A collection of sayings of Swami Chinmayananda
Those who are constant doubters can enjoy neither here nor there. Such men are psychologically incapable of enjoying any situation, because the doubting tendency in them will poison all their experiences.
Those who are constant doubters can enjoy neither here nor there. Such men are psychologically incapable of enjoying any situation, because the doubting tendency in them will poison all their experiences.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna condemns such men of endless doubts, and points out their tragedy in life. The Lord says that such men who "doubt the Self" will not find any joy or happiness anywhere—"neither here nor in the hereafter."
Doubts are but the shadows of your own mind’s dancing. Quieten the mind through prayer and realize that which is beyond all doubts.
When through the practice of Karma yoga, we have learnt to renounce our attachments to the fruits-of-action, and yet to work on in perfect detachment—when every doubt in us regarding the Goal-of-life has been completely removed in our own inner experience of the nobler and the diviner in us—as a result of the above two, the ego comes to rediscover itself to be nothing other, than the Atman. Then the individual ego comes to live "poised in the Self as the Self". When such an individual works, his actions can never bind him.
Vedanta uncompromisingly insists that man is essentially perfect, and therefore infinite are the possibilities that lie lurking in him. The Rishis cry, ‘we must realize that we have within ourselves all the resources, ability, energy and power for building up a supremely successful life for ourselves and for others in the world. There is one great and covetable gift, which is distinctly ours at all times, and this is our profound capacity to discover, develop and usefully employ the infinite essence in us.
A life organized for the discovery of the potentialities already existing within ourselves and the ordering of our behaviour so as to nurture and nourish them, is a life well spent. Herein our success depends upon the amount of transformation we can successfully bring about in our personality and character. The vital question, is not how many talents each one of us has, but how much of our existing talents we can explore, develop and exploit. An individual may have many talents and yet, he can be a miserable failure in life. That person is successful who makes practical use of at least one great talent that he possesses.
The secret of success in life lies in keeping the head above the storms of the heart.
When a person is left alone, he starts thinking of higher reality - about death, life, soul, God and the mystery of all.
Just as a river is a flow of water, the mind is a continuous flow of thoughts. To think of stopping the mind is foolishness. The attempt of the seeker in the seat of meditation is not to stop the mind or destroy the mind. Give the mind a new direction - change the direction of your thoughts. Do not try to stop your thoughts. Instead, make them divine.
Comfort comes as a guest, lingers to become the host, and stays to enslave us.
Our present and future welfare mainly depends upon ourselves. Never look outside ourselves for help. Do not fall into the delusion that the influence of others would enable us to do better and accomplish more. All our success entirely depends upon ourselves, realize these fundamentals.
What we regularly encourage and consistently cultivate in our mind determines our character and ultimately our destiny. Evidently, an intelligent choice of thought can transform the character pattern in us; the entire destiny of our life then lies in our own hands.
A true seeker is one who is constantly asserting day by day, hour by hour and he alone has this privilege of ordering his future lifestyle.
The Lord is ever with you. Your anxieties and fears are veiling Him from you. He is so near to you that you cannot see Him. You are in Him - with Him - at Him.
You are He alone!
You are He alone!
Vedanta is the art of living, and can be pursued under all circumstances at all places whether it be in you house or in a factory or in the rice-field.
From time to time, take a Close and Honest look at yourself... It Pays!
Never complain about the number of hours you have put in, to do a job. Your nobility must estimate how much of you was put into each hour of your daily work.
Let not your choice leave behind a sense of guilt. Try to be good, never mind if you fail. Every good thought sent out rebounds with a hundred times its force upon the sender himself.
In spite of all our best efforts, we may slip now and then. But that need not worry us. We are imperfect ones trying our best to gain perfection. Let every slip in us be an education for us. Let us grow and expand, ultimately to improve, to shine out.
A strong mind is cultivated by living moral values. All outer actions start gathering a dazzling polish, once your mental values change. A morally strong person spends less of his mental powers in facing the day to day problems of life. Moral values and ethical principles adopted and accepted by you must be lived fearlessly, even in the face of death. Never compromise, under any amount of pressure. You will find God's help coming to you, to pull you out from even the direst situation.
We must keep on clearing out daily-accumulating mental rubbish. This inner "garbage-disposal" is achieved only by study of the scriptures for a short time daily and through our regular introspection and meditation.
The youth are not useless. They are used less!
Must, will, shall, can, must your positive verbs and not if.
Coated, booted, suited, wanting only food clothing and shelter, is this how you want to spend your whole life from the womb to the tomb?
Success is the tribute life pays to excellence.
Return back to the road by which from the Supreme you reached here and realize your own Self!
The man of perfection is like a breeze that passes by without asking. When the windows are open, it purifies the atmosphere by its mere passing. It changes its direction without hesitation when the door is closed.
All sorrows are a result of our wrong relationship with the objects of the world outside.
One single ideal can transform a listless soul into a towering leader of men.
A plan can deliver its promised blessings only when the plan is executed with promptitude.
The fewer one's possessions, the greater are one's enjoyment and freedom.
Life never moves in a straight line. Existence in a straight line is death.
Prayer is not to change the pattern around you, but to give you protection from it.
The day you take up the policy of giving love instead of demanding it, that day you will have rewritten your entire future destiny.