Explore every episode of the podcast Living Wisely Living Well | With Asha Nayaswami

Develop a sense of community with others. No one in this world stands alone, though in many ways the opposite seems true, since we come into this life alone and must leave it again at death, quite alone. Yet we come into a welcoming family, and should so live our lives that others weep when we leave this world. Everything we do in our solitary-seeming comings and goings depends, to a great extent, on others. Expand your sense of community to include an ever-larger number of people, until you see everyone on earth as belonging to your own family, in God.

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Respect excellence wherever you find it. True excellence is often the result of group endeavor, but it requires in every case the personal commitment of energy and awareness. Excellence, like everything else that is worthwhile, springs from within the Self.

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Never identify anyone with his personality. Define him, rather, by his intentions, and by the sincerity with which he seeks truth. The personality is only a product of actions and reactions over countless incarnations. The innate goodness of one’s intentions, however, has its origins at their furthest depths, in the Self.

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Direct energy consciously into everything you do. Remember, energy has its own intelligence, and responds willingly to proper guidance. It can make things happen for you that you yourself could not have even planned.

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You belong to all nations. Only temporarily are you an American, Frenchman, Italian, Indian; Christian, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, or Muslim. You belong to all classes. Your social status is only temporarily upper, middle, or lower. No human condition can define you, for you are the pure soul, descended from God who, for all eternity, is your essential, ever-changeless Reality.

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To be creative, first relax your mind, then offer it up to God. Every worthwhile accomplishment was conceived first in the Infinite.

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The teachings of Jesus Christ, and of every great spiritual master, are as fresh, true, and alive today as when they were first declared. Truth never changes with time. Its expression may vary with fluctuations in human understanding, but love, wisdom, and joy are eternal realities. There is no need to “pound your pulpit,” emotionally. All that anyone needs is the awareness that Truth, as taught in all true scriptures, is forever one. Our souls came from God, and our divine assignment is to merge back at last into Him.

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Never depend on your own powers alone. They are inevitably fragile, weak, and inconsistent. But if you place your trust in God, you will find that He readily meets your needs. Ask Him with faith; don’t plead or wheedle with Him. Say, rather, “This is what I am trying to accomplish for You. I need Your strength and guidance to do it well. I’ll do what I can, but You have to do the rest.” Don’t be afraid that you might offend Him by your presumption. Why should He mind? If your desire is to please Him, how can He not approve? Before beginning many a job that I later completed successfully, I’ve said to Him, “I can’t do this on my own, but You can do anything! So come along now: Help me!”

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Give up thinking, “This is mine! all mine!” Tell God, with regard to everything in your life, “This is Thine! all Thine! Nothing is my own except under franchise from Thee.” The less you think of anything as your own, the freer in yourself you will be. And the more you think of everything as His, the more joy will thrill your heart, until you yourself become pure Bliss.

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Emanate peace in all directions from your heart. Harmonize the vibrations there; then radiate them out to your environment. Feel them entering all hearts, everywhere.

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Imagine every difficulty, every desire, every attachment soaring up and away from you like a balloon, growing smaller with distance until it disappears. Then return to your essential Self, and enjoy your release into infinite freedom.

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Work at simplifying your view of life. Seek the simple unity beneath life’s endlessly bewildering complexity. Complexity, whether in work or in relationships, only creates more complexity. To be divinely childlike means to discover perfect oneness in God’s bliss.

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How modern do we owe it to ourselves to be? I myself was born in the then-backward, nearly medieval land of Romania. Never have I made a great effort to bring myself into the modern age. Scientific discoveries have swirled around me. New fads have sprung up. New slang has been tossed merrily from person to person. New ways of looking at things have popped up like jacks-in-the-box. I have chosen to keep myself a little apart from it all, accepting only as much of it as would help me. (These pages, for instance, are being written on a computer.) I say: Pass serenely through life’s fairground of excitements, but let nothing touch you that might take you out of yourself. I myself never watch television, unless for some very specific purpose. I don’t care to be either modern or old-fashioned. Time passes, but divine truth remains forever the same. Why not live in timelessness?

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The Italians have a saying, “Se non è vero, è ben trovato: If it isn’t true, at least it’s well said.” Don’t, however, be lured too far from your own center by the attractive power of epigrams. Where truth is concerned, laugh if you feel to, but in the end, be serious.

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As you wash your body daily, so also, before going to bed in the evening, cleanse your heart of all impure desires and attachments. Free your mind of wrong thoughts, and offer yourself into the clear stream of Divine Bliss.

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Think vastness! Think eternity! Don’t be limited to your present realities. See your thoughts as waves on the vast ocean of cosmic awareness.

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If someone ridicules you, laugh with him if you can. But if his ridicule is mere buffoonery, quietly look away and say nothing. And if he mocks your principles, answer him as he deserves: “Mockery comes easily, to the ignorant.” Has someone slighted you? Thank him. Has someone hurt your feelings? Thank him. Every blow to your ego can boost your soul-awareness. On the other hand, if someone tries to destroy your work, protect it, but be thankful for the reminder that everything is maya: delusion. True fulfillment will be yours only when you’ve escaped Satan’s clutches forever.

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Love others as extensions of your own Self. See everyone as specializing on behalf of the whole human race in being himself.

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A true friend is one with whom you can weep, and not only laugh. Be a true friend to all. Let them feel that you care for them. Weep with them not to increase their sorrow, but to wean them from it altogether. Don’t weep for yourself, however. To be a best friend to all—to yourself as well—strive always to find a way out of darkness into light.

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Include the success of others in your efforts to succeed, yourself. Better a stream that makes green a whole valley than an oasis surrounded by vast stretches of sand.

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Attachment binds one to things in the way that unripe fruit clings to its branch, even when buffeted by high winds. Be like a ripe fruit, which instantly drops when it is brushed by a mere breeze. At the slightest hint of adversity, remember God, and release your grasp on the tree-branch of delusion.

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If you want to improve your circumstances, work first on improving yourself. To desire better treatment from others is, in a sense, to enslave yourself to them. Become a cause in life, not an effect. Self-dependence is independence, and a mark of true heroism.

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To attract abundance in your life, see money as a flow of energy, not as a static quantity. See life in the same way: as a flowing river, not as fixed patterns of behavior. Leave your ego on the bank, and enter the stream of cosmic awareness. There are no limits to how much of life’s abundance can be yours, if you will plunge into the divine current and swim there joyously.

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Let others see you, if they are so inclined, as their enemy. Resolve for your part to be their friend. More than one person in my life has said to me, “I don’t know why, but I hate you!” Well, I know why: I am true to myself, not to their desires or expectations of me. But I always answer them, “I know only that I am your friend, and will always be your well-wisher.”

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Practice patience: It is the shortest path to success. Patience will keep you calm in the face of difficulties, and will enable you to meet each obstacle effectively.

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Some conventions must be changed, certainly. Racial discrimination in America is a national disgrace, for it places fetters on the egos of all who practice it. So too is the caste system in India. That system, however, had an enlightened origin before it became hereditary. It pointed the way to liberation for all mankind. When caste became hereditary, the same abomination appeared as with racial discrimination in America. Everyone on earth is your brother or sister in God. Respect all as fellow pilgrims on the path to our final abode of Bliss.

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Show respect for convention, but remember that conventions are often started by unconventional people. Why do people stand when their national anthems are being played? It probably began with one deeply moved individual; nobody wanted to show disrespect, so everyone followed his example. Why do people stand for the “Hallelujah” chorus in Handel’s Messiah? Because King George of England did so first, and everyone had to do likewise. Most conventions have no intrinsic meaning. Usually it would be making only a foolish statement to rebel against them; they are the lubricant which keeps the machinery of society functioning smoothly. Follow convention, then, to be sociable, but respect it only if reason tells you it serves some good purpose. Ignore conventions that demean any particular social group.

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Don’t ask yourself, “How can I approach my tasks differently?” Don’t even ask, “How can I do them better?” until you’ve asked first, “What is the right thing to do, and the right way to go about doing it?”

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Do nothing for applause. Act for the far-more-satisfying approval of your own conscience. Someone once asked me, “What has motivated you to do all the things you’ve done in your life?” Conscience? yes, certainly. But conscience in reaction to the sorrows I had seen in the world, brought on by people’s ignorance of who and what they really were, as children of our universal Father/Mother God.

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Do your best, then leave the outcome in God’s hands. Attachment to results will only diminish your ability to work effectively in the present. Without attachment to results, even failure will free you to redirect your energies anew, and ever yet anew, until success is achieved.

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In recreation, seek to re-create yourself. During every pause in your activity, seek in inner peace a renewal of your creative spirit. Withdraw into your inner temple of silence, and, there, focus on re-energizing every thought, every feeling.

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In recreation, seek to re-create yourself. During every pause in your activity, seek in inner peace a renewal of your creative spirit. Withdraw into your inner temple of silence, and, there, focus on re-energizing every thought, every feeling.

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Think of others not as your competitors, but as your colleagues, even when working in the same field of endeavor as they. A thousand rivulets, conjoining, become a mighty river. Thus, indeed, are great civilizations born.

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Make originality your philosophy of life—not in the sense of trying to be different, but rather of being true to your origin in God. Originality in this sense doesn’t mean doing something that has never been done before. It means developing your own perception of the truth. The same thoughts may have occurred already to millions of people, but if the thoughts rise with fresh energy from soul-consciousness, they will never grow stale. How many lovers through the ages have exclaimed, “I love you”! Yet when the words were spoken sincerely, they never palled.

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Always listen inwardly for the voice of wise counsel. If you keep yourself fully open, you may hear suggestions even in the wind.

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Be loyal above all to truth as you yourself understand it. Always tell the truth, moreover, no matter how inconvenient you find it. Friends and relatives may try to influence you otherwise, but be like a compass needle: Point ever toward the polestar of your own integrity.

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Seek wisdom more from experience than from books. When reading advice in a book, ask yourself, “Does this counsel resonate with my own experience?” If not, put it on “hold.” Don’t scoff at it, for it may contain truths you haven’t yet discovered for yourself. But accept nothing on blind faith. Only when a truth has been lived can it be wholly known.

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Criticize no one, even if the criticism is deserved. For your words may discourage, by suggesting that improvement is impossible. Only persons of strong will power can turn negative judgment of them to good account with a strong, positive affirmation. Many years ago, disciples senior to me in my Guru’s work tried (out of envy, I think) to destroy my faith in myself. I prayed, later, “Divine Mother, they are right: I am nothing. You alone are my strength and my guide.” After all, didn’t even an ugly duckling once became a swan? Their scathing condemnation proved one of the greatest blessings of my life; it freed me to serve my Guru in ways that he himself had asked of me. Was their karma good or bad for the way they treated me? I suspect they’ll have to pay at least for their intentions. For their clear purpose was to destroy me. Ill will, like a ball attached with a rubber band to a paddle, cannot but snap back upon the paddle itself.

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Flow through life as though on a downhill ski run. Don’t puzzle your way through it as if playing a game of chess, plotting each move carefully in advance. Bring spontaneity to everything you do. The smooth flow of intuition can be disrupted by too-careful reasoning. Rely more on soul-guidance.

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Your magnetism depends on two things: your strength of will, and your level of awareness. Never impose your will on anyone. Let your influence be like a golden aura of light, surrounding you wherever you go. Project it invitingly to others. Leave it to them to accept as much from you, or as little, as they choose.

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Don’t compare yourself with others to either your advantage or their detriment. On a freeway, as many cars precede you as follow behind. Once you are in front of one cluster, you will only find yourself last in the next one. Resolve simply to go your own way, intent wholly on reaching your own destination.

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Receive praise good-humoredly. Reflect that whatever compliments you receive today may become brickbats tomorrow! Even deserved praise, if accepted too personally, may only add to one’s already-heavy burden of self-definitions. In your quest for happiness, neglect no opportunity to lighten that load.

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Think before you speak. Be circumspect both in speech and in deed. Don’t, by unseemly haste, expose yourself to misunderstandings. Why embroil yourself in unnecessary controversy?

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Give praise sincerely, but understatedly. Never flatter anyone. Praise the God in others, but not their egos, for you, as their friend, ought always to support their aspirations toward the spiritual heights.

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Have the courage to embrace the unexpected. Life is an ever-new drama. If you meet it with positive expectations, you will turn every challenge to good advantage.

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Seek guidance less from reason than from inspired feeling. For although suppressed emotions will distort the clarity of your perception, inspired feeling is intuition. In everything you do, tune in to that clarity, and you’ll always be guided correctly.

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Inspire others more by your example than by what you say. Next, seek to inspire them even more by your vibrations than by your example. An act of kindness may not be understood in the spirit you intended, but vibrations of kindness will influence people’s feelings, changing them from within. Kindness is a vibration of consciousness, and therefore has no boundaries.

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Before making an important decision in life, enter into your inner temple of silence, and there consult your higher Self. If your mind is focused, you may get your answer in an instant. Direct your question to God through the spiritual eye in your forehead. The answer will then appear in your heart as a deep, calm intuition. If you are not yet sure, ask, “Is this the right decision? If not, what ought I to do?” The correctness of the answer will depend on how one-pointedly you focus your energy. Some people take months to reach a conclusion they might have reached in a moment, if they’d concentrated deeply. Often they reach wrong conclusions anyway, simply because they expected their answer to be reasonable!

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Be graceful in your movements. Awkward or jerky gestures reflect, and also induce, disconnected thinking. But grace of movement will help bring a smooth flow to all your thinking.

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Make no special effort to be stylish. People reveal in modishness their own lack of taste. One wonders if the styles displayed in the fashion sections of newspapers and magazines aren’t actually intended to shock. Their message seems to be only, “Look at me! Look even in horror and dismay. But look!” It is difficult to imagine a stylish person being humble. Good taste seems to go with understatement. Indeed, understatement is the very essence of good taste.

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