Established yogis truly know their sh*t, so to speak, and have earned wisdom through years of practice facing the fires.

Below is a collection of jewels from their hearts and minds that might inspire your own practice.

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It is only when the correct practice is followed for a long time, without interruptions and with a quality of positive attitude and eagerness that it can succeed. ~Patanjali

Hatha Yoga teaches us to use the body as the bow, asana as the arrow, and the soul the target. ~B.K.S. Iyengar

Yoga is 99% practice and 1% theory. ~Krishna Pattabhi Jois

Fight with yourself, why fight with external foes? He, who conquers himself through himself, will obtain happiness. ~Mahavir

This is the aim of Yoga: the elevation of the narrow, fear-ridden and desire-tormented human consciousness to a state of indescribable beauty, glory, and bliss. ~ Gopi Krishna

What Brahman is cannot be described. All things in the world — the Vedas, the Puranas, the Tantras, the six systems of philosophy have been defiled… Only one thing has not been defiled in this way, and that is Brahman. No one has ever been able to say what Brahman is. ~Ramakrishna

Having lots of money while not having inner peace is like dying of thirst while bathing in the ocean. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

Peace is its own reward. ~ Gandhi

You don’t need to go anywhere, if you have love. ~ Sathya Sai Baba

Rid your body of its impurities, let your speech be true and sweet, feel friendship for the world, and with humility seek wealth and knowledge. ~ T. Krishnamacharya

If beings knew the results of giving and sharing, they would not eat without having given. Even if it were their last bite, their last mouthful, they would not eat without having shared. ~ Shakyamuni Buddha

Let’s change ourselves to change the world. ~ Yogi Bikasananda

The fire that warms us can also consume us; it is not the fault of the fire. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Sit, be still, and listen,
because you’re drunk
and we’re at
the edge of the roof.
~ Rumi

According to the Sutras, evil deeds result in hardships and good deeds result in blessings. ~ Bodhidharma

The places where you have the most resistance are actually the places that are going to be the areas of the greatest liberation. ~ Rodney Yee

Never too old, never too sick, never too bad to start again. ~ Bikram Choudhury

Your castle of earth and stone may be beautiful, but unless you dwell in the fortress of the unchanging, you must depart and leave it behind. So keep to the fortress of the unchanging! ~ Padmasambava

Be realistic: Plan for a miracle. ~ Osho

Those who speak against killing and who desire to spare the lives of all conscious beings are right. It is good to protect even animals and insects. But what about those persons who kill time, what about those who are destroying wealth, and those who destroy political economy? We should not overlook them. Furthermore, what of the one who preaches without enlightenment? He is killing Buddhism. ~ Gasan

Lost a planet…How embarrassing. ~ Yoda

Do not seek illumination unless you seek it as a man whose hair is on fire seeks a pond. ~ Ramakrishna

You have to understand “no desires” in a positive sense, as fulfillment… Everything desire is trying to achieve exists in Nirvana already. ~ Deepak Chopra

Strive for your own liberation with diligence…Do not simply consider truth what is persistently repeated, or is tradition, or scripture, or because of a person’s apparent ability, or because ‘He is our teacher’, but only when you yourselves recognize: This is good; this is not faulty; this is commended by the sensible; tried and perceived, these things lead to benefit and happiness. Thereupon, live up to it. ~ Shakyamuni Buddha

When we fight with our failing
we ignore the entrance to the shrine itself
and wrestle with the guardian, fierce figure on the side of good.
~ David Whyte

Every exhale you get to try, once again, to let go of all you are holding on to…you don’t have to do it all at once, you have another exhale coming…..and another, and another.  ~Daniel Flynn

We are all just walking each other home. ~Ram Dass

Alonzo Lyons is author of The Guerrilla Trek (Himalayan Maphouse, 2012), Trekking the Annapurna Region (Himalayan Maphouse, 2012), and co-author of Trekking Nepal (Mountaineers Books, 2011). He was born and raised in the developing world named planet earth. He grew up in the northwest of North America, traveled to Nepal in the mid-1990s and returns every available chance. Please visit his website for more details.

 

Editor: Anne Clendening

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