Self-Realization: The Expansion or Contraction of the Ego

The ego should either become nothing or everything. When it comes to the ego, I don’t believe in the proverb that says that something is better than nothing. You should either become nothing or become everything, but not something. Nothing is better than something. We...

Just Be As You Are

I often quote Avvaiyar, a very great saintly female poet from South India. She was clever with her use of words and never wasted any. Just a few words were enough to give you a great message. Somebody asked her, “How can I arrive at my home?” or in other words, “How...

How to Know the Truth

We all talk about realizing “the Truth.” If you want to realize the Truth, you should know what the Truth is. Otherwise, you might have it right here and not even recognize it. Whatever it is that you want to experience, you should have an idea in your mind what to...

The Realized Self

Question: If the Self is already realized and if it is already Divine, why do we need the experience of enlightenment to know this? Swami Satchidananda: Who said the Self is already realized and already Divine? Do you know positively? If you know this positively, you...

Why Do We Forget Who We Really Are?

Recently, someone asked a question: “If peace and unconditional love are our natural state, why is it that we have forgotten? We have forgotten because we’ve been given the free will to forget. You are free to choose either way. Peace is our nature no doubt, but we...