Become Joy

 

Become Joy

What really gives us joy as opposed to what we think gives us joy? We have all been taught that we will be happy when we: find our soulmate, make money, work at something we love. Or, we will be happy and fulfilled when we have a house, have a child, do service. Yet there are people who have and do all of the above and are still not happy, and there are people who have little or none of the above and are frequently joyful (for example the urchins playing on Mumbai’s streets).

Some of us would have faced severe hardships in life, not knowing joy at all and on hearing about joy tried to find it through intoxicants on advice of friends, only to find out that this leads us further down the sink hole! Such intoxicants drain us of our energy rather than energise us and fill us with joy. Some people try to find joy through service, through their work, making money and so on, but this is all transient and results are based on external circumstances.

Joy is not a result of anything we do, it is a state of being that enters our heart when we are open to learning, to spiritual growth, to spiritual connection, and to taking care of oneself. True joy doesn’t come from anywhere. Nothing brings us joy. No person brings us joy. We ourself are joyful always. So, enjoy that. That’s what we call enjoyment. Depend on nothing, because nothing from outside can make us joyful.

Joy, like love and truth, is a gift of the Soul. Joy, love and truth enter our being when our heart is open. Joy is the feeling of exuberance and oneness that envelopes us once we have opened to feeling our pain, learning from it and moving through it. Joy cannot enter our heart when we are protected against our pain. When we protect against our pain, we close our heart to avoid the pain, and joy cannot enter a closed heart. Thus, joy is the result of doing our Inner Bonding work - of emotional and spiritual growth and spiritual connection. This bonding work takes place in harmony when we meditate in a huge collectivity in the presence of a realised Master, who himself is filled with joy. That joyous energy envelopes us and we feel the same joy as the Master as we are present in that joyous energy field.

Once we have felt that energy, we need to learn to maintain that joyous energy in our own energy field and carry it us wherever we go, infusing others who come in touch with us with that joyous energy. Then we will feel more joy because we would have distributed that joyous energy and perked others up – there is great joy in giving selflessly – and what can give greater joy than distributing joy itself!

Mind Management

 

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Mind Management

In life we consider things as good or bad – this decision is made by the mind taking into account the fact that a certain result has taken place which is as per ‘my’ wish / expectation or not. Basically, it is the egoistic mind that takes the call on whether something is good or bad.

The mind is the key to everything. Without the mind, we cannot accomplish anything. All our sense organs need the mind to complete the process of gathering of information or knowledge from the outside world. The human mind is indeed a fine instrument. But this is only the positive side. When one tries to use the mind effectively to carry out the tasks necessary to evolve in human life, there comes an obstacle that is as powerful as the instrument with which the task is being done: the mind.

Many spiritual and philosophical traditions have found the answer to the problem of the mind, that the mind itself is the problem. Instead of waiting for it to display signs of illness, it is wise to make the mind incapable of displaying anything! It is because the mind displays imaginary projections onto the reality that is Brahman, that we suffer constantly; sometimes we call this outwardly as suffering, sometimes we fool ourselves to think that it is happiness.

This suffering is what leads a human being to pursue religion, to find a way out of all suffering. This, one does by the help of the mind, without realising that the mind is the root of all suffering. The key to understanding why the mind is the cause of all suffering is to first understand that the mind is the one that gives us false images of certainty and perfection in a mirage of the world, where there can never be either of those.

While René Descartes famously said, ‘I think, therefore I am’, the reality appears to be quite different: ‘I think, therefore I am not what I think myself to be’. 

To follow the spiritual path of yoga, one need not necessarily believe in the tenets of yoga philosophy. Since mind is the basic instrument to accomplish anything, it is needless to mention that it is imperative to have a trained mind for one’s spiritual life. And so, irrespective of the particular spiritual path a person is following, it is necessary to control the mind, for attaining excellence in that path. This is where the Patanjali’s ashtanga yoga plays a crucial role. So, whether you are a bhakta or a gyani, whether you follow the path of selfless work or that of psychic control, you have to necessarily have and excellent control of the mind; and naturally one has to follow ashtang yoga to attain that control.

Thus, the practice of yoga and meditation is a universal spiritual practice. One does not need to believe in any philosophy to practise this path. It is the perfect technology of mind management.

Thoughts are Energy

 

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Thoughts are Energy

Swamiji has been talking about thought pollution for a very long time. People in society are generally not aware of this kind of pollution. This is far more prevalent today because of the way society lives – we now live in concrete jungles and the less fortunate live in shanty colonies in which huts literally are built touching each other. What happens in such situations is that the thoughts which one gets, good, bad or ugly, there is very little chance of finding out if they are actually our own thoughts. This is simply because thought energy can’t be seen, you just catch the thought – haven’t people said, “I have caught your thought” – and yes this happens!

When we think or say negative statements, criticisms or judgments of others, this energy is sent to those others. It affects their personal energy and is felt by them, even though they may not be consciously aware of it. When this occurs, there is an effect within our own energy field. Imagine this as an energy barrier with small energy prickles going outward from our energy field. This is a protection device, and is created automatically. It is not something one consciously chooses to do or is even aware of.

Thought vibrations originate in and from our mind. Actually, it is the brain itself that is the transformer or converter of mental energy into thought waves. Science as well as Occult teaching tell us that in all mental processes there is a burning up of brain substance or nervous matter, just as there is a burning-up of the element in an electric battery. Both brain and battery convert or transform static energy into its dynamic form. Science shows us there is a production or generation of heat in the development of mental energy in the brain. The temperature of the brain rises when it is employed in active thinking which shows that energy is being consumed.

Our thought, ideas, and energy can be transferred without even seeing or touching a person. By our very thought, we can send our energy and thought forces anywhere we want. Touching or seeing are limited in a way. In touching one is only using one’s body; in seeing one is  limited to the sense of sight. But the flow of energy is not limited to these things; it can travel fast. Thought forces are even more powerful than physical forces. 

There is no doubt that thoughts have far reaching effects but the depth or intensity of their power to create and bring about changes depends directly upon the strength and frequency of their vibration and the degree of emotional tone with which they are charged. And once the single pointedness of the mind is achieved one can bore through the shell of illusion to the very truth and essence of life.

Spiritual Importance of Navratri

 

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Spiritual Importance of Navratri

Navratri is celebrated four times in a year in India. They are Sharad (sep/Oct), Chaitra (March/Apr), Magha (Jan/Feb) and Ashada (June/July). The last two Navratris are called gupta Navratris and are more significant for ascetics. Out of these four, Sharad Navratri is celebrated all over India and the nine avatars of Maa Durga are worshiped to remove obstacles from life and attain success effortlessly.

During the Navratri period, the climate changes from one season to another. It is necessary for everyone to take care of his/her mental, emotional and physical well-being. It is advised to keep Upavasa which means maintaining your state of awareness in partial existence. The partial existence is needed to receive the cosmic energy which is flowing throughout the nine nights and harness it to modify your old mind or habits. At the end of Navratri, you are reborn with a new mind and ready to explore your opportunities. This clearly means that both fasting (no food) and feasting (full stomach) will either mentally remind you that you are hungry or make you go to sleep. Upavasa is often misunderstood and ritually followed based on its literal meaning.

The farmers prepare their land by ploughing and put required manure to grow the new crop in their fields. A similar approach is adopted during Navratri by a Siddha Guru to evolve the disciple, so that he excels in his life with the new mind. As we gain capabilities, our mind fills with pride and so it is necessary to cut the head, which is symbolic, and replace it with a humble follower’s mind. This brings balance in the life of the disciple. Maa Shilaputri represents mother nature and makes us experience the inner infinite potential to start the inner evolutionary journey. Maa Brahamacharini expands the consciousness and enhances our capabilities to integrate everything. This step is crucial to recognise all our negative habits while at the same time focusing on the positive habits to enhance our capabilities.

The remaining days of Navratri are worshiped with the aggressive form of Durga. The aggressiveness and intellectual capabilities are needed to remove all the weeds which are draining our inner infinite potential and to also maintain the environment so that the seed/egg formed during 4th day of Navratri through Maa Kushmanda Devi grows without obstacles. This is what Swamiji too does, plants the seed of awakening on the 4^th day of the 8-days shibir. On the 8th day Maa Mahagauri enhances the germination process by creating a new mind. Shiva (space or potential energy) and Shakti (identification or kinetic energy) are responsible for every being and they are the constituents of existential intelligence. The existential intelligence expresses itself through identifications which are either acquired from outside influences or through inherited conditionings. These identifications are part of our mind and hence, a new mind is necessary to bring a new life around us. Maa Mahagauri helps in preparing a new mind and this new mind will be set in action on the 10th day to bring changes within us and around us. The disciple should face life using this new mind to enhance his/her life experience and avoid going back to the old ways of the mind.

A siddha Guru, like Swamiji, ensures such an evolution of a disciple by giving experiential wisdom through meditation during the nine nights of Navratri and accelerates the progress of the disciple.

Guru’s Divine Energy

 

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Guru’s Divine Energy

My very first experience with the Guru’s Divine Energy was during my first 8-days video shibir at CIFE, Versova, Mumbai. On the day of awakening, which is the fourth day wherein Swamiji talks about the Navel chakra and then towards the end says he will give us spiritual experience of Shirdi Saibaba. He says – sit in a lotus position, shut your eyes, keep your hands palms up on your knees and meditate. Then he says – some of you will feel cold energy – the moment he said that, on each palm a kind of whirlpool of cool energy started flowing, this went on for about 3—45 seconds. He later explained that whoever felt cold energy their spiritual state was good!

After that this divine energy has almost become a part of my life with progress in meditation over the past 13 years or so! The question is how does this happen? The kundalini energy lies curled and undisturbed at the base of our spine. It takes a living Guru to awaken the Kundalini energy within us. Once it is awakened, we have to meditate regularly to purify our chakras and channels so that when the moment comes the kundalini can rise in a flash and take us to merge with the divine.

With meditation our body becomes sensitive and we start catching the divine vibrations which are a part of nature, slowly and steadily we start becoming one with nature. Swamiji’s state is completely empty, void, like an empty pipe – and divine energy is continuously flowing through his medium. If we do attain a high meditative state, we manage to merge with Swamiji’s aura and we feel those cool divine vibrations.

This energy is nothing but universal consciousness which is flowing continuously. Whenever we have any doubts in our mind, all we need to do is shut our eyes in meditation and ask our soul this question – we get an answer in the form of vibrations – cool vibrations are a positive answer, warm is negative and no vibrations is a neutral response.

The Guru is eternal. The Guru’s inspiration, the Guru’s force, the Guru’s divine energy, the Guru’s vibration will always be there guiding us, directing us.   Learn to receive the Guru’s message without the help of any machines. That way we can have the Guru with us always.

Tap into Nature

 

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Tap into Nature

If we look at ourselves in a deeply profound manner, we will realise that we are no different from nature – we are nature! Nature is our life; nature is our very source. Life on earth is sustained by nature, our abuse of nature is nothing but abuse of life on earth. When nature takes revenge against its destruction, we find ourselves so puny and helpless, that we resort to prayer to save ourselves! And who do we pray to – we pray to God, that is nothing but universal consciousness which is omnipresent and pervades in nature. So, basically, we are praying to be rescued and for mercy to be shown to nature that we ourselves have been destroying. We realise we are going around in circles!

The trees are nature — are people not nature? The air is nature and the sun and moon are nature — are the eyes and the smiles and the tears not nature? Just as the earth goes on growing into trees, so it goes on growing into people too. It is the same nature, it is the same ecology, it is one whole — and it is interdependent. And everything depends on everything else.

Man cannot live without trees and trees cannot live without man. Animals are needed for trees and trees are needed for animals. They are not separate; they are part of one rhythm. This too is a fact. And life should not avoid this. One has to understand the totality of it; and one has to live in such a way that no one becomes, or pretends to become, the whole. There is no need to destroy. There is no need to fight.

We get our sustenance from nature, nature gives us everything, so why fight against nature when we can very well tap into nature and grow spiritually. Whenever we go to the mountains, the forests, the river banks, we feel a kind of peace, a serenity, as the calming energy of the collectivity of rocks in the mountain range, trees in the forest or drops of water which form the river soothe our very being.

When we sit for meditation, as our breathing slows down, as we get into deep meditation, other dimensions open up and our understanding of nature, our oneness with nature becomes crystal clear. So, it is best for us to tap into nature, become one with nature to truly the nature of our own existence!

Love-Trust

 

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Love-Trust

There can be no trust without love – only love creates trust. The mind is extremely frightened of love and trust. The mind is so used to control that when love and trust make an appearance, emotions take over and mind loses control. Specially on the spiritual path, when we are initiated and taken as a disciple of a living Guru – it implies implicit trust and trust cannot come without love. So, our complete unconditional surrender at the Guru’s lotus feet means that we have complete love and trust for our Guru.

When we trust as part of our daily life means we have reached a stage where our love is overflowing and all our relationships flow through this love and trust. When we say love, we are not talking about the physical aspect, we are talking about love for all beings – sentient and non-sentient in nature. It is a state of our being that we are loving and trusting; that whatever happens our loving and trusting will remain the same….we may be deceived, cheated too….but the love and trust still remains.

Love needs two things – it has to be rooted in freedom and it has to know how to trust. If both these are available to us, then our life starts blossoming as if suddenly spring has come. Love always trusts and if it finds that trust is not possible it simply moves off in a friendly way, there is no conflict and fight.

Trust has a higher value than love. In trust, love is implied; but in love, it is not necessary that there is trust. When we say we have complete trust in our Guru, love is implied; but in love, trust is not implied. When we tell someone that we love him/her, trust is not at all in the picture. In fact, this love, steeped in physicality, is very suspicious, very untrusting, very afraid, always on guard, observing the person one loves. In such kind of love, the lover becomes a detective, keeping tabs on the other person – they become spies, spying on each other.

If trust cannot be established in love, then it is better to separate rather than become a mental wreck. This kind of love destroys. Separation helps keep the love fresh, unpolluted.

Love and trust certainly play a significant part in the relationship between the disciple and the master. But that is only a stepping stone. One has to go beyond it. Love is beautiful, but not enough. Trust is better, more grounded, more solid. Love is emotional: trust is intuitive. Emotions go on changing every moment — they are in a flux; you cannot rely upon them — but trust can become a great foundation. Love helps one to reach to the place where trust is possible.

Without love, trust is not possible. Love is almost like a bridge which can collapse any moment but still it is a bridge. If one uses it, it can take one to trust; without it, one cannot reach to trust directly. So, love is a necessity, but love unto itself is not enough. Its use is as a means; the end is trust.

Hope-Fear

 

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Hope-Fear

Hope and fear go hand in hand – where there is hope that something will happen, fear is not far behind – the fear that this same thing may not happen! When we hope and look forward to something happening, fear and frustration are just lurking behind in wait. One can also look at hope as an expectation. If a person does not have any hope, then such a person is truly blessed because he/she has no fear of failure. Such a person has absolutely no fear of missing out on something.

How can a person not live without hope? For most people life depends on hope – we one needs to do something, one goes out and does it with the hope and expectation that the results will be those which he desired. There is always a lurking fear that things may not happen as desired. We all act based on whatever we are told to do – at home the family tells us what to do-not do, at school it is the teachers, in office it is the seniors, maybe friends are the only ones who accept you for who you are and not what you are!

When hope pushes us, we have the expectation of joy and fulfillment on achieving desired results. We feel successful, and this feeling keeps us going. But we also carry the fear deep down that this success will be shattered. The nature of our spiritual practice too is a process of internal growth, but when it is based on hope that one day we will ‘see’ something, it has its limitation.

There is a story which is always narrated by spiritual Masters about a stupid servant. One day, the employer asked the servant to buy some flour and salt and told him to carry both separately and not mix them together. The servant went with one cloth bag and reached the flour shop and asked for flour and filled the bad with flour. He then proceeded to the grocery store and asked for salt. When the shopkeeper brought the salt, he remembered his employer’s instructions and inverted the bag as a result all the flour fell down. The shopkeeper then filled the bag with salt. When he returned home, his employer asked him about the flour he inverted the bag and the salt fell out – both hope and fear are like that.

When we start doing something with hope, whether it happens or not, both ways we lose because the fulfillment always falls short of what we hoped for. The dream and what happens in reality never match. The dream is always more colourful and vivid. It is minus all problems and the price we have to pay. We can just dream without paying the price, but when it gets fructifies, it comes with a price.

Freedom in Learning

 

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Freedom in Learning

As we set out on our life’s journey we come across many people, many situations, many problems all of which we have to deal with by ourselves. We meet people from all walks of life – and no meeting is accidental – each person we meet in our life is a part of a cosmic goal of which we are unaware. We meet such people to settle our past life karma. It is our ego and desire which instead of settling the karma end up in creating more karma for us. This is where the help of a Satguru is absolutely invaluable in showing us the path.

A true Guru always acts as a guide. He does not tell us what to do and what not to do – that decision he always leaves to the Guru within us – our soul. We always have the freedom to choose to act the way we think is correct. A Guru’s guidance in such matter is always, “This is what I know, when I was faced with a similar situation, I had done this. If you feel that to be correct, you are welcome to follow it.”

We may feel that this is not good for us and choose to react differently. We choose to go in a different direction and we soon find out that we were wrong. If it is not too late, we can turn back and take course corrective action, but if it is too late, the only thing we can do is face the consequences and move on with life. The key here is acceptance. We have to accept that our choice was not right, and therefor whatever consequences have occurred are solely because of our wrong decision.

If we end up blaming others for our wrong decision – the consequences will keep getting worse till such time we swallow our ego and learn our lesson. When we go in a wrong direction we will always meet with roadblocks in our way. It is our mistakes which give us our greatest life lessons. Nature keeps teaching us, it keeps allowing us to make mistakes, it keeps punishing us – but we humans never seem to learn.

There should be freedom in learning. Each one learns in a different way. The duty of a teacher is to see if there are any impediments on the path, and clear them so that we can go on. He or she should help us to experience in our own way. By going here and there, and bumping into obstacles, we will very soon understand the truth - Wherever we go, ultimately, we end up with a problem. Every time we do something with our ego, it gets us into trouble. All these days we have been following the ego. Now we don’t want to follow it anymore. We give up.

Discipline is a Must

 

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Discipline is a Must

Discipline is defined as the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behaviour, using punishment to correct disobedience. Now, we may well say how does this definition apply in spirituality! If you go to see, as Sadhguru says, “Discipline means having the sense to do exactly what is needed”.

As we grow up, we are taught a whole lot of dos and don’ts in the name of discipline, this is good, this is bad, don’t do this, don’t do that – in fact, everything is about not doing something or saying something because it could hurt you or others. The basic objective is always to learn to be a good human being having good moral values and ethics and learn to obey or follow the law of the land. If these basics are taught early then it becomes easy to live life in a more or less organised manner.

This is also true of those who get the wrong kind of upbringing and those who are on the wrong side of law – they too have to have discipline to succeed in their chosen field, which is criminality. Everybody is living out their karma – so there is no point in judging good or bad – let the society’s legal administration be a judge of that.

Swamiji keeps telling us to follow certain principles, be honest, don’t cheat, wake up early, respect elders and so on – all this requires a strong moral core and a powerful will to put into practice, specially in the world we live in. There is competition and politics everywhere – specially in India having this humongous population – nothing is easy, but people survive and live and progress, that is purely because of this subconsciously ingrained rich cultural heritage which goes back thousands of years.

In India, like elsewhere in the world, civilisation has disseminated not through text books or preachers. It is essentially the way a family lives, the values instilled in the individual by the family. It is a deeply cultural thing. And when this discipline is already ingrained in the individual then spiritual practice becomes easy.

Waking up early, doing yoga and meditating, exercising to stay fit, having a control on one’s diet and last but not the least having a control over one’s tongue – not saying things which are better left unsaid!

Practicing yoga and meditation brings discipline into life because we have to do certain things in a certain way. Otherwise, it does not work. The way yoga is taught is so meticulous that once we start doing it with that sense of meticulousness, there is no way we cannot be disciplined.

Head or Heart?

 

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Head or Heart?

We often hear about the head versus heart conflict – some people say they follow their heart and others say they follow the lead provided by the head. Some people say the head tells them to do one thing while they feel that the heart is telling them to do exactly the opposite. The fundamental rule of yoga is the body is one person, unified being. There is no separation of mind and heart, we are one whole.

One usually assigns thoughts to the ‘head’ and emotions to the ‘heart’. When we turn introversive and observe we realise that the way we think is the way we actually feel. But it is also true that the way we feel is also the way we think. Yoga includes both thought and emotion as part of the same mental body.

The ‘mind’ is associated with the thought process or one’s intellect. As a matter of fact, the mind has so many dimensions of which we are not even aware, but two that we definitely know are the logical mind and the deeper emotional one. In yogic terms the mind is conventionally known as buddhi, and the deeper emotional mind is called the manas. Manas is a complex mix of memory that moulds emotion in a particular manner. So, the way we feel and the way we think are both activities of the mind.

For example, if we like someone we will think of that person as a wonderful human being, but if we don’t like someone, we feel that person to be horrible and harbour nasty emotions about such person. If we make an enemy of someone and then try to like that person, it becomes really hard work. It is best not to make hard work of the simple aspects of life.

The way we think is the way we feel, but usually thought and feeling seem to be different in our experience. Why does this happen? Because thought has a certain clarity and agility about it – we say, isn’t ‘at the speed of thought’! But emotion does not have agility, it is slow, it takes time for things to sink in. For instance, if today, one thinks so and so is such a wonderful person and has warm feelings towards such person, and suddenly this person does something that one doesn’t like and the opinion suddenly changes and that person becomes horrible! The mind thinks that this person is horrible, but the emotion does not change immediately. If the emotion is sweet now it takes time to turn around, sometimes three days, sometimes three months and sometimes three years depending on how deeply ingrained this person is in your emotional psyche.

There is no need to create a conflict between the head and the heart. Emotion is nothing but the juicier part of thought. The mind has speed and the emotion is slow, but emotion also chatters, it too goes hither and thither creating emotional instability. Because it is slow, it takes time to turn around and hence one feels its intensity to a greater extent – its intensity is substantially greater than thought.

There is no point in creating polarities within oneself – that will lead to mental issues. Thought and feeling are not different. One is dry and the other juicy! That’s it!

What Should I Do?

 

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What Should I Do?

We always have a choice as to what to do with our lives. The Sanatan way of life has divided human life span into four stages, first as a student, then as a householder, then retirement and finally renunciation. In each stage we are to guided to do what is best for that stage in life – so for the first 25 years we are learning, enjoying life as children and youth, then for the next 25 years we are householders, getting married, working, having children and in general taking care of our householder responsibilities. From the age of 50 onwards we are supposed to start withdrawing from active life but not denounce it completely. After 75 all our worldly responsibilities are taken care of and we can devote the rest of our time for attaining liberation or moksha.

Very few people manage to stick to the guidelines as most get caught up in the fight for survival in a competitive world, the ego and our desires drive us and blind us to our real goal in life – liberation. Thus, we get stuck in the birth-death-rebirth cycle.

Whatever we choose to do, we should give it our 100%, like Swamiji says, ‘whatever target I have set for myself, I always exceed it, so that my soul feels good.’ So, if one wants to be a musician but the family does not support it, then one should do the next best thing and try and become financially independent and continue with your passion as a hobby. Once you have the wherewithal and the independence to pursue music, do so wholeheartedly – if music is in your heart, the instruments will become available – the universe takes care of that.

If we do not have the awareness as to what one should choose, then one should put one’s heart and soul in doing whatever is at hand right now, in the present moment. One should not get stuck in anything, life is a continuous flow with barriers cropping up now and then, one overcomes the barriers and keeps flowing – remember water which does not flow, stagnates!

Be completely involved in whatever you are doing, always give it 100% - do not think of getting entangled anywhere. If you do not know where, just show absolute involvement in what you are doing right now.

People neither eat with involvement, nor breathe, wake up or sleep with involvement. Because of this, they have no sense of what to do. Whatever they do, it seems to be inadequate – it seems to be the wrong thing. Just show involvement into everything that you are. Then life will choose, and it is never wrong.

Lessons from Pain

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Lessons from Pain

All of us have suffered pain at some point or the other in our lives – the pain could be physical, emotional or mental. Pain and suffering remain with life, they are a part of it. One just needs a clarity to see everything in the right perspective, everything just where it belongs. Then it all falls in line; even pain, even suffering become a part of a greater harmony. Not that they change. They remain, they are a part of our life, but now they are not isolated facts – they have become a part of a greater whole. When we are clear in our perspective, we can see that the greater whole cannot exist without this part; it is a must.

We accept it, because happiness cannot be without unhappiness – this is a fundamental rule about the duality in life – just as day cannot be without night. When everything falls in perspective, the total attitude changes. When we attain to a certain clarity, then we see one night between two days. Ordinarily when we look at unhappiness, sadness, frustration, we take it apart from the context, we look at it as an isolated thing, and then it becomes extremely painful because it seems meaningless.

When there is pain, go deeply into it, don’t avoid it. Let it be so, be open to it and become as sensitive as possible. Let the pain penetrate to our very core. Suffer it. And when the pleasure comes, let that too move one to one’s innermost core. When there is pain be with pain, and when there is pleasure be with pleasure. Become so totally sensitive that each moment of pain and pleasure is a great adventure. If we can do this, we will understand that pain too is beautiful. It is as beautiful as pleasure. It brings sharpness to our being and it also brings awareness to our being – sometimes even more than pleasure.

Pleasure dulls. That’s why people who live just in indulgence will be found to be shallow, we will not see any depth in them. They have not known pain at all; they have lived only on the surface, moving from one pleasure to another.

Pain makes one very alert, pain makes one very compassionate and pain makes one sensitive to others’ pains too. The heart grows because of pain. It is beautiful, it has its own beauty. It is a gift of existence and there must be a hidden treasure in it. Enjoy that too, don’t reject it. Accept it, welcome it and be with it. In the beginning it will be difficult, arduous. But by and by we will learn the taste of it.

The taste has to be learned – it is just like other tastes. It shakes all dust, all stupor and sleepiness away from us. It makes us more fully mindful than anything else. In pain we can be more meditative than in pleasure.

Pleasure is more distracting. Pleasure engulfs us. In pleasure we abandon consciousness. Pleasure tends to us unconscious; pleasure is a sort of oblivion, a forgetfulness. Pain is a remembrance: we cannot forget pain.

We All Change

 

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We All Change

Change is constant, it is happening all the time, with every passing moment there is change – but because of the human ego we just don’t allow change to happen. We cling, we want things to be static. When we are young, we get used to certain technologies, over time technology changes and if we don’t keep pace, we become outdated and useless. We fall in love with someone in our youth, with the passage of time, the youth becomes old, he/she changes and now we don’t like how he/she looks/behaves – and we fall out of love! That’s how misery arises. Nobody can be certain about the next moment.

A person of awareness knows that life is constantly changing. Life is change. There is only one thing permanent, and that is change. Except change, everything else changes. To accept this nature of life, to accept this changing existence with all its seasons and moods, this constant flow that never stops for a single moment, is to be blissful. Then nobody can disturb our bliss. It is our hankering for permanency that creates troubles for us. If we want to live in a life with no change – we are asking the impossible.

We have all observed even in our corporate life that there always is resistance to change, so much so course have been designed for change management. Resisting change is something that is definitely going to cause grief. This is where meditation helps – meditation balances everything out – our outlook is broadened and we begin to get a bird’s eye view because of our heightened awareness.

Our outlook ‘changes’ and we learn acceptance – and acceptance happens out of understanding, it needs no explanation. Acceptance is like love; it is a happening. When we are truly, authentically with the reality of the moment, we don’t look to the past to find an explanation, we don’t look to the future to find an explanation; we simply look into the fact. If there is pain and misery, we simply live it, knowing full well that this time too shall pass.

Go into the pain of a situation single-handed, alone. Face the situation as it is, with no mind to explain it away. Just look into it without any thought interfering, and then there will be acceptance. It will not be a consolation; there will be great contentment. Suddenly we will see that we can accept, but there is no cause to it.

A person of awareness becomes courageous enough to accept the changing phenomena. In that very acceptance is bliss. Then all is good. Then one is never frustrated.

Real Peacemakers

 

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Real Peacemakers

Yesterday we spoke about world peace, today we will try understand who the real peacemakers are. We know that world peace is not possible without the individual finding his own inner peace, so, today we will see how the individual can aspire to inner peace.

Swamiji and a whole host of spiritual Masters have spoken on this subject. We celebrate June 21 as the International Yoga Day, and Swamiji keeps telling us that yoga is not only about physical exercise, but the eight-fold path of Patanjali, which talks about dhyan and samadhi - meditation and the state of union with the divine.

Those who through willful effort start walking on the spiritual path invariably find their spiritual guides and masters, some are pulled on to the spiritual path by an unknown force, but all such people find that meditation under the guidance of a realised Master completely transforms their life for the better!

Let us all resolve that we will love the world as our own nation, and that we will love our nation as we love our family. Through this understanding we will help to establish a world family on the indestructible foundation of wisdom. This will take a long time, but at least, in our hearts, we will know that we have taken the first step. The next step would be to pass on the message and introduce as many of our friends and relatives and even strangers to this phenomenal path of meditation.

Let us resolve to practise meditation and communion with the divine regularly, and we will taste the wine of joy and pleasantness all the time, no matter what our outer circumstances. Drinking the nectar of inner peace from the angel hands of our own silent realisation, we will drown the distractions and sorrows of our daily life.

Once we have found that peace within, then it flows out as a blessing to our environment and the world. Harmony within, harmony without, harmony everywhere! A person who is imbued with the Divine’s peace can feel nothing but goodwill toward all. Only that consciousness amongst us can bring lasting peace on earth. An end that is definitely worth looking forward to!

The real peacemakers are those who generate peace from their devotional practice of daily meditation. Their aura exudes peace and calm, love and bliss and those who come within range immediately feel the peace and joy and say so too!

World Peace

 

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World Peace

We hear talk about world peace all the time, but, let me ask you a question. Is world peace possible when each individual in the world is not at peace with him/herself? Is world peace possible when bodies of children wash up on shores, just because their parents are against the ideology of so-called ‘soldiers of God’? Is world peace possible when so-called missionaries are killing those poor people in the name of God, who refuse to convert to Abrahamic religions in spite of bribes and other so-called privileges being offered? (This is happening on a large scale in the tribal belts of India!)

So, can peaceful co-existence ever become a reality? Can’t see it happening, at least in our lifetime! We can definitely give it a try! Like all the realised Masters have been saying in India since time immemorial – it is only possible if people find peace within themselves and thus become peaceful individuals. Becoming a peaceful individual is an inner journey to be undertaken only by those who see the calling, and that too under the guidance of a realised Master. So, when we have a world with a population exceeding 7 billion it appears to be a task which is well-nigh impossible – like I said before, at least not in our lifetime.

In India, at least, we are lucky that there are several realised Masters who are working at inner transformation on their followers – they are doing so all over the world too, but the task is gargantuan. We need a culture of peace in our day-to-day existence (India is the only country in the world which has never ever invaded any other country, only defended itself!). We are not taught anything about maintaining our own inner peace and balance – it is all about excelling in our careers and making tons of money at any cost!

It is important to realise that peace is not the goal of life but the very foundation of life and peaceful individuals are the building blocks of a peaceful world. Peace and joy are assurances that we will not do unpleasant things. If we are feeling pleasant within ourselves, why would we do unpleasant things to someone else? Only when a human being is not peaceful, there is a possibility of the world not being peaceful. If human beings were peaceful, the world will definitely be peaceful.

This cannot be done with a crowd. It needs a committed approach to individual transformation. Today there are movements which are working towards individual transformation in India which have spread globally, Gurutattva Foundation, Isha Foundation, Satsang Foundation and so on – so sometime, way in the future, world peace is likely to happen.

Welfare of Others

 

Photo Credit: Facebook | Sant Rajinder Singh Maharaj

Welfare of Others

In the modern world if we say that we should do something for others, pat comes the reply – “What’s in it for us?” Everything has become transactional – even doing good, which once upon a time was people’s nature, today – we ask, ‘what’s in it for us?’

It is important to understand that indeed there are physical and spiritual benefits of serving others, and these benefits are measurable. Swamiji keeps exhorting us to perform Guru-karya, because when we do Guru-karya we are serving our Guru who represents millions of people – so indirectly, we are selflessly working for the benefit of millions!

When we give something to others selflessly – be it in the form of food, clothing, shelter, or any other good deed – happiness rebounds like a boomerang and we can immediately feel it in our heart. When we introduce someone to spirituality and convince such person to tread the path, when we introduce our friends and relatives to our Guru’s values through Himalayan Meditation and when they too start practicing it, the sense of inner peace and joy is immeasurable.

A sense of immense love is created when we do something for others selflessly and this love encompasses our entire being – in fact, without this sense of love one would definitely not be looking out for the welfare of others.

Whether it is in office, at home, with friends or even with strangers, when we do something for them, it comes from deep within just because we want to do it. If others do something for us selflessly, we too should accept it without questioning their motives. When we look for motives, we are doing injustice to those who want to do good by us, and that becomes the cause of problems going forward. We lose trust and become miserable when love is conducted like a business. We will not be happy with this kind of love. Don’t worry about the other person. 

Whether it is between husband and wife or even between two friends, if the relationship is based on some gain from that person, we are never going to be happy. The other person cannot always give us what we want. So be content just to love.

Projecting Positivity

 

Photo Credit: MyPositivityMatters

Projecting Positivity

Our whole outlook to life changes with meditation, we begin to develop a very positive and benevolent attitude to life. Specially for those of us who are lucky to have found our spiritual Master, the feeling of goodness and positivity become an inherent part of our life.

Positive thinking is considered to be one of the most important spiritual tools of the day. My personal experience (I have always had a positive outlook since childhood) is that with meditation, the positivity in me has increased to such an extent that manifestation of such thoughts has started taking place. This has actually got nothing to do with me – it is all the Master’s Grace – without Him nothing happens, this is my personal feeling.

Meditation and living in complete awareness help keep our mind very quiet and calm. A feeling of total serenity surrounds our being, and this is reflected in our aura, giving a sense of calm to all those who come in contact with us.

Personal spiritual focus, self-discipline and self-esteem are known to enhance positive growth in our life. These three seemingly different actions may seem strange to those who are unfamiliar with these spiritual principles. This is entirely possible because they can have different meanings for different people. When we express gratitude that too helps in projecting positivity as well as enhancing our own energy.

Not everyone can go out and serve physically, financially or by giving their time and service. All these activities done with a selfless motive are an aid to our spiritual progress, but this may not be possible for everyone. Those without this capacity can always project their own positive thoughts through prayer or by sending positive thought vibrations out into the universe.

There are many great sages sitting in the Himalayas who just pray for the welfare of the world – their positive vibes are spread all over the world. Many contemplative monks, nuns and other people sit and pray for the world.

Those who have the capacity to do something physical as well should take that opportunity. Mental, physical, material – we should do something in whatever way we can. That is why all those faculties have been given to us. They are not given just for our own use. Our physical strength, our material wealth, everything is given to us to be used for others.

On every plane we should be able to offer ourselves and our possessions for the benefit of humanity and entire nature - that will be the true expression of projecting positivity.