• What's really needed is to recognize the need for spiritual as well as material happiness
  • The yogi's interest is inner peace and self-realization and social harmony
  • Perfection means being in tune with reality
What's really needed is to recognize the need for spiritual as well as material happiness
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Who am I

Success in life begins with knowing, "Who am I? What is the purpose of my life?" Knowledge of the self exists; but sincere seekers are rare. More rare are the great teachers of such wisdom. Since time immemorial, wise men have described our wonderful nature: spiritual, primeval, ever-existing, undying, unchangeable, imperishable. This selection of the writings of Jagad Guru Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa (Chris Butler) shares that timeless wisdom — inspiring, challenging , practical.

If there is understanding of the difference between the body and the soul then, just as we don't neglect to supply the physical with food, similarly, we don't live in the illusion that our inner craving or emptiness can be satisfied by endless material consumption.


Economic and spiritual well-being can and must go hand in hand. A yoga master is not against material prosperity or development, but sees it in the correct context. He is not against any knowledge that can lead to economic development, but neither does he believe that such material prosperity will bring complete satisfaction to the people. Therefore he is offering the science of the soul to the educators with the humble but firm request that they please add it to their curriculum.


Gaze intently at some nearby image in your immediate environment. Now close your eyes and look at the picture of that image in your mind. Try to hold the image in your mind and look at it for quite some time. If it begins to move around, try to steady it; if it begins to fade away, bring it back. This exercise should make it quite clear how hard it is to control the mind—to keep something in your mind that you want to keep in your mind. If you can think thoughts you do not want to think, this further illustrates that you are different from your mind.


Common in each of us, among other things, is the desire for peace. But this is not possible as long as we are not recognizing the fact that each of us is equal. If we do not see beyond the body, we will not see our absolute equality. When we see that each of us is an eternal, spiritual entity – relatives and brothers in the truest sense – then we will become peaceful individually and also as a society. There is no other way for human society to be peaceful.


Relax, and sit or lie in a quiet place. Don’t attempt to control the thinking process by trying to think certain thoughts and not think others. Instead, let your mind think about whatever it may. Now watch your mind and become aware of how you are actually aloof from the thinking process. Say to yourself, “I am the silent witness. I make no effort to think, but thoughts come automatically. I am watching thoughts flow through my mind, but I am aloof from them. I am the silent witness to my mind’s activities.” In this way, you’ll be able to experience that you are separate from the mind.


Perfection means being in tune with reality. The first thing we must understand is reality? the reality of my identity ie my essence, position and function. Who am I?


Like the swans, which drink only the pure nectar of the blooming lotus flower, the liberated souls drink only at the fountain of transcendental love; they never try to find happiness in a life of material sense enjoyment.


Criminologists and social scientists have almost completely overlooked the fact that materialism is the root cause of crime. False identification of the body as the self leads people to believe that sense enjoyment will make them happy and satisfied; and most crimes are directly or indirectly connected with the attempt to find satisfaction in sense enjoyment.