Yogi Bhajan Quotes on Men

Quotes from Man to Man: A Journal of Discovery for the Conscious Man—The Men’s Teachings of Yogi Bhajan

In life, men are questioned, challenged, and tested. Do you believe yourself to be a man or don’t you? That is the question. Can you be questioned by the whole world and have an answer for it? And is your answer, “I am a man of Infinity”? If you don’t want to call yourself a man of God, then call yourself a man of Infinity—then your love is with Infinity and nothing else.

Accepting the challenge is the first act of the man and converting any adversity into prosperity is the second challenge of the man. Nurturing and caring is the third challenge of the man. Kindness and compassion is the fourth challenge of the man. Being noble and honorable is the fifth challenge of the man. These are the five challenges, which every man has to accept in his life whenever they come head on. Otherwise, you can call yourself a man but you are not. For that, you require character, instinct, intuition, intelligence, and knowledge.

You must earn every bit of your life—everything. That’s the only way to grow as a man. Earn your woman, earn your money, earn your home, earn your prospect, earn your progress, earn your success. Learn to earn; don’t learn to get. Whatever you get you will lose, whatever you earn will be yours. What you can earn, you can re-earn. What you get, you can lose.

Your life is not a hassle. All you have to do is find the values. That is so important because if you have not found the values for yourself as a father, you cannot find them for your son, your grandson, your neighbor, anybody.

When you start out, look good, look in your mirror, look in your consciousness, look in your intelligence, look at yourself—body, mind, and soul—and ask one question: “Can I win the trust?” Then, after winning the trust, can you keep it?

Your word must be everlasting. For your word to be final, you must be in touch with your intuition. Your virtue is in your intuition, not in your emotion.

When you are called in the name of trust by another person, and you come through and you deliver it, you are the God.

The power of success is such that, if not in this lifetime, somewhere else, some other time, somewhere you must succeed. The purpose of the soul is to feel success and experience it and be satisfied. That’s the price it paid for separation from God.

Trust is no good if you can’t keep it. Keeping it is no good if you can’t deliver. Why should you win the trust to begin with? For success! There is no success without it. We are not here to learn to be failures. We are here to learn to be successful.

When the internal block of ego communicates with emotion, it doesn’t matter how wise or how great you are, you become self-destructive; and whenever your ego and your intelligence come together, you shall become successful.

Your ego is like the common wire of a toggle switch; your emotions and your intelligence are the two opposite poles. It is just a matter of blocking the current to one pole and allowing it to flow to the other.

You are motivated by your power to be hearty, to be projective, to be going in and penetrating. Then you move and you are relieved—you call this ejaculation. If you look at that basic human act, you can understand your total personality.

All action of the spermatozoa is caused by the movement of its tail. Your ego is your tail. Put your ego behind you where it can move you. Don’t put it up front. That’s the secret of success. 

Anything you subject yourself to will take away your freedom and give you slavery. Then you are not a man, you are a donkey. The question in life is simple: Who rides whom? The question is whether a woman, some children, a girlfriend, a project, or any temptation is powerful enough that you have to subject yourself to it. There are only three permissible subjections of the self. They are subjection to higher consciousness, subjection to intuition, and subjection to God. Any other subjection is not permissible.

As a male you have to understand that you will only be recognized as a man if you are trusted. If you don’t gain the trust of the people to whom you relate, it doesn’t matter who you are, or what you possess, or what you think you can influence, you have nothing to commend you as a man. 

What I am trying to tell you is that the very deep feeling, the expression that a woman enjoys, which to her is very relaxing, very creative, very relevant, is when she believes and understands in her depth that she has found a man; and that in the depth of her heart, she can trust the wisdom of that man. 

Here we are in a men’s course. We want to build a strong man of you. Not so that you become “macho;” not so that you become self-destructive; but so that you can handle every challenge you face. Challenge is not something that destroys you; challenge is something that gives you an experience.

Your failure is when you don’t mean to commit. Because without a base, without nailing yourself to the situation, you will never find the answer. You may want to have the answer, you may badly need the answer, you may try to have the answer; but without your nucleus, there is no answer. Are you going to live with this woman or not? Are you going to be with this situation or not? If you are going to be, then go through with everything!

Life flows in order for you to develop values; and as the life flows and you develop your values, the deeper and deeper should be your commitment.

When, as a man you react, no matter what the temptation is, or how hard the button is being pressed, you are not a man. Man never reacts to environments, circumstances, and pressures. Man accepts the challenge and makes his own way.

The question is, what is your strength? What is your grit? The question is not what are other people doing to you.

When you want to stop water from flowing in one direction, you put up a dike to stop the flow and then open up a channel for it to flow in another direction. Human energy works in exactly the same way. You stop it from flowing to the negative or destructive side and you will have an equal amount of energy to flow in a positive direction. Just remember: there is X amount of energy in you and you are its master. You can use it the way you want and direct it in the way you want it go.

You are the men of God. May you recognize it.
You are the men of the Universe. May you deal with it in the light of God.
You are men to be men. May you feel the pride of it and be in grace. 
You are the men of success. May you accomplish it. 
You are the men of self, light, and respect. May you understand it. 
You are the men of merits. May your virtues be known. 
You are the men of knowledge. May your compassion be known. 
You are the men of absolute determination. May your kindness be known. 
May you be men whom the world, the Earth, the Universe may be proud of. 
Sat Nam.”

Quotes on Man from Miscellaneous Sources

When a man says, “I am horrible, I am miserable,” just tell him you are with him. It is his subconscious release to speak that way. He needs the conscience support; match it and he is yours, don’t and you have lost him right there.
July 16, 1987

Man by nature is a self-conflict. He is the authority because he represents the sun. He doubts it because he is not sure he is the sun. So there is a little boy and a big man conflicting with each other all the time.
July 16, 1987

If that little boy is given a lollipop and the big man is given good food, you will avoid eighty percent of your trouble. But if you do not know how to nurture the man, don’t touch him with a nine-foot pole.
July 16, 1987

That is called man: impulsive, reactive and territorial. It is his basic nature, his zigzag. This he learned not from you or the neighbors but from the spermatozoa. That’s who he is, his spermatozoa zigzag. You are a circle, complete.
July 16, 1987

Before a man eats, four conditions should exist in the environment. If these conditions are not met, then it is better for a man to remain hungry. First of all, he should be surrounded by a calm and quiet atmosphere. Secondly, he should be under no mental or physical pressure. Thirdly, the food he is about to eat must be properly cooked with all the ingredients. Lastly, there should be enough time in which to eat gracefully. [Food: The Human Medicine, Beads of Truth, Winter 1992]

What can you give your child? Nothing. The only thing you can give your child is character. By living with character you can give your child character. Your child will respect you if he can say, “My father was a truthful man.” You can’t give money, you can’t buy it out. He does not care. I say, “My grandfather was a very divine person.” I say it even today, though he is not alive with me. He is not teaching me now, but I can say it and I can say it with great confidence. In weaker moments, if I think whose grandson I am, I feel hundred percent stronger.”
May 29, 1979   

A father who does not nurture his children should never be a father. Nurture children with what? With spiritual values.”
January 15, 1989