J. Krishnamurti

Does society make you neurotic? This is the simplest explanation - my father, my mother, my neighbour, the government, the army, everybody makes me neurotic. They are all responsible for my being off balance. And when I go to the analyst for help, poor chap, he’s also neurotic like me. (Laughter) Please, don’t laugh! This is exactly what is happening in the world. Now why do I become neurotic? Everything in the world as it exists now, the society, the family, the parents, the children - they have no love. Do you think there would be wars if they had love? Do you think there would be governments that consider it is perfectly all right for you to be killed? Such a society would never exist if your mother and father really loved you, cared for you, looked after you and taught you how to be kind to people, how to live and how to love. These are the outer pressures and demands that bring about this neurotic society; there are the inner compulsion and urges within ourselves, our innate violence inherited from the past, which help to make up this neurosis, this imbalance.

So this is the fact - most of us are slightly off balance, or more, and its no use blaming anybody. The fact is that one is not balanced psychologically, mentally, or sexually; in every way we are off balance. Now the important thing is to become aware of it, to know that one is not balanced , not how to become balanced. A neurotic mind cannot become balanced, but if it has not gone to the extremes of neurosis, if it has still retained some balance, it can watch itself. One can then become aware of what one does, of what one says, of what one thinks, how one moves, how one sits, how one eats, watching all the time but not correcting. And if you watch in such a manner, without any choice, then out of that deep watching will come a balanced, sane, human being; then you will no longer be neurotic. A balanced mind is a mind that is wise, not made up of judgements and opinions.

J. Krishnamurti, You are the World

Osho

The whole existence is surrounded by a divine energy that protects you, cares for you, is always available. If you go on missing it, it is only because of you.
If you keep your doors closed, the sun may be outside but you will live in darkness. Even if the doors are open and the sun is there, you can keep your eyes closed and you will still live in darkness. So is the case with god: his love is always there, but our hearts are not open, our hearts are closed.
Make your heart available to god so that you can receive, so that you can pulsate with the whole, in accord with the whole. An then great benediction is yours.

Osho: A must for Contemplation Before Sleep? p 75

Mata Amritanandamayi

If your goal is Self-realisation,
it is your ego, your vasanas that have to be removed.
This needs self-effort and a Satgurus guidance and grace.
It is impossible without a guru.
Suppose we are going to travel to a strange place. We would want somebody who knows the path to protect us.
The company of holy people is the easiest path. A scholar who has scriptural knowledge is not sufficient. Only a Guru who is a knower of the Self will be able to help. Only one who has known the path can show the way to others.?

Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

Paramahansa Yogananda

It is the duty of the Guru and the disciple to be loyal to each other,
not only in this life, but for many lives if these are necessary to reach God. Those who are one hundred percent loyal to a Guru can be sure of ultimate liberation and ascension.
One may have many teachers, but only one Guru who remains as ones Guru even in many different lives, until the disciple reaches the final goal of emancipation in God. You must remember this, once that relationship is formed.

Paramahansa Yogananda

Swami Sri Yukteswar

Those who remove troubles, dispel our doubts
and bestow peace are true teachers.
They perform a Godlike work.
Their opposites (those who increase
our doubts and difficulties) are harmful to us
and should be avoided like poison?

Swami Sri Yukteswar, The Holy Science?

Sai Baba

If the individual is deluded into believing that he is saving others,
then woe be to him, for there is no other at all.
All are One; one mans sorrow is everyones sorrow.
The fundamental flaw is the ignorance of man.
If only he was wise, he would have known
that all individuals are waves
on the surface of the selfsame ocean

Sai Baba, Sathya Sai Speaks 3, p. 68

Ramana Maharshi

Realisation consists only in getting rid of the false idea
that one is not realised.
It is not anything new to be required.
It must already exist, or it would not be eternal,
and only what is eternal is worth striving for.

The teachings of Ramana Maharshi p. 23.

Father forgive them
For they do not know what they do
Luke 23:34

Everything brethren, is on fire. How, brethren, is everything on fire? The eye, brethren, is on fire, visible objects are on fire, the faculty of the eye is on fire, the sense of the eye is on fire, and also the sensation, whether pleasant or unpleasant or both, which arises from the sense of sight, is on fire. With what is it on fire? with the fire of passion, of hate, of illusion is it on fire, with birth, old age, death, grief, lamentation, suffering sorrow, and despair

quoted in ?Buddhism? Ed. Clarence Hamilton,
here from Kenneth Kramer: World Scriptures

Constant mindfulness and mental alertness
Since compassion and a good heart are developed through constant and conscious effort, it is important for us first to identify the favourable conditions that give rise to our own qualities of kindness and a good heart, as well as the adverse circumstances that obstruct our cultivation of these positive states of mind. It is therefore important for us to lead a life of constant mindfulness and mental alertness. Our mastery of these faculties should be such that whenever a new situation arises, we are able to immediately recognise whether the circumstances are favourable or adverse to the development of compassion and a good heart. By pursuing the practice of compassion in such a manner, we will gradually be able to alleviate the effects of the obstructive forces and enhance the conditions that favour the development of compassion and a good heart.

Dalai Lama, from The World of Tibetan Buddhism,
(here from article in Southern Crossing July/August 1995)

Life should be chiefly service. Life should be chiefly service. Without that ideal, the intelligence that God has given you is not reaching out toward its goal. When in service you forget the little self, you will feel the big Self of spirit. As the vital rays of the sun nurture all, so should you spread rays of hope in the hearts of the poor and forsaken, kindle courage in the hearts of those who think that they are failures. When you realise that life is a joyous battle of duty and at the same time a passing dream, and when you become filled with the joy of making others happy by giving them kindness and peace, in Gods eyes your life is a success.

Yogananda

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, I am becoming as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doeth not behave itself unseemly. Seketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in inquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Charity never faileth; but wether there be propecies, they shall fail; wether there be tongues, they shall cease; wether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
For we know in part, and we prophecy in part.
But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but greatest of these is charity.?

1 Corinthians 13 1 - 13

Love and serve all humanity. Help everyone. Be happy. Be courteous. Be a dynamo of irrepressible joy. Recognise God and goodness in every face. There is no saint without a past and no sinner without a future. Praise everyone. If you cannot praise someone… let him go out of your life. Be original. Be inventive. Be courageous. Take courage again and again. Do not imitate. Be strong. Be upright. Think with your own head. Be yourself. Do not lean on the crutches of others. All perfection and every divine virtue are hidden within you, reveal them to the world. Wisdom too, is already within you - let it shine forth. Let the Lords grace make you free. Let your life be that of a rose - in silence it speaks the language of fragrance.

Babaji (From Shdema Goodman: Babaji, Meeting with truth)

True contentment
The Self that dwells in everyone
should be worshipped constantly.
Until there is worship of the Self,
no matter how many churches we visit,
no matter how many temples we visit,
no matter how many mosques we visit,
there is no real peace.
When we worship the Self,
that is when we attain true happiness,
true contentment

Gurumayi

From the Divine Parent
Sathya Sai Baba, from Letters to students 1972 - 88

Dear, dear loved one, you ask: How will you know when I am near you?
When on a sultry night Everything is hot and still
The first cool breeze Brushes your cheeks I am caressing you
THINK OF ME
When your mouth is parched And you can hardly speak
The first sip of cool water I am soothing you
THINK OF ME
When the cloud of death disappears First on the opening of a babys smiling eyes
THINK OF ME
When I sprinkle your face with rain And wash the earth, the dry brown leaves The first smell of clean rain
THINK OF ME
When pain dissolves and fears disappear
THINK OF ME
When steadfast eyes are horrified By the cruelties of life
The first glance of the silent setting sun I am comforting you
THINK OF ME
Then you ask: How will you know when you are near Me?
When the burning sun Has scorched you and the earth
The sand and dust fill your eyes Not a sliver of shade about
AND YOU LOVE ME
When loneliness is accompanied by hunger And not one can be satisfied
AND YOU LOVE ME
When your lips are cracked Your tongue feels like clay
Your throat seals up There is no water about
Not even a mirage in sight
AND YOU LOVE ME
When you hold a dying child
With eyes pleading
AND YOU LOVE ME
When I stir the ocean to a crescent
You flounder in its depth like a leaf
AND YOU LOVE ME
When pain becomes unbearable You smile
AND YOU LOVE ME
When I take from you Your most cherished possession
On the first loss of your sight Darkness envelops you
AND YOU LOVE ME

A saint is a sinner
who never gave up?

Paramahansa Yogananda

Read these quotes slowly, come back to them several times.
Then choose a couple that really speaks to you, print them out, and read them over and over in many different moods during the coming days and weeks.

What changes in you when you do that?