Theos Casimir Bernard

 

"In the Orient, it has been accepted that man can know metaphysical truths by direct experience. He need not depend upon speculation, inference, or faith. The literature is replete with the writings of men who are said to know the whole truth of Nature and human existence, and the teachings of these men have been set forth in the philosophical systems of ancient India.

Yogananda

 

Yogananda taught his students the need for direct experience of truth, as opposed to blind belief. He said that “The true basis of religion is not belief, but intuitive experience. Intuition is the soul’s power of knowing God. To know what religion is really all about, one must know God.”

Swami Sivananda

 

“Eating, drinking, sleeping! A little laughter! Much weeping! Is that all ? Do not die here like a worm. Wake up! Attain Immortal Bliss.”

Swami Atmaswarupananda

 

What is it to be dead, to be asleep, to be in a state of non-existence? It is to be lost in our thoughts. This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t have thoughts; the problem is we’re lost in them and totally identified with them. To be awake, to be alive is when our consciousness shifts from being lost in thought to being aware of thought.

Swami Chidananda

 

The question is, how on earth can we fail to see Him when everything that exists is nothing but that one Being in multifarious shapes, names, forms? Even if you want to, you cannot miss Him. Even if you say, I will not perceive Him at all, and close all your senses, there He is within the inwardness of your being. Because, He is within and without.

Dr. Hiro G Badlani

 

The Rishis, however, recognized this cosmic phenomenon, and they called it Brahman - the transcendental, supreme, the eternal soul, which pervades everything, everywhere, at all times. The world is there, and we are there because of this source of power behind us. In fact, all our power and intelligence is simply extended to us from this eternal source. The concept of universal Brahman sowed the seeds of spiritual unity."

J G Arora

 

"As per Gita, we are not just the body, the material beings. Rather, we are spiritual beings, the imperishable Aatma. The knowledge that we are the Aatma, a part of divinity, gives the proper direction to our life. Liberating us from our limitations, bondages, attachments, aversions, ego, greed, anger and fears

Satyanand Stokes

 

In Hinduism he found the validation of his rejection of the Christian idea of eternal punishment. His belief in universal salvation, transmigration of the soul and the non-existence of sin as a power in opposition to holiness show him closer to the Vedantic philosophy.

Walter Raymond Drake

 

The Creation in Genesis seems a primitive version of the profound teaching of the Days and Nights of Brahman; the tale of Noah an echo of Vaivasvata warned by Lord Vishnu to build a ship for the coming Flood; the Jewish Kabbala and various events in the Bible can be traced to Hindu scriptures written many centuries earlier.  

Daniel Joseph Boorstin

 

Samsara, the transmigration of the soul from one life to another, perpetuated the separateness of the individual. The object for all was to “get off the wheel,” to escape the cycle, and merge finally into the original One.