Girish's Blog

  Photo Credit: Lakshmanjoo Academy Transform Poison into Nectar The very first foundations of a life of spiritual endeavour are love of oneself and spiritual harmony. This will definitely confound the reader, because we have always been advised to suppress something within us. In reality, there is nothing within us that needs suppression – each individual has certain drives that need to be harnessed, not extirpated, certain forces that need to be awakened and loved, not suppressed. They should be controlled and directed along the proper course. But those who consider them hostile can never be successful in transforming them. A man of understanding can transform even poison into nectar, but one who has no understanding whatsoever is sure to turn his nectar into poison. If we have visited any farm, we would have noticed that there are putrefying things that emit a foul odour kept in a heap, this is used as fertilisers. When this smelly fertiliser is spread around the farm and fr...

  Photo Credit: Quora Hate – What to do? Hate is a very powerful negative emotion – we are often faced with the question what to do if someone hates us, or if this emotion arises in us against somebody else! Powerful emotions of hate and love – both are identified with the body, if one has reached the soul-level then it does not matter whether someone hates or loves us. Either at home, or with friends or in the office there are people who like to pull others’ legs, generally out of fun and some with a malicious intent. Those who are at the receiving end continuously begin to get angry and the leg pulling continues and the anger increases – if anybody can push our buttons and affect our state of being, that means there is something wrong with us. This means that we are slaves and not masters. Our mastery over the self begins only when we do not change whatsoever happens outside, our inner climate remains the same – calm and peaceful. If anyone hates us or loves us, that is the...

  Photo Credit: Pinterest Judging Others Why do we judge people? Sometimes our opinion is formed even before having been introduced to a person. After spending several years on the spiritual path, we develop a sixth sense, we think we understand energy, and based on that we again judge people and slot them as ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ We do not have to stop judging people, we need to understand why and how we judge people. We can only judge that which is visible – like the behaviour of a person, because only the behaviour is available to form an opinion. We do not actually ‘know’ the person, we do not know the reason for his /her behaviour and despite that we go ahead and judge that person. It is alright to judge the act, but not the person. Sometimes it could so happen that a person is always smiling and laughing and being jovial, but deep down he/she may be sad and is just putting on a show to avoid passing on his wounds to everybody. Maybe he/she is smiling on the surface and cryin...

  Photo Credit: Quotefancy Control Over Sense of Taste It is said that – If one is able to control one’s senses, even if the person is blind, he she will reach the destination of moksha or liberation. On the other hand, if one’s senses are not controlled, even if the person is the best of people, he/she will not be able to reach the divine destination. We must learn to use the elements of nature properly in order to promote the well-being of man. Although everything in the world is God’s creation, we must cultivate the wisdom to make proper use of things. Our sense organs, for instance, have also to be used in the correct manner. Each particular organ has a distinctive feature. Amongst them, the one that tastes, namely the tongue, is a very important one. It is imperative that we keep it in check. Sometimes to satisfy our pallet we consume all types of food, not knowing that through it, bad qualities like lust, anger, greed, attachment, arrogance and selfishness grow in us. Man...

Photo Credit: Quotefancy   Adversity – an Opportunity In every adversity there is opportunity. We fail because we only see the adversity. Because of our fragmented mind we do not recognise the opportunity. Adversity will surface in some form in every life. How we prepare for it, how we meet it, makes the difference. We can be broken by adversity, or we can become stronger. The final result is up to the individual. Adversity is the trial of principle. Without it, a man hardly knows whether he is honest or not. Adversity is an opportunity to grow. As everyone says, this life is a trial of faith. We can be broken by adversity or we can become stronger. Each one of us has our own difficulties, but the outcome depends on our attitude and how we deal with it. Another thing is that adversity is an opportunity to change. The very opportunity for us to face adversity and affliction is part of the evidence of the Divine’s infinite love. God gave us the gift of living in mortality so ...

Photo Credit: Pinterest   Consciousness Cosmic Consciousness is a term often used to denote a higher or particularly spiritual level of awareness and consciousness. This type of awareness may be associated with an experience of “knowing God," or of transcending the five senses and finding a hidden consciousness or reality which is beyond the perceivable world. For many, the journey to experiencing cosmic consciousness involves practices such as yoga, meditation, prayer and acts of faith. In Swamiji’s presence, when we are in His aura we can feel the flow of consciousness, enjoy that state of thoughtless bliss and joy. It is a state which we attain in that moment and that shows us the potential to be in that state all the time, if and only if we do our own spiritual practice and aspire to reach that state. When we reach that state of cosmic consciousness in meditation, the mind becomes elevated beyond the awareness of the self and the ego, and enters a place of oneness and un...

  Photo Credit: Quotesgram Friendliness The modern virtual world is full of friend requests on social media – and these requests come from people who one has never met before. What kind of friendship can be established in this manner is beyond my understanding – but I too have got thousands of virtual ‘friends’ on social media. But these are just social contacts who like what appears on one’s social media page or what they would like to share on our social media page – but these are not the kind of friends who will respond to a call for help in times of distress. Relationships are important in life and unalloyed pure friendships are rare gems to be preserved and valued. These are pure relationships based on zero expectation – these are the kind of people who will walk through fire to help one get out of a sticky situation. Friendship is a relationship. We can be in a relationship with a few people. Friendliness is a quality not a relationship. It has nothing to do with anybody else...

  Photo Credit: Reddit Meaning of Om (Aum) One finds the first references to ‘Om’ is in the Mandukya Upanishad. Om is said to be imperishable in this text and to be all states of time, past, present, and future, as well as transcending time itself.  The symbol consists of 5 parts – Lower Large Curve, Upper Smaller Curve, Middle Curve, The Dot, Maya (the Crescent). Each aspect of Om’s visual form represents a different state of reality. The large lower curve represents the normal waking state, where the mind identifies with the physical body and perceives the world through the sense in this state. The upper curve represents the unconscious state, or deep sleep (Sushupti). This is a state of complete unconsciousness in which one is in a deep, dreamless sleep and has withdrawn from all physical and mental activities. The middle curve (Swapna) represents the dream state. The dream state occurs between deep sleep and waking sleep and is where a person explores their subcons...

  Photo Credit: TemplePurohit Churning of the Mind Churning of the mind is usually considered as a topic of discussion in psychology. Only when a mind is churned-up can it explore fresh horizons, else it becomes fossilised, and that mind is of no use to anyone, not even its owner. The Sanskrit word for churning-up is manthan. In India we are all familiar with the concept of Samudra manthan – in which it is said that the oceans were churned up by the Gods and the demons, then what happened? The Gods and the demons churned the ocean of milk, and what was flung out first was the poison, that too the most dangerous kind called hala hala visha – that which could have annihilated the entire creation. The story is that the great God, Shiva, the Lord of destruction, and also the symbol of the one with the third eye or the eye of intuition, the eye of understanding, lapped up the poison and saved the world.  So, it’s quite possible that when the mind is churned, so many poisons ...

  Photo Credit: Quotefancy  Instant Gratification Instant gratification is a term that refers to the temptation, and resulting tendency, to forego a future benefit in order to obtain a less rewarding but more immediate benefit. When we have a desire for something pleasurable—be it food, entertainment, or sex—you rarely think thoughts like, “My stomach is rumbling and I would love to have that delicious dish, but I’d rather wait another hour.” It’s a natural human urge to want good things and to want them NOW. It has almost certainly provided an evolutionary advantage for humans and their ancestors, as life for pre-modern humans hinged on decisions made and actions taken in the immediate far more than those intended for long-term gain. It’s all well and good to plan for the future, but actions that are taken to benefit you in the here and now are much more advantageous when you’re being stalked by a fierce predator or offered the opportunity to eat your fill in a time whe...

  Photo Credit: QuoteFancy Energy is Just That How many times have we heard the phrase, “He is such a bundle of energy” – this is often said of children who are invariably bubbling with fresh energy, they never seem to get tired. So, as we grow up how do we channelise our energy? As an experiment, Gurdjieff would create situations in which anger would be forced upon a newcomer. All the other disciples would be given prior instructions to be rude and insulting to the target person for that day. They would be so rude and insulting, that anger would rise in that person, and it would reach a point where it was about to explode, that is when Gurdjieff would tell the person to close his eyes and step back and watch the anger in awareness, and look for its source. As the energy which had arisen fell towards its source, just watch where it came from; now you can connect with the original source. This according to Osho, is one of the most successful methods of meditation. Energy is si...

  Photo Credit: Picturequotes.com Being Neutral When we learn to embrace our situations in life without swinging one way or the other, we can say that we are neutral. When we are neutral at the personal or at the patterned level of being or existing, we’re free to express as we are moved to express in this moment, in the here and now. We are no longer responding to this moment in a preconditioned, patterned manner. We are present in this moment; we are responding to this moment. Our response is fresh, alive, originating in this moment. We are present in the here and now . Being neutral does not mean being neutral to life. It does not mean that we have to walk through life feeling nothing at all. It is actually quite the contrary. When we are neutral to our personal patterning, all the energy that was being utilised to maintain control of the self and others is freed up. Now we have access to an infinite supply of energy. We feel more deeply. Our perceptive abilities are clear...

  Photo Credit: Dr Zoe Lumiere Magic of Sharing There is only one magic in the world, and that is the magic of sharing. One can share only if one has experienced in absolute depth – love, blissfulness, ecstasy (not the drug!), not just as words but as our very heartbeat, as our very breath! Then the magic happens. There is no magician, just the magic. We don’t do anything, it just happens, it simply overwhelms us. There is somebody ready to receive, vulnerable, thirsty, longing, then something invisible starts flowing between the two. We have seen this happen innumerable times during Swamiji’s discourses – a kind of ray from his eyes pierces the heart and we just melt within ourself, and are overcome with such love and joy – it is beyond description. We cannot see the connection, but we can definitely feel it, and that is way beyond the reach of the mind. Neither can anybody else see this, but if there are people of understanding around you, they can definitely see its effects....

  Photo Credit: Pinterest Change – Eternal Conundrum In the Bhagwad Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna – That which is subject to change (unreal) is not eternal. That which is real never ceases to be. Seers have realised the truth about both. We have always been told that the only thing that is constant is change, in which case what is Krishna talking about? What is being referred to is the physical body – Arjuna sees his relatives, his Gurus on the other side of the battlefield and is in a dilemma as to what joy will he get over the blood of his relatives? Krishna then talks about the unreal and the real. The soul is permanent, all the embodied souls on the battlefield have always been there and will always exist, it is only the body which is impermanent. The physical body keeps changing, how can that be permanent – the soul is eternal, never changing, it is the part of universal consciousness which is embodied in the individual physical body – that is eternal. So, it is important t...

  Photo Credit: Relevant Magazine Problems? In life, we face many problems – some big, some small, some frightening and some  appear to be  absolutely  insurmountable. The intensity of each problem is directly proportionate to the state of our mind. When there is a problem in life, we might try to let it go. People keep advising us, “If you can’t find a solution to the problem, surrender, let it go.” It is so easy to give advice isn’t it! When one faces the same situation, will that same advice be taken? That is the test. We may let the problem go, but will the problem let us get away? Suppose we have taken a loan from a bank and due to some financial problem, we are unable to pay the instalment. We surrender, let go of the loan – will that work? Will the bank let us go, will it not ask for its money back? Life is like that – if we get into some situation, it is like a debt. We have to pay it – not with money, but with our life. If one is smart, one will definite...

  Photo Credit: Pinterest Gratitude – it’s Importance God is the creator of the universe. We too are a part and parcel of the universe. So, both, the universe and we were created by God. All events in the universe followed thereafter. These include me, my happiness and unhappiness, intellect, actions, my family, country, religion, spiritual practice, etc. Thus, whenever one thinks about the self and / or the world, unconsciously harbouring awareness of God or one of His forms and offering the credit for even this awareness to God, is known as gratitude. Prayer is actually a synonym for surrender. This act of surrender is completed only after the expression of gratitude. The Guru Himself is God for a seeker who has been blessed by the grace of a Guru or for one who is practising Spirituality according to the Path of the Guru’s Grace. Hence it is but natural to harbour more gratitude towards the Guru. Gratitude is a means of offering the doer-ship of an act to God / the Guru; hen...

  Photo Credit: Pinterest Greatest Barrier On the spiritual path, we all follow a common objective – liberation. Before liberation we have to first realise that we are a soul, it is only then that our inner journey commences. For many people realising that one is a soul itself is a huge task – Swamiji has given us this realisation so easily that many of us do not truly value it. Like Swamiji says, “I have distributed the seed equally to all of you, how you consider it is your business. Some will think of it as a diamond and preserve and nurture it, others may think it to be just some stone and ignore it.” What we do with the seed depends on us – and this gives our inner journey the required momentum. If we value it, then our inner journey gathers pace, else it just meanders around without direction. This is a game about energy, and how we preserve it and direct it for our own inner progress. When we do not get quick results – remember we live in a very fast world, where instant gra...