Is peace the only real happiness? A: When happiness moves beyond the mind, that is happiness."

"Human birth is the highest. It is for attaining liberation. If we don't consciously try for liberation, then we are misusing our human birth.Every action, thought, and word should be spiritual. It happens only when the mind is purified by sadhana (spiritual practice)."

"The ego rules the mind because it links the “I” with the mind and body. If the “I,” which is another name for the self, were not identified with the mind and body, the ego would have no power. Self-study, svadhyaya, therefore, is the set of practices that investigates the nature of the self to discover its origin. When the origin is found to be separate from the body, the ego loses the battle and peace is attain."

"You have everything and you want more. It's natural in human beings. You don't need to give away your house, money, and car, and leave your family to find God. The only thing necessary is to understand attachment."

"The ego has no form and no particular center of existence. It pervades the mind, intellect, senses, and the body as 'I am'."

"Yoga is defined as a method – the process of nirodha (mental control) – by which union (the goal of yoga) is achieved. Yoga is therefore both the process of nirodha and the unqualified state of niruddha (the perfection of that process). The word yoga (union) implies duality (as in joining of two things or principles); the result of yoga is the nondual state..., or as the union of the lower self and higher Self. The nondual state is characterized by the absence of individuality; it can be described as eternal peace, pure love, Self-realization, or liberation."

"Samyama, which is the application of concentration (dharana), meditation (dhyana), and superconscious trance (samadhi) in lightning succession, is practiced with the intent to gain specific knowledge of the object of concentration. The object is seen from all sides, in all its aspects, with full depth and breadth. As such, this complete absorption of the mind using the process of samyama brings complete and specific knowledge of the object. This power of knowing is vibhuti."

"Q: I understand that to walk the path one must do it alone. Why is it so much easier to do a yoga class in a group rather than to have the discipline of doing it alone? A: In the modern system, Yoga is becoming a group thing. I did not grow up with this kind of system. In my discipline, doing Yoga in front of anyone was forbidden. Because it's a personal thing. That is why yogis chose to live in seclusion."

"Making separate groups is human nature. No matter how much we talk about universal unity, we end up making another group."

"A prisoner never stops thinking about getting out of the prison. Life in the world is like sitting in a prison. One who doesn't realize that doesn't think of getting liberation."

"Everything can be a trap. A hermit goes to a cave to get out of all worldly attachments and then gets attach to the cave. If we miss the point, then everything becomes a trap."

"Greed is a sickness of the mind. The more one hoards, the more greed increases. Giving with no expectation eliminates greed."

"There is always a chance for a person to break out of the cycle, but there is no such chance for an animal unless it incarnates as a human and develops "I" consciousness."

"The Self is beyond birth, death, gender, class, and religion - only the body wears those labels."

"A wise person is one who sees the effect of an action before he acts."

"Work honestly, meditate every day, meet people without fear, and play."

"Creation is the product of bliss, and bliss is its sustainer; to bliss it returns."

"The embodied soul has two purposes to fulfill: Experience the world, and get liberation from all experiences. If the self were not in bondage then the two purposes would not be fulfilled."

"Household is a chariot. The parents are its two wheels. If the wheels don't move equally, the chariot cannot run straight."

"Q: At the time of death when the elements are changing rapidly and there is confusion and fear, what is the method to fix the mind in positivity? A: It depends on regular practice. It can't be done without prior practice of concentration. At the time of death, people lose control over the mind. Only a few keep awareness of God at that moment."

"All sadhanas or methods are for simply tricking the mind. The trick is to not let the mind spread out in a form of thoughts."

"Within the physical body every human being has a subtle body made up of invisible structures and energies (kundalini, nadis, and chakras); and within the subtle is the causal body out of which the subtle and physical bodies are formed."

"The aim of life is to attain peace. No one can give us peace. We can't buy or borrow it. We have to cultivate it by practicing yama and niyama (yoga restraints and observances)."

"Faith and devotion are the foundation on which meditation is built."

"Contentment, compassion, and tolerance are the pillars of peace."

"Don't think that you are carrying the whole world; make it easy. Make it play, make it a prayer."

"Anything that exists will never be destroyed; its disappearance is simply a transformation."

"The world is an abstract art. We see it as we want to see it. It is a garden of roses and it is also a forest of thorny bushes and poison oak."

"A person knows what he knows. An animal knows, but doesn't know what he knows. In Yoga, "I" consciousness is called asmita klesha. It is classified as an affliction and a hindrance to attaining higher consciousness."

"Just like pure water poured in a dirty cup becomes dirty, similarly the pure ego rooted in the impure mind becomes impure ego."

"What is mind? A heap of thoughts."