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Introduction to Hindi Language

Hindi is a rich and melodic language, spoken, written and studied widely throughout the world. Learning it will open the door to a fascinating and diverse culture that spans thousands of years of uninterrupted history. There is a well known philosophy that puts forth that when one meditates on the specific sounds of the Dev Naagari alphabet, the written forms appear spontaneously in the mind.

Pronunciation in Hindi is relatively easy since, unlike English, letters are always pronounced exactly th

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BE BALANCED IN PLEASURE AND PAIN

Sorrow follows happiness and happiness follows sorrow. Like day and night both are unavoidable by embodied creatures. There is pleasure in the midst of pain and pain in the midst of pleasure. Both are said to be attached to each other like mud and water.
Therefore, the wise do not show joy on occasions of joy, nor sorrow on occasions of sorrow. They are indifferent to both pleasure and pain, happiness and joy, sorrow and misery. Knowing all to be Maya, they are not deluded. Pleasure and pain are
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KARMA – CAUSE OF JOY AND GRIEF

Friends, who is the cause of whose sorrow or whose happiness? One's own Karma done in past lives and in tile present is the cause of happiness or grief There is no other giver of happiness or pain. "He gives me pain" – this is the attitude of a fool. "I am the doer" – this is the erroneous and fruitless notion of an ignorant man.
Each individual is bound by the cord of his past Karma. Happiness and sorrow come to you as a result of your Karma. Therefore, bear in a spirit of resig¬nation what come
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WORLDLINESS OR SAMSARA

Vasana is a subtle form of desire. It is hidden desire and assumes a gross form later on. Trishna is intense craving or hankering after sensual objects. Vasana is intermingled with mental impressions.
Vasarias produce mental impressions and these in turn generate Vasanas. The rotation of this never-ending wheel of Vasanas and mental impressions constitutes the wheel of worldliness which causes births and deaths.

From "Daily Sayings" by Swami Sivananda (1987-1963). More Informations on Swami Sivana
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CULTIVATE ADAPTABILITY

Never grumble when you do service to others. Take delight in service. Watch for opportunities to serve. Work is worship of the Lord.
Have an amiable, loving, sociable nature, have sympathy, adaptability, self-restraint, tolerance, love and mercy. Adjust yourself to the ways and habits of others. Be balanced even when you are insulted, when others use harsh words against you. Have a balanced mind in pleasure and pain, in heat and cold.
Karma Yoga prepares the mind the reception of light and knowled
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BE PRACTICAL AND REALIZE

An ounce of spiritual experience is better than tons of theory and study of spiritual books. A single glimpse of Brahman will bestow on you illumination and remove the worldly intoxication of delusion, pride, pain and grief.
Spiritual vision will then stand out like a beacon light to you. Learn the principles of divine life and apply them in your daily activity. Become a practical man on the spiritual path.

From "Daily Sayings" by Swami Sivananda (1987-1963). More Informations on Swami Sivananda:
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BORN SIDDHAS

To a liberated sage who beholds the immortal, all-pervading, self-luminous Atman everywhere, there remains nothing more to be attained or known. He has attained perfection, highest bliss and highest knowledge. He is master of all worlds.
Some are born with all the requisites for attaining God on account of the discipline of their past lives. Such people are born Siddhas.

From "Daily Sayings" by Swami Sivananda (1987-1963). More Informations on Swami Sivananda: on the Website of Divine Life Society
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UNIVERSAL DISSOLUTION

Even when there is the cosmic dissolution there is no destruction of the individual soul. It remains in a latent form in the Mula Prakriti or Avyaktam, which is the condition when all the three Gunas – Rajas, Tamas and Sattwa – are in equilibrium.
At the time of creation the individual soul is born again together with the latent desires born of the mind. In this way it is forced to go round and round like the wheel used for drawing water.

From "Daily Sayings" by Swami Sivananda (1987-1963). More I
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LOOK WITHIN

Within you is the hidden God. Within you is the pure immortal Soul. Within you is the inexhaustible spiritual treasure. Within you is the ocean of bliss.
Look within for the happiness which you have sought for in vain in perishable, sensual objects. Rest peacefully in your own Self.
Surrender everything unto Him. Place your ego at His feet and be at ease. Give up all worry, fear, anxiety and tension, He will take complete charge of you. He will do everything for you. Practice. Feel. Assert. Enjoy
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RISE ABOVE EGOISM

So long as there is connection with the principle of egoism and the rest, with the body and the sense-organs, there is pleasure, pain and transmigratory existence for the individual soul.
Egoism is the notion of' “I” and "mine" in the gross and subtle bodies. The ignorant ones are attached to the body. They cannot rise above the sense of “I” and mine in the gross body. The discriminating few rise above it through knowledge.

From "Daily Sayings" by Swami Sivananda (1987-1963). More Informations on
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THE ROOT CAUSE OF BONDAGE

"I am the body". This false notion arises by force of the connection between the Atman and egoism. Worldly life, which is the giver of pain and pleasure, has for its root this notion of “I” in the body. On account of this identification of the Atman with the ego the soul acts and is forcibly bound by results.
"I have done much good through my sacrifice, gifts and other charitable acts and shall therefore go to heaven." This is a false notion. A soul enjoys celestial happiness in heaven only for s
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THE SELF IS DEAREST

Man loves his wealth immensely, but a son is dearer than his wealth. The body is dearer than the son; the father may even sell his son during a famine, for the sake of protecting his own body. The senses are dearer than the body, because man instinctively tries to protect his eyes, ears and nose when another comes to attack him.
Life is dearer than the senses. If the king orders the death of a criminal, the latter prefers to have one of his senses removed rather than give up his life. The Atman i
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THE FIVE SHEATHS ARE NOT THE SELF

Illusion arises in man because of ignorance or the absence of the faculty which discriminates between the eternal Atman and the five illusory sheaths which are falsely superimposed upon the Atman.
The five sheaths are creations of the mind on account of ignorance. They cannot be the pure, self-existent, sell-luminous Atman. The Srutis declare that the eternal Atman is bodiless. Tile changes that occur in the five sheaths do not affect their seer and proprietor, the Atman.

From "Daily Sayings" by S
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I've been nearly completely inactive in my social networks since mid-July or so. Not that I wouldn't have liked to participate, but I have been engrossed in the redaction of the above essay.

When I tackled the project, I thought it would take a few weeks at most, and that I would be able to maintain my regular pace in other activities. However, I soon realized that the endeavour required great amounts of attention, and that the most efficient way of discharging the task was to dedica

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THE PUNDIT AND THE SAGE



The foolish man identifies himself with a mass of flesh, fat, skin, bones and
filth, while the man of discrimination knows that his higher Self is distinct
from his perishable body. The stupid man thinks that he is the body.


The learned pundit, who has read some religious books, identifies himself with a
mixture of body and soul, while the liberated sage regards the eternal,
unchanging Atman as his Self. So long as the pundit does not abandon his
erroneous identification with this unreal, perishable

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WHO IS A SAINT?

The company of saints is the cause of emancipa¬tion. Saints are those whose minds are unruffled, who are free from avarice, who have conquered desire, who have brought their senses and internal nature under control, who are devoted to the Lord, who have no longing for anything, who are the same in pleasure and pain, who are free from attachment, who have the attributes of self-control, and who are content with whatever comes their way. Saints are the true benefactors of the world. Tile world is
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INNER GOVERNMENT

Just as there is a government in all countries to govern nations and maintain law and order, so also there is an inner government to maintain law and order in this universe.
The marvelous inner government has Satyam (truth) as its banner, Dharma (righteousness) as its seal, Omkara as its band, discrimination as its coat of arms, and dispassion as its shield. It has one policy – that of helping aspirants to attain Self-realization. The head of the inner government is Brahman or the Supreme Self.

Fr
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THE DISAPPEARANCE OF IGNORANCE

Tile individual soul creates this world of names and forms on account of its ignorance and delusion. When it attains knowledge of the Self through the Grace of the Guru, it dissolves the external world into itself and sees its own Self everywhere.
The soul now sees only oneness everywhere. It is struck with wonder when it thinks of the world of duality. The world of diversity appears to it like a mere dream and it exclaims in surprise: "Where has this world full of the charms of Maya disappeared
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MEDITATION ON GOD

This world is the manifest aspect of the Lord. He alone was in the beginning when there was no creation. After creation He remains unattached and free like the ether in the pot. The earthen pot is full inside and outside with ether, but the ether is not at all affected by the existence or non-existence of the pot.
Even so, the Lord is all-pervading and full inside and outside all beings; and yet He remains ever non-attached. He guides the actions of all beings but He is not the actor.

From "Daily
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