Cool Speech Dissolves Ego Let the ego melt while speaking so words cool others and the speaker alike. Gentle speech quiets agitation and spreads calm. A mind that releases self-importance turns language into soothing shade.
Find the Fault Within, Not in Others Searching the world for the wicked finds none; searching the heart reveals the worst within. Self-scrutiny ends blame and begins change. Fault-finding turns inward to become purification.
Remember in Joy to Avert Sorrow If remembrance rises in comfort, grief finds no doorway. Gratitude during ease steadies the mind before storms arrive. Devotion formed in sunshine keeps night from swallowing the path.
The Guru’s Nectar and the Universe Within The body is a creeper of poison; the Guru is a mine of nectar. Even if you meet the Guru, never price that grace cheap, for the inner world holds the whole universe. Were earth paper and the seven seas ink, their flood could not record the Guru’s virtues.
Usefulness Over Size; Welcome the Critic Growing tall like a date-palm gives neither shade to travelers nor fruit within reach. Greatness is service, not stature. Keep the critic close in your courtyard; without water or soap, such friction polishes the heart.
Life Bubbles and the Restless Mind Human life flickers like water bubbles, vanishing as quickly as they form. Illusion does not die and the body does; the mind keeps running. The mind turns into a bird and flies away, leaving grasped things behind.
Surrender the ‘I’; the Beloved Lives Within Nothing in “me” is mine; whatever is, belongs to You, and returns to You. As oil hides in the seed and fire sleeps in flint, the Beloved dwells within—awake if you can. Stop chasing outward like the musk-deer and rest in the fragrance already inside.
Compassion, Wisdom, and the Company of Saints Where compassion abides, dharma stands; where greed rules, sin gathers. Ask not a seeker’s caste, ask for knowledge, and price the sharp sword, not the quiet sheath. Pilgrimages give little, meeting a saint bears manifold fruit, and finding the true Guru yields even more. Many make the body a yogi; few make the mind a yogi.
Do It Now; Reap What You Sow; Love and the Name Are Priceless What you plan for tomorrow, do today, for in a blink the world can overturn. Thorn seeds grow to thorns; plant babul and no mangoes will appear. Love never sells in markets; the king himself must offer his head to win it. The treasure of the Name lies open to plunder—take it while the lanes are full.