Total Thoughts - April 6, 2009 - Love

-There is a difference between being lonely and being alone - a lonely person is afraid of silence and tries to escape this through objects, beings and situations while a person being alone appreciates silence

-Detachment without reattachment is impotent - our personalities need to evolve by gradually detaching from our self to serve our family, detach from our family to serve our community, and finally detach from our community to serve all

-When our Love is directed towards a lower entity (i.e. an object) this is called sneha and is selfish in nature - when our Love is directed towards a higher entity (i.e. the needy) this is called prema and is selfless in nature

-Love is the reward of Love - to desire Love is to be a beggar of Love

-As long as there is fear in one's heart, there cannot be Love - Self Knowledge dispels fear and so instills Love

-The key to Enlightenment is Love - the more we immerse ourselves in prema the more we discover our Divine Nature

-A Master Loves His friend and foe equally - we learn the most from those who need our Love the most so loving difficult people is best for our growth

-To be able to give Love one first has to have Love - just as we need to have faith in our self to have faith in others, in the same way we need to Love our self to be able to Love others

-Real Love is when two entities join not to become 2, rather to become 3 - Love transforms work into inspiration with efficiency as its result

Total Thoughts - March 30, 2009 - Wealth and Spirituality

-Spirituality is life - the more we reflect on our experiences the more we come to appreciate this fundamental and profound truth

-Karma is a product of ignorance - as soon as we rediscover our Infinite Nature there is no entity to incur and exhaust karma, only an instrument for the Divine to act through

-Society is not concerned about our needs and wants, rather only capitalizes on our weaknesses (i.e. if you are not wealthy and beautiful you are inferior) - we have to be concerned with our needs and wants and not succumb to the fear which society tends to educate and instill in us

-When we live with a yajna bhava (spirit of sacrifice and service) every moment becomes spiritual - with such a vision one comes to Love all and no thing, being or situation can touch such a personality

-The mind can only function when it is attached to something - it cannot function and be detached concurrently (As the 'ignorant' men act from attachment to action, O Bharata, so should the 'wise' men act without attachment, wishing welfare for the world --- Srimad Bhagavad Gita Verse 25, Chapter 3)

-Desire is that threat which prevents knowledge from transforming into wisdom - when we want, we stop being aware

-The Infinite must be sought in that alone which is Infinite, our Spirit - the body, mind, intellect and ego, where we tend to seek answers, will always keep us in realm of limitations

-The difference between materialism and spirituality is not physical (have or have not), rather mental (want or want not) - all we have to do is recognize that Joy comes from within and not without, then detachment becomes simple and seductive