Laurie L. Patton > Quotes

“The one for whom
enemy and friend,
honour and infamy,
cold and heat,
pleasure and pain,
are the same,
who has moved away
from clinging,

the one whom
curse and praise are equal,
who keeps silent,
content with whatsoever
comes his way,
without home, with steady mind,
full of devotion,
that one is dear to me.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“If a thousand suns
had risen
in the sky
all at once,
such brilliance
would be
the brilliance
of that great self.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“Weapons do not
cut the self,
nor does fire
burn it,
nor do waters
drench it,
nor does wind
dry it.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“One should lift up
the self through the self,
and one should not
make the self sink;
only the self
is friend to the self,
and only the self
is enemy to the self.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“Strong-Armed One,
the one who
neither hates nor desires
should be known
as the eternal renouncer -
the one for whom
opposites are the same,
easily freed from bondage.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“Food is also dear
to everyone
in three ways;
as sacrifice, as heat
and also as gift.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“Even if you are
the most evil
among all
doers of evil,
you will cross beyond
all wickedness
by the boat
of wisdom.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“Your authority is
in action alone,
and never
in its fruits;
motive should never be
in the fruits of action,
nor should you cling
to inaction.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“The one
who sees
the highest lord,
abiding alike
in all beings,
not dying
even as they die,
that one truly sees.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“One who stands firm,
and does not stir,
one who is seated
as if sitting apart,”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“When one finds something loved,
one shouldn't be excited;
when one finds something unloved,
one shouldn't tremble.
With insight firm,
without confusion,
knowing Brahman,
one abides in Brahman.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“Arjuna,
the lord of all beings
dwells in the place
of the heart,
and causes all beings
to wander in illusion,
as if following
a great cosmic map.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“When you have made
pleasure and pain the same -
also gain and loss,
and victory and defeat,
then join yourself
to battle;
and in this way,
you will not cause harm.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“Clinging is born
to someone
who dwells on
the spheres of the senses;
desire is born
from clinging;
and anger is born
from desire.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“Son of Kunti,
pleasures
born of sensations
are like wombs filled with pain;
they have a beginning
and an end,
so the wise one
does not rejoice in them.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“Being is not found
in that which does not exist.
Non-being is not found
in that which exists.
The limit of both
being and non-being
is perceived by those
who see the truth.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“The one who lets go
of an action
because of difficulty,
or fear of bodily pain,
thus carries out letting go
in a rajasic way,
and will not attain
the fruit of that letting go.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“Yoga is not about
eating too much,
nor is it about
not eating at all.
It is not about the practice
of sleeping too much,
nor is it about
keeping awake.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“Son of Kunti,
through that which arises
out of your own nature,
bound by your own action
in confusion
you will do
even that which
you do not want to do.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“They say
that the senses are crucial;
and the mind more crucial
than the senses;
and even more crucial
than the mind is insight;
and much more crucial
than insight, in this (self).”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“As moths
that fly
to their full
will rush to death
in the blazing fire,
so, too, worlds
rush to death
in your mouths.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“Humans are made
of trust;
they grow to become
whatever they trust.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“The highest self
of the victorious one,
the peaceful one,
is composed
in cold and heat,
pleasure and pain,
so also in pride
and disgrace.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“It is a wonder
that anyone sees this,
and a wonder
that anyone else speaks it,
and a wonder
that yet another hears it.
Yet even when they've heard it,
no one knows it at all.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“One who has no hatred
for any being,
a compassionate friend,
without the sense of 'mine',
without making an 'I',
one who is patient,
for whom pain and pleasure
are the same,”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“Son of Kunti,
the wisdom of the wise
is covered by
this eternal enemy;
covered by a fire
in the shape of desire,
a fire which is
always hungry.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“In this world,
there is no purifier
like wisdom;
in time, one who is
oneself perfected
by yoga
finds that wisdom
in the self.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“Son of Kunti,
one should not let go
of one's natural action,
even if it is flawed.
All beginnings
are surrounded
by error, as fire
is surrounded by smoke.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“Even if you are
the most evil
among all
doers of evil,
you will cross beyond
all wickedness
by the boat
od wisdom.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“Looking at all
his relatives
come together
in both armies,
the son of Kunti

broke down with deep compassion
and said,
'Krishna, now that
I have seen
my own people here,
coming near and
longing to fight,

my legs
collapse
my mouth
is parched,
my body
trembles,
and my hair
bristles;

the Gandiva bow
drops from my hand,
my skin
is burned,
and I find
no rest;
my mind
seems to wander;

I see perverse omens;
and before me
I see no good
in killing
my people
in battle,
Lovely-Haired Krishna!”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita