Saints

"Using siddhis (powers) is not good for those who possess them. It can also trap the mind into desires. By being pure in mind siddhis will come by itself, and a yogi should not try to show his powers. First thing is to have siddhis and then not to get trapped in siddhis."

"We cannot describe it. We cannot reveal it. And when we do, we disappear."

"Teach to learn. Watch yourself before you teach."

"Pleasure has desire in it. Desire is pain. There is no satisfaction. So pleasure is pain."

"Your body is the temple of your soul. Your soul is God's temple."

"How many teachers did you have? A: Myself."

"..it was well known to people (in Kumoan villages) that Babaji Maharaj's (Hariakhan Baba) age was several thousand years and that he was present at the War of Mahabharata at the time of Krishna."

"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."

"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."

"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..."

"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.”"

"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."

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

"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."

"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."

"To get out of the rut is not one day's job or one hour in a day or going to temples, churches or mosques on particular days. We have to reflect on all our thoughts all the time and turn the outgoing mind inward in every second of life."

"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."

"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."

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

"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."

"If the ego is pulled toward the world, it makes a wall. If the same ego is pulled toward God, it makes a ladder."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

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

"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."

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

"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."

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

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

"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."

"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)."

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

"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."

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

"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."

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

"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."

"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."

"Q: What can I do to overcome my fear of death? A: Attachment to the body causes fear of death. It is the strongest attachment. Even a newborn infant has this attachment. To overcome the fear of death it is necessary to accept that we all have to die."

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

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

"Q: What is silence? A: Silence is an austerity. You control your desire to talk. By talking, people try to impress others, which you can't do if you are in silence. In silence you have to develop tolerance. At first it is difficult to do because you separate yourself from others by not expressing yourself. But gradually the mind reduces that ego and an aspirant accepts the situation, which develops tolerance and reduces anger."

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