A sadness can come to a population of people who are under a system that suppresses all initiative. Mankind can’t put up with those things for too long. Sooner or later that population has to come back to its own nature of openness of the heart, kindness and harmony.

Whenever man forgets God, man suffers. Whenever man remembers God, everything starts to shine.

We are not going to be satisfied with acquiring possessions, thinking that when ‘I get this or that, then I’ll be happy.’ We all eventually awaken to the truth that the only satisfaction comes from within ourselves

When we come to the realization that the only thing we really need to change is ‘ourselves,’ we ask, what is it, that resists this change? The change essentially is of the heart, and yet the resistance is also of the heart.

The difference between greatness and mediocrity, in all fields, is energy. Energy is usually of the heart. If your heart is in something, that means you really want to do it. A carving over a fireplace said, “nothing great was ever accomplished without enthusiasm.” Kriyananda said he meditated on that for years.

Without suffering nobody would grow.

Kriyananda says, Let’s face it, life does clobber us. There are two possible solutions. You can say, alright, I’m not going to let it clobber me again; I’m going to clobber it first. And before you know it, there a hardness that settles in the heart. Most people’s hearts are hard because of that. Who suffers the most of all? They do! I say, why suffer twice. You can say instead, I’ve decided that I am happier loving than not loving. If people choose to hurt me or attack me, I’m not going to allow it to stop me from loving them.

When we feel an emotional pain, we can tend to get smaller and smaller in protectiveness. This can lead to the kind of pain that is worst of all – a shrinking of your awareness, shrinking of your identity. There is nothing to fear if you broaden your heart enough.

The heart’s feelings are the very essence of delusion. It is because of attachment, desire and wanting little things and not wanting the heights, that we remain bound.