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Wisdom Quotes

418 timeless words from enlightened masters across traditions

418 quotes

The quality of your life depends on how well you manage your body, mind, emotions, and the energies that you carry.
If you resist change, you resist life. The nature of life is change; the nature of mind is to resist change.
Yoga is not about being superhuman. It is about realising that being human is super.
The most beautiful moment in life is a moment when you are not thinking about yourself.
Selfless love is the only truth; everything else is illusion. Love is the foundation of the entire creation.
A lamp does not ask for anything before giving its light. Become like that lamp — give unconditionally.
Without love, all our doing is merely business. Love transforms every ordinary act into something divine.
Learn to live in the present moment, for the past is a closed door and the future has not yet come.
The body is a laboratory in which you can perform experiments that lead to the ultimate truth — the knowledge of the Self.
Yoga is not about the shape of your body but the shape of your life.
Meditation is not withdrawal from the world. It is returning to your true home within, and then acting from that centre.
Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth.
You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.
Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.
The most fundamental aggression to ourselves is to remain ignorant by not having the courage to look at ourselves honestly and gently.
Life begins where fear ends. The moment you drop all fear, life opens its doors.
Be — don't try to become. You already are what you are trying to become.
If you love a flower, don't pick it up. Because if you pick it up it dies, and it ceases to be what you love.
The greatest courage is to drop all masks and simply be yourself.
Teach what is appropriate for the individual. Yoga must be adapted to the person, not the person to yoga.
You cannot acquire God; you can only rediscover Him. He was always there — you had temporarily forgotten.
When intellect and emotion work together in harmony, the divine in us is awakened.
The conquest of an outward enemy is nothing compared to the conquest of the enemy within — the ego.
Change yourself, and the world around you will change. There is no other way.
Truth is one, paths are many. All sincere seekers are walking toward the same summit.
Peace is our very nature. We do not have to seek it; we have to stop disturbing it.
The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.
If we go within, we will never go without. Everything we need is already inside.
Love everyone, serve everyone, remember God, and tell the truth. This is the whole of the teaching.
The best form to see God is in every form. He is present in all.
Sub ek — All is one. See God in everything and everyone.
Do not put anyone out of your heart. Even if they have wronged you, keep the door open.
The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.
This is the real secret of life — to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realise it is play.
Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.
You are a function of what the whole universe is doing in the same way that a wave is a function of what the whole ocean is doing.
Put your heart, mind, intellect and soul even in your smallest acts. This is the secret of success.
An ounce of practice is worth a thousand pounds of theory. Do not wait. Begin now.
Serve, Love, Give, Purify, Meditate, Realise. These six words are the whole of spiritual life.
The world is your teacher. Keep your eyes open. Learn from every person and every situation.
Whatever you may do, wherever you may go, always know that you are in the presence of the Divine. Nothing is ever separate from That.
Dive deep within yourself. The treasure you are looking for is already there, at the very bottom of your own being.
All paths lead to the Self. Whatever way you take, whatever name you give it — it is the same journey.
This body has no will of its own. Whatever the Father wills happens. There is only His play.
God is within you; you are in God, as the wave is in the ocean and the ocean is in the wave.
The soul is the divine breath; it purifies, revivifies and heals the instrument through which it functions.
Our purpose in life is to realise the divine symphony that is already playing, and to tune ourselves to it.
Blessed is the soul who has become the instrument of God; for in every breath there is then a divine message.
The Vedas are the root of all knowledge. Return to the Vedas, and you will find the way of truth.
One must not be content with remaining where one is but must always strive to advance in every respect.
He who conquers his passions and senses is the true king; he who is conquered by them is the true slave.
If you want peace of mind, do not find fault with others. Rather, see your own faults. Learn to make the whole world your own. No one is a stranger, my child.
I am the mother of the virtuous as well as the wicked. Whoever comes to me with a pure heart, I will free from fear.
One becomes holy by keeping holy company. A tub of water stands still, but if you put it in a current, it moves; so the mind needs holy association to move Godward.
He who has given this body will also take care of it. Do not be anxious. Just call upon Him with a pure heart.
God dwells not in golden temples. He resides in the pure hearts of those who remember Him with love.
The name of God is the boat for crossing the ocean of birth and death. Chant it constantly — this is the only lasting wealth.
What is the use of a body that does not serve God? What is the use of learning that does not lead to liberation?
Tuka says: the saints are the moving pilgrimage of the Lord, carrying His presence wherever they go.
I have found my Girdhar, and no other. From birth to birth, I am his alone.
Without the vision of my Beloved, I cannot live even for a single moment. The world seems dark and empty without Him.
Mira has found her Lord in the company of saints. All else is delusion — this life, this world, this body.
Let the world say what it will. I have tasted the nectar of divine love, and I am free.
Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. All things pass away: God never changes. Patience obtains all things. Whoever has God lacks nothing. God alone suffices.
Prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God.
The feeling remains that God is on the journey too.
Settle yourself in solitude and you will come upon God in yourself. The soul that is attached to anything, however much good there may be in it, will not arrive at the liberty of divine love.
What doth it profit thee to enter into deep discussion concerning the Holy Trinity, if thou lack humility? Verily, deep words do not make a man holy and just.
Better of a surety is a lowly peasant who serveth God, than a proud philosopher who watcheth the stars and neglecteth the knowledge of himself.
Rest from inordinate desire of knowledge, for therein is found much distraction and deceit. The learned person is not thereby made better or holier.
Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity, except to love God and serve Him alone.
Lord, grant that I might not so much seek to be loved as to love; to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand.
Praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, who is the day and through whom You give us light.
Start by doing what is necessary; then do what is possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.
What we are looking for is what is looking. In seeking God, God is the one who seeks.
The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me; my eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love.
God is not found in the soul by adding anything but by a process of subtraction.
Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.
The seed of God is in us. Given an intelligent and hardworking farmer, it will thrive and grow up to God, whose seed it is; and accordingly its fruits will be God-nature.
Even after all this time, the sun never says to the earth: 'You owe me.' Look what happens with a love like that — it lights the whole sky.
I wish I could show you, when you are lonely or in darkness, the astonishing light of your own being.
The heart is a thousand-stringed instrument that can only be tuned with love.
Fear is the cheapest room in the house. I would like to see you living in better conditions.
Knowledge that does not take you beyond yourself is far worse than ignorance.
Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.
The longing for the divine is itself the divine working through you.
My heart has become capable of every form: it is a pasture for gazelles and a convent for Christian monks, and a temple for idols and the pilgrim's Ka'ba. I follow the religion of Love; whatever way Love's camels take, that is my religion and my faith.
God is the mirror in which you see yourself, and you are His mirror in which He contemplates His divine names.
The cosmos is an illusion — but it is an illusion that veils and reveals the Real simultaneously.
Do not attach yourself to any particular creed exclusively, so that you may disbelieve all the rest; otherwise you will lose much good, nay, you will fail to recognise the real truth of the matter.
O God! If I worship You for fear of Hell, burn me in Hell, and if I worship You in hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise. But if I worship You for Your Own sake, grudge me not Your everlasting Beauty.
O Lord, whatever You have given me in this world, give it to Your enemies; and whatever You have given me in the next world, give it to Your friends. You are enough for me.
My peace, O my brothers, is in solitude, and my Beloved is with me always.
To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things.
If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?
A flower falls even though we love it; a weed grows even though we do not love it. Such is life.
Being Buddha is nothing but manifesting one's self. Manifesting one's self is nothing but being Buddha.
My religion is to live — and die — without regret.
Do not think of tomorrow, but practice today. Death does not wait to ask whether you are ready.
Hasten slowly and you will soon arrive. Drift too fast and you will overshoot the goal.
The merit derived from practicing the Dharma is greater than all other merits. Give up attachment to appearances and rest in the nature of mind.
Whatever is dependently co-arisen, that is explained to be emptiness. That, being a dependent designation, is itself the middle way.
There is no phenomenon that is not dependently originated; therefore there is no phenomenon that is not empty of inherent existence.
Emptiness wrongly grasped is like a snake picked up by the wrong end — it will turn and bite you.
The Buddha taught emptiness in order to abandon all views. Those who cling to the view of emptiness are called incurable.
Yoga is the restraint of the fluctuations of the mind. Then the seer abides in its own true nature.
Practice becomes firmly grounded when well attended to for a long time, without break and in all earnestness.
By cultivating attitudes of friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and equanimity toward the non-virtuous, the mind retains its undisturbed calmness.
The posture for meditation should be steady and comfortable. It is mastered when effort ceases and the mind merges with the infinite.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment. Cleverness is mere opinion, bewilderment brings intuitive knowledge.
Be silent, that the Lord who gave thee language may speak.
Why should I be weary when every cell of my body is bursting with life?
This place is a dream, only a sleeper considers it real. Then death comes like dawn and you wake up laughing at what you thought was your grief.
And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.
The most pitiful among men is he who turns his dreams into silver and gold.
The timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness; and knows that yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream.
Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.
He who has not looked on sorrow will never see joy.
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.
When you call yourself an Indian or a Muslim or a Christian or a European, or anything else, you are being violent. Do you see why it is violent? Because you are separating yourself from the rest of mankind.
The ability to observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence.
In obedience there is always fear, and fear darkens the mind.
To be free of all authority, of your own and that of another, is to die to everything of yesterday, so that your mind is always fresh, always young, innocent, full of vigour and passion.
Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.
The present moment is the only moment available to us, and it is the door to all moments.
People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth.
To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don't need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.
Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. And between the two my life flows.
There is nothing to practice. To know yourself, be yourself. To be yourself, stop imagining yourself to be this or that.
The real does not die; the unreal never lived. Once you know that death happens to the body and not to you, you just watch your body falling away.
When I look inside and see that I am nothing, that's wisdom. When I look outside and see that I am everything, that's love. And between these two my life turns.
Better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace.
To keep the body in good health is a duty, otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.
You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger.
The tongue like a sharp knife kills without drawing blood.
Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Silence is a source of great strength.
I am neither the mind nor the intellect nor the ego nor the memory; I am not the ears, nor the skin, nor the nose, nor the eyes; I am Consciousness and Bliss — I am Shiva, I am Shiva.
Forgiveness is the greatest weapon, for a truly forgiving person cannot be harmed by anyone.
Bow down to the Self — the unchanging witness of all that arises and passes away.
The river that flows in you also flows in me.
I have been thinking of the difference between water and the waves on it. Rising, water's still water, falling back, it is water, will you give me a hint how to tell them apart?
Do not go to the garden of flowers; in your body there is a garden. Take your seat on the thousand petals of the lotus and there gaze on the infinite beauty.
The fish in the water is thirsty — you have to be laughing at the paradox.
Even kings and emperors with heaps of wealth and vast dominion cannot compare with an ant filled with the love of God.
God is one, but he has innumerable forms. He is the creator of all, and He Himself takes the human form.
Sing the songs of joy to the Lord, serve His Name, and become the servant of His servants.
I am neither a child, a young man, nor an ancient; nor am I of any caste.
The winds of grace are always blowing, but you have to raise your sail.
God alone is real, and all else is illusory. By realising God all things are realised.
The young wife in a family, even though she carries on all the household duties, always keeps her thoughts on her own parents' house. Likewise, even in the midst of worldly activities, keep your mind on God.
Pray to God. He will tell you what you need to know.
In a day, when you don't come across any problems — you can be sure that you are travelling in a wrong path.
The more we come out and do good to others, the more our hearts will be purified, and God will be in them.
Learn everything that is good from others, but bring it in, and in your own way absorb it; do not become others.
Purity, patience, and perseverance are the three essentials to success and above all — love.
The degree of the absence of thoughts is the measure of your progress towards Self-realisation.
Your own Self-realisation is the greatest service you can render the world.
There is no greater mystery than this — that being the Reality, we seek to gain Reality.
The mind is nothing other than the 'I' thought. The mind and the ego are one and the same.
Be still. It is the wind that makes the water choppy. Let the wind stop and the lake is calm.
Pray, but it is also necessary to act. The hands of the Divine reach through the hands of human beings.
Remain calm, serene, always in command of yourself. You will then find out how easy it is to get along.
By the exercise of will, we can direct the electrons of our thought wherever we desire.
Life is life — whether in a cat, or dog or man. There is no way to draw the line between the great and the small, the mighty and the mean.
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and ability to affect those around him positively.
The difficulty of life is never so great that it cannot be broken by the blade of the aspiring soul.
In the spiritual life, all moments are equally sacred and precious.
Meditation gives success in life, efficiency in life, fulfillment in life, vibrance in life, peace in life, and harmony in life.
The mind is everything. What you think you become.
Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.
You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.
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