Swami Muktananda Quotes

We know only the ordinary states of consciousness in which we live; we do not have complete knowledge of reality. When we are awake, we are totally immersed in our waking world. When we dream, our activities, our world, and our understanding are completely different from when we are awake. When we go into the state of deep sleep, we lose consciousness altogether.

We are all portions of this universe of Consciousness. We are not different from one another, and we are not different from God. If one sows a mango seed one will get a mango, never a lemon. In the same way, that which is born of God can never be other than God.

One of the greatest of all techniques is mantra repetition. Mantra and meditation are companions; the mantra is a tremendous help in meditation.

We will realize that we are nothing but Consciousness. This physical body is like the clothes we wear. Just as they are merely a covering for the body, in the same way the physical body is merely a covering for our innermost Consciousness.

The human body is a temple within which God dwells in the form of the Self. However, to know this, you must turn within through meditation. In your present state, you have only partial awareness.

Your true relationship is not with the mind, but with the Self. Therefore, understand what the Self is. Find this out: Are you supposed to know the Self, or is the Self the knower of everything? Are you supposed to meditate on the Self, or is the Self the one who is meditating on you?

Not everyone is able to still the mind all at once, and therefore the sages have prescribed different techniques of meditation, according to people’s capacities.

Through meditation we become aware of our fundamental unity with all things. We cannot attain that awareness by reading books or listening to lectures. We can attain it only through direct experience. To have that experience we must pass from one state of awareness to another, moving gradually to deeper and deeper levels of our being.

Why does he live with enmity and competition instead of a feeling of brotherhood? He does these things because he lacks true understanding about himself. He does not know the greatness that lies within the human heart.

It is certain... that to experience the Self we must follow a spiritual practice. Even to achieve something in daily life we have to work for it. We cannot satisfy our appetite merely by reading a description of a delicious meal.

If we could only penetrate beneath these roles to our own divinity, then once again we would all know that we are God.

O friend, where are you going? Where have you come from, and what are you supposed to do? You belong to the supreme Truth, but you have forgotten your origin, Now it is time to get back on the main road.

People talk about innovation and reform, but in the name of these things they have succeeded only in destroying the environment, in wrecking family life, and in increasing selfishness and hostility.

Lovers meditate on one another. A mother meditates on her child. Whatever we accomplish in this world we accomplish through the power of concentration, which is nothing but meditation.

If everyone could experience that inner Truth, if everyone could understand his real nature, there would no longer be enmity among people, but only friendliness, affection, and the feeling of universal brotherhood... When we look at ourselves with the true awareness of humanity, we will see that same humanity in everyone else, and then we will realize that everyone in this world is a child of God.