& BAPA said... "It is not that you are unhappy because God has written that as your destiny; nor are you unhappy as a result of your past karmas.
In fact, if God had charted out your destiny, he would have filled it with nothing but happiness.
And if karmas had the ability to make you unhappy, nobody would ever have been happy in the face of adversity..."
& BAPA said... "The cause of misery is not money crises, but identity crises _ one has not identified with one's Self, one has not recognised one's Self.
We remain a stranger to our own Self.
We know so many people, but we do not know ourselves!
Religion is the way to become familiar with one's own Self, a method to unite with our true nature, means to reach our own centre..."
& BAPA said... "Remember your past, but do not identify with it.
Look at it as if it has happened in somebody else's life.
Remain neutral like a witness; look at it as if it is being replayed on a screen.
Look at the role in that event.
You are merely an observer, a witness.
If you identify with yourself in that scene, you will feel like defending yourself.
Only if you see someone else there, will you be able to look at it neutrally, as a witness.
When this happens, your learning from it will be extraordinary, the realisation which you will attain will be wonderful.
It will change the course of your entire life..."
& BAPA said... "Prayer expresses itself in different ways, in the form of tears or as dance. It has nothing to do with the vocabulary. Words may or may not be present. Only that heartfelt emotional state is necessary..."
& BAPA said... "Divine feelings arise in the one who, by virtue of his surrender to an Enlightened One, looks upon him as God.
He does not care for what the world says or believes.
His transformed life is his prime proof.
He sees no exaggeration in addressing his Sadguru as the Supreme Soul!
Even the term 'God' does not satisfy him and he helplessly accepts his inability to find a better term for his Sadguru.
Thus, addressing the Guru as God is an exaggeration for the listener and a matter of self-experience for the speaker..."
& BAPA said... "A disciple asked his Guru, 'Do prayers reach God?'
The Guru replied, 'You have not understood the purpose of prayer.
A prayer is meant for you to reach God, not for your prayer to reach God..."
& BAPA said... "A prayer weighed down with demands is not a prayer at all. The sanctity of the prayer lies in desirelessness..."
& BAPA said... "Liberate your consciousness from the burden of the past.
Cleanse it of the filth of the past.
The solution is not difficult; it is simple.
With continuous practice, one day you will suddenly awaken, and your entire past will mean no more than a dream.
You will completely break free from it - detach yourself from it, and never again in life, will there be a reappearance of that stupor..."
& BAPA said... "In the interest of your own spiritual advancement, you should surrender to the one in whose presence all your thoughts subside, your preconceived notions dissolve and your mind becomes calm..."
& BAPA said..."How can reading or verbalising someone else's emotions be called a prayer?
That which is borrowed cannot be a prayer.
No matter how many times you repeat the words, if your heart is not moved or your dormant existence does not start dancing, believing that such a prayer will be beneficial is a mere illusion..."
& BAPA said..."The one in whose presence you realise that you no longer exist, is your Guru.
Stick to the one in whose presence all your barriers of 'I'ness start crumbling.
He is indeed your Guru.
Attain spiritual benefit by surrendering your love to that great soul, because it is rare to come across such a great person..."
& BAPA said... "Do not be in a hurry to renounce anything.
Renunciation is not the beginning.
The real beginning is the process of understanding.
First obtain an in-depth insight into the matter.
Understand how, where and why it arose.
If you develop correct understanding, the inevitable result is liberation from it..."
& BAPA said... "There are no rituals for love.
Where there are rituals there is artificiality.
Do you learn how to love?
When you study how to love, it becomes merely an outward act.
This kind of love is not real.
You are born with the innate ability to love; it is not necessary to study how to love.
This music is already present in your existence.
All you need is the opportunity for it to manifest..."
& BAPA said... "May we understand through the medium of the satpurush, the jewel-like-religion, as espoused by the Tirthankaras; permanently eradicating all misery and attaining the ultimate bliss of samadhi..."
& BAPA said... "Prayers seem to have disappeared from this world because they are taught, instead of being kindled.
By teaching, they have become artificial.
And since such prayer is not kindled from within, life remains empty and reeks of filth.
Never teach a prayer to anybody.
The very act of teaching makes it worthless..."
& BAPA said... "A prayer is meant for you to meet God.
It is different for everybody.
Everyone's expression of love is different.
Everyone's prayer may be different but the inner state from where prayers emerge, is the same.
Prayer is an inner dance, an expression of joy, a content state of being..."
& BAPA said... "Make death an instrument to attain immortality, self-realisation.
Neither fear nor love death, but use it to attain that which is beyond death, and you will triumph over it.
Utilise death to proceed on the inward journey.
It is not merely to be used as something to meditate upon, but to go deeper within.
If you are able to think about death, your life will take on a new dimension.
There will be a different meaning to life.
Your mind will start exploring new avenues..."
& BAPA said... "Develop the awareness of death and bring it closer to you, so that you can see it,contemplate upon it.
That observation and contemplation will give you entry into your inner self.
That reflection will create the new necessity for an inward journey, it will open the gates to your Inner Self..."
& BAPA said... "The Enlightened Ones say that it makes no difference whether death is two hours away or twenty years away.
Even if you were given twenty years, nothing would be accomplished.
You would not live longer, only your awareness would live longer.
That is to say, unawareness will eat into the larger part of your life.
Therefore, do not get cheated.
Awaken!
Be aware of death and make your life meaningful..."
& BAPA said... "If a prayer is a prayer, it is enough.
But the real question is, has your prayer come from the heart, or is it borrowed?
Is it something you have learnt or read, or has it come from within?
If it has come from the depths of your heart, then it is certainly enough..."
& BAPA said... "A true prayer begins as a request to change one-self and culminates in a tranquil, silent and thoughtless state of mind.
On the other hand, any request to change circumstances cannot be called a prayer.
That would be sheer begging..."
& BAPA said... "Something has awakened within the person who question himself, 'Can the life I am leading really be called a life?'
This is an auspicious sign, the begining of spirituality.
This is the first step in the journey, the first ray of light, without which the sun of enlightenment cannot rise in your life..."
& BAPA said... "There is no doubt that the teachings of the Enlightened are effective, but when your own knowledge, which has emerged from within, derived from your own experiences, is firmly set within your heart; then the delusion in your beliefs will definitely cease..."
& BAPA said... "Even in the sphere of religion we do not give up the habit of 'I' and 'mine'. We nurture the ego through religion whereas religion really means the dissolution of the ego..."
& BAPA said... "A disciple is one who is ready to lie down on the operation table.
He has such faith in his surgeon, his Guru, that he is ready to be rendered unconscious by him, even to have his stomach cut open by him!
He keeps the faith that, in his Guru's hands lie his true well-being, even if there is some pain associated with it..."
