In Maharishi’s Words

Quotes and passages by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi assembled from various discourses

“…The important thing is this: to be able, at any moment, to sacrifice what we are for what we could become…”

— HH Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

On Devotion

Brahmananda Saraswati, the name of my Guru Dev, the name of my Master, is the Vedic Custodian of Total Knowledge, pure knowledge, self-referral knowledge. It is an indestructible knowledge because it is self-referral. There is nothing from outside that can disturb it. It is always in its purity, always in its purity, always in its purity, spoken by the embodiment of it. The knower of the totality of knowledge is himself the embodiment of Totality, is the embodiment of eternity, infinity, Totality, all power of action in infinite silence. The embodiment of this total Brahm, that is the Master, and always…

Fortunate are they who live in Union with God. They are man’s guides on earth, furthering the evolution of all creation. They are above the limitations of religion or race. Whether they play with God or hold Him as one with their own Being is a point to be settled between them and God. They live as devotees of God or they become united, become one with their Beloved – it is a matter between them. Let it be decided on that level of Union. One view need not exclude the other. It is a sin against God to raise differences over the principle of Union…

A loving heart, a heart full of love, is the precious essence of human life…

If a man wants to be a true devotee of God, he has to become his pure Self; he has to free himself from those attributes which do not belong to him, and then only can he have one-pointed devotion. If he is enveloped by what he is not, then his devotion will be covered by that foreign element. His devotion will not reach God, and the love and blessings of God will not reach him…

Devotion is the quality of a melted heart, and heart melts when awareness expands. Devotion is both love and intelligence. Devotion is a deep state of appreciation and love along with the ability of understanding. Devotion is a more sophisticated quality of love. Love is unifying, devotion is also unifying, at the same time elevating…

Devotion is just the expression of a melting heart. It really begins from cosmic consciousness. When boundaries have been removed, then the heart can begin to flow. A slight wind can make the water in a pond rise into waves, but if the pond is frozen, not even a cyclone can move it…

Devotion to the Creator grows out of an increased appreciation for the fine details of His creation. Devotion is not something which can be practiced as such. It is the spontaneous display of a purified life, where one’s appreciation of creation is so minute, so overwhelming, that this gets one sold out to the Creator…

Devotion is the simplest form of awareness. It is most natural. There is nothing more thorough, nothing more innocent, nothing more Divine. Purity of the heart means feeling every act, every thought, every perception as the Grace of Mother Divine, the Glory of God…

Devotion is the finest aspect of love–the means to grow in devotion to God. The first impulse of tender love and devotion is felt between mother and child.

On Oneness

Everybody has a birthright to enjoy abiding peace and unbounded joy, which is the essential nature of his own soul. And I hold everybody already possesses the capacity of enjoying it, because it is already there in the innermost recess of everybody’s heart. Nothing from outside can stop a man from experiencing the nature of his own soul. Nothing from outside can stop a man from enjoying lasting peace and permanent joy in life, for it is the essential nature of his own soul. The doors of Sat-Chit-Anandam are wide open alike for one and all. The path is straight and entry is free…

When one clearly experiences Pure Consciousness along with the fine impulses of thought that arise within it, one cognizes the entire universe as the expression of one’s own Self.

This is Supreme Knowledge that there is Unity of life. It does not mean that one fails to appreciate the differences in nature, in Creation. But all these differences are appreciated most spontaneously as the waves of the Oneness that already underlies every Creation. Diversity is felt! But it’s felt as the waves of the eternal Unity.

And this is a living reality, it’s not an intellectual conception, or imagination, or a thought, or an understanding. It’s a living reality of life… it’s a living reality of life. And this living reality is Supreme Knowledge, the state of Supreme Knowledge.

Art really has its source in the transcendent, the unmanifest field of pure consciousness, which is the non-changing, immortal field of all possibilities… When the awareness of the artist is in tune with this center of infinite creativity, his piece of art breathes fullness of life, nourishes the creator, the artist, and inspires his admirers with waves of bliss.

Yoga brings fulfilment to knowledge… because direct perception brings fulfilment to all intellectual understanding. This is the purpose of Yoga. Yoga gives direct experience. Yoga reveals to us the transcendent Absolute – and also opens to our direct vision, direct experience, all the gross and subtle fields of Creation. Gross and subtle fields of Creation, and the transcendent Being – the whole vision of life becomes clearly experienced. And that is Yoga.

 

On Teacher-Student relationship

The truth is lost more and more with this increase of gap (between teacher and student). This is inevitable. And this is how the truth gets lost. There is no way to prevent it. It is nature. Just because the difference in the level of consciousness. The teacher and the student. And the student rises and rises.

It is the efficiency of the teacher that he is able to raise the student, fine. But if in some generation it can’t come up to that, maybe one step and the body of the teacher falls, something happens, then this much is the gap between the absolute truth and between the understood reality. And this is the misery of wisdom, the tragedy of knowledge. And this is something very, very inevitable. Now you see how the wisdom gets lost: because of the gap between the teacher and the taught, teacher and the student. That is why in order to raise the level of the student to the level of the teacher as soon as possible, the requirement is love and reverence accompanied with the sense of service.

These are the three requirements for the student in order to get to the reality–love for the teacher, reverence for the teacher and service to the teacher. These are the three things. This minimizes the resistance that might be to the flow of knowledge– the resistance. If the teacher says this, this, this–love and reverence. Now, the student has all right to question and question and question– innumerable questions he can put. All doubts he could put. Putting the doubts to the teacher is no disrespect. If one doesn’t understand one asks and asks and asks. That is absolutely no disrespect to the teacher.

In all reverence, love and sense of service the channel of the heart and mind of the student starts flowing towards the teacher. And then action and reaction are equal. When the heart and mind of the teacher starts to flow for the student and then both start to be more and more harmonious, the flow of wisdom is more complete every day and more complete and more complete. And soon the student comes to the level of the teacher. And when he has come to the level of the teacher, then he is a teacher. One doesn’t have to remain a student all the time. Rising to the level of the teacher and that’s it.

There is a proverb in India which says ‘the teacher is inert if he fails to bring enlightenment to his student’. The fault is not in the student. The lack is on the part of the teacher. It is said he is inert, he is no good, lifeless, if he has not been able to raise the student to his level. This tragedy of knowledge is there wherever there is imparting of knowledge. This difference in the level of consciousness is just there. And to minimize the gap, just these three things: service to the teacher, reverence and love…

— All passages by His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

IMAGES:

Cover – ‘Deep Yellow Rose’, 2018. Courtesy of Flowing Wakefulness

‘Maharishi performing puja to Guru Dev’, online sources, under Fair Use license.

‘Maharishi’s Portrait’, online sources, under Fair Use license.

‘Puja to Maharishi’, Mallorca. January 12th, 2020. Courtesy of Flowing Wakefulness