Monday, October 24, 2011
Quotable Sitaram
Quotable Sitaram - Page 386
(3-20-2001)
Let us say that Divinity is Consciousness; Consciousness is divine, imagination is an aspect of consciousness, and within the realm of imagination dwell all things, and at imagination's borders, all impossibilities, absurdities, unicorns and horned rabbits, await admission and entrance. Hence, Imagination is the threshhold of existence, and the unimaginable is non-being.
Sitaram's Koan -
If only one human remained alive in the universe,
Then which is the "One True Faith"?
Let us look about in the world, and behold all the anguish and bitterness in people's hearts concerning the uncertaintity of why the universe exists, why we are in it to suffer, desire, and aspire and what is the relationship between our own personal individuality and that ultimate cause of All: THIS is RELIGION.
The Perennial Anguish and Bitterness of Religion - Page 211
Someone who wallows in "physical proofs" and the material world, and desires for food and sex, is forever banished from reaching the spiritual realms. They do not have the "spiritualized" vision which Lord Krishna grants to Arjuna, to allow Arjuna to see the Universal Form. That is why, the spiritual can NEVER by arrived at by logic or argument, but only by faith and devotion, which is a GIFT, by God's grace or kripa. The spiritual is arrived at by BHAKTI, devotion, not syllogistic reasoning. Certainly it is possibly to apply logic to anything, even theology. Logic is NECESSARY, but not SUFFICIENT.
from Perpetuation of This Website - Page 357
Humans (and the institutions that they found or inheret) are inherently flawed (and yet contain that which is Divine). So my advice is summed up in title of my post "Temple in your mind/ Tirth in your heart" namely, listen to your own heart, find the Divinity within. Use the externals of temple/gurus/ satsang as necessary, but do not seek perfection in other people. Seek perfection in yourself, in the midst of your own imperfections.
from A Crisis of Parampara/Lineage/Succession - Page 272
Happiness through sense pleasure is an illusion. You will always feel an emptiness and a dissatisfaction. Only when you turn your attention to the ultimate cause of that emptiness and dissatisfaction will you begin your journey on the road to peace.
This perennial emptiness and dissatisfaction in the aftermath of all enjoyments and indulgence is the real point which lies at the heart of your dilemma, and not moral issues of what is right or wrong in your actions.
The physical world is a process of BECOMING; it is not BEING. As long as there IS a physical world, as long as we are born repeatedly into physical bodies, then nothing can be COMPLETE but rather everything is BECOMING.
The NOW moment is always filled with NEEDS. This is the source of our suffering.
from Teenage Girl Questions Sexual Morality - Page 293
As we gaze into the waters of evil, we see the good world reflected in a fascinating,perverted reverse order of precise symmetry.
from Evil Is A Mirror Image of Good
Even if foolishness exists in the world, foolishness can still be a powerful force.. and can have distructive effects and therefore needs and deserves to be studied in its own right.
from Website Feedback - Page 65
There is never any shortage of finger-pointers... to blame others... except when we make a fist to resort to violence, and then, all ten fingers are pointing at OURSELVES, or... very rarely, when a philosopher raises one finger in the air, to say "Aha!" at some new insight, in which case only one finger in the world is pointing upwards, directing the world's attention away from self and towards higher things....
from What Would Gandhi Do Today?
"Zen Koan practice is an attempt to break through the noise of the rational mind's lust for comprehension and reach the silence of simply Being." - Sitaram
from The Silence of Simply Being - Page 397
The real treasure, the only treasure, is non-attachment and the realization of the futility of the fulfillment of any and every gratification. This does not mean that we cease to gratify desires, but only that we cease to view gratification as our goal.
from The Broken Tray Koan and Commentary
The only truly miraculous power which any religion or belief can possibly possess is the power to transform the inner nature, the inner self of an individual believer.
In Defense of Mother Theresa - page 130
The mere recognition that there is such a thing as holiness and that it is to be desired is the beginnings of holiness.
In Defense of Mother Theresa - Page 130
Each of us holds a piece of the puzzle, an aspect of the truth: the fool and the philosopher; the begger and the king; the harlot and the renunciate. The Truth is too big for any one person, or to be put in "layman's terms".
Have no doubt, that just as your spiritually ripe questions appear on this page, they also echo through those infinite universes, those countless worlds, through the hearts of those myriads of sentient beings. That is why you are beyond birth and death. It is the very nature of Consciousness itself.
Death is our "final exam"...not multiple choice... but an essay.
from Chopping Wood in the Whorehouse
Religions are many, languages are many, races are many, but grief is one, joy is one, love is one, birth is one, death is one. From the one, comes many, but many never diminish the One.
from A Mother Grieves the Death of Her Son - Page 165
It is most fitting that a rainbow be chosen in the Old Testament as symbol of the covenant between God and man: no two people see the same rainbow, and one can never arrive at its source, no matter how long one journeys.
A Blue Beyond the Rainy Hyacinth - Page 415
The REAL omnipotence and omnipresence of God lies in God's ability and willingness to BE to each individual, for each individual who turns towards God with sincerity, hope and expectancy, to BE that Truth, to REVEAL that One Truth, in all of its manifold diversity, to IMPART that Truth to that individual, in the fullest measure which that person is able to comprehend, and in sufficient measure for what that individual needs at any given moment in their life.
from God and Jimmy Carter - Page 289
One of the fundamental messages of our modern Democracies is that Truth lies not simply in the consensus of the majority, but also in the sheltered sovereignty of that small minority who hear the beat of a different drummer and march accordingly.
Was Hitler a Christian? - Page 372
If three people say "apple" or "stone" or "water", we know that they are all talking about the same thing; such is the nature of language. Moses said "I", Pharaoh said "I", and God said "I", so if God can say "I" and man can say "I", then what is the difference between the divine "I" and the mortal "I"?
from The Spirit of Man is God's Candle - Page 349
The purpose of CONSCIOUSNESS, (being alive and having a soul and self awareness) is no more benefited by a gluttonous orgy of physical pleasures, than it is by a ghoulishly morbid torture chamber of unending pain.
Each of us is a complex sum total of our life experiences, triumphs and frustrations. As some sage in India might say "God wears many masks of Good and Evil." Perhaps the Universe is a reflection of God, or perhaps human concepts of God are a reflection of ourselves and the Universe. But certainly humanity reflects all of this, itself donning many masks of Good and Evil, kaleidoscopically, as we metamorphosize from sinner to saint, back to sinner, struggling in this Divine Drama to emerge from the pupa of our egos and spread our wings of selflessness and equanimity.
We read a line a thousand times. We look and do not see. Then, suddenly, one day, we read and see and understand, as if we had never read before. The verse has always been the same. It is we who have changed, ripened, become ready, receptive.
Some make iconoclasm their idol. Others use image and symbol to reach beyond to the nameless and formless which is beyond time, the Akal Purakh of the Adi Granth.
But cynicism never fails to make its regular pilgrimage to the citadels of Orthodoxy, their to make its abominable offering and sacrifice on the altar of Reason.
If I am ugly, yet I know that beauty exists.
If I am foolish, yet I know there is Wisdom.
If I am mortal, yet I know there is something Eternal.
If I am unclean, it is Purity which teaches me of my uncleanliness.
If I am sinful, yet I am not so sinful as to say there is nothing Holy.
from Sulekha Weekly - Page 292
When we dwell as pedestrians in a land, we behold the scenery from the most intimate detail and perspective, but that very closeness and intimacy in perspective prevents us from seeing symmetry, intention and design on a grander scale, bearing profounder implications. If we ascend to a mountain peak, we lose discernment of much of the finer details, but we can begin to recognize the "lay of the land" and its geography. From an orbiting space station, we can perceive global structure. And from vantage point of another galaxy, we may comprehend cosmic design.
Wisdom, Number, Measure, Hunger, Thirst - Page 311
If you wish to call the viper and the scorpion "brother",
you must take some venom with your tea, smile, and say "Delicious!".
Expressions of our TRUE SELF are fleeting. But, when captured UNDISTORTED in words, they are EVERLASTING. In singing the words of the Lord's Katah (Sacred Scripture), we strive for the UNDISTORTED Image of the Lord's Lila (Passtimes). When we truly become a PART of that Lila, we need not return here in rebirth to this world. Then, we dwell eternally in the Lila itself, we BECOME the Lila.
from The Undistorted Image of the Lord's Passtimes - Page 93
Whatever path we choose, whatever scripture, whatever Name of God, with form or formless, we must become the very embodiment of that scripture, that Name, that Form. It must become as natural as our breath and it must flow from every pour like our sweat. And when we pass through a room, our presence and passing should leave that fragrance of divinity.
from Gita Take-Home Lessons- Page 277
Have no doubt! Whenever Dharma declines, my voice will arise. My voice is the Voice of Ram. My voice is the Voice of Krishna. My voice is the voice of Buddha, Nanak, and Rumi. My voice is the voice which echoes the eternal unchanging message of Dharma and Rta whose vibrations the Rishis echoed in the Vedas. I shall pass away, but these Words will never pass away. This Voice and these Words will arise in every persecution, in every holocaust, in every tyranny and oppression of individual religious freedom of expression. And have no doubt that the history of this Voice and these Words is the Divine Lila of the Lord.
from In What Way is Guru Bramha, Vishnu and Maheshwara? - Page 153
It is by THOUGHT, and EQUANIMITY that we transcend the unpleasant physical realties of our mundane corporeal existence. Mind makes suffering. Mind makes all things, in a way, all things that matter.
from Consatantly marvel in wonder at the ordinariness of it all! - Page 361
Perhaps one of the greatest religious truths ever stated is simply that 'The Judgement of God is a Mystery to Man". Who can know or say, in the ultimate scheme of things, after all the eternities of time have played themselves out, what is the value and purpose of any single human life and effort. Who can say what constitutes victory and defeat?
from The Repose of Father Lazarus - Page 362
Let us hope that the power of the offering of our will and ego and self, or even the gesture of such an offering, is in itself so pure and powerful that it transcends all dogma and doctrine, that even the flame of such an intention and resignation is fiery enough to burn away any sin of human frailty." - Sitaram
from The Repose of Father Lazarus - Page 362
Perhaps that Compassionate Lord of the Vineyard, who paid the penny wage to those who labored only the final hour of the day, will also have compassion upon those who labored in the heat of the afternoon, but fell weakened before the close of day.
from The Repose of Father Lazarus - Page 362
All the universe is consciousness, all consciousness is a mirror. When you look into that universal mirror of consciousness, and see your own reflection, you see Saguna Brahman. Once you see THROUGH that reflection, you experience Nirguna Brahman. If you ultimately unite with Nirguna Brahman, which is reabsorption of jiva into Brahmajyoti, the cessation of rebirth. This is Moksha.
from To Untie All The Knots - Page 377
Do we not all have wounds and doubts to be healed by a nurturing and comforting Parental song at our bedside; existential wounds of the coldness of the Infinite Universe and the obscene absurdity of daily life, society and governments?
from The Sounding of the Divine - Page 376
The human problems which we deal with are unchanging. No matter how fast computer chips might become, patience will always be a virtue. The more powerful and effective weapons and missiles become, the more essential it is to learn meekness and nonviolent methods of resolving disputes. No matter what progress science makes in birth control, genetics and cloning, our primordial sexual desires will always present a profound challenge to us as a source of temptation, misconduct and addictive behavior. No matter how many continents or planets we conquer and colonize, we will always have to face the emptiness and loneliness of a Universe in which we seem out-of-place and extraneous. No matter how wise and ancient we become, medically and genetically extending our life span indefinitely, there will always remain buried somewhere deep within us a weeping child seeking the consoling love of a heavenly parent.
from A Guide to Gurus - Page 373
A theory or hypothesis is a "story" which is SO GOOD that it HAS to be true, and if it isn't true, then a Universe should be created in which it BECOMES true. Faith is telling that story, and hearing it, again and again, with perennial freshness and joy. In the heart of the devotee, Ram is always returning to Ayodiya; there is always a "Festival of Lights"
from Festival of Lights - Page 365
When Individual Self perishes; Universal Self is Born. Only when your particular individual self perishes may that Universal Self be born in its stead.
from Dialogue with a Psychiatrist - Page 299
The world is transformed with words, one person at a time.
