Spiritual Books

Dandapani

Distraction is the thief of time and energy, robbing us of precious moments and connections in life without remorse. Distraction costs everyone time and energy, but not everyone feels the loss of them equally.


The purposeless person has all the time and energy in the world to squander. The person with a purpose has finite time and energy, and for this person, distraction is too high a cost to bear.


For every minute awareness, hence energy, is taken away from what it should be focused on, that is a minute that is gone forever. My ability to focus allows me to be present in each of the moments of the experiences I share with my family and loved ones.


Distraction would cost me those moments—moments, each unique in time and space, that I would never regain or be able to conjure up again. Moments I am not willing to sacrifice.


When the cost of distraction is too heavy to bear, the price of focus is worth paying. So much precious time in life is wasted because people are perpetually distracted.


So many precious moments with loved ones squandered because of people's inability to be focused in the present moment. The impact of distraction on an individual level is vast, though this impact may only be visible to those who can focus.


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Ānāpānasati Sutta

Experiencing the mind while breathing in, he trains himself.
Experiencing the mind while breathing out, he trains himself.

Making the mind tranquil and fresh while breathing in, he trains himself.
Making the mind tranquil and fresh while breathing out, he trains himself.

Concentrating the mind while breathing in, he trains himself.
Concentrating the mind while breathing out, he trains himself.

Releasing the mind while breathing in, he trains himself.
Releasing the mind while breathing out, he trains himself.


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The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim

"Is it the world that's busy, or is it my mind?"

The world moves fast, but that doesn't mean we have to. In this timely guide to mindfulness, Haemin Sunim, a Buddhist monk born in Korea and educated in the United States, offers advice on everything from handling setbacks to dealing with relationships and loved ones, in a beautiful book combining his teachings with calming full-colour illustrations. Even as we speed toward what comes next, Haemin Sunim's messages of encouragement speak directly to the anxieties that have become part of modern life and remind us of the strength and joy that come from slowing down.

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Khalil Gibran

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires,
Let these be your desires:

To melt and be like a running brook
That sings its melody to the night.

To know the pain of too much tenderness,
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.

To wake at dawn with a winged heart
And give thanks for another day of loving;

To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;

And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart
And a song of praise upon your lips.


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Robin Sharma

One of the greatest lessons for a highly fulfilling life is to rise from a life spent chasing success to one dedicated to finding significance. And the best way to create significance is to ask yourself one simple question: “How may I serve?” All great leaders, thinkers and humanitarians have abandoned selfish lives for selfless lives and, in doing so, found all the happiness, abundance and satisfaction they desired. Joy comes from giving.


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Brihataranyaka Upanishad

The Self is indeed Brahman,
but ignorance veils its true form,
identifying it with intellect, mind, senses,
passions, and elements of nature's storm.

This is why the Self appears to be
everything, a multifaceted sea,
consisting of this and that, a paradox,
a mystery that's hard to unlock.

As a person acts, so they become,
their deeds shaping their life's outcome,
good deeds purify, bad deeds stain,
our true nature revealed through joy and pain.

You are what your deep desire is,
your will and deed, a harmonious trinity,
shaping your destiny, a path you choose,
your heart's desire, the force that produces.

We live in accordance with our heart's fire,
our desires guiding us, higher or lower,
at death, they determine our next birth,
a chance to fulfill, to learn, to grow on earth.

But those who are free from desire's sway,
have found fulfillment, a new way,
they don't die like others, but merge,
in Brahman, infinite life, eternal emerge.

When all desires are renounced,
the mortal becomes immortal, a new stance,
knots loosened, heart freed from pain,
immortal, here, in this life's gain.

Like a snake shedding its skin,
the body falls, but Self merges within,
Brahman, infinite life, eternal light,
freedom from cycles, a wondrous sight.


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"Whispers from Eternity" by Paramhansa Yogananda is a deeply moving and inspiring collection of prayers and prose poems that reveal the infinite nature of God. This book has been a source of guidance and solace for readers for nearly a century, offering a unique blend of spiritual wisdom and poetic beauty .

The book is designed to help readers connect with the divine and experience ecstasy through soul-awakening prayers and affirmations. Yogananda's writing is characterized by its accessibility, clarity, and depth, making it easy for readers to apply the principles outlined in the book to their everyday lives .

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Ajahn Brahm

Once, there were two chicken farmers. The first rose early in the morning, picked up a basket, and went into the henhouse to collect the produce from the night before. He proceeded to fill his basket with chicken shit, leaving the eggs on the ground to rot.

He then brought the basket of chicken shit back into the house, where it made a very bad smell. His family was very upset with that stupid chicken farmer.

The second chicken farmer picked up a basket and entered his henhouse also to collect the produce of the night before. But he filled his basket with eggs, leaving the chicken shit to rot in the shed. It would become valuable fertilizer later, but you don’t bring it into the house with you!

Bringing only the eggs back home, he cooked a delicious omelette for his family and later sold the remaining eggs in the market for cash. His family was very pleased with that clever chicken farmer.

The meaning of this parable is this: When you collect the produce of your past, what do you put in your basket and bring home with you? Are you one of those people who collect all the unpleasant experiences of today (or of your life) and bring them home with you?

Or are you someone who leaves all those negative experiences in the past, where they belong, and only recollects the happy moments?


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Kena Upanishad

Who makes my mind think?
Who fills my body with vitality?
Who causes my tongue to speak?
Who is that Invisible one
who sees through my eyes
and hears through my ears?

The Self is the ear of the ear,
the eye of the eye,
the mind of the mind,
the word of words,
and the life of life.

Rising above the senses and mind,
renouncing separate existence,
the wise realize the deathless Self.

Him our eyes cannot see,
nor words express;
He cannot be grasped even by the mind.
We do not know, we cannot understand,
because He is different from the known
and different from the unknown.
Thus have we heard from the illumined ones.

That which makes the tongue speak
but cannot be spoken by the tongue,
know that as the Self.
This Self is not someone other than you.

That which makes the mind think
but cannot be thought by the mind,
that is the Self indeed.
This Self is not someone other than you.
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Swami Vivekananda

Such is the central idea of Karma-Yoga. The Karma-Yogi is the man who understands that the highest ideal is non-resistance, and who also knows that this non-resistance is the highest manifestation of power in actual possession.

Also, what is called the resisting of evil is but a step on the way towards the manifestation of this highest power, namely, non-resistance. Before reaching this highest ideal, man's duty is to resist evil; let him work, let him fight, let him strike straight from the shoulder.

Then only, when he has gained the power to resist, will non-resistance be a virtue.

I once met a man in my country whom I had known before as a very stupid, dull person, who knew nothing and had not the desire to know anything, and was living the life of a brute.

He asked me what he should do to know God, how he was to get free. "Can you tell a lie?" I asked him. "No," he replied. "Then you must learn to do so. It is better to tell a lie than to be a brute, or a log of wood."

You are inactive; you have not certainly reached the highest state, which is beyond all actions, calm and serene; you are too dull even to do something wicked. That was an extreme case, of course, and I was joking with him; but what I meant was that a man must be active in order to pass through activity to perfect calmness.
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Brihataranyaka Upanishad

The Self is indeed Brahman,
but ignorance veils its true form,
identifying it with intellect, mind, senses,
passions, and elements of nature's storm.

This is why the Self appears to be
everything, a multifaceted sea,
consisting of this and that, a paradox,
a mystery that's hard to unlock.

As a person acts, so they become,
their deeds shaping their life's outcome,
good deeds purify, bad deeds stain,
our true nature revealed through joy and pain.

You are what your deep desire is,
your will and deed, a harmonious trinity,
shaping your destiny, a path you choose,
your heart's desire, the force that produces.

We live in accordance with our heart's fire,
our desires guiding us, higher or lower,
at death, they determine our next birth,
a chance to fulfill, to learn, to grow on earth.

But those who are free from desire's sway,
have found fulfillment, a new way,
they don't die like others, but merge,
in Brahman, infinite life, eternal emerge.

When all desires are renounced,
the mortal becomes immortal, a new stance,
knots loosened, heart freed from pain,
immortal, here, in this life's gain.

Like a snake shedding its skin,
the body falls, but Self merges within,
Brahman, infinite life, eternal light,
freedom from cycles, a wondrous sight.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

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Paramahansa Yogananda

By the power of concentration and meditation, you can direct the inexhaustible power of your mind to accomplish what you desire and to guard every door against failure.

All successful men and women devote much time to deep concentration. They are able to dive deeply within their minds and to find the pearls of right solutions for the problems that confront them.

If you learn how to withdraw your attention from all objects of distraction and to place it upon one object of concentration, you too will know how to attract at will whatever you need.

Before embarking on important undertakings, sit quietly, calm your senses and thoughts, and meditate deeply. You will then be guided by the great creative power of Spirit.

After that, you should utilize all necessary material means to achieve your goal. The things you need in life are those that will help to fulfill your dominant purpose.

Things you may want but not need may lead you aside from that purpose. It is only by making everything serve your main objective that success is attained.
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