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Vedanta Quotes

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Vedanta Quotes

“Hence this life of yours which you are living is not merely a piece of the entire existence, but is in a certain sense the whole; only this whole is not so constituted that it can be surveyed in one single glance. This, as we know, is what the Brahmins express in that sacred, mystic formula which is yet really so simple and so clear: Tat tvam asi, this is you. Or, again, in such words as 'I am in the east and in the west, I am below and above, I am this whole world'. Thus you can throw yourself flat on the ground, stretched out upon Mother Earth, with the certain conviction that you are one with her and she with you. You are as firmly established, as invulnerable as she, indeed a thousand times firmer and more invulnerable. As surely she will engulf you tomorrow, so surely will she bring you forth anew to new striving and suffering. And not merely 'some day': now, today, every day she is bringing you forth, not once but thousands upon thousands of times, just as every day she engulfs you a thousand times over. For eternally and always there is only now, one and the same now; the present is the only thing that has no end.”

InspirationalPhilosophyEternityHinduismPresentVedantaAll Is OneTat Tvam Asi
Book:My View of the World
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“What you call the personality is an inflexible accumulation of emotive images. The real personality appears in your stillness only when you need it and disappears when the situation no longer calls for it. It is flexible without a periphery. It is multidimensional, free from psychological interference. When you are called upon to be a mother, a father, a lover, a student, a teacher, a fighter, you are these temporarily, but they do not remain as a state you identify with. Then there is love, there is affection without affectivity.”

LoveEmotionPersonalityAffectionNondualityVedantaTranspersonal
Book:Who Am I?: The Sacred Quest
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“Never say, "O Lord, I am a miserable sinner." Who will help you? You are the help of the universe. What in this universe can help you? What can prevail over you? You are the God of the universe; where can you seek for help? Never help came from anywhere but from yourself. In your ignorance, every prayer that you made and that was answered, you thought was answered by some Being, but you answered the prayer yourself unknowingly. The help came from yourself, and you fondly imagined that someone was sending help to you. There is no help for you outside of yourself; you are the creator of the universe. Like the silkworm, you have built a cocoon around yourself. Who will save you? Burst your own cocoon and come out as a beautiful butterfly, as the free soul. Then alone you will see Truth.”

GodNondualityVedanta1896One Existence Appearing As Many
Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume 3
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“Deep inquiry leads to contemplation, or prayer. Through dedicated contemplation we can attune to consciousness, the light which constitutes all phenomena. This light is our intrinsic nature. Our being is always shining. Our real nature is openness, listening, release, surrender without producing or will. Prayer or contemplation is welcoming free from projection and expectation. It is without demand and formulation. It invites the object to unfold in you and reveals your openness to you. Live with this opening, this vastness. Attune yourself to it. It is love. Ardent contemplation brings you to living meditation so ultimately they are one.”

LoveSilenceOnenessStillnessNondualityPresenceVedantaContemplative PrayerPure PrayerPrayerfulness
Book:Who Am I?: The Sacred Quest
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“When you become responsive to the solicitations of silence, you may be called to explore the invitation. This exploration is a kind of laboratory. You may sit and observe the coming and going of perceptions. You remain present to them but do not follow them. Following a thought is what maintains it. If you remain present without becoming an accomplice, agitation slows down through lack of fuel. In the absence of agitation you are taken by the resonance of stillness.”

SilenceMeditationMindfulnessInner PeaceOnenessContemplationNondualityVedantaContemplative Living
Book:Who Am I?: The Sacred Quest
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“Thou art That". This is the essence of Vedanta; after all its ramifications and intellectual gymnastics, you know the human soul to be pure and omniscient, you see that such superstitions as birth and death would be entire nonsense when spoken of in connection with the soul. The soul was never born and will never die, and all these ideas that we are going to die and are afraid to die are mere superstitions. [...] The Vedanta teaches men to have faith in themselves first. As certain religions of the world say that a man who does not believe in a Personal God outside of himself is an atheist, so the Vedanta says, a man who does not believe in himself is an atheist.”

SoulReligionFearImmortalityHinduismAdvaitaVedanta
Book:Practical Vedanta
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“Imagine that a scientist creates a human clone in a lab based on the genes of a real man called Raghu. It looks exactly like Raghu. Through virtual reality (VR), its mind is fed with experiences and memories of Raghu so that now it believes that it is Raghu. Now both of them -Raghu and the clone - behave exactly the same way. They cry on same things, laugh on same things. How would you find out which one of them has a soul?”

MindSoulPhilosophyReligionSpiritualityHinduismVedanta
Author:Shunya
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“In a few decades, perhaps people will get attached to social media profiles just like you are attached to your body mind now. Then Gurus will have to remind them, “Profile is nothing but some pictures and data stored in servers owned by social media companies. You don’t own it. You just access it. Don’t bother about likes and followers. You are not a profile. you are a body-mind!”

MindSoulSpiritualityBuddhismIllusionHinduismVedantaSpiritual KnowledgeSupreme Truth
Author:Shunya
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“Imagine you are passing by a roadside gambling stall. There is an operator surrounded by some audience members who are gambling their money and winning. You get interested and place your bet. You lose your money. Later you realize that the operator and the audience were all part of the same gang. Give it a thought: Maybe the things you like and things you dislike are part of the same conspiracy? They are just putting on a show to keep you engaged. You are the only real audience of this show.”

SpiritualityZenHinduismAdvaitaDualityVedanta
Author:Shunya
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“In silent surrender there is bliss and prayer without request or demand. There is no doer, experiencer, lover or beloved. There is only a divine current. You see that the very act of welcoming is itself the solution to the problem and the action which follows your comprehension is very straightforward. When you become familiar with the act of surrender, truth will solicit you unsought.”

JoyPrayerSurrenderDevotionBlissNondualityVedanta
Book:Who Am I?: The Sacred Quest
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“A man called Mr. Mind died. His wife Mrs. Soul was in the process of transferring all his property papers in her name. Then she came across his death certificate. She said to her lawyer, “I want all his papers in my name and this paper also belongs to him. Transfer it in my name.” Lawyer did that. Now she was also legally dead! She could no longer claim her husband’s properties. She was absolutely nothing now. This is the last step in spiritual journey. The concept of soul has to die so that only the soul remains. The concept belongs to the mind. If you don’t let go of it, you are still attached to the mind.”

MindSoulSpiritualityHinduismVedantaNon Duality
Author:Shunya
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“No Self stands alone. Behind it stretches an immense chain of physical and - as a special class within the whole - mental events, to which it belongs as a reacting member and which it carries on. Through the condition at any moment of its somatic, especially its cerebral system, and through education, and tradition, by word, by writing, by monument, by manners, by a way of life, by a newly shaped environment... by so much that a thousand words would not exhaust it, by all that, I say, the Self is not so much linked with what happened to its ancestors, it is not so much the product, and merely the product, of all that, but rather, in the strictest sense of the word, the SAME THING as all that: the strict, direct continuation of it, just as the Self aged fifty is the continuation of the Self aged forty.”

SelfVedantaAncestors
Book:My View of the World
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“Experience has demonstrated a direct connection between mental and emotional pain and predominance of rajas and tamas relative to sattva. Meditation and inquiry are only possible in a sattvic mind. Three buckets of water stand in front of a white wall. The sun reflects off the water, producing three reflected suns on the wall. A strong wind roiling the contents of the first bucket produces a dancing image of the sun. The second, filled with muddy water, produces a dull, dark spot. The third, containing clear and still water, generates an accurate reflection of the sun. If the purpose of meditation is Self-realization and the mind is the instrument through which the Self is known, it stands to reason that accurate identification of the Self depends on a clear still mind. When the subtle body is pure, the bliss of the Self uplifts the emotions and awakens subtle devotional feelings. When the subtle body is pure, the Self illumines the intellect, enhancing discrimination and inspiring brilliant thinking. Radiant health results when a sattvic subtle body channels the Self‘s healing energy to the body. (p. 69)”

MeditationHealthVedantaSelfknowledgeInquiry Into The Self
Book:Meditation: Inquiry Into the Self
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