Somebody asked Buddha very beautifully, "So many people listen to you and nobody is enlightened, why?" Buddha replied, "Go and ask the devotees who have listened to my discourse, what they want?" This person went and asked all those who were attending Buddha's lecture, "What is it that you want?" One said, "I want my daughterin-law's problem to be solved", while another said, "I want more money" Everybody was telling what they want; the list included everything other than enlightenment.

He did not reveal to them that Buddha had personally asked him to find out what they want. He posed himself as a journalist. Hearing his findings
Buddha answered, "They are coming to my lectures and what is their hidden agenda? Not enlightenment. Who are to be enlightened? Only those people who are interested in getting enlightened".
People came for time-pass, for spiritual entertainment.
~from Shiva Sutras,Swami Sukhabodhananda
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Shiva Sutras by Swami Sukhabodhananda

Ability is an important tool in life. Ability without commitment and awareness is like a vehicle without the engine. The Shiva Sutra enhances one’s awareness in a way one sees an opportunity in a difficulty and not a difficulty in an opportunity. There is an ‘outside reality’ and an ‘inside reality’ of one’s mind. There is also another dimension called ‘spiritual reality’. To harmonize all of them is a great awakening. Ordinary being loves one’s own ‘psycho dramas’ of justification, proving one’s point of view, blaming, being helpless... and this leads one to a state of inner poverty. To free oneself from these lower states of poverty and see them as ‘errors in one’s thinking’ is part of being effective and experiencing inner prosperity. The profound teaching of Lord Shiva introduces us to A Bigger Container where one learns to be charitable to one’s own self. —Swami Sukhabodhananda

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One man complained that his life is too hard for him. He came to God, told him about his troubles, and asked:
– Can I choose another cross for myself?
God looked at him smiling, took him to the store of crosses and said:
– Choose…
A man came into the store, looked around, and was surprised: There is such a great variety of crosses – little, big, medium, heavy and light.
A man was walking by the store for a long time looking for the littlest and lightest cross and finally found it, then came to God and asked:
– May I take this one?
– Yes, you may, – answered God. – It is your own cross.
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You deserve every ounce of happiness life has to offer. You ask why? The fact that you are breathing and living means the nature wants you; the universe wants you. Everyone makes mistakes, everyone screws up at some point, but it doesn't mean you are a disaster. Don't let anyone drill fear in you by making you feel any less. To quote Jesus Christ, "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone." Don't be afraid of your immense potential, your happiness. Go claim it.
 
Bite down on your mouthpiece and say, "Let's go."
~from A Fistful of Love, Om Swami
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A Fistful of Love: Wisdom and Humour From A Monk's Bowl by Om Swami

A man was sitting with his friends in a local inn. After a couple of drinks, he asked his friends, “Do you love me?” “Of course, we do,” they replied. “So do you know what I need?” No one answered. “If you don’t know what I need then how can you say you love me?”


To love and to be loved is the most basic human need. No wonder we are attracted to people who give us attention, care about us, and love us. Yet, love also remains the greatest challenge in most relationships. Why?


A Fistful of Love is a collection of insightful, thought-provoking nuggets of wisdom appreciated by millions around the world. This book is full of humour and narratives most beautifully woven into learnings of life that will make you stop and think. 

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Self-luminous Atman, by the power of its own Maya imagines itself in itself. He alone is aware of the objects. This is the conclusion of the Vedanta

~Sri Gaudapada

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There is a way of loving not
attached to what is loved.Observe
how water is with

the ground, always moving toward
the ocean, though the ground tries
to hold water’s foot

and not let it go. This is how we are
with wine and beautiful food,
wealth and power,

or just a dry piece of bread: we
want and we get drunk with
wanting, then the headache

and bitterness afterward. Those
prove that the attachment took hold
and held you back. Now you

proudly refuse help. “My love is
pure. I have an intuitive union with
God. I don’t need

anyone to show me how to be
free!” This is not the case. A love
with no object

is a true love. All else, shadow
without substance. Have you seen
someone fall in

love with his own shadow? That’s
what we’ve done. Leave partial
loves and find one

that’s whole. Where is someone
who can do that? They’re so rare,
those hearts that carry
the blessing and lavish it over everything
~from The Soul of Rumi, Coleman Barks
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The Soul of Rumi by Coleman Barks

Inside A Lover's Heart There's Another World, And Yet Another

Rumi's masterpieces have inspired countless people throughout the centuries, and Coleman Barks's exquisite renderings of the thirteenth-century Persian mystic are widely considered the definitive versions for our time. Barks's translations capture the inward exploration and intensity that characterize Rumi's poetry, making this unique voice of mysticism and desire contemporary while remaining true to the original poems. In this volume readers will encounter the essence of Sufism's insights into the experience of divine love, wisdom, and the nature of both humanity and God.

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