11 May 2026
Monday
Our life has its roots in the Atma, and it grows through the agitated waves of living. It can never uproot itself from its Atmic source. Man has, through the ages, sought liberation and struggled for freedom from bondage. But he has no correct appreciation of what he has to liberate himself from, what the bondage is from which he has to be freed. Many are not even aware that they are imprisoned and are bound. So, they do not even try to free themselves. Is the family, the wife and children, the prison? Are riches, properties, and possessions the bonds? Are attractions and aversions the bonds that curb him? No. None of these binds him. The tightest bond that limits his feelings and deeds is his ignorance of who he really is. Until one is aware of the Atma (divine soul), one is certain to be tossed from grief to grief, with intervals of joy.
From Swami’s discourse of 8 January 1983
Also on words from this discourse: The Swimmer and the Squirrel, 9 May 2026, The Pause Between the Ticks, 7 May 2026
Our life has its roots in the Atma, and it grows through the agitated waves of living. It can never uproot itself from its Atmic source. Man has, through the ages, sought liberation and struggled for freedom from bondage. But he has no correct appreciation of what he has to liberate himself from, what the bondage is from which he has to be freed. Many are not even aware that they are imprisoned and are bound. So, they do not even try to free themselves. Is the family, the wife and children, the prison? Are riches, properties, and possessions the bonds? Are attractions and aversions the bonds that curb him? No. None of these binds him. The tightest bond that limits his feelings and deeds is his ignorance of who he really is. Until one is aware of the Atma (divine soul), one is certain to be tossed from grief to grief, with intervals of joy.