& BAPA said... "It is stated in some religious texts that woman is the gateway to hell!
This is only because these books are written by men!
If these were written by women, they would have said, 'Man is the gateway to hell.'
Neither man nor woman is the gateway to hell.
Our ignorance, our distorted vision and our passions - these are the gateways to hell..."
& BAPA said... "If your heart overflows with joy, know that you are on the path of true religion.
Instead of withering away in life, if you are blooming, then you are on the path of religion.
However, if instead of blooming, if you are withering away, then you have turned your back on God.
If you focus on the outside world, you will have to take innumerable births.
If your life is not a celebration, you will have to come back to this world, because you have not learnt your lesson!
So long as you do not learn your lesson in this school of life, you will inevitably have to come back.
One who successful in the world, one who has learnt the lessons of life, does not return... and religion is the art of not returning..."
& BAPA said... "Each morning, just as you wind the key to your clock, you start layering your mind with thoughts too.
Through the day, several impressions of thoughts, events and places settle on the mind and it gets bound by them.
So rewind, and replay them once again at night.
Look over the knots of likes and dislikes that have formed within the mind regarding each and every object, individual and event.
When these knots, tied in a state of unawareness, are released with awareness, then it can be said that you have performed pratikraman.
It is a wonderful process of cleansing the mind..."
& BAPA said... "Whichever path one chooses, he must be able to see a transformation in himself.
He may be following a particular religion and performing all its rituals perfectly just because it is the family religion, but if his heart has not been touched, then he needs to question himself.
Religion cannot be an inheritance.
It is neither a hereditary right nor personal property.
One can inherit a disease, not religion.
It is related to an inner transformation and not to blood or birth..."
& BAPA said... "We are the soul, an embodiment of pure consciousness.
'I' means pure consciousness.
But due to our ignorance we have attached a lot of other worldly things to the 'I'.
And we think and truly believe that 'I' is an aggregate of all these.
When we believe anything except the soul to be 'I', we are in bondage, in prison.
No one else binds us.
The extent of our bondage is as much as the extent of our 'I'.
This extension of ego is not confined only to the body, but also to various objects.
Not only that, the mind also clings to events of the past.
We hold on to events of the past in our memory and identify ourselves with that.
If we keep on wandering like this; then how is it possible to embark on the journey towards enlightenment??
& BAPA said... "Death is possible at this very moment, but the mind is never ready to accept this.
Even as I am saying this, your mind says, 'Oh no! How is death possible at the next moment? It is still very far!'
But these are just the tricks of the mind.
If you push death away and keep it at a distance, you will not be able to ponder over it.
It must be so close to you, that you can see it.
Even a moment before death arrives, no one can imagine that it is actually going to happen then!
A person is on the verge of dying, but a minute ago he could not even imagine that his death would be so close.
And this is the same person who felt that death was very far away.
This is what has always happened.
Even a moment before death, one does not feel that it is about to strike.
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... "Religion is the greatest art - it enables one to search and find that which is paramount in this universe - God.
The one who finds Him is the one who is truly alive.
All others are blinded by illusion - the illusion of living.
They are running at breakneck speed but are they living?
Only those who have uncovered that which is hidden within, who have realised their True Self, experience the joy of living..."
& BAPA said... "The mind is an artist that keeps on creating new images all the time.
It also experiences attraction-repulsion, attachment-aversion, longing-fear from its own creation.
That is why, as long as the mind is active, the illusory world exists.
When the mind becomes inactive, one attains liberation.
To decrease the activity of the mind is spiritual practice.
Decrease in its activity is spiritual practice and achieving a state of shunya (no mind) is the accomplishment..."
& BAPA said... "Surrender means you have found the temple.
Now you need not go anywhere.
You have found the well.
Now there is no need to wander elsewhere.
He, who has not yet found the well in an Enlightened One, that is, if he has not felt divinity there, let him continue his search.
But once you have found Him, your wandering should stop..."
& BAPA said... "Neither your money nor your worldly status is real.
With this realisation a new thirst is created and you begin your search for God.
The search for God originates in man, only when love for everything else results in failure.
You loved wealth, but attained nothing; you were attached to your position but attained nothing; you showered affection on your near and dear ones, your friends and family, but still gained nothing.
Your heart did not fill up, no matter what you did!
Nothing could fill the emptiness, the void within you.
The one who has experienced failure in all attempts at worldly desires; his heart yearns for the Divine.
The Divine becomes the ultimate destination of his love..."
& BAPA said... "Intense yearning is enough to attain God, provided it is not based on blind faith, but on your genuine conviction.
You will not attain God if you embark on the search to attain Him due to borrowed knowledge.
You hear a discourse and feel inclined to pursue the search for God but no yearning has arisen in your heart.
Your sorrow and suffering have not yet brought you to that state where you are compelled to yearn deeply in order to attain peace.
You do not have the awakening to realize that whatever happens in this world is illusory and dream-like.
You listen to a saint or an enlightened being, you like his logical talks, your intellect accepts them and you set out on your quest for God.
A true quest is kindled by a desire for Him, whereas your quest is born of an intellectual decision!
& BAPA said... "The meaning of surrender is to ascertain that this individual is my Guru, no one else.
It does not mean that there is no other Guru in the whole world except this one, or that the others are false.
No.
There are other gurus, and they have dedicated disciples.
But not me; my Guru is only this one!
Until you surrender yourself to someone, he is not your Guru..."
& BAPA said... "Defocus and dissociate your attention from your senses.
If you cannot do this all the time, try at least some of the time.
If your focus is not directed outside through the senses, then you will experience a deep level of consciousness.
You will enjoy immense bliss and awareness..."
& BAPA said... "Everyone in the world is asking for joy.
But to ask for joy is in itself a mistake because in asking others, you remain outside and forget that what you are asking for is your nature itself.
That is all!
You are not connected within.
And hence, you remain in your stupor.
Only the one who has decided to stop searching outside, for happiness and practices going within - as that is where happiness really is - can be called religious..."
& BAPA said... "A true seeker neither gets caught in the past nor does he oppose it.
Enriched by the past, accepting the new, he accomplishes his work.
An ignorant and dogmatic person always remains in the past, he is unable to accept the new.
A true seeker, enriched by the past, riding on its shoulders, makes his perception more subtle, perceives the same Truth in all individuals, and under their influence he rejuvenates himself..."
& BAPA said... "Maintaining awareness, memory of the Self, is right knowledge, and always being equanimous, remaining as a witness, is right conduct.
By leading a life based on the blending of right knowledge, right faith and right conduct, one progresses on the path of liberation and attains self-realisation..."
& BAPA said... "The Self is behind the body under attack.
The existence of the Self is distant and separate from the body that experiences pain and suffering.
The body we try to protect from pain and suffering is separate from the Self. Identification with the body, the belief that 'I am the body', is the root cause of all unhappiness.
Conversely, the cause of happiness is the belief that 'I am not the body'.
& BAPA said... "One who is busy dealing with one unhappy event after another is worldly; but one who aims at removing all suffering, to destroy the root cause of his suffering, is a spiritual aspirant.
One who is busy tackling symptoms is worldly, while one who is keen to remove illness in general, along with its root cause is a spiritual aspirant, a sanyasi...
& BAPA said... "The sadguru has nothing to do with what you desire.
The wealth that he wants to give you is not of this material world but of the Divine world, which accompanies you even beyond death.
He will not let you be content with anything less than the Divine.
He helps you, not in satisfying your desires, but in bringing about an awakening in you, by which the whole world seems illusory and desires worthless.
A sadguru, helps not by fulfilling your dreams, but shattering them..."
& BAPA said... "The Enlightened Ones say that the core teaching of all religion is contained in just one belief - I am not the body.
Every moment, in happiness or misery, in pain or pleasure, the constant underlying realisation that you are not the body must prevail.
Whilst sitting or standing, asleep or awake, eating or fasting, remain with the knowledge that you are not the body.
This is the path to realise your soul..."
& BAPA said... "Can the life I am leading be called a human life?" This is the beginning of spirituality.
This is the first ray of light, without which the sun of enlightenment cannot arise in your life.
Until this question arises, you are unconscious, or not even born.
With this question you have taken a new birth.
You have been blessed with a new life.
This is your real birth.
This is the beginning of your true life.
Blessed is the one to whom this question occurs, for, once this question has arisen, he will not be able to remain in the slumber of ignorance for long...
& BAPA said... "Remember, it is love that carries you to your destination, not the lover; your faith delivers you, not the object of your faith.
You achieve fulfilment not by the object you love, but by love itself.
When there is completeness in your love, you attain the state of completeness.
What is important is: love, faith and surrender.
Deepen your loyalty.
You have chosen one, but if your love is purified through that, then that pure love will make you complete..."
& BAPA said... "Life is merely an opportunity.
What you do with it is for you to decide.
Life is neither purposeful nor purposeless.
It is like a blank paper.
You have the freedom, the choice to write on it what you want.
You can write abusive words or you can write a beautiful song..."
& BAPA said... "The one who wears the body as a garment is separate from it.
The one who enters this body during birth is disconnected from it.
The one who leaves this body at the time of death is distinctly apart from it.
And the one who lives in this body throughout its life is also separate from it.
The day this understanding is firmly established is the day when true spiritual practice begins..."
& BAPA said... "The Enlightened Ones can chart the route, but it is you who have to tread the path.
An Enlightened Being may talk of food, but that will not fill your stomach.
Discussing water does not quench thirst.
It can only inspire you to look for water, reinforce your search for it.
Discussing hunger will augment it so much that you will set everything aside and look for food.
This is the only purpose of satsang.
By listening to the Sadguru's satsang and studying the scriptures, a deep yearning for God is created; a craving so profound that all other desires and passions are lost in it.
Only one desire, one goal, a single wish, remains and all energy gets channelised towards it..."
