ANS: Give up all the desires and cleanse your heart. Then I will grant you all that you require without asking for it.

ANS: It is only Mind. The clouds which originate from the rays of the Sun, cover the Sun Himself. When a strong wind blows, the clouds get scattered and then you can see the Sun. Just as the clouds cover the Sun, likewise the mind covers the Atma from which it has originated. Man today is drowned in ignorance and is cut off from peace and happiness.

ANS: To admit all whom you welcome and to keep out those whom you do not wish to entertain. Similarly, take care to select the impulses, the incentives that enter your mind, keeping out the demeaning, the debasing, the deleterious from the crucible of your experience.

ANS: One does not have to search for spiritual power, going around the world and spending a lot of money. Be in your own house, develop it in yourself, such spiritual power in you! You do not have to run for it here and there. God is not external; God is not outside you; God is inside you. You are not a man, your are God yourself. You are not one person, but three; the one you think you are (physical); the one others think your are (mental); and the one you really are. Do not be under the delusion that God is somewhere and you have to search for Him; God is in you.

ANS:Life is temporary; youth and wealth are temporary; kith and kin too are temporary; it is only truth and reputation that are eternal. Hold on to truth at all times. It is by dint of truth alone that you can acquire reputation. So, you must adhere to truth throughout your life and protect it as well.

ANS: Many people think that Concentration is the same thing as meditation, but there is no such connection between concentration and meditation. Concentration is something which is below your senses, whereas meditation is something which is above your senses. But many are under the false impression that concentration is identical to meditation, and they take to a wrong path. Concentration is something which we use involuntarily in our daily, normal routine life.

ANS: A devotee once lamented, saying, "Oh God! you have forgotten me!" This is never possible. It is the devotee who forgets that he is the child of God, that God is his never-failing friend and guide. God is all knowledge, all power, and all mercy. Faith in God has to be constant and firm in the face of every challenge by fate or fortune.

ANS: You are only actors on the stage before the footlights. The Director, who knows the Play, who assigns the roles, who gives the cues, who calls you in and puts you on is behind the curtain. You are a puppet; He holds the strings. If He must be seen, you have to be His 'Sakhaa' (friend) or 'Bandhu' (kinsman). Merely being an onlooker will not entitle you to approach Him and be in His Holy Company. Cultivate His Friendship or Kinship by the attitude of Love and Dedicated Service.

ANS: Before pointing to the faults of others, examine yourselves and assure yourselves that you are free from faults. That alone gives you the right; but the wonder is that you discover faults in others only when you have faults in you. Once you rid yourselves of faults, all are pure and good. Whatever you touch becomes gold; that is the Divine Alchemy of Love, Divine Love, Universal Love and Love for Love's own sake.

ANS: When you seek to learn swimming, you will have to enter the water and struggle with the strokes. When Bhasma (vibhuti) is given, doubt haunts some people whether Swami is wishing that the recipient should be a Saivite! It is a symbol of the indestructible basic substance which every being is. All things become ash; but ash remains ash, however much you may burn it. It is also a sign of renunciation, of sacrifice and of Jnana, which burns all Karma - consequently into ineffective ash. It is a sign of Ishwara and I apply it on your brow, to remind you that you too are Divine. It is a valuable 'Upadesa' about your identity. It also reminds you that the body is liable any moment to be reduced into a handful of ash. Ash is a lesson in detachment and renunciation.

ANS: The journey into the inner consciousness to calm the storms that rage is more important than the journey to moon or Mars. The latter may be more spectacular, but the former is more beneficial. Life without goodness, good thoughts, good actions, and good words is like a sky in the night without the moon or stars. It is like a wheel without hub or spokes! No one can push a boulder away while standing on it; you cannot be free from anxiety, while all the entrances through which it sneaks in are open. Stop catering to the senses and feeding the desires that haunt you.

ANS: One of the first principles of straight living is - Practice silence, for the voice of God can be heard in the region of your heart only when the tongue is stilled and the storm is stilled and the waves are calm. There will be no temptation for the others to shout, when you talk to them in whispers. Set the level of the tone yourself; as low as possible, as high as necessary to reach the boundary of the circle you are addressing. Conserve sound, since it is the treasure of the element Akaasa, an emanation from God Himself.

ANS: Three disciplines are essential, to become aware of the Divinity in all and in the Avathar; no activity should be taken up with individual aggrandizement in view; intellect and emotion must be directed to the revelation of the resident of the Heart, Atma; and every act should be done sincerely, with Love, with no yearning for acquiring personal profit, fame or benefit. Above all, listen to the voice of God within. As soon as one contemplates a wrong act, the voice warns, protests, and advises giving up. It pictures the shame that has to be suffered, the punishment that has to be faced and the disgrace it entails.

ANS: If each one does his duty, in the spirit of dedication, the light can illumine all. But, if the doors of the heart are shut against the light, how can darkness disappear? You cannot sit back and expect the incarnation to bring peace and joy into you. The incarnation comes to warn, to guide, to awaken, to lay down the path and shed the light of love on it. But, man has to listen, learn and obey with hope and faith.

ANS: God has four qualities and it is only when you cultivate them that you can understand Him. They are: Prema (Love), Soundarya (Beauty), Madhurya (Sweetness) and Shoba (Splendor). The development of Prema is enough to add into you the other three. When you are full of Prema for the Divine in all creation, that stage is beauty; when you are immersed in the sea of universal Love, you reach the acme of sweetness; when your mind loses its identity and merges with the universal Mind, then there is splendor indescribable.

ANS: One who lacks faith can never understand God. Yad Bhavam Tad Bhavathi (as are the thoughts so will be the result). How can one who has no faith in himself trust others? What is the use of one's life if one cannot believe anybody? So, first and foremost, develop self-confidence. When you have self-confidence, you will love society. One who loves society will be loved by God. If you do not love society, how can you expect society to love you? Build the mansion of your life on the firm foundation of self-confidence. On the foundation of self-confidence, you can raise the walls of self-satisfaction. On the walls of self-satisfaction, you can lay the roof of self-sacrifice. Only then can you lead a life of self-realisation.