The Journey Home

A dog will recognize his master in whatever way he dresses. The master may dress in robes, suit and tie, or stand naked, but the dog will always recognize his master. If we cannot recognize God, our beloved master, when he comes in a different dress from another religion, then we are less than that dog.

Man cannot be enlightened through any organization, creed, dogma, priest or ritual, nor through any philosophical knowledge or psychological technique. He has to find it through understanding the contents of his own mind, through observation, not through intellectual analysis or introspective dissection.

Where there is no inner freedom, there is no life.

God, who is absolute, reveals himself to different people in different ways [..] I realized it would be very narrow to think there was only one way to God.

You have too many gurus in this country. They have told you what to do, what to think, what to practice. They are the dictators.

We were fine originally and lost that fine-ness. That's when we became defined.

My dear Lord Krishna, you are so kind upon this useless soul, but I do not know why you have brought me here. Now you can do whatever you like with me. But I guess you have some business here, otherwise why would you bring me to this place? Somehow or other, O Lord, You have brought me here to speak about you. Now, my Lord, it is up to you to make me a success or failure as you like. O spiritual master of all the worlds. I can simply repeat your message; so if you like you can make my power of speaking suitable for their understanding. Only by Your causeless mercy will my words become pure. I am sure that when this transcendental message penetrates their hearts they will certainly feel engladdened and thus become liberated from all unhappy conditions of life. O Lord, I am just like a puppet in your hands. So if you have brought me here to dance, then make me dance, make me dance, O Lord, make me dance as you like. I have no devotion, nor do I have any knowledge, but I have strong faith in the holy name of Krishna. I have been designated as Bhaktivedanta, one who possesses devotion and knowledge, and now, if you like, you can fulfill the real purport of Bhaktivedanta. Signed, the most unfortunate, insignificant beggar, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, On board the ship Jaladuta, Commonwealth Pier, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. 18th of September, 1965

His eyes twinkled as he smiled. “Love everyone, serve everyone, and feed everyone. Serve like Hanuman without selfishness and greed. This is the key to realizing God.

Sex could be a gift of God, but when it becomes an obsession, it plunders all intelligence and people are driven to abominable acts to satisfy their lust. When passion is frustrated, people lose all good sense.

Suffering is sent to remind us to turn our thoughts towards God, who will give us solace.

If we become overly attached to externals, we may forget their very purpose: to purify the heart

Mother Ganges teaches us that if we want to attain the sea of our aspiration, we must persevere in our goal and never be discouraged by the inevitable obstacles that come on our path.

Whenever you possibly can, sustain the flow of the Holy Name. To repeat His Name is to be in His presence. If you associate with the Supreme Friend, He will reveal His true beauty to you.

...our free will could convert a curse into a blessing or a blessing into a curse...To transform a crisis into an opportunity was true wisdom

Just serve every creature in God’s creation with humility, respect, and love.” Or, “Just sing the names of Rama and everything else will be attained.

One path may appear in different forms, but the Kingdom of God is the goal we all share. It is the men of small minds who create confusion.

Perhaps, I thought, the miracle of being an instrument of kindness is the most powerful of all.

I will reject the teachings of the teacher who teaches us to reject teachers and teachings,

I have discovered that God’s love manifests in different ways to different people. There are saints in the various spiritual traditions who sacrifice their lives for the love of God and goodwill toward man.

One path may appear in different forms, but the Kingdom of God is the goal we all share. It is the men of small minds who create confusion.” He released my hand and affectionately patted my head. “Do not be troubled my son. You are sincere. God will guide you.” His words touched my heart.

We asked an old monk sitting beside us to explain. “Here, we contemplate the impermanence of the body and its attachments. This helps us to overcome the temptations of the flesh and seek refuge in the Kingdom of God.” We listened carefully. Deeper in the catacombs, a group of skeletons wearing monk robes pointed to a sign that read: “As you are now, we used to be. As we are now, you will be.

He also told me of the five obligations Muslims have to fulfill in their lives: to believe in Allah as the one true God, to offer namaz or prayer five times every day, to fast during the month of Ramadan, to give in charity to the deprived, and to perform Hajji—the pilgrimage to Mecca—at least once in life.

As I proceeded to my cave for the night, my stomach rumbled. Compared to the treasure of spiritual experience, worldly acquisition is like those peanuts, I thought to myself. People lie, cry, and die for a few of these peanuts. They fight and struggle for a handful. Wars are raged over them. But at any moment, a monkey, another’s greed, or even the inevitable march of time may plunder from us our cherished peanuts.

found myself lost in thought. What could we learn from the tragedy of Pompeii? At any moment disaster can come upon anyone. In our complacency, we fail to grasp the impermanence of all that is material. I thought of the bubonic plague that had ravaged Europe, the atomic bomb that leveled Hiroshima, the earthquakes and fires that had destroyed cities in America. Through the history of mankind, the powers of nature take everything away from us. Why put off seeking the eternal jewel of enlightenment? Now is the time. As Mount Vesuvius had erupted, leaving a civilization in ashes, there had erupted from my heart an exclusive commitment to the path of spirituality, to leave all else in the ashes of my past.

If we understand the underlying cause of what we think of as bad in someone, instead of being hateful, we will be compassionate. For is not every soul inherently good? A saintly person will hate the disease but love the diseased.

Suddenly, the bus stopped in the midst of a vast desert. In a moment everyone got off. Was this an emergency? No, not at all. The passengers carefully unrolled their prayer rugs on the sand and faced the direction of the Holy City of Mecca, performing their Namaz, or offering of prostrations and salutations to Allah and his Prophet Mohammed. Every few hours this ritual was repeated with no consideration of where we were. The religion of these tribal people was their life. They were not mullahs, priests, yogis, or monks, but ordinary family people. Yet in all situations and places it impressed me how their devotion to Allah took priority.

Mother Ganges teaches us that if we want to attain the sea of our aspiration, we must persevere in our goal and never be discouraged by the inevitable obstacles that come on our path. All impediments are like rocks in the river of life. We should flow around them and never give up. With the Lord’s help, there is always a way. As

The world oscillates endlessly between pleasure and pain,” she continued. “There can be no security, no stability here. These are to be found in God alone.

To grow may require that we be shaken right to our core.

There is only one cause of all worries and anxiety and that is selfishness.

Bhakti Yoga is the art of transforming material energy into spiritual energy through a spirit of devotion.

our free will could convert a curse into a blessing or a blessing into a curse.

In this, she taught me that happiness comes not from the material thing, but from the love with which it is given.

when our hearts embraced hope, we attracted a power beyond ourselves to guide us, purify us and, ultimately, liberate us.