- Creation
The moment when Life became matter must for ever remain a mystery. It is too subtle, even for intelligence to grasp. An atom, or at least its component electron, is weightless - it casts no shadow because it has no dimension. When does the aggregate acquire the dimension to cast a shadow? It will be difficult, if not impossible to find out.
- Happiness
If you want to be happy for one hour, have a drink.
If you want to be happy for three days, get married.
If you want to be happy all your life, mind your own business.
- Religion and Spirituality
What can we learn from the experiences of others, and what should we experience ourselves?
Ritualistic and ethical religious teachings can be learned from the lips and experiences of others, but spirritual truth have to be discovered for ourselves.
We can learn from others that fire will burn if we touch it with our fingers, but if we want to know what it is to beburnt, how it feels, how firefeels, then we will have to have the experience ourselves.
Ideas can be had second-hand, but God must be realised first hand.
Here even a guru can only guide.
- Evil Qualities
It is often said that to get rid of evil qualities, the best way is to express them and get them out of oneself! Wish that it were so easy. Often this only acts as an electric sub-station where the current generated by a distant powerhouse gets a boost. Non-express ion of the evil will lengthen the time process and weaken its power. Expression will boost the power of the evil. Even if it is there let it die a natural death in due course.
- Inner Motives
Of all things the most difficult is to scrutinise, the inner motives. Saints have said that if the motives are alright, the actions are also good. Gurudev Sivananda emphasised that we should always scrutinise the inner motives. Work and service assume a new significance when we do this. Suddenly, instead of working or serving, we are 'self-realising'. An inner awareness develops from scrutinising the inner motives.