Quotes by Sri M

“We like to be happy, we gather things. Somewhere along the line, we have been taught that the more you gather, the more happy you are. Not really true.”

“Observe the children without prejudice. Don't try to put them into the moulds that you want to put them. They may fit into it, but deep down there is no happiness. A rose is a rose and a lotus is a...”

“The word Guru means heavy, in Sanskrit. It also means teacher. Heavy – meaning one who is more important, who has more understanding; who has more than you have; who, by virtue of his knowledge, is...”

“The mind has to be shaken up from wrong ideas; essentially meaning, a churning-up - ‘manthan’ is required. It’s only when the mind is churned-up that it can explore fresh horizons; otherwise, it be...”

“Humility means the understanding or the awareness that one doesn’t know or perhaps, there is more to know. This means the idea that one ‘knows’ has to be set aside, that the brain or mind is empty ...”

“If the mind is to be shaken up from its beliefs, and from its sleep of ignorance, then it has to be woken up from the stupor in which it is caught.”

“Two times are very important for any kind of spiritual practice: one is dawn and the other is dusk. Both are called Sandhya because they are the coming together of the two lights - darkness and light.”

“Bhakti is the deep feeling in the heart; of devotion to the truth, if you are interested in some form of God, which you worship. Attachment to that itself is bhakti.”

“Gayatri Mantra, the most important prayer of the Rigveda says ‘illumine my intellect’.  Sharpen the mind so that it can understand its limitations.”

“Upanishad: upa means to move closer, and shad means to settle down, sit, relax, listen. The in-between word ni indicates the connection between going near and sitting down.”

“Sadhana is meant to go deep into the realities, into the truth of the Upanishads, into the core of the teachings, into the core of one's being.”

“Sadhana is not about doing something and reaching somewhere; one purifies the vessel to be fit to receive the full flow of the grace of knowledge.”

“Every religion has a core, which is spiritual and if you are merely following the formalities and not going to the core, then you are really not practicing the religion”

“To be religious only and not spiritual, is just to follow the outwards form of religion, which means you are just following the shell and not going to the essence.”

“You can be religious and at the same time be spiritual. There need not be a dichotomy, you can be both, or you can be anyone.  ”