A quote from Muhammad Iqbal

...Self negates itself
In the Community, that it may be
No more a petal, but a rosary.
- Muhammad Iqbal.

from The Mysteries of Selflessness.

All our prayers and practices
Will not lead one step to God
Unless the heart go first...

Like the mustard seed grows
So from little things come big.

Compassion, faith, and prayer
Plant forests of the heart.

On Balance

Balanced, calibrated 305.

bal·anced adj
1. taking account of all sides on their merits without prejudice or favoritism
2. containing different elements in suitable quantities or suitably arranged to produce a satisfying and effective whole
3. in a state of mental and emotional stability and able to make rational judgments

fair, impartial, unbiased, unprejudiced, even-handed, distinterested, objective, reasonable, neutral.

balanced, adjective.
1. stable.
Ex. Quiet temperament is the mark of a balanced person.
2. harmonious; orderly.
Ex. a balanced composition.

Not extreme
Balanced diet
Proportional

Where am I unbalanced in my life?

Here is how Gil Fronsdal puts spiritual choices:

What choices can I make that lead towards reliable, wise peace and happiness? What is skilful to allow us to have some lasting, ongoing peace and wellbeing?

Gil’s vision of the Buddha’s example:

Sitting down under a tree in a very simple place and then begin to look at one’s heart and mind and ask:

“What choices can I make to make my heart simpler?”
“What choices can I make to make my heart more open?”
“What choices can I make to make my heart more peaceful?”
“What choices can I make to make my heart more happy?”
“What is that?”

That seems to me to point to the essence of balance. Being balanced is a experience of constancy from within that comes with the experience of self-trust and self-care, and being balanced is a state of refering inward for happiness and peace.

'There Is Nothing new To Get...'

There is nothing new to get.
You have on the other hand,
to get rid of your ignorance,
which makes you think you are other than Bliss.

For whom is this ignorance?
It is to the ego.
Trace the source of the ego.
Then the ego is lost and Bliss remains over.

It is eternal You are That, here and now...
This is the master key for solving all doubts.
The doubts arise in the mind.
The mind is born of the ego.

The ego rises from the Self.
Search the source of the ego
and the Self is revealed.
That alone remains.

The universe is only expanded Self.
It is not different from the Self...

- Ramana Maharshi

From Sat Darshan

From Sat Darshan


As in a well of water deep,

Dive deep with Reason cleaving sharp.

With speech, mind and breath restrained,

Exploring thus, may you discover

The real source of ego-self.

The mind through calm in deep plunge enquiries.

That alone is the real quest for the Self.


- Ramana Maharshi

'Bliss is not something to be got...'

...Bliss is not something to be got.
On the other hand you are always Bliss.
This desire [for Bliss] is born of the sense of incompleteness.
To whom is this sense of incompleteness?
Enquire. In deep sleep you were blissful.
Now you are not so.
What has interposed between that Bliss and this non-bliss?
It is the ego.
Seek its source and find you are Bliss.



- Ramana Maharshi