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Quotes and Teachings of Maharajji - Baba Neem KaroliHis mode of teaching was through simple stories and practical examples. With small nuggets he transformed total personalities, that is his power/miracle.
The lessons Maharajji taught about rituals were fraught with paradox that outdistanced the rational mind. He seemed concerned that the rituals be done properly, yet he broke all the rules. But as one devotee said: "When there was work, he would set aside the rituals, and the minute the work was completed, he sent you to do puja." Perhaps he also broke the rules, such as upsetting the fire ceremony, to show people that the thing itself was not the ritual but the spirit. Do the ritual to tune in, but don't get caught. Once, two old men who had taken sanyas after raising families and having done their duties, spent many months at the Kainchi temple (near the hill-station Naini Tal in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh). Maharajji heard them singing "Sita Ram" for several hours each morning. When it was time for them to leave, Maharajji called them in front of him and, in what appeared to be outrage, yelled at them for beating an iron pan in front of the idols. In the scriptures, iron is not to be used in the temples. Maharajji told them that they didn't know how to behave properly and so he threw them out. As they turned to walk away, Maharajji broke into a grin and sang in a high falsetto voice, sweetly: "You beat the gong, and I threw you out." --------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------- Reading the Gita in front of Maharajji, a devotee paused and asked him what was the quickest and shortest method to see God. Maharajji laughed and asked the man if he knew how to swim. The devotee replied that he did. Then Maharajji said that, in that case, he should first bind his arms and legs, tie himself to large boulders and throw himself into deep water. "Then, you'll see God right away," he concluded. --------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------- Maharajji was talking in a room with only a few people, and to one man the talk appeared meaningless. He said: "Babaji, you should give instructions and lessons to people." Maharajji didn't answer. "Sometimes," the man went on, "give us answers and teach us something." Again Maharajji didn't answer him. The man repeated his statement a third time. Irritated, Maharajji shouted: "What are instructions? What is this? What are lessons? This is all foolishness!" Turning to the men standing there, Maharajji asked each how each one would pass the next day. Each man gave a similar reply, saying that he would go to work as usual. Maharajji said: "So many people would pass the day and they'll all do what they have to do tomorrow and they have all pre-planned it. What is the use of giving a particular teaching? No matter what I say, you'll still go on and do what you want. Yet you want me to dictate something. These teachings have got no meaning. It is the Almighty who teaches everybody-they all come well-taught." --------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------- One day he came out and all he said all day long was "thul-thul, nan-nan," repeating these words to himself like a mantra. Days went by like this and somebody finally said: "Maharajji, what are you saying?" And it turned out to be Kumaoni dialect and all it meant was "too big, too big, too little, too little". When he was finally asked why he was saying this, he finally said: "Oh, all you people, you live in the world of judgment. It's always too big or too little." --------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------- Neem Karoli Baba on contentment "The real contentment comes only when there is no desire, no hankering in your mind for anything. How can you say that you have got everything and do not want anything more when you are holding an empty vessel in your hand? You might be saying this with your mouth, but there would always be the worry in your mind about how the pot could be filled, always looking from side to side with the expectation that somebody will come and fill it up. Well, how can you call this contentment? When one sees that when the pot before him is full to the brim, it is emptied, and when it is empty, it is refilled of its own – that is contentment. If anyone wanted to give him anything, he would show that the pot was full already. What would he do with anything more? Even if he wanted to share it with others, where would he put it? This is the real contentment and it comes only through the grace of God. When you have full faith in Him, full reliance on Him, when you can surrender everything to Him, then that grace comes to you by itself - you do not have to ask for it or make any effort. Such is the value of faith in God." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neem Karoli Baba on Fixing mind on God Babji said this story to illustrate how one should remember God -always. Narada. never stops chanting the names of Hari. He once asked Lord Vishnu who is his most ardent devotee. Vishnu said its a poor farmer. Narada was perplexed. To clear Nardas doubt Vishnu hands him a vessel filled to the brim with oil and asks him to go to the top of mountain and come back without spilling a drop. Narada returns with the oil intact. Vishnu asks "how many times you chanted my name" Narada said my mind was fixed on oil only. Vishnu then tells him that the farmer has his MIND always fixed on me all the time despite all his days work and duties. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |