The following quotes are from the spiritual and mystical travelogue ‘Companions in Solitude’ authored by Shriram Sharma Acharya. Here the author has been called to the Himalayas by his own Guru, in order to receive guidance from the Divine Rishis -referred to as ‘The Parliament of Rishis (sages)’ living in their astral format in the Himalayas and influencing world affairs through their meditative powers.
The mission and objective of the Rishis is to generate enough spiritual energy in the world so that the minds and thoughts of people can be changed away from a path of self destruction to self reformation.
The mission and objective of the Rishis is to generate enough spiritual energy in the world so that the minds and thoughts of people can be changed away from a path of self destruction to self reformation.
As Shriram Sharma Acharya journeys through the Himalayas to meet the Rishis, he travels into the arduous Himalayan terrain and takes inspiration from the natural beauty around him (trees, bears, yellow flies, vegetation, dangerous paths, rivers, and hilly inclines) and draws learning’s from them. All the quotes here reference nature, its glory, and compel us to think about our current life, our life style, how we have deviated from our intended path, and how we can be INSPIRED to change for the better. These are a must read.
Changing the way we think:
''Thoughts can be checkmated by counter thoughts. Spiritual masters, therefore, teach us the importance of chasing away evil thoughts by noble thoughts. Evil thoughts, however strong they may be, can by nullified by counter thoughts.''
(By Shriram Sharma Acharya- Companions in Solitude, page 65)
Material wealth and happiness don’t necessarily go together:
"The selfish people think only of themselves, only about the profit and loss to self. They consider none to be their own. So they remain deprived of the joy of community. Their conscience is asleep and devoid of any noble feelings. There arose in my imagination, the examples of some persons who had everything by way of riches, wealth and earthly means of comfort; but due to their self centered outlook they had nobody to call their own. All of them were neurotically unhappy."
(By Shriram Sharma Acharya- Companions in Solitude, page 64)
Focus your energy to reach a worthwhile and achievement oriented life:
"It is observed by me that the trees which are tall and straight (Pine and Cedar) have not sprouted their branches all around. They have grown straight to the top without caring to turn this way and that. The underlying principle is that when energy is focused, one naturally rises high.
Contrary to this, the bent and crooked trees that had no firmness or consistency spread their branches in all directions, as if dissipating their energy in enjoying the tastes of all sides, chasing instant gratification and success. In this endeavour the trees spread small branches in all directions, with bodies giving appearance of being big (false pride?). Time passes. The roots find it hard to procure enough water and manure to feed all the branches. As a result, the growth is hampered and the twigs become thin and weak. The trunk of the tree also grows weak and cannot gain much height. When dispersed in all directions, how can it remain strong? Unlike these Dadra and Pinkhu trees, wise people do not dissipate their energies but force it towards achieving worthwhile high aims like the Pine and Cedar trees."
(By Shriram Sharma Acharya- Companions in Solitude, Page 49)
Restrict your field of activity and stay focused:
"Man remains unhappy because of his activities being scattered in numerous fields. So he cannot create anything worthwhile. But when a man restricts his fields of activity and concentrates his energy thereon, astonishing results are found to be achieved."
(By Shriram Sharma Acharya- Companions in Solitude, Page 48)
Resource de-centralization a pre-requisite for global peace and happiness:
"For actualizing humanity’s dream of Universal peace and contentment, power and resources will have to be decentralized and in that system everyone will be living happily and contented by one’s own labour."
(By Shriram Sharma Acharya- Companions in Solitude, Page 39)
Root cause of war amongst nations and their people:
"The terrible machines roaring like demons are destroying the health, social relations, and morality. Unbridled industrialization, and capitalism, which are being called the pillars of modern developmental process, will eventually lead to violent social upheaval.
Limited industrialization is acceptable. Big industries lead to concentration of wealth in the hands of a few industrialists. The root cause of all the war clouds hovering over the world today is the insatiable greed for capturing and monopolizing the markets for industries."
(By Shriram Sharma Acharya- Companions in Solitude, Page 38)
Don’t be cowed down by public opinion while doing what is right:
"There are many ghostly phantoms rooted in our life, due to which we remain constantly under unfounded fears from family, neighbours and society. Under the false notion that we will be looked upon as poor and ordinary fellows if we do not indulge in pomp and show, many of us incur heavy expenditures beyond our means. It is appropriate to be conscious of public opinion when the question of morality and character arises, but not with regard to being forced by fear of social stigma to incur exorbitant expenses on social functions, marriages, post death rites etc. We must stand firmly against such phantom fears."
(By Shriram Sharma Acharya- Companions in Solitude, Page 35)
Most of our fears our imagined and not real:
"With all kinds of worries, troubles, dilemmas, provocations, desires and ill will staring at us from all sides, the world appears to be terribly evil and frightening. Everything here appears frightful like the bear. But when the light of knowledge of the self dawns, when the fog of ignorance fades away, we realize the folly of having assumed cows to be bears.
When the light of true knowledge dawns, we realize that those whom we thought to be enemies are in fact reflections of our inner states of deluded minds; basically all are sparks of the Spirit. If God is flawless, his creations too must be intrinsically auspicious and benevolent. It is like imagining a frightful “Bhalu” out of a nourishing “Aloo”.(Note- The word ‘Bhalu’ refers to a BEAR in Hindi and ‘Aloo’ refers to a potato).
(By Shriram Sharma Acharya-Companions in Solitude, Page 35).
Resources created by the Almighty are for all- hence use only what is essential for you and no more:
"We human beings are behaving in an avaricious way. The vast resources created by the Almighty are to be equitably shared and used by all, instead they are being rapaciously grabbed by a few of us for ourselves alone. We never pause to think that the needs of our body and even our family are limited and that our amassing the nature’s resources beyond our needs would deprive others of even their bare survival needs. The excess acquisition only helps feed the ego’s insatiable hunger of being the owner of vast resources; which one cannot keep with oneself forever."
(By Shriram Sharma Acharya-Companions in Solitude, Page 30).
Children learn from, and are reprimanded by adults when they stray from the right path, but who is to teach and reprimand the adults of the true meaning of life?
"We are more deeply and pitiably entangled in transitory and meaningless worldly pleasures and attractions than the small children are in playing with their toys and paper boats. The grownups admonish the children for their lack of foresight and for spending their valuable time in fun and frolic, instead of attending to studies. But who will admonish the grownups who like puppies dance to the strings of sensual pleasures instead of upliftment of the soul. Who will convince the grownups that the aim of life is not sensual pleasures or gratification of desires but self realization".
(By Shriram Sharma Acharya-Companions in Solitude, Page 28)
The path to righteous living is our solace and support during difficult times in life:
"If we always remember that death can pounce upon us any moment, we may not indulge in chasing illusory pleasures. The journey of life is like the just concluded journey of today, which called for the need of keeping every step consciously, cautiously, and correctly. If a single step is taken wrongly or carelessly it might mean our straying away from the true aim of life. If life is dear to us, than in order to make it worthwhile it is necessary that we are ever alert and conscious of every step of the path.
Life is full of responsibilities like that of the travelers walking along the narrow path alongside the edge of the Ganga (in the Himalayas). Only after negotiating it successfully, can we hope of reaching our cherished goal of self fulfillment. The path of duty is narrow like the footpath described above. Carelessness will make you slip and fall into a bottomless pit of darkness, thus depriving you of the chance to achieving the true aim of life in this incarnation. Clutching to the wall of righteousness will help maintain the balance and help minimize the fear of leaning towards the edge of abysmal depths. In difficult times this wall is our solace and support ".
(Note: The book "Companions in Solitude' has now been re-printed as "Colleagues in Solitude". The pages referenced here may vary based on the book edition being used ).
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Source and credits:
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