We can see the same spirit in everybody only when we know we are that spirit, Atman or Self. Only a person who has understood his own Self can see that Self in everybody.
Interpretation
Understanding one's true self allows for the recognition of the same essence in others.
This quote by Swami Satchidananda emphasizes the interconnectedness of all beings through the understanding of the 'Self' or 'Atman.' It suggests that true perception of unity among individuals arises only when one recognizes and understands their own true essence, allowing for a deeper connection and empathy with others.
In practice
In a discussion about self-awareness and personal growth, one might quote this to emphasize the importance of understanding oneself.
If you have done something meritorious, you experience pleasure and happiness; if wrong things, suffering. A happy or unhappy life is your own creation. Nobody else is responsible. If you remember this, you won’t find fault with anybody. You are your own best friend as well as your worst enemy. (99)
Begin with little things daily and one day you will be doing things that months back you would have thought impossible.
Anything that you throw comes back. All your actions are echoes.
. . . I feel we don’t really need scriptures. The entire life is an open book, a scripture. Read it. Learn while digging a pit or chopping some wood or cooking some food. If you can’t learn from your daily activities, how are you going to understand the scriptures? (233)
When you win and the other fellow loses, what do you see? A losing face. There is great joy in losing and making the other person win and have a happy face. Who will be the happiest person? The one who brings happiness to others.
Yoga is not only learning to stand on your head but also learning to stand on your feet.
Cease being intimidated by the argument that a right action is impossible because it does not yield maximum profits, or that a wrong action is to be condoned because it pays.
Any judgment is past oriented, and existence is always herenow, life is always herenow. All judgments are coming from your past experiences, your education, your religion, your parents - which may be dead, but their judgments are being carried by your mind and they will be given as a heritage to your children. Generation after generation, every disease is being transferred as a heritage. Only a non-judgmental mind has intelligence, because it is spontaneously responding to reality.
I can see where creation often stops while the body still lives and often does not care to. the death of life before life dies.
People know about the Klan and the overt racism, but the killing of one's soul little by little, day after day, is a lot worse than someone coming in your house and lynching you.
There were no formerly heroic times, and there was no formerly pure generation. There is no one here but us chickens, and so it has always been.
I was a personality before I became a person - I am simple, complex, generous, selfish, unattractive, beautiful, lazy and driven.
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