Happiness is not something that can come from the outside. One of the things we seem to depend upon for our happiness is physical beauty. We don’t want to accept the fact that we will get old and our bodies will change. When we see others getting old we may think to...
How do we find peace and joy in the middle of a chaotic world? In the midst of the chaos, find the balance, and then you find the peace. When are you peaceful? When there is nothing to disturb your peace? That is not the true test of real inner peace. When there is...
Shanti. I see God as Shanti. Shanti is the nature of God. My God is Shanti and has no form no other name. God is all peaceful, all serenity—the peace that cannot be expressed by words. Even to say the word “peace,” in a way limits, the expression of that very peace....
If you want to love all, serve all, and spread peace you first have to learn to love yourself. You also have to find peace within yourself. If you recognize the peace and joy within, then you will be able to give the same to everyone else. And you are not actually...
The world constantly changes. Nothing stays permanent for even a second. So, find the middle path, the center—neither this way nor that way. In the midst of the changing world, you have to find the one the essential part that never changes. So, what is it that...
Question: I’m basically happy and peaceful but feel that something is missing. How can I find the missing part? Swami Satchidananda: If you are basically happy and in peace, what can be missing? It’s a sort of contradiction. If you are basically happy and in peace,...
Our whole experience of life is based on the stories we tell ourselves about what occurs. These stories begin with our mind’s interpretation of what it perceives. Swami Vivekananda describes this like an oyster making a pearl. A parasite gets inside the shell, and...
Yoga is a Sanskrit word that comes from the root, “yuj” which means “to join together.” Simply put, Yoga means “union.” In many ways the term Yoga is similar to the English term, “communion.” It refers to the state of union or communion with God, one’s true Self, or...