Quotes by Sri M

“Yajnavalkya says to King Janaka, ‘When you were dreaming, there was a witness to the dream. When you were awake, there was a witness to the state of waking. So, the witness is the reality and not w...”

“The  ‘U’ sound in Aum represents the dream state that is common to all humanity. This is called the ‘Swapna Avasta’ or the ‘Tejasa’ - that which is illumined or lit by itself. Why? Because when you...”

“The Mandukya Upanishad says, ‘A’, the first sound in Aum represents the waking state that is common to all of us. You may believe in God, you may not, or you may be an agnostic. But everyone experi...”

“Sometimes what happens is we read so much of the scriptures that there is not enough space within to accommodate the understanding.”

“There are some who go for talks and spend all their time comparing. This fellow says this, and somebody else said that. When you are listening, you should listen to it fully and not compare. When y...”

“There is a small word in between ‘Upa’ and ‘shad’ - ‘Ni’. ‘Ni’ indicates the position of one who teaches and one who's listening. The student sits with the attitude, ‘I don’t know, let me understan...”

“What is Upanishad? ‘Upa’- means to be near, ‘shad’ - means to sit. Not only are you physically sitting down, but your mind has also settled down. Another meaning is ‘to shake up’ all the theories w...”

“Ved - means to study, Anta means the end. So, Ved-anta means understanding when the need to study ends. To reach a state, the Truth, which when understood there is no need to read or study to under...”

“Pranava is that which gives the first thrust to the life forces. It’s the Alpha and the Omega. In the ancient tradition, it is called Aum.”

“When we meditate, we see that the mind wanders - either because we are attracted to something or repulsed by something. If this unrest is settled by the understanding that this is the cause of one ...”

“If somebody has indeed emptied his or her mind in the process of life, there is a stillness that arises when the mind is without distraction.”

“Emptying oneself is neither a conscious nor an unconscious process. We need to understand it as a concept. There is no technique to do this. The concept should be there in one’s mind constantly so ...”

“When I say I have to empty myself, it implies I am already full. All this has to be examined, and unless and until a vessel is empty, it cannot be filled. Here, the vessel is the mind or brain, so ...”

“How can one learn when one is full? Empty all the things we instantly like or dislike since our subconsciousness is conditioned to certain things. Essentially, to empty all this is the process of s...”

“To ‘empty oneself’ sounds simple. However, it's the most difficult thing because we are so full of our thoughts, our prejudices and what others have taught us. There is no space; we are filled to t...”