Category: Quotes

God is unbounded, infinite, vast. God is oceanic and we are like dewdrops. We have to learn the art of disappearing into the ocean. It needs guts, because to disappear into the ocean means to die as a dewdrop. Because unless one dies as a dewdrop one cannot be born as the ocean. When the seed dies as a seed a great tree is born. The seed disappears; only through its disappearance does the tree appear. The ego has to die, only then are you reborn. Dying to the past so that you can live in the present. To experience god is to experience at the same time the death of the ego. It is a death and a resurrection: the death of darkness and the birth of light.

Life is a gift, but very few people recognize it, because god goes on giving us life without making any fuss about it. It is given so silently that we never become aware that something precious has been given to us. And god does not even wait to be thanked. He really knows how to give. That is the art of giving: the person to whom the gift is given should not know about it, otherwise it will be a little humiliating, he may feel embarrassed… Hence god gives anonymously, in such a way that the people who are the receivers never become aware of the gift, unless they make a deliberate effort to wake themselves up. The person who thanks god for all that is happening to him goes on receiving more and more, because a thankful heart becomes more and more open, a thankful heart becomes more and more receptive.

How can you believe in god? — you don’t even know who you are. Who is the believer? That is the first thing to be explored. And if that is understood, root and all, you will understand god too.

There are no other proofs for god than the beautiful experiences of life. A sunset can overwhelm you so much so that for that moment you are no more, only the sunset is. The observer is dissolved, there is only observation; the duality between the seer and the seen is no more there, there is only one bridged experience. The observer and the observed are both bridged together, as if you and the sunset are two poles of the same phenomenon. Suddenly your heartbeat starts pulsating with the beauty that is the sunset. The more you experience these beautiful moments, the more your life starts becoming beautiful. So never miss any beautiful moment. Rejoice in it, dance with it, sing with it, be silent with it. In some way or other become one with it. Let the observer be the observed too. Dissolve yourself in it and you will find immense nourishment. You will become aware that the world is not just matter; hidden behind matter is something far more significant — matter is only the expression of something immaterial. We can call it god, the truth, the soul of existence, the very heartbeat of the universe.

When you collect the whole of your energy at the centre of your being, that is meditation. And to be in that state is to be reborn.

One of the greatest statements of Krishna in Gita it is:  Do the work and leave the result to god; that is none of your business. Action is your business and the result is god’s.

It is only through meditation that one — aware of the glory of existence. Meditation is a bridge. Without meditation you are disconnected from existence. You are there, the existence is there, but there is no bridge; you are on this side of the river and the existence is on that side of it. You can see it but you cannot touch it, you can see it but you cannot feel it. It is there, just like a dream, but — not a reality. It becomes a reality only when the bridge is made.

Offering oneself to god. Any offering is pointless unless you offer yourself. One can offer money, but that is not a true offering, because everybody comes empty-handed so whatsoever you possess does not in fact belong to you. You came empty-handed and you will go empty-handed. The only thing that can be given to god is your own being — that’s all that one possesses. If you offer yourself totally a new experience happens: by giving yourself you become empty , and in that emptiness god starts pouring his gifts. We give nothing but we get everything.

Existence loves us all. We are here, that is enough proof, otherwise we would not have been here at all; we have been chosen to be by existence. It is not our choice, we have not created ourselves; it is the decision on the part of the whole. And existence goes on nourishing us every moment on all the planes — physical, psychological, spiritual. But our stupidity is such that we start taking all these things for granted as if we have earned them, as if we deserve them, as if life is our birthright. We forget completely that it is a gift of god.

You ask, “Who am I?” I say, “I am not.” I always ask seekers to ask, “Who am I?” not in order that they will come to know who they are, but only in order that a moment will come when the question is asked so intensely that the questioner is not there; only the question remains. A moment is bound to come when the question is absolutely intense, as deep as it can go; then the absurdity of it is revealed. You come to know that there is no one who can ask “Who am I?” or who can be asked “Who are you?” The question is asked not to get any answer, but to transcend the question.