Kindle a Fire by Any Means

"Who is it that loves and who that suffers?
He alone stages a play with Himself.
The individual suffers because he perceives duality.
Find the One everywhere and in everything
and there will be an end to pain and suffering."

"I find one vast garden spread out all over the universe.
All plants, all human beings, all higher mind bodies
are about in this garden in various ways,
each has his own uniqueness and beauty.
Their presence and variety give me great delight.
Every one of you adds with his special feature to the glory of the garden."

"God is without form, without quality as well as with form and quality.
Watch and see with what endless variety of beautiful forms
He plays the play of his maya with Himself alone.
The lila of the all pervading One goes on and on in this way in infinite diversity.
He is without beginning and without end.
He is the whole and also the part.
The whole and part together make up real Perfection."

"He alone knows to whom He will reveal Himself under which form.
By what path and in what manner He attracts any particular man to Himself
with great force is incomprehensible to the hu ma n intellect.
The Path differs indeed for different pilgrims."

"You should kindle fire by any means,
either with clarified butter or sandalwood or even straw.
Once alight, the fire burns on; all worries, darkness and gloom gradually disappear.
The fire will burn to ash all obstacles."

"Just as fire burns away all dross and rubbish,
so the three fold suffering purges man's heart from all impurity
and results in a growing single mindedness in his search after Truth.
When he becomes deeply conscious of his weakness and tormented by the thoughts
of his undesirable impulses and distressing characteristics,
when afflictions like poverty, bereavement or humiliation ma ke him feel his life is futile,
then and then only does he develop real faith and religious fervor,
and becomes anxious to surrender himself at the feet of the Supreme Being.
Suffering should therefore be welcomed.
Never does the soft moonlight appear more soothing than after the scorching heat of a summer day."

"Always bear this in mind:
Everything is in God's hands,
and you are His tool to be used by Him as He pleases.
Try to grasp the significance of 'all is His'
and you will immediately feel free from all burdens.
What will be the result of your surrender to Him?
None will seem alien, all will be your very own Self."

"To believe in Him under any particular form is not enough.
Accept Him in His numberless forms, shapes and modes of being, in everything that exists.
Aim at the whole and all your actions will be whole."

- Anandamayi Ma