Sri H. W. L. Poonja, known as Papaji, was born in Punjab on 13 October 1910 (until 6 September 1997). He was a teacher of Self-enquiry, and for some time, he was a disciple of Sri Ramana Maharshi, the renowned Indian sage.
Though Papaji denied being part of any formal tradition, he is considered by many to be a teacher of the Advaita Vedanta and Bhakti.
After retirement and extensive traveling, Papaji settled down in Lucknow, India, where many thousands of people from around the world came to visit him. Several books have been published with quotes, sayings, teachings and interviews.
Below, you will find a few of Papaji’s quotes and sayings.
Papaji Quotes
“Simply sit down, keep quiet. keep quiet for one moment. this is the moment you need, this is the moment of rest. keep quiet for a moment without going to the past and you will find relaxation.”
“If there is peace in your mind you will find peace with everybody. If your mind is agitated you will find agitation everywhere. So, first find peace within, and you will see this inner peace reflected everywhere else. You are this peace.”
“That ocean of eternal peace is you. What is the difficulty that we suffer from? It is that we seek peace elsewhere and do not experience that we are peace incarnate itself.”
“If you see the illusion you are enlightened, but if you think that you are enlightened you are in the illusion!”
“What is purification of the mind? No thought. This thought-less mind, sattvic mind, no mind, can be called Consciousness itself. Self itself.”
“Thoughts are impediments to seeing your own face. Don’t give rise to any thought, and discover who you are.”
“If you address the mind with “Who are you?” it will disappear.”
“Mind is nothing but thought. You can’t separate thought itself from the mind.”
“Whatever comes, let it come. What stays, let it stay. What goes, let it go.”
“All that you are attached to, all that you love, all that you know, someday will be gone. Knowing this, and that the world is your mind which you create, play in, and suffer from, is known as discrimination. Discriminate between the Real and the Unreal, the known is unreal and will come and go so stay with the Unknown, the Unchanging, the Truth.”
“Who is journeying for freedom? The one who is already free. Just get rid of the concept, “I am the body, separate from the source.” You return to what you always were.”
“Nothing arises without Self. All existence is one in one’s own Self.”
“You have to be very careful, to be vigilant, to see what is coming from the mind, and to see the happiness that is coming from the self.”
“Thoughts are impediments to seeing your own face. Don’t give rise to any thought, and discover who you are.”
“Don’t go to the past. The past is a problem, the past is mind. When you go to the past, all will be problems so don’t go to the past. The mind is the past and the past is a graveyard. don’t go the graveyard.”
“When we use the word “I”, there is ego. Then there is the mind, then there is a body, then there are senses, then there are sense objects, and then all manifestation arises.”
“Meditation is to effortlessly turn the mind toward that energy which energizes mind.”
“Reality is that which always exists and never changes.”
“The self alone can give you happiness. all happiness is from the self. all trouble, sorrow and suffering is from the mind.”
“Anything that you have imposed on yourself to be unhappy, to be bound, is a concept. It is an imaginary concept, so give it away.”
“Abide as the self and do your duties in the world without being attached to them in any way.”
“The Silence that I speak about is neither meditating nor sitting quiet. The Silence that I speak about has nothing to do with meditation or talking or not talking because then the mind is still running about here and there and everywhere. What I mean by Silence is that should be no thought rising from the mind. No thought rising from your mind is Silence.”
“It is all your desires that you see, when you think. But when your mind is quiet, without desire, you are complete and as wonderful as you have always been.”
“Stillness of mind comes from giving up all attachments except that attachment to Self.”
“When the mind is quiet, all is Self.”
Related: Sri Ramana Maharshi Quotes.
“When mind moves the world arises, so be still, throw away everything, and be free.”
“Self is what you are. You are That Fathomlessness in which experience and concepts appear. Self is the Moment that has no coming or going. It is the Heart, Atman, Emptiness. It shines to Itself, by Itself, in Itself.”
“You are all lions – so go your own way. Do not walk the beaten path like sheep, one after another. Do not follow any path. Lions do not follow each other like sheep.”
“Self is what gives breath to Life. You need not search for It. It is Here. You are That through which you would search. You are what you are looking for! And That is All it is.”
“You are the unchangeable Awareness in which all activity takes place.”
Papaji Quotes – (H.L. Poonja) from various sources.
Quotes Directory >> Papaji Quotes