onward to god with the guru's teachings

Why tie yourselves into knots with unnecessary worries? You see, when you are travelling in a train, you do not put your luggage on your head! The place for it is the rack. You keep it there and sit down happily. Similarly why not hand over our worries to God? He is there and will look after everything for you.

Prescriptive Takeout: Surrender or saranagathi

If there is a big vessel the guru can pour plenty of water or nectar into it. But if the vessel is small, what can the Guru do? The Guru can pour only that much into it which it can hold. Your heart is the vessel. If you fill it with worldly things and worldly thoughts, there will be little place for God.  Instead fill your heart with humble trust, faith and devotion to Him and then your surrender will become perfect. Divine experiences will follow.

Prescriptive Takeout: Illusory world/ seek purpose

If He could do it then, will He not do it now? It is only for us to call and He will respond. We have only our duty to do. That is, live clean, good lives. Yatho Dharmas Thatha Krishna. Yatho Krishnas Thatho Jaya. So when you have lived that clean, good life, a Dharmic life, you can expect Krishna's help, protection, His blessings, and more than anything else, His Divine Grace that comes only much later. But still, you are on the way. A clean, good life, a pure life - that is not asking much. 

Prescriptive Takeout: How to live

When you take anything, any object and use it, if you put it back in its place, you will find it much easier later to find it and to use it again. If you are careless and leave things scattered about, you will lose valuable time in searching for them. Similarly with the mind, its proper place of rest is at the Lord's feet. You have to use it for many things and for long periods in a day, but when you have finished, keep it back where it belongs - at His Feet. 

Therapeutic Takeout: Self-discipline is a simple principle 

When something unpleasant happens to you, don't waste your time blaming the circumstances or persons that caused it. Rather pray to God for strength. When the crocodile seized Gajendra, he prayed "Narayana, Guru of All Beings, prostrations to you!". He did not pray "Kill the crocodile, Kill the crocodile!" 

Therapeutic Takeout: Focus/ Self awareness 

Some people pretend to be humble, when they are not really - that is called false pride. It is not humility. Now, when you have true humility, which rises from a really strong character, a good character, you are a totally different person. There must be strength in the character, if you want to be humble. Because you have knowledge. Knowledge that there are so many people in the world - and each one has got his own faults. It is not as if it is only a person whom you particularly hate who has got so many faults. All the people in the world have faults, including you. Put yourself first. If you cannot control your anger, greed or desire, understand that others are also in the same boat. They are no better. Then, what is the point in getting angry with them? When you yourself can't do a thing about it, why should they? 

Therapeutic Takeout: Need for humility and empathy/Not to feel entitled 

This is what they call Saranagathi. It is called Surrender to God. You do your duty to perfection and then leave everything to Him. After that you should not worry. You should leave it to Him. And you find, He helps you and - He helps you so much that you yourself will be shocked. But unless you put yourself forward, and appeal to Him, nothing can happen. You can't expect God to be your servant. You are His servant. That is something that you must understand.  

Philosophical Takeout: What is true surrender

"Actions do not taint me. Nor have I any thirst for the results of actions. He, who knows Me thus is not fettered by action. " Fettered by action means tied up with love of results. You want to get something out of it. There is nobody who does anything for free. Nobody does it. So He shows Himself as an example. As an example, He says that He does all the actions in the world - everything -  and yet He is untainted. You find the true Krishna manifesting when people like Kuchela approach Him; then He throws everything away. He forgets everything. He remembers only his beloved Bhaktha . The fact that there are people in the world who love Him for Himself - who act for Him and not for themselves - makes Him reveal Himself.

Philosophical Takeout: Unconditional love/the doctrine of unconditional bhakthi

There is nothing that is beyond a human being. Because a human being is part of God. The jivatma is part of the Paramatma. You must remember that. A spark of God. That spark grows larger and larger and finally merges with the original flame. That is all that is in all the Vedas.

Philosophical Takeout: Simple truths from the greatest knowledge 

Divine Grace, can be quite difficult to attain, very hard maybe and the process is heart-rending sometimes, but it still comes. It is worthiness that matters. How worthy is the Devotee to receive it. There is a law that governs all this, just like cosmic laws and laws of the world. In the moral world, there are moral laws that are strong and unchangeable. This must be understood...

The minute we are born here a big veil of maya comes and covers us. When that maya comes we don’t remember anything at all. You think that you are born here. All the family that you have here, they are the most important to you and nothing else matters. You live in this world just for yourself and those you consider yours, you don’t remember how you are born here...

Krishna says “these three are the three gates of hell” anger, greed and desire.

Once you surrender to God you will find that all these things disappear automatically, because in your mind looms only God, and not anybody else or anything else.  The mind becomes so lost in Him.  You are not interested in the world.  There is no desire...

When you have God in the form of your Guru, what happens? Guidance, protection, grace, shelter, elevation and if qualified even salvation comes your way. The demands the Guru places on you are not many. In fact simple. Absolute faith and unquestioning obedience. Some of us have been blessed with these qualities. Even more blessed that we have Her Holiness Sri Sathguru Swami Gnanananda Sarasvathi as our Guru and beacon...

Sri Sri Sri Vishnu Mohan

an ideal disciple placed everything before me, whatever reactions he received whether they were good or bad or indifferent and forgot about it afterwards. He did not think it was done to him. Once he placed it before me, he forgot it and so he was always happy, peaceful and calm. The happiness which comes from worldly things is not really happiness – it can be spoilt easily and then becomes pain...

You must practice it. When you surrender, your are expected to do your duty to perfection. You must remember your responsibility. But expect nothing from it. The results are given to God. So He knows how to judge. If things are bad as well as good, we can't say, we want the good but we don't want the bad. Our attitude should be, you look after me, that's enough, I trust you. And he will look after you. It's my experience.