Cold monk

On Dostoyevsky's birthday, the secret to a happy marriage – a beautiful reflection from his wife Anna, who was also his greatest champion and supporter as he struggled to become a writer themarginalian.org/2016/02/15/ann…

Today is my 40th birthday. Here are all the things that I know at 40 which I wish I knew at 20. Starting with… 1. Your relationship with others is a direct reflection of your relationship with yourself. If you treat yourself poorly, then you will unconsciously seek out and tolerate others who treat you poorly. If you treat yourself with dignity and respect, then you will only tolerate others who treat you with dignity and respect. Get right with yourself. Get right with the world.

💞Repeat the Name of God always in the innermost core of your heart and in all sincerity take refuge in Sri Ramakrishna. Do not bother to know how your mind is reacting to things around. And do not waste time in calculating and worrying over whether or not you are progressing in the path of spirituality. It is egotism to judge progress for oneself. Have faith in the grace of your Guru and God. Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi (Swami Tapasyananda “Sri Sarada Devi - the Holy Mother - Life and Teachings”, Part III, Sri Sarada Devi: Teachings)

💞The Lord declares that each individual should lift himself up by his own effort. The Sastras and the Guru point the way. Each one has to tread the path himself. He has to see with his own eyes, walk with his own legs, and satisfy his hunger by feeding himself. Man is the architect of his own destiny, the pilot of his own fate. God helps those who help themselves. To think that God would take the people to the land of peace while they live a life of idleness and sensuality is utterly wrong. So also, no teacher however great he might be can take a person to freedom if he does not show grace to himself. They cannot give him a passport to immortality if he does not strive to purify himself and live the life of godliness. One has to pay the price even for a small article in the market. Thus we can imagine what price a man has to pay to obtain eternal joy and peace. Will idleness purchase this immortal blessing? How much effort, struggle, and striving is needed to attain freedom? So let each man work diligently by carrying out the instructions of the Sastras and the Guru. Finally, it is the self that realises the Self. The Lord makes it clear to all seekers that they should not expect any sudden transformation from one state to another by any sort of miracle or jugglery. It is a hard struggle from first to last. One should be prepared for it if he wants the highest reward of life. When one sees a Mahatma he wishes to be like him untouched by a woe, beyond all trouble and turmoil. But let us understand how he reached that state, what intense ‘tapas’ he did, what rigours of discipline he underwent, What devotion and dispassion he practised, how long and hard he fought the battle against the inner enemies of lust and greed, and how finally he attained the position of the Jivanmukta. The effort was done all by the man himself with the grace of God and Guru. Maharshi Vasishta tells Sri Rama that the Guru’s teaching to the disciple is a Vedic tradition only. All the actual work is to be done by oneself. The sick man should take the medicine himself if he should be cured. No one else can swallow the medicine and bring him relief. The Lord gives the warning that man should not degrade himself. ‘Do not let yourself go down’ is the Lord’s command. Ascent is difficult, descent is easy. Whenever the lower instincts are provoked, man descends to the level of the beast. Reason and rational judgment seem to be powerless before the raging passions of animality. And yet, there is no man who does not believe that he is made for nobler and higher things than to live and die like a beast. It is this inner urge that should be kept up, strengthened, and brought to the foreground of man’s consciousness. The aspiration to rise to a higher plane should turn bright in the heart of man. And then begins the ascent.  The human mind is a battlefield of conflicting forces – good (Dharma) and evil (Adhrama). The mind is thus split into two hostile camps. With diligent perseverance, man should hold on to Dharma. The mind should be saturated with noble aims and ideals. The lives of great men should be read and one should identify himself with their noble achievements. The good in man is thus vitalised, and the evil gradually loses its mental grip over him. That is why the Lord here says that the mind is both a friend and foe. The impure mind is the foe, and the pure mind is the friend. The mind is but a series of thoughts coming and going like the waves of the ocean. The mind is good when a good thought comes, it is evil when a bad thought comes. So one should generate as many good thoughts as possible continuously and cling to them at all costs. The Lord throws the whole responsibility on oneself for his salvation or domination. “Ascend, do not go down, your fate is in your own hands, strive and succeed.” This is the Lord’s inspiring call to mankind. 🕉 #BhagavadGita 6.5💞

Mother, I do not know how to worship; I am without austerity; I have neither devotion nor knowledge. Be gracious, Mother, and out of Thy infinite mercy grant me love for Thy Lotus Feet. #RamkrishnaParamahamsa

💞A disciple asked Holy Mother, "Are you the Mother of all ?" "Yes," she replied. "Even of these lower creatures?" he pressed. "Yes," answered the Mother. "My boy, they (the foreigners) too are my children. Can I afford to be partial?" — Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi🙏

By meditating a little for a few days, is everything accomplished? Unless Mahamaya opens the way nothing will happen by any means. HOLY MOTHER SRI SARADA DEVI

"Never forget the ones who saw you at your lowest point, and instead of offering judgment and distance, they extended presence and grace—those are your people." ~Terence Lester

Be resigned to the Mother, Pray to Her earnestly, crying like a child, and you will discover the light. MAHAPURUSH SWAMI SHIVANANDA

✅Be Like a Pearl Oyster🔻 (Story told by #SwamiVivekananda) There is a pretty Indian fable to the effect that if it rains when the star Svati is in the ascendant, and a drop of rain falls into an oyster, that drop becomes a pearl. The oysters know this, so they come to the surface when that star shines, and wait to catch the precious raindrop. When a drop falls into them, quickly the oysters close their shells and dive down to the bottom of the sea, there to patiently develop the drop into the pearl. We should be like that. First hear, then understand, and then, leaving all distractions, shut your minds to outside influences, and devote yourselves to developing the truth within you. There is the danger of frittering away your energies by taking up an idea only for its novelty, and then giving it up for another that is newer. Take one thing up and do it, and see the end of it, and before you have seen the end, do not give it up. He who can become mad with an idea, he alone sees light. Those that only take a nibble here and a nibble there will never attain anything. They may titillate their nerves for a moment, but there it will end. They will be slaves in the hands of nature, and will never get beyond the senses. 🙏Jai Vivekananda!

An extraordinary accomplishment towards achieving #AatmanirbharBharat has been made with the development of the world's first 200-meter-long Bamboo Crash Barrier, which has been installed on the Vani-Warora Highway.

By practicing spiritual disciplines, you attain perfection by His grace. Of course, some effort is necessary, but it ultimately ends in realization of God and attainment of bliss. BHAGAVAN SRI RAMAKRISHNA

All that comes to each one in life, comes from the Divine to teach us a lesson, and if we take it in the right spirit, we make rapid progress. MOTHER MIRA

One should pray God for desirelessness. For desire alone is at the root of all suffering. It is the cause of repeated births and deaths. It is the obstacle in the way of liberation. HOLY MOTHER SRI SARADA DEVI

Is the Master's name a trifle that it will come to nothing? The uttering of His name can never be futile. Those who have come here remembering the Master will certainly have the vision of their Chosen Ideal. HOLY MOTHER SRI SARADA DEVI

Can anybody understand God unless He makes him understand? So I say, take refuge in God. Let Him do what He wills. He is Icchamaya (He has His own way in everything). What power does the man have? BHAGAWAN SRI RAMAKRISHNA

If you don't succeed in meditation, practise Japa. Japa leads to perfection. One attains perfection through Japa. If a meditative mood sets in, well and good. If not, don't force your mind to meditate. HOLY MOTHER SRI SARADA DEVI

How little intelligence does a man possess! He may require one thing, but asks for another. It is best therefore to surrender all desires at the feet of God. He will do whatever is best for us. But one may pray for devotion and detachment. These cannot be classed as desires.

I’m sad because it’s over but I’m happier because it’s happened #SaintsFC ❤️🤍

League 1 Minus 10: Premier League Match 4 - Southampton 0 Manchester United 1. RT's appreciated. #saintsfc narrow beaten by Super League club. Featuring that familiar feeling of being 'done' by the officials. leagueoneminus10.blogspot.com/2022/08/premie…