Favorite Quotes

[inavalan]

Just read this last night:

A man was walking along the road at night. He saw a piece of rope lying on the road.

As soon as he saw that rope, he shouted, “Oh, this is a snake! This is a snake!” As soon as he recognized that rope as a serpent, his state of mind was upset and he got very scared. Then he completely lost his balance. When he was so scared, he even thought he saw the rope move a little bit, even though it actually was only a rope.

Soon many people gathered to see where the serpent was. Someone said, “It is not a snake; it is a crack in the earth.” Another said, “It is a water mark.” In this way, everyone recognized that particular object according to his own understanding. By this time, nobody could come to the conclusion about what the object really was; everyone was giving his own idea.

Then someone brought a lamp, and when they saw that object by lamplight they saw that it was only a rope. Then all delusions were removed....

The Yoga Vasishtha (an ancient Indian text) contains a great doctrine: the world is as you see it....

All the experiences that you undergo—whether you suffer loss or gain, pleasure or pain, happiness or sorrow; whether you are afflicted with negativities; or whether your heart is full of joy—are your own creations. Nobody else is responsible for them.

Just as the world is as you see it, likewise, the state you are in depends on your attitude. One creates one’s own destiny. We create our own heaven and our own hell, but we hold other things responsible for it, such as our country, or our government, or our destiny, or our parents, or the scheme of things.

We become friends with one person and keep swaying in the joy of that friendship. We become hostile to another person and keep rejecting him all the time inside ourselves. But it is we who have created that friend and that enemy.

Therefore, change your way of looking at things; make it divine. We meditate so that we may be able to see the world as it is.

—Swami Muktananda