Divine Whispers - Quotes by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

God/Almighty “When you know you own God, you will not be in a hurry to get something out of God.” ***** “When you have infinite patience, you will realiseGod belongs to you.” ***** “God does not test you because he knows you completely –your past, present and future.” ***** “God is calling you every moment.” ***** “God is the Seer himself who sees—that is God.” ***** “God is love. Being in love is sharing that love.” ***** “This entire universe is made up of God. There is nothing outside God.” ***** “God is responsibility, total responsibility.” ***** “If you pray to God with all your heart, (dropping the sorrow which simply means hanging onto the past) then whatever you desire will be given to you.” ***** “God exists in everyone but they are asleep in some people thatis why they exhibit demonic qualities.” ***** “Just like how all raindrops will reach the ocean, same way all prayers will reach the same God.” ***** “God is attribute-less but all attributes belong to him as nothing exists beyond God.” ***** “Love shakes everything. Even the angels and God. That is what happens after Sata Chandi Homa, you dance.” ***** “Nature loves to give you surprises. God loves fun. He always gives you surprises – sometimes pleasant, sometimes unpleasant.” ***** “God is that space in which everything is, was and will be.” ***** “God is beyond the three qualities: Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Yet the qualities exist in him!” ***** “Don’t run after anybody. You are important in your life. Focus on your career, acquiring talents and doing Seva for society. If at all you have to please anybody, please God, please the Divine and please yourself.” ***** “Listening to God is meditation. Asking God is Prayer.” ***** “The experience in you is God.” ***** “Parashuram avatars teach you to see God even in the cruel person!” ***** “God is asleep in every particle of this universe. God is in you in seed form. When he wakes up, neither you nor the world remain.” ***** ****************************  Guru “The Master is a doorway.” ***** “The Master is presence. The world is relativity and relativity has limitations. Presence is unlimited.” ***** “If you are not feeling close to the Master, it is because of you, because of your mind, because of your ego concepts.” ***** “A Master is like an ocean. Ocean is there, readily available. It does not reject anybody.” ***** “If a Master is not hollow and empty; he is no Master at all.” ***** “Guru Purnima is the day of reflection. It is the New Year for a spiritual seeker; for one who is on the path. Just like you have the calendar New Year on 1st January every year, for a spiritual seeker, the New Year is on Guru Purnima.” ***** “Like there is fatherhood and motherhood, there is something called Guruhood as well, and you all have to play the role of Guruhood to someone or the other. Anyways, consciously or unconsciously, you are all a Guru to somebody already because you do give advice, guidance, love and care to people, isn't it? So now do it consciously, giving your hundred per cent without expecting anything in return. This is living the Guru Principle.” ***** “Know that there is no difference between you, the Divine and the Guru Principle. It all culminates into just one thing – the queen bee. And meditation is reposing in the atman.” ***** “On Guru Purnima, ask for what you want and it will be bestowed. Go for the highest desire. The best wish is to desire for knowledge and freedom. Think about everything in your life that you can be grateful for, and ask what you want for the future. And bless others; this is the time to bless people. Just receiving is not enough; we need to also bless those who are in need.” ***** “So feel grateful for all the blessings that you have received. Be grateful for all the knowledge, and see how knowledge has transformed life. Without the knowledge we will be nowhere – realizing this, feel grateful for all that has come our way, and celebrate!Thank all the Masters of the tradition who have preserved this knowledge from ages, and brought it to us. It is very significant.” ***** “Lord Krishna said, ‘Mam ekamsharanamvraja’, meaning, ‘Come to me alone’ He said this to his dearest disciple Arjuna to make his mind totally be there to value the present.” ***** “When you have a Guru; fear, uncertainty, these things simply don’t come.” ***** “The Guru is not the (physical) body. The Guru is the Divine light that resides within the body; the Guru is love.” ***** “Just to toss a ball from one end to another, or to learn how to hit a puck with a stick, we need a coach or a guide. Then how can one not need a guide for spirituality? A Guru is definitely needed.” ***** “You should never say this; God has become a problem for you. If you long for God, or for your Guru, in your heart, then that is good. This takes you on the path of progress. If that longing is not there then there is no juice in life.” ***** “Guru and Shishya parampara is always one on one, but in the crowd!” ***** “Know that it's all one – Shiva Tattva, Guru Tattva, Atma Tattva. The differences are only in the name (flavours).” ***** “Guru doesn’t look for intelligence in a disciple. He creates an opportunity where, the intelligence that is already there blossoms.” ***** “Why or how is it that only a Guru can bring about a change in a person? It is because a Guru never wants anything for himself. A Guru wants transformation in someone only because what the person is doing is harming himself or herself. A Guru looks at people with this compassionate perspective which is why people transform when they come to Him.” ***** “The Guru is the one who leads you to the light of the Divine (Govind). So it is right. The Guru has always held the highest position in our country since the ages. It is a very unique pedestal and we need to preserve and honour the dignity of the Guru.” ***** “A Guru always wants his disciples to make great progress so that they may surpass and defeat the Guru himself one day. Then a Guru’s job is done.” ***** ****************************   Knowledge “Be a friend in knowledge. Uplift each other in knowledge.” ***** “Knowledge is a burden if it does not set you free.” ***** “Knowledge keeps everything fresh.” ***** “In science you have knowledge first, and then faith follows. In spirituality, faith comes first, and then knowledge follows.” ***** “When you follow fun, misery follows you. When you follow knowledge, fun follows you.” ***** “Illusion is error of perception and knowing illusion as illusion is knowledge.” ***** “Suffering is a product of limited knowledge.” ***** “For one who has awakened in knowledge, there is no more suffering.” ***** “If too many desires come in your mind, or too much restlessness and agitation then food, atmosphere and association have been the cause.” ***** “Wise is the one who learns from another´s mistakes. Less wise is the one who learns only from his own mistakes. The fool keeps making the same mistakes again and again and never learns from them. Knowledge is a burden if it robs you of innocence.” ***** “Another wealth is having different skills and talents. Some people write well, some are good in arguing, some are good in debating, some have a knack for music, some have a wonderful voice, some cook well, some are talented in bringing up a child, some are good in administration, and so on. There are people who put their maximum efforts to achieve what they want. Yet, they fail to achieve their goal. So effort alone is not enough to achieve one’s goal, you need the wealth of skill. ***** “The world is full of lessons if only we observe it with full awareness. Be as humble as the grass, then nothing can touch you, nothing. No one can humiliate you. In the eyes of the divine, it is those who serve the creation that are the true kings and queens. Walk like a king and be a perfect servant!” ***** “Our memory is very short. It appears this is the only life. We are not aware of our Source. The moment you become aware of your source and your infinite past, your whole life changes – like somebody suddenly becoming aware of how wealthy he (or she) is. It causes a shift in the awareness. Suddenly, you become aware, Oh! I have several billions of dollars in my bank account! Your style of walking will change immediately! This is the awareness of the Source. You don’t even have to remember all the drama that you went through. It’s enough if you just remember the source. The memory of the source is a great wealth. It makes life one continuous stream – not ‘cut off’ – not in pieces.” ***** ****************************   Karma “When you praise someone, you take on their good karma. When you blame someone, you take on their bad karma.” ***** “Prarabdha karma cannot be changed. Sanchita karma can be changed by spiritual practices.” ***** “Despite being amidst all pleasures and worldly things, one is completely untouched, untainted and unstained by the events and happenings.” ***** “Look at the events come, pass and go. According to their own law of karma, both pleasant and unpleasant events come and pass through you.” ***** “Saying anything good happens through grace and anything bad happens through karma, keeps you grounded. ***** “You deal with the situation. All that you face in life are result of your karma. It could be latent or present karma.” ***** “Every bad karma has a remedy – compassion, meditation, chanting and charity.” ***** “You can rise above the ocean of karma through awareness.” ***** “When you increase your sense of knowingness, your karma gets reduced. For example, you feel like throttling somebody, but because you are aware, you don't do it.” ***** “A Yogi works hundred per cent, without desires or attachments. This is Karma Yoga.” ***** “There are certain karmas which can’t be changed but many of them can be.” ***** “Until the impression of your previously done karma is on your mind, that karma manages to exist. You are freed from karma once the impression is erased.” ***** “Dedicated action, focused action is Karma Yoga. Through Karma Yoga also one can attain me (Krishna).” ***** “It's your desire or attachment that causes tiredness, not the work. Karma Yoga is acting hundred per cent, even though you aren't attached.” ***** “Once you get human body, karma begins because intellect has choice.” ***** “Many things like food, time, company, planetary positions, place and our karmas can affect the quality of your Sadhana.” ***** “Every impression is karma, but there is nothing to worry about because karma is not like an engraving on a rock – it is fluid. And karma is always bound by time because every action has only a limited reaction – it is not infinite.” ***** “Reaction and non-action both create karma, but conscious action transcends karma.” ***** ****************************  Death “Death dwells in the void as well as in celebration. ***** “Death brings you in touch with the reality of life.” ***** “Wake up and see your life is too short. The realization that life is short will bring dynamism to your life ***** “Life works on strange laws of nature (Karma). One never knows when a friend turns enemy and vice-versa. Rely on your Self; self-reliance.” ***** “This temporary world is of death. Here, everything dies and everything changes. Do you recognise that subtle field of energy, that subatomic level of energy that does not change? Objects disintegrate, but atoms remain the same. Atoms and molecules disintegrate, but the sub-atomic particles are the same. All these human bodies are different, but there is one field of energy, the mind, that flows through everybody. Do you realize that there is one thing –your true nature?” ***** “You are free the moment you see it’s not in you. If you have a pain, observe it’s happening in the body. If there is tightness or joy in your mind, observe that it is tight, sad, unhappy or happy. Just observe that you are not enjoying, and it is happening elsewhere, as though it is happening, knows that there is no death to the disciple. Atma never dies. Even after death he continues to get direction on the path.” ***** “Will we remember anything from this life after we die?” ***** “Knowledge of life brings confidence. Knowledge of death makes you fearless.” ***** “What is death? And what is beyond death? Nature has provided a tiny glimpse of death to you in everyday life– your sleep. It's akin to your sleep. When you are awake, you are engaged in all various activities, and the moment you hit the bed, what happens to you, where do you go? However, the day has been, pleasant or unpleasant; sleep provides you the deep rest.” “***** “Life is much larger than birth and death, failure and success. You are the unblemished, pure eternal Self. Knowing this you will walk like a King.” ***** “Those who meditate do not fear death. The one, who is filled with fears, faces death at every step, but for the one steeped in DivineLove, there is no death!” ***** “The spirit or the energy has no birth and no death. There is something deep inside of you that was never born and that never will die.” ***** “Everything you do, do it happily, with contentment; that brings you liberation from the cycle of birth and death.” ***** “You know, at the time of death, only two questions will be before us: How much love have we shared, and how much knowledge have we gained in our lifetime.” ***** “All places of worship in all religions are connected with places of burial or cremation because only the awareness of death can bring dispassion and can ground you in knowledge.” ***** ****************************   Yoga “Yoga is something that makes you happy, something that uplifts your spirit, something which makes you strong, vibrant, and powerful, why would you not do it?” ***** “Like a flower bud, human life has the potential to blossom fully. Blossoming of human potential to fullness is yoga.” ***** “Yoga brings the knowledge, passion and action together.” ***** “Yoga is a study of life, study of your body, breath, mind, intellect, memory, and ego; study of your inner faculties.” ***** “Withdraw your senses from the object to its source, then the union happens, then yoga happens.” ***** “Peace is our very nature, and yoga leads you to inner peace.” ***** “The purpose of yoga is to stop suffering even before it arises.” ***** “Yoga is not just a weight-loss program; it is a science to make you feel lighter. You lose mental stuff of anger, jealousy, hatred, greed, etc.” ***** “One of the rules of yoga is to cultivate the practice of being happy.” ***** “The wisdom of yoga transforms one from arrogance to self-confidence, meekness to humility, from dependence to a realization of interdependence.” ***** “The wisdom of yoga transforms one from craving for freedom to recognition of unboundedness, from limited ownership to oneness with the whole.” ***** “Peace is our very nature, and yoga leads you to inner peace. Yoga is a study of life, study of your body, breath, mind, intellect, memory, and ego. Study of your inner faculties! We do yoga to make life more beautiful, to stop misery from entering our world.” ***** “Yoga is the best app that everyone must download in their life.” ***** “A disease-free body, a violence-free society, a confusion-free mind, an inhibition-free intellect, a trauma-free memory, a sorrow-free soul and a quiver-free breath is the impact that yoga can make on your life.” ***** “If you claim that you are a Yogi, then you should have an undying smile on your face. I would say, that is the sign of a Yogi. Yoga makes your emotions softer and more peaceful, and you blossom in your emotions. It brings freedom in your expression and your thought patterns.” ***** “Many people think of the eight limbs of Yoga as a step-wise process to go level by level. They think that one has to strive to become proficient in one level before ascending to the next. This is not really so. I would say that all these eight limbs or aspects of yoga are woven together and happen simultaneously.” ***** “When a child is conceived in the womb, then all its organs are formed together. It is not that first, the feet are formed and then the arms take shape. No, it is not so. All the limbs and organs develop together. This is why we must take all these eight aspects or limbs of Yoga together at every step. Only then can we experience the fullness and totality of yoga, and can bring about an extraordinary transformation and experience in our life.” ***** “Yoga is not just only postures; it is your state of being.” ***** “Yoga is vast and has many possibilities. This message we must bring to the people. The spiritual aspect of yoga should be highlighted. That alone can bring up the happiness factor in society.” ***** **************************** Love “Usually, when people love something and there is a longing for it, they try to get rid of it because it is painful. The more you try to run away from it; you are destroying not only the longing but also the love.” ***** “Love is incomplete and it will have to remain incomplete. Itmeans that you have marked the boundaries, found its limitations. For love to be infinite, it has to be incomplete. Love is infinite and it finds expression in infinite ways.” ***** “A devotee is like a crazy person in the eyes of ignorant people. They are not bothered about what people think or say about them. A devotee’s world is nothing but God.” ***** “There are three kinds of love. The love that comes out of charm, that which comes out of comfort, and the divine love.” ***** “Seeing the Divine in your valentine and make the Divinity your Valentine (your sweet beloved). Just Be and know that you are Loved, that is beloved.” ***** “There is strength in peace. There is strength in calmness. There is strength in love, but it goes unnoticed. What you cannot win with guns, you can win through love, and this power of love needs to be realised.” ***** “The most powerful thing in the world is love! We can win the hearts of people through love.” ***** “You cannot transform the world when a terrorist is at your door, but is there some way in which can transform the world? Is there any alternative method that can bring sense to people who do not listen to anything, other than force? We can start thinking along these lines only when we realise that there is enormous power in love and inner peace.” ***** “We can all radiate peace, good thoughts, good vibrations; good wishes and that will definitely make an impact on the planet.” ***** “We need to get back pride in being non-violent.” ***** “Love is not an emotion; it is your very existence.” ***** “Here are the signs of love. When you love someone, you see nothing wrong with them.” ***** “When you love someone, you want to see them always happy and you want them to have the best.” ***** “Love is the highest strength, yet it makes you absolutely weak.” ***** “Love cannot tolerate distance, and hatred cannot toleratenearness.” ***** “You can experience love, but you cannot describe it or express it totally.” ***** “Love is beyond sight, touch, smell, taste, and sound.” ***** “When there is love, there is no ego. Ego dissolves like the dew drops with the sun.” ***** “In the company of one who is living love, you also can’t but spring into that Love.” ***** “Love is that phenomenon of dissolving, disappearing, merging, becoming one with the Infinite.” ***** “Love is that phenomenon of total letting go.” ***** “The seers, the scene, and the process of seeing all merge. The knowledge, the knower, and the known, they all merge, become one and that is divine love.” ***** “The path of love is not a tedious path. It's a path of joy. It's a path of singing and dancing.” ***** “Respect for the Self is faith and faith is being open.” ***** “Have respect for the Self and no one can take your self-respect.” ***** “Someone does not need to be great in order to be respected. Respecting life makes you great.” ***** ****************************   Loyalty “Loyalty is commitment to a cause or a person, irrespective of the situation and changes that time brings upon. Loyalty transcends promises and performances.” ***** “It is unjust to demand loyalty from everybody, with the exception being party workers and office bearers who have to be loyal to their party as otherwise it will not function.” ***** “Democracy and loyalty are two diametrically opposite concepts; yet they are compatible when they are in their rightful places.” ***** “In theUS, a common expression is ‘yellow-dog Democrats’ – people loyal to the Democrats would rather vote for a yellow dog than a Republican. Most people label themselves as Republicans or Democrats. In any election, it’s the narrow swing vote, which is really the deciding factor. If you watchclosely, it is only a few who have really chosen.Ideally, it should be the masses thatchoose and the few who should be loyal. Then election has meaning.” ***** “You can do better than a formal post, as did Mahatma Gandhi.” ***** “It is the nature of people with integrity to find an anchor for their loyalty.” ***** “Life needs loyalty, but when it comes todemocracy, one should act like a father who has love for all his sons, yet chooses the right one for the right job. Youhave to be loyal to human values. Instead, if you are loyal to a party how can you exercise your franchise? You cannot be loyal to a party and claim to have a choice. Only the impartial can choose.” ***** “Loyalty disallows impartial competition for if you are loyal to one political party and if the same party continues to rule, what is the point in having elections?” ***** “Loyalty has its place.You need to be loyal to your principles,monarch,country,themilitary, your employer, employees and spouse. You have to be faithful to your country, but you endanger democracy if you are loyal to a single political party.” ***** “Loyalty is the way in which a mature and integrated mind behaves. Loyalty indicates undivided wholeness of consciousness and shows richness of the mind. When the mind is not integrated, it is feverish, disloyal and opportunistic.” ***** “A divided mind will gradually lead to schizophrenia and other physical and mental disorders. Loyalty is a real strength and will have the support of nature in the long run.” ***** “Fear and ambitions are impediments to loyalty. Loyalty is neededin both the material and spiritual plane. Either to destroy, create or maintain any institution, group or society, loyalty is essential.” ***** “Freedom and loyalty should go hand in hand. However, loyalty which is stifling gradually decays and freedom without loyalty leads to anarchy.” ***** “A loyal mind is a 'yes-mind’. The purpose of asking questions is to get an answer. The purpose of all answers is to create a 'yes’. ‘Yes’ is an acknowledgement of knowledge. The ‘yes-mind’ is a quiet, holistic and joyful mind. The ‘no-mind’ is an agitated, doubting and miserable mind.” ***** “Loyalty begins with a ‘yes-mind’ and starts to perish with a ‘no-mind’.” ***** “Disloyalty comes out of opportunism. Opportunism is short sightedness of one’s destiny. Integrity or wholeness is essential to be healthy.” ***** “Loyalty means believing in the continuity of commitment, honouring commitment. It takes you beyond the duality of craving and aversion. Responsibility, dedication and commitment are the limbs of loyalty.” ***** ****************************