Baba Hari Dass Quotes

master yogi, author, builder, commentator of Indian spiritual tradition (1923-2018)

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Baba Hari Dass (26 March 1923 - 25 September 2018) was a yoga master, a silent monk, a builder of temples, and a commentator of Indian scriptural tradition of Dharma and Moksha. He was classically trained in India in Ashtanga Yoga – Raja Yoga of Patanjali (the Yoga of Eight Limbs), as well as Kriya Yoga, Ayurveda, Samkhya, Tantra Yoga, Vedanta, and Sanskrit.

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Alternative Names: Haridas, Haridas Baba • Baba Hari Dass, Haridas, Chota Maharaji

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Work honestly, meditate every day, meet people without fear, and play.

If the ego is pulled toward the world, it makes a wall. If the same ego is pulled toward God, it makes a ladder.

The aim of life is to attain peace. No one can give us peace. We can't buy or borrow it. We have to cultivate it by practicing yama and niyama (yoga restraints and observances).

In 1929, for the first time, I paid attention to the stories being told by older people about Sombari Maharaj and Hariakhan Maharaj.

Having made pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat the same, you engage in battle for the sake of battle; thus you shell win and not incur sin. (Bhagavad Gita, Ch II, verse 38) Here, Sri Krishna is saying that if Arjuna has neither desire for heaven nor for sovereignty over the earth, then he should achieve equanimity of the mind. With equanimity of the mind one can achieve success in the war of life. Without it, one cannot remain unaffected by the pairs of opposites and will be continually tossed about by the waves of egocentric likes and dislikes.

When a person realizes peace inside by doing yoga, he will not smoke and get peace disturbed. The peace obtained by yoga is much higher than the pleasure of smoking.

Greed is a sickness of the mind. The more one hoards, the more greed increases. Giving with no expectation eliminates greed.

To get out of the rut is not one day's job or one hour in a day or going to temples, churches or mosques on particular days. We have to reflect on all our thoughts all the time and turn the outgoing mind inward in every second of life.

Q: How are peace and happiness related? Is peace the only real happiness? A: When happiness moves beyond the mind, that is happiness.

A person knows what he knows. An animal knows, but doesn't know what he knows. In Yoga, "I" consciousness is called asmita klesha. It is classified as an affliction and a hindrance to attaining higher consciousness.

Without watching ourselves we can't be aware of the tricks the mind plays. So a yogi should be alert all the time.

When I was building Kenchi Ashram, which is in Nainital District, I was told by the villagers that Hariakhan Maharaj used to live in a cave there. I preserved that cave, which is behind Hanuman Temple at Kenchi.

We cannot describe it. We cannot reveal it. And when we do, we disappear.

God is the only lover and He loves in different forms - parents, husband, wife, friend, children, animals. All are His forms and He, Himself, has no form.

There is always a chance for a person to break out of the cycle, but there is no such chance for an animal unless it incarnates as a human and develops "I" consciousness.