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Temples and churches have become social centers. They have lost their original purpose because the minds of the people are more attracted to worldly things than to prayer. The lips repeat the prayer mechanically like a phonograph record, but the mind wanders to other places. (23-24)

Swami Satchidananda

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Swami Satchidananda
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More quotes by Swami Satchidananda

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The cause of bandha and moksha (bondage and liberation) is our own minds. If we think we are bound, we are bound. If we think we are liberated, we are liberated. . . . It is only when we transcend the mind that we are free from all these troubles. (117)
Swami Satchidananda
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We don’t exhaust the Bible even after reading it hundreds of times. Each time we read it we see it in a new light. That is the greatness of the holy scriptures. They are that way because they were created by holy prophets who experienced the truth. Each time we read these works we elevate ourselves to see a little more. (81)
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[O]ur own bodies are changing every second. Yet we take the body to be our Self and, speaking in terms of it, we say, “I am hungry” or “I am lame” “I am black” or “I am white.” These are all just the conditions of the body. We touch the truth when we say, “My body aches,” implying the body belongs to us and that therefore we are not that. (87)
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At various points in our lives, or on a quest, and for reasons that often remain obscure, we are driven to make decisions which prove with hindsight to be loaded with meaning. (225)
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. . . I feel we don’t really need scriptures. The entire life is an open book, a scripture. Read it. Learn while digging a pit or chopping some wood or cooking some food. If you can’t learn from your daily activities, how are you going to understand the scriptures? (233)
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Begin with little things daily and one day you will be doing things that months back you would have thought impossible.
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We can be serene even in the midst of calamities and, by our serenity, make others more tranquil.
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Do you want to know the secret of life? If you want to have everything, don’t want anything. Everything will run after you.
Swami Satchidananda
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[C]ontinence is a very important part of yoga. If a handful of people come forward with strong wills, nothing is impossible. One Buddha changed half the globe one Jesus, three quarters of the world. We all have that capacity. (140)
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Any kind of expectation creates a problem. We should accept, but not expect. Whatever comes, accept it. Whatever goes, accept it. The immediate benefit is that your mind is always peaceful.
Swami Satchidananda
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As you are, you see everything else.
Swami Satchidananda
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Truth is the same always. Whoever ponders it will get the same answer. Buddha got it. Patanjali got it. Jesus got it. Mohammed got it. The answer is the same, but the method of working it out may vary this way or that. (115)
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There is one Cosmic Essence, all-pervading, all-knowing, all-powerful. This nameless formless essence can be approached by any name, any form, any symbol that suites the taste of the individual. Follow your religion, but try to understand the real purpose behind all of the rituals and traditions, and experience that Oneness.
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If you are becoming more easeful, peaceful & useful then you know you are growing.
Swami Satchidananda
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Yoga believes in transforming the individual before transforming the world.
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If we only look within, we will see he Light as if we were seeing our own image in a mirror. (122)
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Yoga believes in transforming the individual before transforming the world. Whatever change we want to happen outside should happen within. If you walk in peace and express that peace in your very life, others will see you and learn something.
Swami Satchidananda
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Who will be the happiest person? The one who brings happiness to others.
Swami Satchidananda
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If you do not pour water on your plant, what will happen? It will slowly wither and die. Our habits will also slowly wither and die away if we do not give them an opportunity to manifest. You need not fight to stop a habit. Just don’t give it an opportunity to repeat itself. (67)
Swami Satchidananda
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..just do, leave it there, if it comes let it come, but don't look for it.
Swami Satchidananda