- Sadhus should depend one hundred percent on God. They should not accumulate things.
- A holy person is one whose mind, heart, and soul are merged in God. He who has renounced ‘lust and greed’ is a holy person.
- Until you have completely renounced in the mind, you cannot attain God. A sadhu cannot accumulate things. ‘The bird and the sadhu do not hoard.’ Birds and wandering monks do not store things for tomorrow.
- A person who plays chess doesn’t see his move clearly, while the onlookers can see much better and can suggest moves to the player. Holy people who have renounced the world are unattached to worldly things and are more knowledgeable than worldly people. Since they don’t play the game themselves, they can tell the moves better from outside.
- You have to put your faith in the words of those holy men and great souls who have realized God. They contemplate God constantly.
- There are three classes of sadhus: superior, mediocre and inferior. The superior class makes no effort to obtain food. The mediocre and the inferior kinds of holy men – among them dandis – beg for alms, saying, ‘Namo Narayana,’ and stand patiently waiting. The inferior sadhus kick up a row if they are not given alms.
- The right kind of sadhu, a true holy man, does not want gold plates, nor reverence. But God does not let him lack anything. He provides for everything that is necessary for realizing Him.
- Once I said to someone, ‘So and so is a rajasic sadhu. Why give him food and other provisions?’ Another sadhu taught me not to say such things. He said, ‘There are three kinds of sadhus: sattvic, rajasic, and tamasic.’ Since that day, I respect sadhus of all kinds.
- The people of western India (Punjab and Uttar Pradesh) have great devotion for sadhus. They have great love for God. They show great reverence for sadhus.
- A sadhu in Rishikesh rises early in the morning and goes to stand near a big waterfall. The whole day he watches the fall and says to God, ‘Oh, how beautiful you have made it! How beautiful it is! How wonderful!’ He does not practice chanting of the name and other austerities. At nightfall he returns to his hut.
Saint
- Do you know what the nature of a saintly person is? He doesn’t hurt anybody, he doesn’t harass anybody. If one has genuine love and devotion for the Lord, one does not take a false step, does not give trouble to others for nothing.
- It is not right to keep the company of bad people. You must keep some distance from them. You must save yourself from them.
- Transitory is human life, like drops of water dancing on lotus leaves, The company of a holy man even for a moment serves as a boat to take one across the sea of this world.
Rishis
- The Sanatana Dharma – that which the rishis taught – will last. But the Brahmo Samaj and other such sects will also continue in some form. Everything comes and goes by God’s will.
- What spiritual practice turns the mind up? You come to understand this by keeping the constant company of holy people. The rishis lived either alone or in the company of sadhus. That’s why they could renounce ‘lust and greed’ and unite their minds to God effortlessly. They rid themselves of fear and fault-finding.
- The rishis followed the Eternal Religion. It has existed since eternity and will continue forever. Whether with form or without form, it is the Eternal Religion. There is the path of knowledge and the path of devotion. Other modern religions will last for a few days and then disappear.