Sri Sri Ravishankar: Guru, God and Self are Synonymous   

Indian culture has always held the guru in high esteem. Having a master was not just considered a matter of pride, but it was mandatory to have a guru. Not having a master was looked down upon as being an orphan, being poor and a sign of misfortune.

The word anatha in Sanskrit means one without a master. An acharya (teacher) gives shiksha, which means knowledge; Guru gives diksha, which means heightened awareness.  

QUOTES FROM THE MASTERS 

'Is enlightenment really possible for the average person? Yes. Big Yes. Enlightenment is very possible for the ordinary individual. Actually it is easier than for some one who thinks that they are special ....whenever someone is ordinary, simple, innocent and natural, that is enlightenment' 

'THE day you feel hopeless, horrible, and worse, on that day get out of your room and ask people, What can I do you for you ? that service you have done that day will bring a revolution inside you. It will change your whole gramophone record.'  
 
'LOVE is seeing God in the person next to us, and meditation is seeing God within us.'  
 
'THE more we open ourselves, the more room we will have for God to fill us' 
 
'A PRAYER Give me not thirst if you cannot give me water. Give me not hunger if you cannot give me food. Give me not joy if I cannot share. Give me not the skills if I cannot put them to good use.' 
 
'IN science you have knowledge first, and then FAITH follows. In spirituality, faith comes first, and then Knowledge follows. For example, the knowledge that pesticides and chemical fertilizers are good for plants came through science, and people had faith in it, and all over the world they were used. And then another knowledge came that they were not good and the faith shifted to organic farming. The same with antibiotics. The knowledge brought faith, the knowledge changed, and then faith changed.'  
 
'ENLIGHTENMENT is the very core of our being; going into the core of our self and living our life from there. We all came into this world gifted with innocence, but gradually, as we became more intelligent, we lost our innocence. We were born with silence, and as we grew up, we lost the silence and were filled with words. We lived in our hearts, and as time passed, we moved into our heads. Now the reversal of this journey is enlightenment.'  
 
' IT is the journey from head back to the heart, from words, back to silence; getting back to our innocence in spite of our intelligence. Although very simple, this is a great achievement. Knowledge should lead you to that beautiful point of "I don't know." The purpose of knowledge is ignorance. The completion of knowledge will lead you to amazement and wonder. It makes you aware of this existence. Mysteries are to be lived, not understood. One can live life so fully in its completeness, in its totality.'  
 
' ENLIGHTENMENT is that state of being so mature and unshakable by any circumstance. Come what may, nothing can rob the smile from your heart. Not identifying with limited boundaries and feeling "all that exists in this universe belongs to me," this is enlightenment.'  
 
'OUR breath plays a very important role. The breath is the connecting link between the inner world of the mind and the outer world of body and environment. You see, there are seven levels of existence, body, mind, intellect, memory, ego and being. Meditation works by bringing an effort from the level of being to the mind. With the breath we bring this effect to the physical level as well.'  
 
'LET it be. If the ego is there, just embrace it, take it.'  
 
'FEAR is egocentric. Worship is the only way to let go of the fear. In worship you say, "It's all you, and you, and you.'  
 
'OUR ego wants to do something that is very difficult. The ego is not ready to accept something simple, something natural, something that is easily available. The nature of the ego is to do difficult things, not simple ones'  
 
'THE Divine is not an object of the ego. It doesn't demand from you something that is impossible for you. You don't have to do something that you cannot do. No need for that at all.'  
 
'WHEN the ego dissolves, all discomforts go away with the ego. Discomfort is not because of "something;" it is because of ego -- a separated-ness.'  
 
'THE direction of life is towards one thing: that is love. You be prosperous and have no love, that prosperity has no value. You are on spiritual path but you don't experience, then that spiritual path is no path, it is very dry: it's all up here.'  
 
'THE secret is hidden somewhere very deep, and that is what we can call the Divine Love -- that love which is so total, which is so complete, and which is so fulfilling.'  
 
'LOVE, the Divine Love, everyone is looking for such a love that never dies. As time goes it seems to be dying out. You see? Love dies out as time goes. But we are looking for some love that stands the time -- the old, ancient, strong, powerful Love.'  
 
'WHEN we express love too much, then also it disappears, dies out. It's like when you keep the seed on the surface of the soil, not a little deep inside, it doesn't grow.'  
 
'THE purpose of every practice -- spiritual practice, meditation, breathing techniques, and kriya, all this -- is to uncover something that blocks the expression of Divine Love.'  
 
 
Desire for Happiness  
 
Your desire for pleasure or happiness makes you  
unhappy. You examine---whenever you are miserable or  
unhappy, behind that is your wanting to be happy.  
 
Become Free  
 
Before this earth eats you up, become free---free from  
this feverishness that is gripping your mind, free  
from this craving for happiness.  
 
Unlimited Joy  
 
Your mind is not reasy for limitations. It wants  
unlimited joy, unlimited pleasure---which the five  
sense cannot give you.  
 
Love Doesn't Stay  
 
Everyone loves in this world.Everything loves. But  
that love does n't stay too long as love. It  
immediately becomes hatred, almost immediately. But  
yoga is that skill, that preservative, that maintains  
that love as love throughout.  
 
Wrapping Paper  
 
Mind is that cover that is holding the Divine, the  
Divinity within us. Once that wrapping paper is  
unwrapped, you find, "Oh, this beautiful gift is here  
within us!" You know, it's like everyone is given a  
Christmas package, a beautiful package, and they live  
with the beautiful without even opening it.  
 
Eliminate the Cause  
 
Eliminate the cause, the very root of negativity in  
us. Instead of rubbing the mind with a positive  
thought, go deep into yourself through the breath,  
through meditation, and cleaning the system.  
 
Belonging  
 
You can't cultivate the "sense of belonging". You drop  
the stresses and fear---it comes in. You already  
belong to this entire existence. You 're not separate.  
 
Mind is a Field  
 
Mind is not just in one location. Mind is a field,  
like an electric field. Like an electromagnetic field, 
it's present all over.  
 
Garbage Collectors  
 
A master doesn't need any favor from you. He just  
could take all that anguish and garbage which you  
cannot lift by yourself, free you from that. All  
enlightened masters on this planet are garbage  
collectors. They do nothing other than collect the  
garbage.  
 
Suffering  
 
Suffering is a product of limited knowledge.  
 
You Think You Know  
 
You think you know the world and "This is it". That is  
the biggest problem. This is not just one world; there  
are many layers in this world.  
 
Only You  
 
One one lever there are individuals everybody is  
different---they 're young, old, intelligent, wise,  
dull and all types. One one level we have different  
types, but on a deeper level there is only you. Only  
you, nothing else.  
 
Longing  
 
When you give a space, the longing in you increases,  
whether it is for your spouse,or for God, or for  
Guru---whatever. And when there is longing, your love  
becomes really strong,powerful,unshakeable.  
 
Partial Knowledge  
 
Shadows appear very big, much bigger than you, but  
they have no existence. Smaller the light, bigger the  
shadow appears. If it is total darkness, then also  
there is no shadow. So partial knowledge,a partial  
light,partial vision,brings the shadow. And it makes  
the shadow appear very huge, very big. But know it is  
just a shadow.  
 
Forgiveness  
 
Forgiveness shield and protects your mind, your  
spirit, from being violent.  
 
Just Happening - Surrender  
 
You are a happening in this ocean of consciousness.  
Your heart beats by itself; you're not making it beat.  
Your breath moves by itself, sleep comes, you feel  
hunger, you feel thirsty, you feel good, you feel bad.  
All these phenomenon are happening in your life. When  
this realization comes, a deep relaxation, a trust, a  
feeling of "at home" and fullness arises in you. That  
is surrender.  
 
 
Nothing to lose  
 
What are you afraid of ? What do you think you will  
lose ? Just wake up and see you have nothing to lose  
in the first place ! And, even if you think you have  
something, how long can you hold on to it ?  
 
Surrender is Not  
 
Surrender is not an act. It's not again and again  
trying to bow down and say, "Oh, I am surrendering,  
I am surrendering." Saying that to yourself a hundred  
times---that is not surrender.  
 
Surrender Is  
 
Open your hands up---that is surrender. It is your  
very nature.  
 
God is Not  
 
God is not the object of sight; you can never see  
God. God is not an object of hearing. God is not an  
object of smelling or tasting. God cannot be perceived  
through your senses, nor through the mind.  
 
 
God Is  
 
God is the Seer himself. Who sees---that is God.  
 
Seeing God  
 
You can live God. You can be God. But you cannot  
"see" God, perceive God as an Object