115 Neem Karoli Baba Quotes on Life, Love, God and Spirituality
Last updated on May 15th, 2024 at 11:46 am
Neem Karoli Baba, also known as Neeb Karori Baba or Maharaj-ji, was a renowned Indian spiritual master born as Lakshmi Narayan Sharma in 1900. He left home at the age of 17 to embark on a spiritual quest, connecting deeply with deities like Lord Hanuman.
Establishing ashrams across India, notably Kainchi Dham Ashram in Uttarakhand, he emphasized love, devotion, and selfless service as the key principles to follow. Neem Karoli Baba gained recognition in the West through followers like Ram Dass (formerly Richard Alpert) and Krishna Das (formerly Jeffrey Kagel). Steve Jobs has mentioned in interviews and his biography that his visit to Neem Karoli Baba’s ashram had a profound impact on his life and thinking.
Maharajji did not promote any specific religious doctrine, instead emphasized the inclusive and universal essence of spirituality. Today, Neem Karoli Baba’s teachings continue to inspire and impact countless individuals globally. Here is a brief life sketch on Neem Karoli Baba!
Let’s together embark on a spiritual journey as we explore the following Maharajji’s transformative quotes. Hope these guiding words by Neem Karoli Baba inspire and uplift you along the way.
A pure woman is better than a hundred yogis. Women are more open to love God. – Neem Karoli Baba
It’s very difficult to overcome anger. Some of the greatest saints don’t overcome anger. – Neem Karoli Baba
It’s better to see God in everything than to try to figure it out. – Neem Karoli Baba
A saint never accepts money. – Neem Karoli Baba
When you have union with God, you don’t need anything. – Neem Karoli Baba
Worldly people go outward, but you must go inward like the tortoise, withdrawing within your shell. – Neem Karoli Baba
India is a golden bird. It is a country of rishis and saints. – Neem Karoli Baba
If your kundalini (spinal energy) awakens, you can go to America without a plane. – Neem Karoli Baba
It is not necessary to meet your guru on the physical plane. The guru is not external. – Neem Karoli Baba
Cleanse the mirror of your heart, and you will see God. – Neem Karoli Baba
See God in everyone. It is deception to teach by individual differences and karma. – Neem Karoli Baba
Serve as Hanuman served. The best form to see God in… is in every form. – Neem Karoli Baba
Saints and birds don’t collect. Saints give away what they have. – Neem Karoli Baba
Clear the mind of all worldly things. If you can’t control your mind, how will you realize God? – Neem Karoli Baba
You can leave me. I won’t leave you. Once I catch hold of you, I don’t let go. – Neem Karoli Baba
People are quick to take a chapati, but slow to take the name of God. – Neem Karoli Baba
You can’t realize God if you see differences. Learn to find the love within. – Neem Karoli Baba
All women are mothers and sisters, and all men fathers and brothers in God’s family. – Neem Karoli Baba
Meditate to raise the kundalini. Think about God; it will go right up. – Neem Karoli Baba
Attachment holds you back. – Neem Karoli Baba
I am everybody’s guru. – Neem Karoli Baba
The heart never grows old. – Neem Karoli Baba
Attachment is the strongest block to realization. – Neem Karoli Baba
Meditate like Christ… He lost himself in love. – Neem Karoli Baba
Never put anyone out of your heart. – Neem Karoli Baba
The guru must know everything about you. – Neem Karoli Baba
The mind should always be engaged in work. – Neem Karoli Baba
Everything is impermanent, except the love of God. – Neem Karoli Baba
Temples are but piles of stones. Attachment holds you back. – Neem Karoli Baba
Devotion to God is an addiction that lasts all the time. – Neem Karoli Baba
Every line of the Hanuman chalisa is a Mahamantra. – Neem Karoli Baba
I don’t want anything. I exist only to serve others. – Neem Karoli Baba
Lust, greed, anger, attachment – These are all paths to hell. – Neem Karoli Baba
Money is an obstacle. One in communion with God needs no money. – Neem Karoli Baba
Total truth is necessary. You must live by what you say. – Neem Karoli Baba
When asked how the heart could be purified, Maharajji said, “Always speak the truth.” – Neem Karoli Baba
As long as the time does not arrive, one cannot die. – Neem Karoli Baba
Often one goes for one thing and finds another. – Neem Karoli Baba
When you have God, you don’t have any more desires. – Neem Karoli Baba
Whoever works for God, his work will be done by itself. – Neem Karoli Baba
I could not get angry with you, even in a dream. – Neem Karoli Baba
I am the father of the world. The whole world is my child. – Neem Karoli Baba
I am here and I am in America. Whoever remembers me, I go to. – Neem Karoli Baba
I could have been such a great saint if I weren’t so compassionate. – Neem Karoli Baba
If you do not make it empty, how will you fill it up again? – Neem Karoli Baba
To see God, you must have special eyes. Otherwise you cannot bear the shock. – Neem Karoli Baba
Everywhere I look I see only Ram, and that’s why I’m always honouring everything. – Neem Karoli Baba
You should not talk about your wealth, wife, or sadhana or they will go away. – Neem Karoli Baba
You must honour Shiva through love. Ram and Shiva are the same. Ram worshipped Shiva, Shiva worshipped Ram, they are only one. – Neem Karoli Baba
Whatever may be guru – he may be a lunatic or a common person. Once you have accepted him, he is the lord of lords. – Neem Karoli Baba
Meditation is not something we do willfully; it is a state we enter into naturally over time through devotion and repetition of the Name. – Neem Karoli Baba
Forgiveness is the greatest weapon, because a saint so armed is unperturbable he can give up anger immediately. – Neem Karoli Baba
Kumbhak (retention of breath) can be attained through bhakti (devotion) also. When the emotion reaches climax, the breath stops and the mind becomes fixed. – Neem Karoli Baba
See all women as mothers, serve them as your mother. When you see the entire world as the mother, the ego falls away. – Neem Karoli Baba
When you are sad or in pain or sick or you witness any cremation then you actually learn the many truths of life. – Neem Karoli Baba
Meditation is good, one can attain a pure mind by one-pointedness and detachment. Meditate upon one point and you will know God. – Neem Karoli Baba
The whole universe is our home and all residing in it belong to our family… instead of trying to see God in a particular appearance, it is better to see him in everything. – Neem Karoli Baba
All is God’s will, but Maya prevents you from knowing it’s all God’s will. He gave us eyes, ears, nose, mouth. But He also gave us wisdom to use them to attain God. – Neem Karoli Baba
Truth is the most difficult tapasya. Men will hate you for telling the truth. They will call you names. They may even kill you, but you must tell the truth. If you live in truth, God will always stand with you. – Neem Karoli Baba
Ma, what am I to do – there is no eye that can follow me. No one knows me, no one understands me. What am I to do? (Said four days before He left His body) – Neem Karoli Baba
Keep God in your heart like you keep money in the bank. – Neem Karoli Baba
The body passes away. Everything is impermanent except the love of God. – Neem Karoli Baba
This world is all attachment. Yet you get worried because you are attached. – Neem Karoli Baba
Ask God or Hanuman. I’m just an ordinary being. I can do nothing. – Neem Karoli Baba
All action is prayer. All trees are desire-fulfilling. All water is the Ganga. All land is Varanasi. Love everything. – Neem Karoli Baba
Never disturb anyone’s heart. Even if a person hurts you, give him love. – Neem Karoli Baba
If you are free of attachment, you will lead a simple life in a simple environment. – Neem Karoli Baba
You must accept everyone and see in them the Lord. There is no other need for a saint. – Neem Karoli Baba
Christ and Hanuman saw all women as the Mother. You have to understand the Mother to realize God. – Neem Karoli Baba
Love is the strongest medicine. It is more powerful than electricity. – Neem Karoli Baba
Love all men as God, even if they hurt you or shame you. Be like Gandhi and Christ. – Neem Karoli Baba
You can plan for a hundred years. But you don’t know what will happen the next moment. – Neem Karoli Baba
It doesn’t matter if you are married or not, it only matters how much you love God. – Neem Karoli Baba
The best service you can do is to keep your thoughts on God. Keep God in mind every minute. – Neem Karoli Baba
The eyes of a saint are always concentrated on the supreme self. The minute he is aware of himself, sainthood is lost. – Neem Karoli Baba
Kundalini rests below the navel. It can be raised by the Guru’s grace, by the gentle, simple touch of the Guru’s hand. – Neem Karoli Baba
If you desire a mango at the moment of death, you’ll be born an insect. If you even desire the next breath, you will take birth again. – Neem Karoli Baba
If you have enough faith, you can give up money and possessions. God will give you everything you need for your spiritual development. – Neem Karoli Baba
I am in the world but not concerned with the world. I am going through the marketplace, but not as a purchaser. ~Maharajji quoting Kabir Baba
Love the poor. Serve them. Give everything to the poor, even your clothing. Give it all away. Jesus gave away all, including His body. – Neem Karoli Baba
Marriage is more attachment. You need more devotion and discipline to have union with God when you are married. – Neem Karoli Baba
Why are you with such ego? One of these days you will have to leave this world and become one with the Earth. ~ Maharajji quoting Kabir Baba
Due to individual karma, people must be sent away from a saint. How this is done varies. When the time for the association ends, the separation must occur. – Neem Karoli Baba
For a sadhu to stay in one place means trouble. A moving yogi, and a moving river… impurities and sediments and filth can never settle there. If I stay here, attachment will form. – Neem Karoli Baba
With desires, Hatha yoga does not work. Today no one really knows Hatha yoga. It can’t work through books. They used to fast and use herbs. – Neem Karoli Baba
You get wisdom from suffering. You are alone with God when you are sick, in the cremation ground or hospital. You call on God when you suffer. – Neem Karoli Baba
You must accept the teachings of Christ and follow them. Christ said to be like a little child – never think or speak anything that could harm anyone. – Neem Karoli Baba
If the clay in a pot is unbaked, then when the pot breaks, the clay is reused. But if the pot is baked, then when it breaks, it is thrown away. – Neem Karoli Baba
Change is the way of the world, and if in this Kali Yuga (Dark Age) it has to go this way, let it go. Unless you are the Lord, you can’t stop it anyway, so why berate it? – Neem Karoli Baba
He was crucified so that his spirit could spread throughout the world. He sacrificed his body for the dharma. He never died, he never died. He is Atman (the Soul), living in the hearts of all. – Neem Karoli Baba
Money brings anxieties. – Neem Karoli Baba
Money is never a problem. The difficulty is in the correct use of it. Lakhs and crores (large amounts) of rupees would come easily if they were going to be put to wise use. – Neem Karoli Baba
Even if a person hurts you, give him love. The worst punishment is to throw someone out of your heart… You should love everyone as God, and love each other. If you cannot love each other, you cannot achieve your goal. – Neem Karoli Baba
It is very difficult to know exactly what good should come out of a particular situation. To attempt to manipulate circumstances so your idea of good can come about, is to let the ego play God-and that, as you know, can and does backfire. – Neem Karoli Baba
You should do your work, be friendly to everyone, and never quarrel with anyone. People who are jealous of you will oppose you in various ways but do not take it to heart. Do your work like a great hero and all will be well for you. – Neem Karoli Baba
All religions are the same, they all lead to God. God is everybody… The same blood flows through us all, the arms, the legs, the heart, all are the same. See no difference, see all the same. – Neem Karoli Baba
The great sadhus don’t have a human body. They are omnipresent. If a saint changes form, he doesn’t necessarily have to take on a human body. The soul is the small form and the human body is the huge form. – Neem Karoli Baba
If you want to see God, kill desires. Desires are in the mind. When you have a desire for something, don’t act on it and it will go away. If you desire to drink this cup of tea, don’t, and the desire for it will go away. – Neem Karoli Baba
When a man has reached the point where he can sit in meditation for six months, there is no need of eating, no need of latrine or of rest. Only one drop of amrit nectar from the top of the head to the body keeps him alive. If a tiger eats that body there is no care, but only when the life comes back to the body will there be pain. – Neem Karoli Baba
Money should be used to help others. – Neem Karoli Baba
Everyone is a reflection of my face. – Neem Karoli Baba
Clinging to money is a lack of faith in God. – Neem Karoli Baba
Give up money, and all wealth is yours. – Neem Karoli Baba
I send people away because attachment happens both ways. – Neem Karoli Baba
Serve the poor and remember God. You become one with Christ. – Neem Karoli Baba
When people think of me, I am with them. – Neem Karoli Baba
Keep me in your heart. – Neem Karoli Baba
One should not talk of things which were not of any benefit to anyone and, if it is difficult to believe, it should not be said at all. – Neem Karoli Baba
I do nothing. God does everything. – Neem Karoli Baba
I have no powers. I don’t know anything. – Neem Karoli Baba
Love everyone, serve everyone, remember God, and tell the truth. – Neem Karoli Baba
Love all, serve all, feed all. – Neem Karoli Baba
Spiritual practice is just three things: Love, serve, and remember. – Neem Karoli Baba
Work is God. Work is worship. – Neem Karoli Baba