25  Practicality TC  "25  Practicality" \l 1

If we do not pursue the things in life for which we have a real need, then we are wasting a very valuable life.

When you are immersed in worldly ambitions, in the mundane, material things of life, I would never advocate that you throw them away. No—keep them, but let the mental attitude take a 180-degree turn, that all of this is possible because of Divinity.

I do not say, “believe.” Believe if you must, if you have a devotional temperament. If you have an intellectual temperament, inquire. And if you do not have either an intellectual temperament or a believing temperament, then just live . . . in the sense of, “Do good, be good.”

There is no such thing as a lazy person—only a person who is misplaced.

When a person closes himself to the knowledge or the wisdom of the world, he stagnates—which means no progress.

We cannot exist on beliefs . . . how about becoming more practical?

Nature is perfect, it is only man (who is also perfect), who has drawn imperfection upon himself. He has superimposed upon himself this imperfection—and because it is only a superimposition, it can be easily removed.

Austerity, like brahmacharya, is a word so misinterpreted. Austerity doesn’t mean that you deprive yourself. If you have a comfortable bed at home, it is not necessary to sleep on the ground. Enjoy life—but enjoy it in the right way. Enjoying life in the right way is austerity.

To do unto others as you would expect to be done unto you, you have to know yourself first.

We are not only the product of ourselves. We are a product of the universe. We are children of light, produced by that light, and everything around us, even the mundane, contains that light.

The greatest curse on the head of mankind is “me and mine.” We say, this is mine . . . this is mine . . . this is mine—as if it really was ours. We are just on loan here. We do not even belong to ourselves, we belong to the Almighty.

Everything is forever in activity, there is no such thing as non-activity. If you could find just one cubic millimeter of space in this universe that is non-active, the entire universe would collapse at that very moment.

We have been born to spread joy. That should be the ambition of life, and that is the spiritual ambition.

All desires are binding. They take you on the wheel of birth and death all the time, over and over and over again. When a desire is refined and becomes desireless, where the desire is not for one’s self, but for others, then that desire is sublimated.

By making yourself a better person, you have made the society you live in a better society, because it is the units that compose a society and not the society that composes the units.

There is no East, no West, no North, no South, there is one world, one humanity. The apparent difference lies in different forms of culture where people have different ways of doing things.

All the philosophies in life are of no value whatsoever if they are not made practical. If philosophy is not made practical, it is nothing more than mental gymnastics.

The world around us is governed by our conceptions and our perceptions. The world around us is created by our hopes and fears.

When you are acting a role, as soon as you leave the stage you should forget it because it was only a role. We are playing in life; we are playing, playing, playing . . . it is just a role we have assumed.

Now there is nothing wrong in inquiring, there is nothing wrong in examining the grossest matter, as well as inquiring into the subtlest atom. But the issue is that of use, abuse and misuse.

Man has an inquiring ability, a sophisticated thinking mind which can see deeply into things, and can show their causes. He can be very helpful to the world, if he uses his heart as well as his mind. The modern trend is destructive as seen through many inventions that have been misused. But if the heart is expanded, and love infused into the knowledge that the mind has gained, then all these inquiries and their answers can be used for the benefit of all.

If you want acquired knowledge, by all means acquire it, if you require it. And use it in such a way that it is empowered by that depth that is within you.

True wisdom is gained when you discard acquired knowledge.

A person who has developed sensitivity because of spiritual evolution is extremely sensitive to everything that happens, even to a flicker of the eyelid. Seemingly negative events do not affect him adversely, because in all of those actions there is the hand of Divinity.

Drugs cannot be used as a launching pad because you are not sure of the experience. Drugs naturally will have a degenerating effect. There are no shortcuts to God.

No form of drug can ever give you a true experience of reality.

Through using drugs no one has ever become enlightened. If people could become enlightened through using drugs, I would go and buy a few pounds now and give them to you all. This chemical has a reaction in the brain, numbing the brain. It can stir many samskaras that are deeply implanted in your minds, from many lifetimes, and can have a very devolutionary effect upon you.

When a person habitually is in touch with the quietude within, every action that he performs is a right action, because that very powerful force pushes him onto the right path.

With expansion of awareness, greater light shines through from the superconscious level. That is happiness.

Devotion, worship, and love are purifying factors.

It is so simple to be happy, but is is so difficult to be simple.