The Daily Guru

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"You Already Are That"
"What does a sculptor do? He takes a crude rock and brings a beautiful image of Buddha out of it. Is he putting Buddha into the stone? No. He simply chips off the unnecessary things. If he keeps on chipping, all of a sudden a nose pops out, then eyes, ears, arms, legs. That means the Buddha was already there inside. And that is the purpose of spiritual practice. You don’t have to become something. You already are that. You are already a Buddha. But unfortunately there is a lot of chipping to be done. All these Yoga practices are to chip away the unnecessary things that are hiding the Buddha within."

"God bless you. Om Shanthi, Shanthi, Shanthi."

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“Balance Yourself”
“What is Yoga? Equanimity. Swinging neither that side nor this side. When the body is balanced, the mind is balanced, there is no stress. All the problems are caused by losing your balance. The purpose of Yoga is to bring back your balance, and then to maintain it. It starts with the body, because it is easy to do something with the body. The mind is more subtle. You can’t even take hold of it. It is like a liquid. To hold the liquid you need a solid cup. So we first work with the body. Balance your body by putting it in all the different positions or asanas, making it more relaxed, freeing it from all the accumulated toxins. By doing that, you are indirectly helping the mind become more balanced and have more equanimity.

“God bless you. Om Shanthi, Shanthi, Shanthi.”

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“A True Disciple”
“Gurus can be found anywhere and everywhere. Just simply turn to the Yellow Pages and see how many gurus you can find. But it is hard to find a good student. Studentship is the most important. A true disciple is one who is very keen in learning how to get liberated, how to get released from all this turmoil. Who will look for that? The one who got bound by everything. Otherwise, why should he or she even be looking for liberation? We try to use our little, finite intelligence to make our lives happy. We want to achieve this and acquire that. Ultimately, we find that such happiness is only temporary. When you begin to look for the permanent happiness, that is when you become a true seeker.

“God bless you. Om Shanthi, Shanthi, Shanthi.”

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“The Best Ambition”
“A contented person feels, ‘God, whatever comes, let it come. You are the giver. You are the taker. If You decide not to give, even if I beg, borrow, steal, or cry, I am not going to get it.’ It doesn’t mean that you should just sit like a rock doing nothing. You still have to do. But just do what is presented to you. This minute if a job is given to you, do it wholeheartedly, without worrying about tomorrow or yesterday. Be in the golden present. Then the contentment is there. The peace of mind is there. The tranquility is there. You may ask, ‘Shouldn’t I have an ambition?’ Yes, you should have an ambition. What is the biggest and the best ambition? To find a way not to lose your peace.

“God bless you. Om Shanthi, Shanthi, Shanthi.”

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“Training the Mind”
“It is important to take care of the body, to keep it in good shape. But the most important part is the mind, because as you think, so you become. Both you and your body will develop according to the thoughts in your mind. Both must be brought under your control with discipline and training in the right way. Of course, people find it hard to tame the mind. So, take the gross mind—which is the body—and tame it first. Through asanas, discipline the body. Then tame the vital body with the breath, and sense control. Thus you will tame the mind. Ultimately, the aim is to control the mind. The mind has to be approached by all means, by all means.

“God bless you. Om Shanthi, Shanthi, Shanthi.”

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“Integral Yoga”
“What you call spiritual life is not just one-sided development. When you act, act selflessly. If you love somebody, love for the joy of loving—don’t make it a business by looking for something in return. If you have time to sit and analyze, analyze in this way: ‘What is the cause of my worries? Who am I? Why am I here?’ In your day, set aside a little time for the body, do the physical postures. A little time for service, a little time for chanting or devotion. Meditation, studying spiritual books, analyzing, self-reflection: it’s all combined in what we call Integral Yoga.

“God bless you. Om Shanthi, Shanthi, Shanthi.”

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“The Real You”
“The True Self—the pure light or pure soul—is always colored by our own thoughts and actions. It is something like a light-bulb: Tthe light inside is pure and clear, but the glass around it colors the light according to its own color. If it’s a blue-colored bulb, you get a blue color outside. If it’s a red-colored bulb, you get a red color. That color does not taint the light within. The light is always the same, but it appears to be colored because of the colored glass it is shining through. In the same way, your real Self is always the same, it is always pure. That Self is the same Self in everybody; there is no difference at all. It is pure spirit, a spark of the Divine Light. That Light prevails everywhere.

“God bless you. Om Shanthi, Shanthi, Shanthi.”

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“Taking Care of the Body”
“Take care of the body. Make sure you give it enough rest. Why? Because you need the body. Without the body, the mind alone cannot do anything. So, take care of the instrument first. No matter how much you want to do something, give a little time to allow the body to recuperate first. But at the same time, make sure the body is really tired and not just lazy. Question yourself: ‘Have I been doing physical things, that the body should be tired?’ If not, the cause of the tiredness may be mental agitation, mental stress, that gets transferred to the body. So don’t blame the body for that. In fact, if you are mentally happy and joyful in the midst of your activities, the body will enjoy working; it will seldom get tired.

“God bless you. Om Shanthi, Shanthi, Shanthi.”

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“You Are Happiness”
“Money cannot make you happy. Maybe it will bring some temporary enjoyment, yes. But in reality, nothing can make you happy. Those things simply reflect your own inner happiness. But when you think it’s the money that is bringing you happiness, you want to get more and more, so that you can be happy always. Unfortunately, the money doesn’t stay there always. It comes and goes. The same is true with friends. You feel the friend makes you happy. But if the friend doesn’t spend time with you always, or if you lose the friend, then you feel unhappy. That means it was only a borrowed happiness. When all these things disappoint you, and you don’t have anything outside to depend on, then you realize that you don't have to run after anything for your happiness because you are happiness.

“God bless you. Om Shanthi, Shanthi, Shanthi.”

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“A Selfless Act ”
“Sometimes people ask me, ‘I want to help somebody who is troubled, but I get affected by that. Should I try to help them or not?’ If you are joyfully serving somebody, even if you go through some pain, it won’t affect you. You are happy. You are putting a little of your energy to help somebody. You cannot call that unhappiness. You won’t take it as a hurt. You are simply using your energy to bring some benefit to somebody. Sometimes you may feel, ‘I did everything, but I couldn’t help him. I am depressed now.’ When you don’t see him getting the benefit you get upset. That means it’s not a selfless act, it’s a selfish act. A selfless act will never disturb your mind or body.

“God bless you. Om Shanthi, Shanthi, Shanthi.”