[Advaita-l] Message to ponder

[V Subrahmanian]

Golden Words of His Holiness Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati Mahaswamiji
Futility of Possessions
It is true that in the world of practical life you cannot do
without wealth. But do not attach more importance to MONEY
than it deserves. Never forget that money is only a means of
happiness and not happiness itself.
Happiness is a state of mind and does not depend on the
quality or quantity of external possessions. A person may be
the lord of all the three worlds and yet be unhappy. Another
may be the poorest of beggars and yet be the happiest man in
the world.
Wealth and happiness are not related to each other as cause
and effect. An attempt to secure happiness by securing
wealth is as futile as it is absurd.
Unity of Religions
  All religious conflicts and quarrels arise because a devotee is
unable to disassociate his conception of God from a
particular name and form.
  As long as, by a process of analysis, he does not learn to
disassociate the name from the thing, the name is the thing
for him, and if you deny that name, he will take it that you
deny the thing itself. If you realise that all Gods are one and
all paths lead to God, you will never waste your precious life
in religious quarrels.
Merits of Dharma
  Dharma makes man richer than the richest, stronger than the
strongest, happier than the happiest.
  Realise the depth of your fall from the true ideal of life and
make an honest endeavor to recover it.
  Dharma is the cause of happiness. If today we do not have
the mental peace and happiness of our ancestors, it is due to
our gross neglect of dharma. When the practice of dharma
declined, suffering began.
Paths to the Goal
Seek to correct your bad habits. Regulate your life on pure,
healthy lines – physical, mental and spiritual. Lead a pure
and virtuous life. Only then can you experience true lasting
peace and bliss.
The world is an excellent training ground for performing
selfless service (or nishkamya karma ) and by the
performance of such pure and unselfish action you become
free from all impurities and fit for God-realisation.
We have the ability to learn. Materials for knowledge are
available to us. Teachers are available for teaching us. Yet
man willingly prefers to live in darkness of ignorance. Within
man exists an ocean of bliss. Yet he willingly prefers to live a
life full of misery, pain and suffering. This is the tragedy of
human life.
HARA HARA SHANKARA _ JAYA JAYA SHANKARA