1. There are many methods of realisation and each one claims its efficacy. But it is our duty, before entering into any system, to consider which is the best system and it depends upon one’s own judgment and the Grace of God to get a real method to solve the mystery of one’s life. ME 38 purpose of life
  2. The way which leads to the Almighty is one and one alone. The method to reach Him will always be the one which is perpendicular. If you have regard for this carefully, there can only be one such perpendicular. Divinity is a play, and divine the way! , ME P 91 Divine play
  3. “Master is one who is taken as ideal; and Master Associate (Sohbati) is one who would bring that ideal to ripening. Keep your heart free from worldly suffering. This will be achieved through association. The association of that person will be beneficial, who has an approach upto the stage of Qutub (Dhruva-fixed pole star or regional personality). Our by-gone representatives were connected to Qutub.” AB II Vol I P 58 30th June 1944
  4. Sadhana has two aspects , one abhyas and the other the Master’s help. Abhyas is meant only for creating inner conditions which will be helpful to the abhyasi in attracting the flow of Divine Grace, and this involves one’s self effort. But , self effort alone is not sufficient . It must be supplemented by Master’s support. VR I 121
  5. When the idea is there, action comes as its result. If meaning is there, words are also there. When you dilapidate all these, reality begins to dawn, till it grows to its full length, giving fruits and flowers. ME P 75 Role of nature
  6. As an advice to seekers, I like to add that mind can be known by mind and Divinity can be known by Divinity, or in other words, we should use the Divine Power for the sake of Divinity. The sun is there, but the over-cloudiness you will have to remove yourself, to have its full lustre. ME P 65 Use the divine power
  7. People follow what they want and do as they desire, but expect the results to be as I want it and which is so dear to them and to me. The result is a sort of block is formed. I find this in many hearts. This hides Reality and keeps It out of the sight of an abhyasi. If I am to be held responsible, I will request you to follow what I say. Japa, people do without even knowing how to do it. Similarly, there are other modes of worship, which they do in order to please themselves but not to please God. I want to create naturalness in you, but you prefer mechanicalness. In this way, you see the mirror from its back. ME P 66 Ultimate solution
  8. Almost all systems of Sadhana has two aspects – one self practice or abhyas and the other the Master’s help and support. In order to develop the required condition , self effort ( abhyas) alone is not at all or even enough. It must be supplemented by Divine Grace which is the one essential for the purpose. ME P 51
  9. When such a person forms the intention to go up, the thought also gets help because of the fellowship. If he develops love and attachment of thought with his fellow being of high calibre he will not come across such opposing thought elements which may create derangement. TM 39
  10. No sadhana is of any avail unless it guarantees moderation in the mental tendencies of the sadhaka.VR 118
  11. Constant growth of lightness of mind and spirit is the surest test of spiritual progress.
    RD 62
  12. You must be sure that unless internal peace, calmness of mind, simplicity and lightness follow as a natural result of your practices, you are proceeding lines and that your training is defective.
  13. Impatience or constant restlessness to reach the goal is the shortest possible time in , thus , by far the most important factor which contributes to our speedy success. We must not rest even for a while till we have gained the real object, the eternal peace and calmness. Intense longing for an object naturally creates restlessness for it and we have no peace till we achieve the desired object.RD 31
  14. A gross conception will necessarily keep you within bounds and limitations and final approach or absolute freedom can never be possible. This is the reason why in spite of years of practice they find themselves at the lowest level of attainment. They are so to say , searching everything in a stagnant pool where even oxygen, necessary for upkeep of life is wanting. RD 11
  15. In short, all that is required for sure success is intense longing, together with proper means and earnest endeavours. Further he should be one who is blind to the charms of the world, is inspired with one object and one purpose and thinking all the while of that alone which may help in attainment of the ideal.
    VR 21-22
  16. Anger and passion are the creation of the Divine. Lobha-covetousness, and Moha-undue attachment are man’s creation. Nobody can destroy God’s creation, but we can only modify it. Destroy your own creation. AB I P29.
  17. The first of these Sadhanas is Viveka (discrimination). We see many things in the world but when we think of their existence we find that they are changeable, i.e. they are the different forms of Maya, as we generally call them. We are thus inwardly induced to go deeper in order to trace out the cause. Our attention is thus diverted from transitory things to that which is unchanging or eternal. Worldly objects thus begin to lose their charm and we feel in a way unattached with them. This brings us to the state of Vairagya (renunciation), which is known as the second of the four Sadhanas.
  18. for our return to the point we must bring about our Pralaya (destruction) or acquire a state of complete dissolution of all things of our own making. RD 21
  19. When the world emerged into the present form, that Central Point got fully entrenched in the hearts of all persons. That Point, being a part of the Supreme, made it imperative for us to turn our attention towards our Real Source. TM 28
  20. “I do not ask you to detach yourself from the world, but I ask you only to attend to everything with a conscious idea of the Divine,” TM 19
  21. It is a scientific principle upon which the division of the timings for worship and sandhya is based in accordance with the heat and coolness. TM 4
  22. Negligence being a poison to the pursuit , must be avoided at all cost. VR 221
  23. Even a little sacrifice today may count much in bringing forth the greatest results. I pour this out to you without reserve, only with purpose of exciting in you a similar fire of madness as I am burning in , but he alone whom God Himself pulls up may be successful in the pursuit.
  24. Suppose you are thinking something out for a solution and you know a little, but correct, at that time. Keep that idea in the sub-conscious mind and the problem will get solved. AB P 8
  25. Now I am telling the secret of success in all matters. Remove doubts and develop confidence in yourself, you will succeed in all your pursuits. Really speaking, if any body wants to poison his will he should create doubt in himself. Honesty and seriousness in all work brings good fruit. AB P9
  26. The chief purpose of the diary is that an abhyasi may remain attentive to is condition because he has to write about it. AB P 23 (1928)
  27. The condition of other people there comes to my knowledge through the letters of your preceptor. I am grateful to God for the conditions which descend upon one particular person. May God bless him with the permanency of those conditions. Others either do not describe them or lack the ability to give expression to their thoughts. But I think they do not feel them. Most of the people go on doing puja ritualistically. The real urge and pang and restlessness is not there, otherwise they would definitely have experienced the conditions, and every day a new life would have been infused in them. Nevertheless even this is enough and thousand times better than doing nothing. Your preceptor probably becomes nervous. He should be consoled. AB I P 95-96(29March 1930)
  28. That is to say, we should see to our duty and not to that of the others, in keeping with the motto, ‘He will not give up his bad habit. Why should we change our good habit.AB P 171 (27Dec 1931)
  29. Thoughts are like the dust which flies with the air, but constructs no building because they have no power in them. When you give them power, they become strong like the mound of white ants.AB I P 178 (28Nov1932)
  30. ‘Now I have this thought that only this should be taken to be the beginning of spirituality when understanding or surat enters into the sphere of Being. AB I P 174(1932)
  31. You must adopt my habit of feeling humble and never give up my quality of being a begger ( at His door) and yet maintain a king like demeanour. AB II VOL I P6-7
  32. Question from M1 “How can a disciple develop infinite love for His Master? Master reply “through constant remembrance of the Master” AB II VOL I P 7
  33. “ The condition of mergence at the point of heart consists in the state of having lost oneself remaining continuous, in spite of thoughts arising in the mind. There is an aversion to the incoming thoughts . Mergence or losing oneself is of various forms. It is there at every stage but there remains difference from one to the others. The first form of self forgetfulness(losing oneself) is called ‘heart-resolution’(where in the conflict of desires in the impulsive part of self is resolved). This is the condition of freedom from the heaviness ( caused by conflict of lower impulses in ordinary life. AB II VOL I P 46
  34. The capacity for exercise of discriminative intelligence is enhanced when purification of the lower self’ ( Tazkia-e-Nafsa) is achived. The heart or lower self’ is unduly despised generally. The source of thoughts is this ( pointing to the fore head between the eye-brows) which is technically called ‘Trikuti’ or ‘two petalled lotus’ or ‘Ajna Chakra’ or point of firm determination. AB II VOL I P 46
  35. So long as pleasure ensues from fulfillment of sensuous(wordly) desires through impulsive actions, ‘purification of lower self’ is not perfected. On having achieved ‘ purification of lower self’ , one does not derive pleasure from association etc, but that act is performed as if it were a useless labour, without payment and return(Beggar). AB II VOL I P 47
  36. It means : Being reserved with everybody , not giving opportunity for too much talk to anybody i.e not giving long rope for discussion; not revealing one’s household secrets to all and sundry, not considering oneself as weak, not to utter something that may drive others to become unmannerly to you-all this constitutes the definition of self-respect. AB II VOL I P 61.
  37. One who will not be oriented to you, the spiritual spring in his case will get closed, and this will be that person’s own blunder. It remains quite clear that when a river has broken off its connection to the main spring , there is every possibility of its being dried up. AB II VOL I P 67
  38. There is no state of well being up to the status of Brahmin. One who strolls about in the Brahamanda Mandal( Cosmic region) , having no approach any further , is called Brahmin. The higher status than that of these people, belongs to Maha-Brahmin whose limit of climbing is the Para-Brahmand Mandal( Para-cosmic region). One going beyond that becomes free from the limitations of the so called four castes. But the condition of well-being appears not even at this stage. Maha Brahmins hold good mastery over thought power, and they do not remain bound to rituals any more . AB II VOL I P 72
  39. Discriminative capacity is that when the current that connects Master and devotee is attempted to be comprehended. This is the crux of the matter. This constitutes the definition of a refined form of discrimination. AB II VOL I P 175
  40. If some how by good fortune one may come across a perfect Master of highest caliber, he would start illuminating, through His transmission , the state of utterly blind darkness, which one has accumulated in oneself. Then, the aspirant’s thought starts getting transformed to light instead of darkness, which results from the very beginning, in the power, busy attracting darkness thus far, now starting to admit light into oneself. Thus one’s improvement is effected( and the Goal achieved) by and by, which means that one starts moving from darkness to light; and that one’s own power commences to work in that direction. AB II VOL I P 191.
  41. An advice “ that person is superior who keeps himself free from every work, even while performing every job” AB II VOL I P 192-193.
  42. Those who are pilgrims on the path of God realization should not be oriented to meat eating; for them it is harmful.
    AB II VOL II P 18.
  43. When during discussions there was reference to the emblam. Rev. Master quoted a Persian couplet “ Remain absorbed from end to end with the effulgence of the face of Beloved, when you have acquinted with the Beloved; just become a stranger to yourself” AB II VOL II P 142.
  44. The style of speech should be like mine , viz devoid of rise and fall in pitch; so to say; rather in the shape of the Divine current flowing evenly since the beginning of creation. I had copied just that.AB I VOL II P 159.
  45. One thing I am telling everybody , rather at the beat of a drum, that every aspirant should try to take care of ( and improve upon) one’s moral condition from the very outset. AB II VOL III P 34
  46. He structures as He likes whom He selects. His pleasure must have to be maintained, however possible. It is just this that counts in Spirituality, or else in just book keeping. AB II VOL III P 73.
  47. Exactly the same things happen when we think of difficult and complicated methods for attaining the Reality which is very simple. People are really trying to pick up the needle with the help of a crane in the spiritual field. It is merely a misconception which, wiped off, will remove despondency altogether. ERY 74-75
  48. The majority of the people feel nothing but their own body. Their thoughts are located to this very point. They think their body as the only thing worth keeping. They consider it as everything. They do not want to see their body decomposed. They are all along with the doctors when they feel it diseased somehow. All care for the body becomes their aim and object. They do not want to free themselves from the idea cradling in them. They are all the time found serving their own master, the body. Soul has no value to them. It is an afterthought for them. They do not find any leisure besides. How many circles they have put around their body! It, the body, was solid itself. They have hammered it round and round making it all the more hard and solid. Where do their ideas now lie, on the body or inside it ? When you lay stress upon a certain thing the ideas begin to jump inside but in consonance with the thoughts already made. What you find within it is the idea working for the body. New you are working for the body. You remain in contact with such a body and you make it more solid still. Naturally your ideas, when they rebound after touching the body, become solid. Solidity was to some extent within, as they had, in some form or other, the idea of the body. Now they have become one with the body having the same relation with one another. You can now well be defined as a solid globe. ERY 22-23
  49. The end of desires means the stopping of the formation of Samskaras. What remains now is only to undergo the effect (Bhog) of the previously formed Samskaras (impressions), which are to be worked out during the course of our life. RD 26
  50. The effective solution of the problem is to give them up to the charge of the higher soul and dissociate yourself from them altogether . Cares anxieties and worries will then subside and nothing but duty will remain to view. That conveys the idea of surrender , which is the sum total of the entire sadhana. VR I 53
  51. The Master’s remembrance arose in me the very day He had transmitted to me for the first time. So I was continuing it with three things together
    a. constant remembrance of the Master
    b. adjusting myself to bring about that condition of absorption or Laya Avastha which my Master had
    c. reading and experiencing what was happening in the region I was in at that time. AB I P 18 ( III At the feet of Master)
  52. After years of practice when the meditation grows deeper and the thought begins to start one’s upwards march, one comes to a point where one feels “I am the power myself”. It happens when surat comes in contact with glimpses of the Divine. It loses its own character and gains the Divine one. There one starts to feel “I am Brahman”. I give the meaning of surat in this way. When thought comes in contact with soul, a third thing, a spark, is produced. This is termed surat. It leads to the Highest. Thoughts lag behind. They have no accommodation in the sphere of divinity. AB I P 35 (4Aug1928)
  53. Thoughts of sensuousness at the time of Pooja (meditation) in the morning.When a man, on his march to freedom, reaches the trikuti or cavernous plexus such conditions occur. The symptom of reaching there is that the abhyasi feels darkness all round even in the sunshine. AB I P 47-48(26 and 27 Feb 1929)
  54. At times, I do feel that spirituality has commenced, while at others I have the misgiving that all these are but events on the way, and spirituality has not yet even started. These things often keep me in doubt and do not permit any of the two things to stick. AB I P 125(Letter Nov 1930)
  55. I give the meaning of samadhi in my own way; I can say ‘sam+adhi.’ ‘sam’ means the state of balance; ‘adhi’ means what was in the beginning. That means to condition which was in the beginning: i.e. when we came here for the first time. AB I P 150 (24 March 1931)
  56. Instructions:
    “ You should mould your life after the example of water-fowl , who has its feathers dry, when it emerges from a dip in water”
    “Love the brethren , who belong to your nobel company(satsangh). Use sweetness of style in every day conversation”.
    “Treat friend and foe as equal, wishing both of them well” AB II VOL I P 11
  57. “ When every particle of Master has merged in the Ultimate Reality and become as such, then should His supposition be continued up to the end”? Answer : “ I have done just like this. ( Supposition of God cannot be possible), without establishing a Form” AB II VOL I P 32
  58. If on observing some other person’s defect, one remains feeling the pinch of it for quite some time, then defect is present in the observer in the form of a seed, so to say. If the pinch passes off only after a short time, then this is due to attachment.
    AB II VOL I P 68
  59. Sacrifice has been performed by you alone. You had no desire for anything. This is real sacrifice.
    AB II VOL I P 71.
  60. My principle in life remained – ‘God’s Beneficent Grace is for those who patiently depend on Him, and rest contented in Him.
    AB II VOL I P 182
  61. I did not take in any one but my Master nor did I ever look to any other but Him. It is, as a general rule, the primary duty of a true disciple and the only key to success. That is the only means which helps in removing of impurities from the heart and overcoming of all obstructions in the path. It effects the unfoldment of the knots. It is, in fact, the real essence of all sadhanas. ME P 5 (First message)
  62. His methods are so easy that their very easiness has become a veil for common understanding. Simple and subtle means are needed for the realisation of the Subtlest Being. ME 9 ( Easiest way to God realisation)
  63. All that we have now to do is to bring them back again into their Original State or, in other words, to restore them to a state of poise and tranquility so as to keep up the link with Divinity. The only way to accomplish it is by introducing proper moderation into them and we do the same in Sahaj Marg, the Natural Path of Realisation. This is the secret of Nature, which I have explained herein in order to bring people to a full understanding of the real meaning of complete Divinisation of man. ME P 45 ( Fundamental principles of Sahaj Marg)
  64. The Thought for Creation stirred up near the Centre and Energy began to flow out. What was that? That was the First Mind — pure and simple, and that has woven all our frame and structure. It brought Purity with It, which is still maintained. So when we begin to give wrong suggestions, the mind which is absolutely pure, expels them in order to maintain its Eternal Purity. That is the cause of thoughts. In reality, it sends out contents, which appear like a fog covering a certain surface. We call them thoughts. When we are attentive to thoughts, their power develops. If any of you breed divine thoughts, the mind will grasp it and will not eject them, because it is the real nature of mind since it has come from the real artery. ME P 69 (Divine justice)
  65. If we want to advance in Spirituality, we should begin from Infinity in finiteness. In this way, we establish relationships with the Real Being. Our next step will be, we may begin to absorb ourselves in Infinity, as the idea of finiteness will be washed away. Now the door is opened and we have come to the path. When finiteness is dissipated from the mind, the way ahead lies clear. We proceed in the Infinite and to the Infinite, with the result that even the idea of Infinite cannot pop up. Now Reality dawns. Further on, when we have jumped into Reality, the play ends and the scene begins. But this is not the end. Go on and on. Not only this, not only this. — neti, neti.
    ME 47(towards infinity)
  66. The changeless state is always there; but we are connected with the changeable, and either we take interest in it or reject it; and both of these are the links for bondage. ME 83 ( What is life?)