spiritual flashpoints

- materially minded people worship God to satisfy their material desires, the extent of their connection to God is in as much as their need to petition Him to fulfill their material desires, God becomes an extender, perpetuater of the material lifestyle but spiritually minded people are already constantly connected to God and the world simply is a sheath between them and God, an interference, God doesn't need to toy with them for them to call upon Him because they are already turned to God, if these people suffer in the world it can only be the fault of the Lord and His neglectfulness of those that deserve His special caring hand

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But those who worship Me with devotion, meditating on My transcendental form-to them I carry what they lack and preserve what they have. Bhagavad Gita 9 verse 22

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- the morning prayer is the most important, it symbolizes that we consider God as precedent over all things else, and sets the stage for the rest of the day, if one loves God the most over all other things, then that person would want to return to God before facing anything else

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Mitra is increasingly associated with the light of dawn and the morning sun (while Varuna becomes associated with the evening, and ultimately the night).

In the Atharvaveda, Mitra is associated with sunrise, and accordingly, Mitra is worshipped in the sunrise prayers of the Hindus.

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- one should remember that this world is just the Lord's maya-shakthi, if the Lord is the hand, as its Controller, it is the outward manifestation that moves in accordance to His directings, like a glove

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He who inhabits water, yet is within water, whom water does not know, whose body water is and who controls water from within — He is your Self, the Inner Controller, the Immortal.

He who inhabits the sun, yet is within the sun, whom the sun does not know, whose body the sun is and who controls the sun from within — He is your Self, the Inner Controller, the Immortal - Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 3.7.4-14

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- reading copious amounts of spiritual literature is better than not doing so, but not executing its purpose, which is to connect to God, renders it moot, just like a mechanic who has studied mechanical engineering yet has not lifted a spanner

- religious discourse/debate/sermons/hymns, the company and infectious presence of holy men, holy places and places of worship, iconographies and accessories of the Gods are all mere auxiliaries, above all is one's own soul which facilitates one's connection to God and sincere and intense love for God

- if one cannot connect to God directly himself, then one should read the revealed scriptures telling oneself "these are the words of God Himself", or worship holy men, or aid to religious causes through service and money, go through religious rituals thinking to oneself "I'm doing what is supposed to be pleasing to God, which is supposed to bring me closer to God"

- we are all angels, who possess a particle of God, called the soul, which by nature is in direct association with God, just meditating on this truth is a spiritual act

- you must sympathize and hate yourself for not connecting to God, only then you will chastise yourself for not connecting to Him

- creatures are always inclined to the pleasureable, but worshiping God is the highest form of pleasure, that's why the scriptures say Brahman is Bliss

- we may attribute the soul's disconnect from God to various reasons

maya obscuring Brahman and taking His place
the soul becoming embodied in flesh and possessing a mind
circumstance not the fault of the soul, unconducive environment, lack of spiritual knowledge and masters
God witholding His aura and presence
intensity of the soul not strong enough, maturity/intelligence of the person not strong enough/lacking spiritual values and principles

a person is currently not spiritual but may be so in the future
a person is already spiritual but has fallen
a person just needs some support, or needs to be shaken by life changing events and spiritual encounter

a person maybe in the bosom of spirituality like being born into a twice born household, following traditions, having gurus and access to holy texts yet may be disclined or not ripe

a person maybe very sincere yet is not finding any success "feeling close encounters with God"

- if now I am not connected to God, I can remind myself of the time that I once was, hope that it will happen again, and aim for it

- if one is not worshiping God, to feel His presence, then one must mumble to oneself in an unbroken repetition "I must worship God, I must worship God..."

- at night one should review one's relationship with God and speak to God "this whole day was given to me by You, now I am going to bed to refresh my tired mind so that I may be able to further worship you, please allow me to wake up again so that I may continue to worship you"

- one should seek beauty and effectiveness in prayers, calling upon God variously in different contexts by various names

- the man who loves God and seeks to cultivate a strong relationship with Him will have "a spiritual mind", he will view this world and personal experiences with a spiritual intellect

- God loves us, this is undoubtedly true, this is the one thing we must never forget

Oh Lord, whatever that is within me, that hinders me from, or makes it difficult, or is against worshiping You, whatever that is around me, that hinders me from, or makes it difficult, or is against worshiping You, or You Yourself are not letting me easily perceive You, please neutralize all these things so that I may worship and become one with you.

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The Shanti Mantras or "Peace Mantras" or Pancha Shanti are Hindu prayers for Peace (Shanti) found in Upanishads. Generally they are recited at the beginning and end of religious rituals and discourses.

Shanti Mantras are invoked in the beginning of some topics of Upanishads. They are supposed to calm the mind of the reciter and environment around him/her. Reciting them is also believed to be removing any obstacles for the task being started.

Shanti Mantras always end with three utterances of word "Shanti" which means "Peace". The Reason for uttering three times is for calming and removing obstacles in three realms which are:

"Physical" or Adhi-Bhautika,
"Divine" or Adhi-Daivika and
"Internal" or Adhyaatmika
According to the scriptures of Hinduism sources of obstacles and troubles lie in these three realms.

Physical or Adhi-Bhautika realm can be source of troubles/obstacles coming from external world, such as from wild animals, people, natural calamities etc.
Divine or Adhi-Daivika realm can be source of troubles/obstacles coming from extra-sensory world of spirits, ghosts, deities, demigods/angels etc.
Internal or Adhyaatmika realm is source of troubles/obstacles arising out of one's own body and mind, such as pain, diseases, laziness, absent-mindedness etc.
These are called "Tapa-Traya" or three classes of troubles. When Shanti mantras are recited, obstacles from these realms are believed to be pacified.

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You are neither here nor there, you are no "where", for you are not a part of (Your own)creation, yet You have access to whatever that may be here or there, You have access to all things everywhere

indeed You cannot be thought of as some physical thing, which is maximized, becoming grand and extensive, you are just That, which is perfectly in touch with all, without ever becoming tainted, there is no equal or comparison at all to how you are connected to this universe

not only do you have access to this entire universe, you can manipulate it

when you are interacting with a thing in this universe in particular way, you are still equally in tune with everything everywhere, there is no difference then

whoever I may be to myself, whoever I may be to others, however others may perceive me, my position in this universe is determined moreso by how You perceive me, therefore I am very concerned with how I relate to you

see a prostitute may be a prostitute owing to many reasons... but someone could be a prostitute because her nature really is to be a prostitute, there is no alternative for her, which could ever make her happy

if you told her to go into the forest and pray for 12 hours straight, she could not do it, it would make her miserable, she would lapse back to her former life at the slightest possible chance

see most young people these days are not at all cut out for being supremely pious, they need their nifty tech gadgets, they need their bubble of friends

everyone has his comfort zone, even the mindnumbingly logical math/physics nerd for him his world of numbers and equations are his comfort zone, which he has a natural tendency to move towards and feel good being within

Believe that God will one day reveal Himself to you 100%, believe that one day, because you are so absorbed in Him, there will no longer be any "trying"

now it is "trying" because you don't deserve God to reveal Himself to you 100%

if He revealed Himself to you, you would reject Him and be complacent of His holiness

so now God is playing hide and seek

because you are "trying", you are earning God

when you feel down and low, and despondent, know that it is your birthright to be the dearest to the Lord

With every inch that you move away from God it gets incrementally all the more spiritually dangerous. Therefore be very vigilant.

A warrior knows the sheer importance of time and training so it is with the path and every attempt to connect to Him.

Trying your best. No slacking. No complacency. Short term goals. Finding partners.

If they are trying to be rich and acquiring property yet clock in only 5 hours of prayer yet you are destitute and clocking in 10 hours of prayer. You are the clear winner. Period.

If someone insults you for your spiritual practices yet is less spiritual than you. Ignore him.

An idiot Christian is still above a less religious Muslim. Beliefs are only as important in their clarity of matters and their power to illuminate the Truth. But in the abscence of these things these beliefs become important for them. He posseses devotion and faith in the scriptures and masters.

You can dominate and break me physically but you can never take my soul nor my spiritual accomplishments away. God is eternal, your body is ephemeral.

I cannot either because we are all souls who belong to God.

"He who thinks he can kill and he who thinks he can be killed both mistake..."

What is common to all creatures is the lack of willingness to die. If only they had this instinct for spirituality.

The greatest world tragedy is that everyday creatures arise and awake yet neglect God and kill their own souls.

Ingratitude in religion is the

Inability to see the value of spiritual things and appreciate them.

One's own spiritual weakness and dependence on others for spiritual guidance.

The superiority of more pious souls and giving them due respect.

Perfection in religion is when I can feel God 24/7. It is when God "speaks" to me directly.

You deserve a whole lotta love. And you can certainly find it from God.