Sayings of Saints Universal (Two)

A further selection from the Sant Vānī—‘speech of the Santas’
compiled by Hanuman Prasad Poddar, translated by Hari Prasad Shastri

If your heart is lit with the presence of love, do not publish it. The Inner Ruler knows your heart well.

There are three things which you can increase almost infinitely. Be careful! They are: sleep, appetite and fear.

One who does not know the real value of human life is miserable and cannot imagine the sweetness of the society of the good.

One who expects to have joy at the cost of others’ peace, will not be happy alive, and afterwards will have no peace.

Vain is the life of those who have not made love the law of their life, who have not conquered pleasure and power, and who have not seen the invisible Lord with their inner eyes.

People devoted to sense-objects die in grief over the following: the senses are not satisfied with the joys of gratification; many of their ambitions remain unfulfilled; they take with them nothing from this world to the other.

The following are the doors to the heavenly realm: charity, repentance, contentment, equilibrium, humility, truth and compassion.

Excessive talk is useless; it leads to falsehood. It is therefore proper to speak as little as possible in the field of action.

Those who meditate with faith on the Self as unborn, immortal, imperishable and fearless, they realise Brahman (the Absolute).

Anger is a great enemy, avarice is a mortal disease. To do good to all living beings is saintliness, and want of compassion is evil-mindedness.

Repetition of the name of the Lord is a sure medicine for the disease of worldliness.

Increase your love for others; ever think, how can I do good to others; and do service according to your capacity.

If you talk about the people devoted to sense-objects, you taint your heart with love of sense-objects.

As soon as pride and egoity enter your heart, you lose all discipline.

The highest worship of the Lord is the mental worship.

The following Adhyatmic discipline purifies the heart and makes the Yogi devoted to the Lord: listening to the high yogic classics, singing the name of God, simplicity of life, association with the good, practice of renunciation, disidentification with the body.

Worry and anxiety do no good. One who is given to grief is always unhappy. That person is happy who gives up both misery and happiness and finds satisfaction in spiritual knowledge and is wise.

He is a true meditator, really wise, generous and full of good attributes, who has driven away from his mind pleasure-desire and aversion.

Sleep moderately, eat moderately, give up vain talk, and remember Hari day and night.

Moral perfections flee away from a restless mind.

You need a tranquil and stabilised mind to meet the Lord of the universe.

He who wants to be freed from the mundane entanglements, from the sufferings caused by birth and death, let him subdue his mind, prevent it from wandering here and there, and employ it in contemplation of the maker of the universe.

The way to success in spirituality is destruction of individuality and a constant practice of devotion. That is all.

This article is from the Winter 2017 issue of Self-Knowledge Journal.