Man’s body is like a citadel and the senses are the loopholes. At the loopholes of the citadel we place cannon and guns, which are shot off from within, and which shoot outside. Similarly, from you, cannon balls of sight are shot out into the hearts and heads of spectators; from the loopholes of the ears thoughts shoot out. Well, it says, the maker or creator of this citadel, the Atman, has played a funny joke with man. All the cannon balls shoot outside from within you, and man is bewildered. Man thinks that he is gaining and conquering this world; man thinks that he is extending his property, but as a matter of fact he is losing his own self. In this citadel man thinks that he is gaining knowledge, that he is victorious in the world, but as a matter of fact he is starving his true Atman. Read the article »

“I am not the body” is made by the thief in the dream, because you have stolen God, you have stolen the Truth, you have concealed your real Self, so you are a thief in the dream, and this thief in the dream is stung by the serpent Truth, “I am the Atman.”Thus it is the thief in the dream that receives the life-giving sling of “I am Atman “and the result is that you wake up, and the true Atman shines in its full glory, and this Atman is unapproachable. It surpasses all description. Language cannot reach it. Read the article »

It is not the body but the soul that is to be reformed; it is the mind that is to be regenerated. You have to be born of the spirit. Just as u Dust thou art, and to dust thou must return “was not spoken of the soul, similarly, “You have to lie born again of the spirit, you have to be regenerated “is not to be spoken of the body. Read the article »

In the morning or at any time, when you begin to practise the methods pointed out in this book, your mind will merge into a state of divinity, ecstasy, super-consciousness. When that state is reached, do not continue repeating OM. Stop; let that state remain as long as it pleases; gradually the worldly or body-consciousness will come up of itself. Don’t force anything; don’t force the repetition of OM. When that state is reached, the body-consciousness will come up readily. It may be that many of you may be able to remain in that state of super-consciousness for half an hour, perhaps for one, two, or three hours or more; but to-morrow you will be able to keep up that state for a longer time Day after day the time will increase until in this way gradually by slow degrees your spiritual power will increase. Read the article »

Desire is nothing else but Love. Usually the word ‘love‘ means intense desire for an object. If love is intense desire for an object, then all desire is nothing else but love, and they say that God is love, therefore all desires are God. That being true, how happy is the man who realizes his own life to be one with all Desire and then feels that he himself, his own true Atman, is contained in the whole world in the form of Desire and is governing and ruling it. How happy does that man become who realizes his unity with the all-ruling force of desire, who feels that “I am the source of all desire”; “All desire is due to me”, the father, the origin, the fountain-head, the spirit of all desire in this world, that am I; thus I rule the whole world by the reins of desire. The reins are in my hands, I am he who holds these reins and rules these bodies. All hatred, all animosity stops the very moment you reach that point. The desires of friends or foes are my desires. I am the Infinite power which governs or rules those desires. The yearnings and cravings of this person or that are mine. O happy I, the true Atman, the Governor of the whole Universe. Read the article »

In the swoon, the mind stopped thinking and this stopping of the thinking caused excess of inactivity, and through this excess of inactivity the swoon was produced. In the swoon thought stops through lack of activity, the swoon resembles death, but the state of trance or the state of Realization is all energy, all power, all knowledge, all bliss. Read the article »

The kind of thought which you will have to dwell upon, the kind of imagination, according to the teachings of Vedanta, is like ashes; it will wash you clean of every impurity and every weakness, it will raise you above the kind of imagination which is inculcated in this. Read the article »

Cheerful atmosphere, fair landscapes, and fairy scenes, sometimes go a great way in giving to the mind its first rise -to elevate it in the primary stages; and after that it becomes easy enough for us to make the mind run along, go on and on and on until it loses all body-consciousness and is God and nothing but God. To give the mind the first lift and to impart to it the elementary exaltation, the natural inspiration imparted by favourable time and place may be utilized. Near dawn, the songs of birds, the fragrant air, and the most fascinating and beautiful colours seen in the eastern horizon give to the mind the original rise. How to make the mind rise higher into the celestial regions -to make the soul soar away up to the throne of God! When the benign light of the rising or setting sun is falling upon the translucent lids of half-closed eyes we begin humming the syllable OM; we sing it in the language of feeling. Read the article »

After death the subtle body is transferred from one basin of a gross body to another. According to some, this transmigrating, subtle body is the soul; but not so according to Vedanta. According to Vedanta the real Self or refulgent Atman is like the sun reflected alike in the subtle body when in the first basin of a gross body as when in the second. Now, the true Soul, the real Self, is always manifesting itself fully under all circumstances. The real glorious Atman is incapable of any change or development. It is always perfect. If you understand by the word Soul the subtle body, it usually takes many births, lives or transmigrations to attain the final state whore further transmigration stops. But even in this life if you are really in right earnest about your salvation, you can realize perfect liberation and undergo no further transmigration. Read the article »

There are certain things the mere mention of which causes the mouth to water, such as oranges, lemons, etc. The mere mention of these produces an effect and the eating of these produces certainly a complete effect. Just so the mere sound or chant of OM will produce a certain effect mid if you take it in its entirety, the effect is complete. You may not feel the effect in the beginning, but it must eventually bear fruit, rest assured. Read the article »