Experience has taught me that silence is part of the spiritual discipline of a votary of truth. Proneness to exaggerate, to suppress or modify the truth, wittingly or unwittingly, is a natural weakness of man and silence is necessary in order to surmount it. Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948), Indian spiritual leader

To enter into the spiritual life is a rare blessedness, it is a great good: to take it seriously and engage in active spiritual Sadhana is a second blessedness and a still greater good: but to persevere in the spiritual life, to be ever progressive and ceaseless in one's spiritual life, is the greatest good, the crowning blessedness Swami Chidananda (1916-2008), President of the Divine Life Society

Stop all your attachments to false values. In an ever-changing world there is nothing worthwhile for us to desire or weep for. Joys and sorrows are bound to come in human life; they are just two sides of the same coin. Swami Chinmayananda (1916-1992), founder of the Chinmaya Mission

I have heard that man can acquire superhuman powers through it and perform miracles. What shall I do with superhuman powers? Can one realize God through them? If God is not realized then everything becomes false. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa (1836-1886)

The happiness of one's own heart alone cannot satisfy the soul; one must include, as necessary to one's own happiness, the happiness of others. When you learn to live for others, they will live for you. Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952), Founder of Self-Realization Fellowship

Practice makes everything easier–except getting up in the morning. Anonymous

About many things in Hinduism I had once been inclined to believe that there was much of dream in it, much that was delusion and maya. But now day after day I realized in the mind, I realized in the heart, I realized in the body the truths of the Hindu religion. They became living experiences to me, and things were opened to me which no material science could explain. Sri Aurobindo (1879-1950)

Of wit, money and virtue, believe one-fourth part of what you hear men say. Anonymous

With love enshrined in the heart, one truly lives. Without it, the body is but bones encased in skin. Tirukural 80

The best way to predict the future is to invent it. Anonymous

Some people think they are worth a lot of money just because they have it. Fannie Hurst (1889-1968), American novelist

From Persia to the Chinese Sea, from the icy regions of Siberia to the islands of Java and Borneo, from Oceania to Africa, India has propagated her beliefs, her tales and her civilization. She has left indelible imprints on one-fourth of the human race in the course of a long succession of centuries. She now has the right to reclaim in universal history the rank that ignorance has refused her for a long time and to hold her place amongst the great nations summarizing and symbolizing the spirit of Humanity. Sylvain Levi (1863-1935), French scholar

Fear less, hope more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; hate less, love more; and all good things are yours. Swedish proverb

Do what you should, not what you can. Anonymous

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong, because someday in life you will have been all of these. George Washington Carver (1864-1943), American scientist, botanist, educator and inventor

The light which shines above heaven, above all the worlds, above everything, that is the same light which is within man. We can perceive it as the warmth in the body. And of it we have this audible proof: when we thus hear, by covering the ears, what is like the rumbling of a carriage, or the bellowing of an ox, or the sound of a blazing fire. One should worship as Brahman that inner light which is seen and heard. He who knows it becomes distinct. Chandogya Upanishad XIII.8

Devout Hindus meet a satguru and in seeing him, draw the darshan vibration from him, absorbing it into themselves. When we say someone is holy or saintly we are feeling the radiations of that divine energy flooding through him and out into the whole world. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001), founder of Hinduism Today

DID YOU KNOW?

OUR MASCULINE AND FEMININE ENERGIES

Modern psychology studies the presence of masculine and feminine sides in everyone, regardless of the person's physical gender. Hinduism endorses of the reality of this view, speaking of dual energy currents within our subtle body. These are called ida and pingala.

The ida current is feminine and the channel of physical-emotional energy. When energy is flowing through ida, we are more conscious of the physical body. We are not in the world of thought but in the world of feeling. We feel strongly and experience strong emotions.

The pingala current is masculine and the channel of intellectual-mental energy. When energy is flowing through the pingala, we are inquisitive and aware. We tend to reason and to argue.

In the center of the two stands the neutral sushumna current, rising through the spine up to the crown of the head. Through yoga, the kundalini energy is awakened and made to rise up the sushumna to the top of the head.

BASICS OF HINDUISM

CHAKRAS, CENTERS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Humans have fourteen great nerve centers in the physical body, in the astral body and in the body of the soul. These centers are called chakras in Sanskrit, which means "wheel." These spinning vortices of energy are actually regions of mind power, each one governing certain aspects of our inner being. Together, they are the subtle components of all people.

When inwardly perceived, they are vividly colorful and can be heard by sages and mystics. When awareness flows through any one or more of these regions, the various functions of consciousness operate, such as memory, reason and willpower. In any one lifetime, one may predominantly be aware in two or three centers, thus setting the pattern for the way one thinks and lives. One develops a comprehension of these seven regions in a natural sequence, the perfection of one leading logically to the next. Thus, though we may not psychically be seeing spinning forces within ourself, we nevertheless mature through memory, reason, willpower, cognition, universal love, divine sight and spiritual illumination.

There are six chakras above the muladhara, which is located at the base of the spine. When awareness is flowing through these chakras, consciousness is in the higher nature. There are also seven chakras below the muladhara, and when awareness is flowing through them, consciousness is in the lower nature.

Through personal sadhana, prayer, meditation, right thought, speech and action and love of God, we lift our own consciousness and that of others into the chakras above the muladhara, bringing the mind into the higher nature. The functions of the chakras are aspects of our being that we use every day. In the same way, we use our arms and hands everyday without thinking. The chakras do not awaken–they are already awakened in everyone.