The Mantram Handbook

But when you are actually in a depression, it doesn’t really matter what the cause is, any more than it matters at the time what made your car go into a skid. The important thing is that the mind, like the car, is out of control, and that you need to act immediately in order to get control of it again.

Now I have tremendous respect for anyone who can control his palate enough to learn not only to drink beer but to enjoy it, too. Anyone who has put that much effort into acquiring a taste should certainly be able to put that same effort into setting himself free from the tyranny of likes and dislikes too.

There is a Sufi proverb that each word we utter should have to pass through three gates before we say it. At the first gate, the gatekeeper asks, “Is this true?” At the second gate, he asks, “Is it kind?” And at the third gate, “Is it necessary?”

Om mani padme hum,which refers to the “jewel in the lotus of the heart.” This jewel is the permanent treasure of joy and security hidden deep within us, waiting to be discovered. Here the heart is compared to a lotus, which is one of the most beloved of spiritual symbols in Hinduism and Buddhism

Om Sri Ram jai Ram jai jai Ram,which I heard being chanted when my wife and I visited his spiritual community in South India many years ago. In practical language, this mantram means simply, “May joy prevail.” With the repetition of this mantram, we are praying that the abiding joy in the depths of our consciousness prevail over all that is selfish in us and bring us the joy that comes with realizing the indivisible unity of life.