Thanks - Mahendra Joshi

• All those whom you call yours (Husband, Wife, Father, Mother, Son, Daughter, Family and Friends) were NOT yours in the past birth and will NOT be yours in the next birth. You will not even recognize them if they come before you in the next birth. It’s your "Maya" that binds you to them and keeps you away from the Truth in this miserable travel of Jiva (individual body with soul). Finding of this Self-Illuminating Truth by Jiva is called the Self-Realization or Atma-Sakshatkar! One who finds it is called Jivanmukta! ONLY a Jivanmukta can be Guru! Everyone else is a Traveler!
   
• You, Me, God, Guru, Swami and a Common man.....It is written to remove some doubts, misconceptions and strengthen your faith in the existence of the Divine.
   
• Following three qualities are extremely important for a spiritual soldier: Vairagya (dispassion), Viveka (wisdom) and Bhakti (devotion).
   
• We should stop being proud of Ourselves - We are nothing more than a slave of a monkey (mind.) Vultures (of though waves) are consistently feeding on us. 6 wolves (lust, anger, greed, attachment, ego & envy) are dragging us on the streets. Worth of our life is nothing more than a trash bag...full of trash (past memories, current problems & future dreams.) Even worms live life of "eat, sleep, weep & enjoy".
   
• Our desires are the cause of our misery. Only those who tame the Cobra (of Mind) that operates through its 5 heads (sense organs) attain the Bliss, everyone else continues their miserable journey through cycles of birth and death. Try to peek inside, there is much bigger universe within us. The creator of this universe (The eternal Bliss) is waiting to embrace you! Don't live life like a worm try to be a Divine Deer.
   
• No One Can Do Siddha Yoga, It Has To Happen!!!
   
• Lord exists where 'I' does not. Annihilate the ego. Without dispassion or non-attachment or indifference to sensual enjoyments no spiritual progress is possible.
   
• Sama (control of mind), Niyama (discipline), Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), Dama (control of the senses), Uparati (turning away), Titiksa (endurance) and Sraddha (faith), Sauca (internal and external purity) are extremely necessary for spiritual progress.
   
• Just as a silk-worm is caught in its own cocoon, so also man is caught in this vast net of samsara (worldly life) by his own sankalpas (thoughts and notions) and vasanas. You will never be able to go into samadhi (super-conscious state) although you can sit in the Sddhasana for six hours at a stretch, if you are not free from temptations, repulsion, attractions, anger, egoism and pride. Only a calm mind can enter state of Samadhi.
   
• Eight limbs of Astanga Yoga:
  
  Yama (self restraint), Niyama (religious observances or canons), Asana (posture), Pranayama (restraint of breath), Pratyahara (abstraction of senses), Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation) and Samadhi (super-conscious state).
   
• Who can attain God?
  
  The desire to attain knowledge of the Self will dawn only in the person who is free from desires, who has a pure mind, and who is quite disgusted with this worldly life. Such a man only is competent to hear, meditate and attain Brahman, jnana or knowledge of Brahman. When the knowledge of the Self dawns, ignorance, which is the seed for bondage and the cause of karma is totally eradicated and the aspirant attains immortality and eternal bliss.
   
• Six passions or modifications of mind:
  
  Kama (lust), Krodh (anger), Lobh (greed), Moh (attachment), Ahankar (ego) and Matsarya (envy) the mind, indriyas (senses), vasanas (tendencies), samskaras (mental impressions) and trisnas (cravings) which have robbed you of your atmic jewel Jñana Indriya (Organ of Divine Knowledge).
   
• Preceptor: Swami Sivananda says "Place your foot, step by step, very cautiously, on the different rungs of the ladder of yoga. Ascend very gradually to the summit. Be earnest in your Sadhana (practice). Equip yourself with the necessary qualifications. Do not waste your time in search of a preceptor. When you are ready, you will enter the halls of wisdom. And there, waiting on the threshold, you will find your preceptor."
   
• Body is composed of the Mind, Egoism, Intellect and The five sense organs.
   
• Your enemies are: Samskaras of fear, Moha (delusion or extreme greed), Hatred, Jealousy, Prejudice, Self-justification, Building castles in the air, Evil thoughts and Passion
   
• Everything in this universe is made up of three basic components: Sattva (Purity and divine Knowledge) Raja (Activity and Passion), Tama (Ignorance and Inertia). They are collectively call Tri-Guna (three qualities)
   
• Viveka is discrimination between the real and the unreal, permanent and impermanent, Self and the not-Self
   
• Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 3, Verse 19
  
  The highest ideal for every Sadhak (Practitioner) is `Siddha-Avasthaa' i.e. state of perfection or `Moksha' i.e. release from the cycle of multiple births and deaths (also known as Divine Awareness, The Bliss, Sat-Chit-Ananda, Chaitanya or Supreme Awareness.) As a result of the knowledge of the Self, a Yogi has nothing left in balance, which is yet to be acquired for anyone including himself. It is all the same to him whether he performs an action or does not perform it. If such a Yogi has nothing to do gain or lose from others then as per the modern principle of `the path of the least action', his logical choice must be inaction and not action; as he has nothing to achieve for himself as well as for others.....In the rhythm of incessantly beating of heart, a Sadhak carries out various mundane worldly activities without even noticing every single beat of his heart. Absence of attachment leads to pacification of mind; thus work and rest go on as if reflex actions. Mind made calm in this way becomes capable of grasping the Self. Calmness of mind is the essential pre-requisite for the knowledge of the Self.