The concept of prayer is to tap my own unknown for my known. When the known and unknown are united in the oneness of the self, God is alive. When the known and unknown are separated in any concept, God is dormant—not dead, not gone—dormant. Therefore, the power of prayer has to be continuous. 

Your prayers are not answered because you do not know the projection of the prayer. How do you pray? God is over some sky or in San Diego somewhere. Then you pray to Him or to Her, whatever the case is. Actually, prayer is always to the rhythmic beat of the heart from inside. That’s prayer. Any prayer outside is a waste of time, and a misleading religious practice. Prayer is not done to somebody. That’s why mostly your prayers don’t work. It is not your fault. You have never been told how to pray.

Prayer is when the mind is one-pointed and man talks to Infinity. Meditation is when the mind becomes totally clean and receptive, and Infinity talks to the man.

Speak truthfully; speak simply, straightforwardly and with a smile. Never try to impress others; try to impress yourself. Find happiness within you. Find an attitude of gratitude. Be happy for what God has given you. All happiness will come to you if you are happy. Happiness will come to you because happiness wants to go where happiness is.  ~ Yogi Bhajan, 9/21/91

The spirit and the subtle body are very much related, they never leave each other. So anything which is refined—refined art, refined acts, refined speech which is not gross—will put you nearer to the soul. That is a rather a simple way of reaching your God consciousness. ~ Yogi Bhajan, 5/27/81

The head is a computer. The heart has the power of 108 suns. The Heart Center is the strongest of all centers. Whenever you pray with the head, it will take so long—you have to go through the intellect, thought, circumstance, environment, space and time. Whenever you sing or pray from the heart, it will be timeless, spaceless and absolutely effective.

If people depend on me to be a man of truth, I have to prove again and again and again and again that I am a man of truth. It cannot be that on Monday I am a man of truth, on Tuesday I speak three-quarters truth, Wednesday I speak half-truth, on Thursday I speak one-quarter truth, on Friday I don’t speak at all, and on Saturday I can’t even think how to speak the truth. -July 3, 1982

“Sat Nam is the bij, or seed, mantra. It is small and potent. Great things grow from it. If it is not written in your destiny to be with God and to know higher consciousness, this mantra will engrave it in your destiny.” 

The head is a computer. The heart has the power of 108 suns. The Heart Center is the strongest of all centers. Whenever you pray with the head, it will take so long—you have to go through the intellect, thought, circumstance, environment, space and time. Whenever you sing or pray from the heart, it will be timeless, spaceless and absolutely effective.

Some things you are free to do; other things you are not free to do. We have kept the teachings of Kundalini Yoga pure from the time we know to the time we are. That’s why when some people teach Kundalini Yoga it doesn’t work. They teach philosophy, they teach chakras, sometimes they make up kriyas. It’s a good time, but it will not touch the core. It’s as simple as that.

If we rise for tomorrow, make ourselves valuable, help others, serve others, talk to others, open people’s minds and hearts, share their dreams, and serve them in one way or the other as we can—that will be very pleasant to everybody’s soul.

No man can give a man anything other than love. No man can give a man anything other than hope. No man can give a man anything but service. The only thing you can do is act like a forklift—go into the dirt and lift the other person and put him on track, so he can proceed.