A single apple represents the whole tree from which it came. Just because you cannot see the tree when you look at the apple does not prove the tree does not exist. On the other hand, as the tree grows, the apple appears and then falls and dissolves back into the earth from whence it has sprung. We could say there was no individual existence of apple but only the tree's growth and development are real. It is like that with the coming and going of souls. Just as the potential of the tree and the apple expands and contracts, so does the entire universe of individual names, forms and beings within it. Swami Muktibodhananda

Unruffled state of the mind, poise, cheerfulness, inner strength, capacity to turn out difficult works, success in all undertakings, power to influence people, a magnetic and dynamic personality, magnetic aura on the face, sparkling eyes, steady gaze, powerful voice, a magnanimous gait, unyielding nature, fearlessness, etc., are some of the signs or symptoms that indicate one's 'will' is growing.

The source of all life, the source of all knowledge, is Atman, your innermost Self. This Atman or supreme Soul is transcendent, inexpressible, uninferable, indescribable, the ever-peaceful, all-blissful. It is Omnipotent; the more you reflect upon its infinite Strength, and the more you are conscious of this inner Power of the Infinite in you, the greater is your will-power. Swami Sivananda

As long as there are thought impressions and tendencies, there will be more reincarnation. The tendency of the ego itself must be broken down, for it, too, is illusion. Maya projects qualities onto the individual, and he thinks that he is tall, fat, man, woman, talented or dull. When all such ideas, good as well as evil, have been overcome, the soul stands alone. Swami Vishnu-devananda

For you there is no birth or death,
for you there is no mind,
for you there is no bondage or liberation,
no good or evil.
Why do you weep, my child?
Neither you nor I have name and form. Dattatreya,
Avadhuta Gita

Offerings to God need not necessarily be rich and costly things. What did the lord of elephants (Gajendra) offer? Only a flower from the tank. Draupadi offered a vegetable leaf and Sabari some wild plums. But the Lord was pleased. It is the feeling of love for God that God takes into account and not the material that is offered. He is pleased even with leaves and mere water. Swami Sivananda

Who is God? What is God?
Is there a God? Where is God?
How to realise God?

Man wants an answer to these eternal questions,
Certainly there is God.
God exists; He is the only Reality.
God is your Creator, Saviour and Redeemer.

He is all-pervading, He dwells in your heart,
He is always near you.
He is nearer to you than your jugular vein or nose.
He loves you; He can talk to you.

You cannot find God by the intellect,
But by feeling, meditation, experience and realisation. Swami Sivananda

Life in God is free from sorrow and pain. It is full, rich, perfect and independent. It is full of wisdom and eternal bliss. Live in God, in the inner Divine Being. Swami Sivananda

Keeping up the balance of mind in pleasure and pain, heat and cold, gain and loss, success and failure, praise and censure, respect and disrespect is wisdom. This practice is a trying discipline indeed, but it gives inner spiritual strength. He who is able to keep a balance of mind at all times, in all conditions, even under extreme provacation, is a mighty potentate on earth. He must be adored. He is a most wealthy man, though he is clad in rags, though he has nothing to eat. Swami Sivananda

A beehive is all quiet; when you disturb it with a stick, bah! swarms of bees start chasing you. Our inside also is like that, all the evils are there; but so long as they are not attacked by the rod of Sadhana they do not seem to bother us. But once they sense the impending danger, they start harassing you with all their might. Be bold and face all obstacles. Swami Sivananda

Peace is within. Search for peace within the chambers of your own heart, through one-pointed concentration and meditation. If you do not find peace there, you will not find it anywhere else. Swami Sivananda

There is happiness when agreeable things are presented to the mind. It is the happiness inherent to the Self, and there is no other happiness. And it is not alien and afar. You are diving into the Self on those occasions which you consider pleasurable; that diving results in self-existent bliss. But the association of ideas is responsible for foisting that bliss on other things or occurrences while, in fact, that bliss is within you. On these occasions you are plunging into the Self, though unconsciously. If you do so consciously, with the conviction that comes of the experience that you are identical with the happiness which is verily the Self, the one Reality, you call it Realization. I want you to dive consciously into the Self, i.e., into the Heart. Sri Ramana Maharshi

Man is God in disguise who puts on a garb in fun, but quickly forgets his true identity. Desire drags him down. Discrimination lifts him up. God became man. Man will become God again. Swami Sivananda