Quotes from an Indian Saint, Nisargidatta Maharaj

 

"In my world, nothing ever goes wrong." 

"It is your restlessness that causes chaos." 

"Love is will, the will to share your happiness with all. Being happy, making happy, this is the rhythm of love." 

"If you are angry or in pain, separate yourself from anger and pain and watch them. Externalization is the first step to liberation." 

"The real does not die, the unreal never lived. Set your mind right and all will be right. When you know that the world is one, that humanity is one, you will act accordingly. But first of all you must attend to the way you feel, think and live. Unless there is order in yourself, there can be no order in the world." 

"Nothing is done by me, everything just happens I do not expect, I do not plan, I just watch events happening, knowing them to be unreal." 

"Everybody dies as he lives. I am not afraid of death, because I am not afraid of life. I live a happy life and shall die a happy death. Misery is to be born, not to die."

"You do not have any problems, only your body has problems. In your world nothing stays, in mine nothing changes." 

"My stand is clear: produce to distribute, feed before you eat, give before you take, think of others, before you think of yourself. Only a selfless society based on sharing can be stable and happy. This is the only practical solution. If you do not want it - fight." 

"Absolute perfection is here and now, not in some future, near or far. The secret is in action - here and now. It is your behavior that blinds you to yourself. Disregard whatever you think yourself to be and act as if you were absolutely perfect - whatever your idea of perfection may be. All you need is courage." 

"Whenever love is withheld and suffering allowed to spread, war becomes inevitable. Our indifference to our neighbor's sorrow brings suffering to our door."

 "Perfection is a state of the mind, when it is pure. I am beyond the mind, whatever its state, pure or impure. Awareness is my nature; ultimately I am beyond being and non-being." 

"The greatest guru is your inner self. Truly he is the supreme teacher. He alone can take you to your goal and he alone meets you at the end of the road. Confide in him and you need no outer guru." 

"You cannot transcend what you do not know. To go beyond yourself, you must know yourself." 

"You will receive everything you need when you stop asking for what you do not need." 

"Yes, I appear to hear and see and talk and act, but to me it just happens as to you digestion or perspiration happens. The body-mind machine looks after it, but leaves me out of it. Just as you do not need to worry about growing hair, so I need not worry about words and actions. They just happen and leave me unconcerned, for in my world nothing ever goes wrong." 

"The very search for pleasure is the cause of pain." 

"Seeking out causes is a pastime of the mind. There is no duality of cause and effect. Everything is its own cause." 

"A man who moves with the earth will necessarily experience days and nights. He who stays with the sun will know no darkness. My world is not yours. As I see it, you all are on a stage performing. There is no reality about your comings and goings. And your problems are so unreal!"

 "You are all drenched for it is raining hard. In my world it is always fine weather. There is no night or day, no heat or cold. No worries beset me there, nor regrets. My mind is free of thoughts, for there are no desires to slave for." 

"Give up the desire for pleasure and you will not even know what is pain." 

"The world is the abode of desires and fears. You cannot find peace in it. For peace you must go beyond the world. The root cause of the world is self-love. Because of it we seek pleasure and avoid pain." 

"By all means be selfish; the right way. Wish yourself well, labor at what is good for you. Destroy all that stands between you and happiness. Be all; love all; be happy; make happy. No happiness is greater." 

"Fear and greed cause the misuse of the mind. The right use of mind is in the service of love, of life, of truth, of beauty." 

"If you imagine yourself as separate from the world, the world will appear as separate from you and you will experience desire and fear. I do not see the world as separate from me and so there is nothing for me to desire, or fear."

"Were I very rich, what difference would it make? I am what I am. What else can I be? I am neither rich nor poor, I am myself." 

"Knowledge gives power. In practice it is very simple. To control yourself, know yourself." 

"There is no chaos in the world, except the chaos which your mind creates." 

"For me the moment of death will be a moment of jubilation, not of fear. I cried when I was born and I shall die laughing."