Ajay0

I think it is the Zoroastrian religion with its dualistic concepts of light and darkness that may have influenced Judaism and the rest of the other Abrahamic religions with similar concepts of dualism. https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Zoroastrianism Angra Mainyu in Zoroastrianism could be the antecedent of the Satan in the Abrahamic religions.

“Civilization is that mode of conduct which points out to man the path of duty. Performance of duty and observance of morality are convertible terms. To observe morality is to attain mastery over our mind and passions. So doing, we know ourselves.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi “Wilfulness is not conscience. . . . Conscience is the ripe fruit of strictest discipline. . . . Conscience can reside only in a delicately tuned breast.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

You can pair the mantra chanting with meditation. Practice is best during dawn and evening, at the junctions of day and night. I remember reading about the mantra by a sage stating that the mantra should be pronounced precisely, as the sanskrit words have a lot of potency attached to them. If it cannot be precise, then chanting it with love and feeling can achieve the purpose. There are videos in the net describing the chant. Here is an article where you can find tips on the mantra... https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/soul-search/the-importance-of-chanting-gayatri-mantra-early-in-the-morning/photostory/107819231.cms?picid=107819254

Somewhere, right at the bottom of one’s own being, one generally does know where one should go and what one should do. But there are times when the clown we call “I” behaves in such a distracting fashion that the inner voice cannot make its presence felt. ~ Carl Jung The ego constantly competes with the spirit for control over your inner voice. ~ Darren Johnson “When many voices are speaking at once, listen to the one most quiet and gentle. That’s the one worth listening to. ~ Miranda Linda Weisz

Fyodor Dostoyevsky's ' Crime and Punishment' , considered by some to be the greatest novel of all time.

And everyone who wills can hear the Voice. It is within every one. But like everything else it requires previous and definite preparation. ~ Mahatma Gandhi The inner voice is something which cannot be described in words. But sometimes we have a positive feeling that something in us prompts us to do a certain thing. The time when I learnt to recognize this voice was, I may say, the time when I started praying regularly. ~ Mahatma Gandhi Presently we have to train our unconscious to function better. Then we can depend upon our instincts, that will be noble instincts. At this moment, our instincts are very impure. When we have practiced for a long time, living the higher values of life and following the instructions of great masters or the Scriptures, that is when you have trained your unconscious. Then when a situation comes, you can to an extent, depend on your inner voice. ~ Swami Chinmayananda Saraswati The word mantra comes from two Sanskrit words man, ("to think") and tra ("tool'). So the literal translation is "a tool of thought." And that's how mantras are used in Buddhist and Hindu practices, as tools that clear your mind of distractions. Because when you focus on repeating that mantra over and over again, soon the noise will die down and all you will hear is your inner voice. ~ Russell Simmons

"There is a God part in you. The consciousness. The pure Self. Learn to listen the voice of that Power.” ~ Amit Ray Beneath the surface level of conditioned thinking in every one of us there is a single living spirit. The still small voice whispering to me in the depths of my consciousness is saying exactly the same thing as the voice whispering to you in your consciousness. 'I want an earth that is healthy, a world at peace, and a heart filled with love.' It doesn't matter if your skin is brown or white or black, or whether you speak English, Japanese, or Malayalam - the voice, says the Gita, is the same in every creature, and it comes from your true Self. ~ Eknath Easwaran We have no need to teach pure motives to the mind. All that is necessary to make the mind pure is to undo the negative conditioning to which it has been subjected; then we will be left with Pure, Unconditioned Awareness. ~ Eknath Easwaran

One of the things that happens as we learn to go into silence in meditation is that we learn to hear our inner voice. This inner voice should be so beautiful that we should be able to hear it easily. It is only when we are in dead silence that we are able to properly listen to the inner voice within our heart and in our mind. In ordinary silence, thoughts come and go. They intervene and our attention can be easily distracted. But in dead silence we have the feeling that “I, the soul, am separate from the body and beyond.” It is when we are in dead silence and listening to our inner voice in this way that our words and actions become wonderful. Make time to move into dead silence and listen to your inner voice and your words and actions will be filled with wonder. ~ Dadi Janki (Brahmakumaris)

“When you don't pay attention to your intuition, or go against it, you may find that you feel a certain heaviness, lack of energy, a kind of deadness. This is because the life force is trying to come through and move you in a certain way, and it is being blocked.” ~ Shakti Gawain The more you come in contact with the inner silence, the inner emptiness, the more you have access to your intuition. Silence is the nourishment for intuition. If something increases your love, joy and silence, it is the criterion that it is the right path for you. If something decreases your love, joy and silence, it is a sign that you are on the wrong path. ~ Swami Dhyan Giten

Everyone needs to know that they have a guru, and that this guru is the Source of all the answers they need, to navigate this process of living. They need to know that this guru is the AntarAatman or Soul or Source that resides within them, and they need to know how to listen to the answers from Source. ~ Maharishika Preeti In very truth the Guru dwells within, and unless you discover the inner Guru, nothing can be achieved. ~ Anandamayi Ma "You have to be your own Guru. You must reach that point from where you guide yourself in such a way that the guiding lines become part of you."~ Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

Only in the depth of pure silence can we hear God's voice.” ~ Mata Amritanandamayi In the depths of silence, we hear the whispers of our soul and the wisdom of the universe.” ~ Mata Amritanandamayi “The whispers of intuition guide us towards the path aligned with our soul’s purpose. Trust its gentle guidance and let it lead you to your true calling.”~ Mata Amritanandamayi Once we realize the silence within, our lives will no longer be guided by conflicting thoughts. Rather, we will develop an intuitive mind that will enable us to take the right decisions at the right time with the right understanding.~ Swami Amritaswarupananda

Bernadette Roberts is a former Carmelite nun and contemplate in the Catholic tradition. In this article she talks about her experience of enlightenment , and how the study of Hinduism, Buddhism and the psychology of Carl Jung later on helped her to understand her transformation and state of consciousness. https://www.nonduality.com/berna.htm

Our intuition or wisdom has all the answers we need. So we just need to listen to it. But often we discriminate things based on beliefs created by society, people’s opinions or acquired information. Our innate wisdom which we call the inner voice or intuition always knows what is right for us. It constantly guides us in the right direction, and all we need to do is to learn to listen to it. ~ Brahmakumaris Let us spend a few minutes with ourselves on a daily basis. Meditation and spiritual study silences our noisy minds and activate our intuition. You have all the answers within, tap into that wisdom to make every choice and decision. ~ Brahmakumaris When you listen more to your intuition, you will also master the art of silencing your mind, thereby controlling your thoughts better. ~ Brahmakumaris

For infallible guidance man has to have a perfectly innocent heart incapable of evil. ~ Mahatma Gandhi The Divine Radio is always singing if we could only make ourselves ready to listen to it, but is impossible to listen without silence. ~ Mahatma Gandhi Modern civilization has taught us to convert night into day and golden silence into brazen din and noise. ~ Mahatma Gandhi There are subjects where reason cannot take us far and we have to accept things on faith. Faith then does not contradict reason but transcends it. Faith is a kind of sixth sense which works in cases which are without the purview of reason. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

'Two people have been living in you all your life. One is the ego, garrulous, demanding, hysterical, calculating; the other is the hidden spiritual being, whose still voice of wisdom you have only rarely heard or attended to. As you listen more and more to the teachings, contemplate them, and integrate them into your life, your inner voice, your innate wisdom of discernment, what we call in Buddhism “discriminating awareness,” is awakened and strengthened, and you begin to distinguish between its guidance and the various clamorous and enthralling voices of ego. The memory of your real nature, with all its splendor and confidence, begins to return to you. You will find, in fact, that you have uncovered in yourself your own wise guide, and as the voice of your wise guide, or discriminating awareness, grows stronger and clearer, you will start to distinguish between its truth and the various deceptions of the ego, and you will be able to listen to it with discernment and confidence.' ~ Sogyal Rinpoche 'We have also lost the sensitivity to listen to our own inner voice. Loss of this sensitivity is largely due to the conditioning of modernity that makes us think about ourselves as something independent and artificial. We have distanced ourselves from our own nature, and when we distance ourselves from our own nature we also distance ourselves from nature surrounding us outside. This distance creates fear and conflict.' ~ 5th Samdhong Rinpoche, Lobsang Tenzin

Everyday life must be guided by discrimination and inspired by the highest intuitions. ~ Meher Baba The intuition is not an emotion or psychic thing; it's not imagination; in some sense it's developing a higher contact with Reality than that which reason gives us. ~ Meher Baba https://www.avatarmeherbaba.org/erics/intu.html

The more you meditate and keep your mind in tune with the Divine Consciousness, the stronger your intuition becomes. In addition, persons who have controlled their emotions and who are calm within have much keener intuitional powers. ~ Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda Always remember: As you move on the dark path of life, the greatest thing is to develop that intuitive faculty. That can only come through meditation; there is no other way. When I use intuition it always shows me the right decision to make. It never fails.~ Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda This intuition comes to you as an inner voice, or whispering. You must be careful to distinguish that inner guidance from the delusive fanciful voices of the subconscious mind. ~ Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda

Dattaram Gavand, a businessman, mystic, traveller and photographer, was born in Mumbai in 1917. The eldest child of his parents, he came to be called Dada or elder brother. Born with a philosophical and spiritual temperament Dada Gavand studied books on philosophy and spirituality and met and kept company with the likes of enlightened sages like Ramana Maharshi and Jiddu Krishnamurti and Mira Alfassa. Dada took over the family business at the age of 18 due to his father's demise and carried out the family responsibilities of taking care of his family till his brother and sisters married and settled in life. He chose to remain a bachelor himself and after taking care of his family responsibilities , focused on his spiritual interests, leaving his cozy home and retiring to a hut on Mount Sajjangad close to nature, and began an inquiry unto himself. This episode resulted in his enlightenment after six months. The following is an interesting account from his autobiography 'Intelligence beyond thought' which contains a description of his practices that led to his waking up or enlightenment. https://realization.org/p/dada-gavand/how-dada-gavand-woke-up/how-dada-gavand-woke-up.html

The Brahmakumaris held exhibitions and meditation exercises as part of its tobacco de-addiction efforts and awareness campaign on the dangers of smoking , marking 'World No Tobacco Day' on May 31, 2024 . Meditation was presented as an alternative to tobacco use or smoking. https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/mumbai-brahmakumaris-world-no-tobacco-day-campaign Smoking tobacco is associated with heightened risk of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, diabetes, increased risk of loss of vision and hearing, weakened immune system vulnerable to infections, dental problems, osteoporosis and so on. https://www.health.gov.au/topics/smoking-vaping-and-tobacco/about-smoking/effects In addition to the detrimental impact of tobacco on health, the total economic cost of smoking (from health expenditures and productivity losses together) are estimated to be around US$ 1.4 trillion per year, equivalent in magnitude to 1.8% of the world's annual gross domestic product (GDP). https://www.who.int/health-topics/tobacco#:~:text=In addition to the detrimental,gross domestic product (GDP)

The goal of yoga science is to calm the mind, that without distortion it may hear the infallible counsel of the Inner Voice. ~ Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda “Intuition gives the soul knowledge of itself (Self-realization). Intuition also bestows clear understanding of truth and duty amidst the confusions of the world.” ~ Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda

Moment after moment, completely devote yourself to listening to your inner voice. ~ Shunryu Suzuki When we listen to the Inner Voice, our outer life becomes full of peace. ~ Sri Chinmoy Presently we have to train our unconscious to function better. Then we can depend upon our instincts, that will be noble instincts. At this moment, our instincts are very impure. When we have practiced for a long time, living the higher values of life and following the instructions of great masters or the Scriptures, that is when you have trained your unconscious. Then when a situation comes, you can to an extent, depend on your inner voice. ~ Swami Chinmayananda Saraswati

The enlightened sage Meher Baba used to travel all around the world visiting psychiatric hospitals for finding masts and properly rehabilitating them. He carefully distinguishes the mast state from madness and explains that in the case of the mad person, the mind is sped up, while in the case of the mast it is slowed down. He considered masts to be spiritually developed people who had become spellbound by inner spiritual experiences and ecstasies and hence found it hard to operate and function normally in the material world. Consequently, to the casual observer, they would look mad even though they were actually harmless and highly sensitive people . Meher Baba taught that the mast properly rehabilitated would continue in their spiritual path and would be of inward service to humanity. A compilation of his sayings on masts.... https://www.meherbabadnyana.net/life_eternal/Book_One/Masts.htm

The quieter you become the more you are able to hear. ~ Rumi When mind is still, then truth gets her chance to be heard in the purity of the silence. ~ Aurobindo In silence lies the source of the highest inspirations. ~ Mira alfassa Whatever is the difficulty if we keep truly quiet the solution will come. ~ Mira alfassa In concentration and silence we must gather strength for the right action. ~ Mira alfassa

Masts are usually silent and preferring solitude. Due to their God-intoxicated state, they have positive vibes or energies about them. It is this, and not their conversational abilities that determines whether they are masts or not. Meher Baba says in this regard... 'However, the unmistakeable quality that masts possess is their abilty to make one happy in their company. Whereas in the company of a mad person one feels depression and sadness.' ~ Meher Baba

Yes, the Mast is a concept of Sufism, the mystical sect of Islam, an Abrahamic religion. It is possible that deep and powerful love for God may have disoriented some devotees from their practical worldly tasks in Sufism and other Abrahamic religions, and even non-Abrahamic religions. They may be wrongly considered as insane and perhaps relegated to mental health institutions, which may not be the best treatment for them. (Their presence though might have a beneficial effect on the other inmates suffering from mental illnesses.) . Meher Baba carefully distinguishes the mast state from madness and explains that in the case of the mad person, the mind is sped up, while in the case of the mast it is slowed down. I had elaborated on this in this thread of mine... Thank you and I wish the same to you.,