There are 3 types of people:
One who wants to clean all the garbage in this world – Sweeper.
One who wants to improve his own Self – Seeker.
One who neither wants to improve the world nor the self – Sucker.
If you want to change the world, if you do not accept this world as it is, you are disrespecting God. One who has no desire of changing/improving the world, One who accepts everything the way it is, that One is on the spiritual path. Only when one who accepts oneself, as is, is there room for transformation – room for reflecting inside and realizing the Higher Self.
Discussions and arguments clear problems.
Love dissolves, not solves, problems.
Most people think the Bhagvad Gita talks about Karma. It talks about Karma Yoga, not Karma. Karma Yoga is doing what is right and not doing what is wrong vs. doing what one likes and not doing what one dislikes. When one keeps doing right and not doing wrong, one’s likes/dislikes completely disappear. Then one is content doing right, is comfortable everywhere and is free from the bond of judgment and habits.That being is a Karma Yogi.
The Bhagvad Gita is about:
Mamatva (my-ness) – Dhritarashtra is a prime example of this Attachment – Duryodhana is a great example of attachment to worldly activities Karma Yoga – Arjuna is disillusioned; when all the options to war had been exhausted, the Mahabharata was declared; yet he doesn’t want to go to war with his Gurus, Elders and Family Members; so he justifies not fighting the war; he gives reason upon reason to call off the war. Krishna, with a smile on his face, reminds him of his Kshatriya duty, which is greater than the earthly bonds of relationships.
Swami Ji told us gently that the lesson from this is, “Friends, never justify yourself to anyone. When you are sure in your heart that you are doing right, there’s no reason for arguments/justifications/explanations/clarifications”.
We do not realize the value of what we have; we take it for granted. Space is always around is but the Sun comes and goes everyday. Since the Sun is not always in our lives, we realize its value. There are many, many shlokas singing the praises of the Sun but not one glorifying the Space – the Space, in which the Sun moves, because of which the Sun rises and sets, goes unnoticed.
Swami Ji asked the audience, “Do you love and respect me?”. Everyone said, “Yes”. “If you get upset with someone here, will you start fighting with the person?” Everyone said, “No”. “Why? Because you love and respect me, you don’t want to misbehave in my presence. You may appear calm outwardly while your mind says, ‘Just let Swami Ji leave then I will show him’.” Everyone knew the feeling and smiled. “God is everywhere. If we realize God’s presence everywhere, all the time, we won’t lie, hurt, cheat. In your everyday life, while doing all your routine activities, experience this presence and you will not go wrong”.
You don’t need replies to your questions. You need answers and solutions. The solution resides, within your heart, right where your question originates.
Among many other gems, he left us with – When you leave home, your make-up is not complete without a smile. When you interact with others, your actions are not complete unless performed with Love.
He repeated many times, “You cannot change anyone except yourself” and “If you are bored (with yourself), can you imagine how boring you must be to others?”. However, someone still asked him at the end, how to spread this message of love and bliss.
Excerpts from a spiritual discourse by Swami Anubhavananda satsang in 2001