Perception becomes Reality

 

Perception becomes Reality

In relationships with friends and family there are many instances when certain incidents take place and only one side of the story gets narrated. The other person in the situation prefers to keep quiet as narrating the other side of the story could seriously damage long term relationships – whether it is with friends or relatives. This is because the characters in the story are too closely knitted and the whole story has the potential to play spoil sport and damage existing relationships. It is somewhat akin to how the media reports today – it is reporting one side of the story and setting a narrative – and once that narrative is set then changing perceptions is hard work and requires a lot of convincing with proof of the occurrence etc.

This is all the more critical when there are small children in the narrative and they get close to one parent/sibling and are invariably influenced by that parent/sibling to such an extent that the mindset gets fixed at a young age and then changing the perception becomes dangerous, hence in such situations it is better to let sleeping dogs lie and life just goes on. The other parent/sibling adjusts and moves on as life is too complicated to rock the boat, especially when the waters have calmed down with the passage of time! And in such cases perception becomes reality and that is what is held to be fact!

Once you become a seeker and start following the spiritual path then you start accepting situations in life, you learn to go with the flow, because the flowing river ultimately has to complete its journey and merge with the ocean and lose its identity!

Trying to change the narrative specially after the children grow up will always be more damaging and could result in more stress for the whole group – thus whether we grow up as friends or relatives – once the narrative has been set without being questioned right at the outset then it is better to let the perception become the reality.

With meditation comes acceptance and with acceptance comes solace and that works as  a soothing balm on whatever has transpired in the past – we learn to accept and move on, live in the present moment, which in any case is the only reality – that is because we live with every breath we inhale and die with every breath we exhale. The moment this stops the story ends!

Loneliness and Solitude

 

Loneliness and Solitude

On a cursory look at these words, they may appear to some to be synonyms – but are they? In reality the difference between them is huge like chalk and cheese! Loneliness is something which one feels on losing a friend or on not having any friends or someone to talk to. When one cannot share the ups and downs of life with someone you feel lonely. Loneliness presents itself as the biggest punishment in life.

Solitude is when you are happy being alone as you contemplate life and its conundrums in solitary splendor. When one becomes introversive solitude becomes a way of life as you start savouring the silence as you journey inwards. When this starts happening on a regular basis solitude becomes a boon and the one who experiences that silence would never miss it for the world!

Invariably loneliness has negative connotations as we can still feel lonely in the presence of people. This feeling of loneliness is marked by a feeling of isolation, of being separated from the group even when you are part of the group. It is a negative aspect of human nature which treats people in this manner – you will never see this occurring in the animal world. When one is lonely one has a deep sense of being alone in the world with no one to turn to and that preys on the mind resulting in stress, tension with all its attendant ramifications.

Solitude is when you are alone but not feeling lonely – you are comfortable with the ‘self’ – not just comfortable, but happy and blissed out! When one becomes introversive and finds one’s own core then even when one is in the presence of a huge crowd, with noise and chaos all around, one is calm and at peace, that is because one is unified with one’s inner consciousness, where there is only silence, peace and bliss.

The journey from loneliness to solitude is one which takes you from the path of aloneness, fear, stress to silence, peace, bliss, inner communion – this is a journey in which we ourselves are the path, the traveler and the destination all rolled into one! This path can be easily traveled by practicing yoga and meditation. Meditation leads you slowly and steadily inwards as you embark on your journey to inner peace. This journey is full of spiritual experiences which make you ultimately overflow with love and compassion towards everyone. It is a journey which is a must for all those who seek inner peace and enjoy the sound of silence – of solitude!

 

Life is Rooted in Reality

 

Life is Rooted in Reality

Life is very practical and a practical outlook to life will help you traverse the various ups and downs comfortably. Life is definitely not rooted or connected to your thoughts and emotions. The moment you start thinking about life in your mind, you start conjuring up images of how life should be for you and for those near and dear to you. This is definitely taught by some for positive outcomes through visualization techniques etc. I personally do not know whether such techniques work or not.

Visualisation and positive affirmation have their plus points, I guess. Such techniques may help in manifesting the outcomes you hope for, but if you totally rely on such techniques without practically working towards achieving those goals – then that is definitely living in a dream world!

If you start dreaming and becoming emotional about perceived outcomes then you are headed for serious trouble. The best way to face life is to live it practically. Meet each situation head on with a positive frame of mind. Do what your soul / mind tells you to do at that moment – the result could go either way – but then you know you have done your best. The result is never in your hands – that will happen as per your destiny, your karma. Whatever happens needs to be accepted and we need to move on.

If we become emotional about the outcome of situations then we will be making our mind active with thoughts on the outcome which will hurt us emotionally in the long run – what if this had happened and what if that had happened – such thoughts just corrode you from within and are most likely to lead to ill health.  

We can begin to get a grip on our emotions and calm down our mind through yoga and meditation techniques. Once we start yoga and meditation, we gain control of our physical body and learn to sit still in one place while meditating. Once the physical stillness is in place our attention goes to the mind in meditation, breathing techniques help us slow the mind down, and with time the mind becomes quiet. Once that happens our journey to inner peace begins and we start living life in the moment – rooted in reality!

Who We Really Are!

 

Who We Really Are!

How many of us know who we really are? Do we recognise the good and the bad within us? Are we able to make out the difference between what is ‘good’ and what is ‘bad’? There are several such questions which come to mind and for which we need to seek the answers ourselves.

Everybody has got both the good and bad senses equally within themselves – the question is which aspect does one give wind to? If one decides to sit on the boat to a fast life – quick money, quick success, etc. then most likely you will end up taking shortcuts in life. The hurry to reach success invariably sets a person out on the path of doing things which are not considered ‘right’ or ‘good’ in society. In the short run you do find success, but in the long run you end up paying a heavy price in the form of ill health, legal cases, jail even if convicted. Invariably ill-gotten wealth and success come with a very heavy price tag.

If one decides to sit on the boat to a steady and honest life then invariably you will find yourself struggling initially, but that is the foundation on which a very sturdy building is built. Invariably such people find that their success lasts long, they make a name for themselves and when such people move on, they are remembered for the good they did in life.

Some of us realise that we are seekers for the truth since an early age and some of us get the realisation later in life. But all those seekers who meditate regularly and find communion with their soul will always be following the straight and narrow path – their soul, their conscience will never permit the taking of short cuts!

As seekers and meditators, we all develop the ‘good’ within us and give it wind and over time it becomes second nature. The goodness is radiated from the being and it is ‘felt’ by people who come within range of that radiance. Meditation is the way to ensure that goodness prevails within our being and radiates to those who are near and dear to us.

Courage and Faith

 

Courage and Faith

The dictionary definition of courage is the ability to do something that frightens one, the strength to face pain or grief. We act brave and courageous throughout or life both knowingly and unknowingly. When we face down our fear of people or things, when we say sorry – yes, it requires tremendous courage to own up one’s mistake and say one is truly sorry – the ability to speak up and say what is right, specially to superiors and not be a yes man; the courage to keep quiet and remain silent when the need arises; the courage to recognise and acknowledge the character of other individuals; courage to stand one’s ground and not give in when you know you are right. There are lots of dimensions to courage.

Faith is defined as trust or confidence in someone or something; strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof. We need faith and belief to get through a lot of situations that suddenly crop up in life. Whether it is a family crisis, a job crisis, loss of self-belief, a financial crisis and so on. When one faces these situations in life we usually turn to God – it is human nature to turn to the divine when we are in trouble. Invariably when things are good, we do not remember Him, only troubles lead us to His door.

When we start meditating and turning inwards – our inner  journey takes us down an unknown, untraversed path. Here too one requires courage and faith – the courage to face the fear of death and go beyond and the faith that you will surmount this fear and reach your goal. As you go within, you start losing your ego, your material desires start disappearing, you become more accepting and with this your courage gets a boost up as you become bluntly honest, no beating around the bush and simultaneously you develop the faith to face all situations in life with a smile. You develop a confidence in your SELF – you become an epitome of calmness and peace which radiates from your very being. Courage and faith go hand in hand – meditate regularly and develop these qualities to such an extent that your aura radiates your confidence and love towards all beings – both sentient and non sentient!

Focused Will Power

 

Focused Will Power

Today, in India we are seeing widespread panic with the explosion of the corona virus all over the place with five states -- Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala -- cumulatively accounting for 59% of India's total active cases. Even though there were warning signs of second wave since at least February this year neither the governments nor the people were doing their bit. The governments did not prepare for the spread and the people were not bothered about the virus roaming around without masks, going to bars, parties etc like we are in a normal situation. Swamiji set a personal example by getting himself vaccinated and asking all the sadhaks to follow government guidelines and take all necessary precautions to keep oneself safe apart from regular meditation with at least three handwritten messages.

Such tests are not inflicted on the world by God, but by the unseen  accumulated influence of humanity’s self-created mass karma. Just have faith no matter what difficulties we may face and keep in tune. Maintain an inner calmness and trust that Paramatma’s love and power will see us through these very trying times, for He is our greatest haven of safety — our eternal guide through danger to ultimate security and healing.

When one’s spiritual leader is taking up the clarion call of safety and following established guidelines plus meditating, then we just have to obey him, that’s it! But, we are intelligent people and we know it all, so we flout guidelines here and there and then when infection happens we are looking for a scapegoat. Remember the golden rule in spirituality – if something is wrong with you outside, look inside the answer is there!

I can only pray for all to follow simple guidelines, meditate regularly, do not go outside unless it is an absolute necessity, sanitize all courier packets entering the house, quarantine them for 24-48 hours before opening, etc – all basic rules which can be easily followed. Meditating regularly gives the physical body a protective shield and also develops a strong chitta shakti or will power. With this inner strength you can not only protect yourself but also act as protective support for those around you. Meditation is our greatest security, and our greatest assurance of getting through these times of crisis with our souls unconquered and untouched. Meditate and focus your inner will power on the positive, protect yourself and your surroundings and we will be through this phase by mid-May. Take care, stay safe.

The Power of Positivity

 

The Power of Positivity

These days when we say, “My result is positive” – it is bad news, as it implies one has tested positive for the coronavirus and a negative result is considered to be good. The whole world has turned topsy turvy with the corona pandemic! But seriously, when we talk about positivity, we are not talking about the result of some test carried out in a lab. We are talking about the attitude one has in life.

How do we think? Are we always positive in our outlook? Or we are filled with doubt about stuff? What I have observed throughout my life is that being optimistic and always thinking that whatever happens will be good has resulted in less stress in life. Being able to accept any result of any action positively is a quality which will take you far. The idea is that even if something does not happen the way you thought it would, don’t call that a failure, because it always teaches you a lesson which helps you when you try something similar the next time. So, life has no failures, only lessons.

If one develops a positive mindset then you will always be sending out positive vibrations from the core of your being, it will be reflected in your body language, the people who come in contact with you will sense that and express their feelings to that effect too! The power of positivity is such that over time things start happening the way you think they should, that is because the universe is now supporting your positive efforts. Just remember this – the universe will always support you when your effort or whatever you are doing is for the general welfare of the people and not driven by selfish desire. Whatever you do in business for profit is fine, but when you start doing things for social benefit then it should always be without any hidden agenda, that is when the power of positivity can be truly seen.

With regular meditation the feeling of positivity starts developing naturally as your aura itself sends out those positive, friendly vibrations. Meditation takes you within and helps cleanse all the negativity in your system, with time all that remains is the purity of the soul – that is always exuding love and positivity. Become one with the soul, make your nature exude positivity and spread the power of positivity – believe me no virus will affect you – be positive, stay positive!

Expression of True Joy

 

Expression of True Joy

Since childhood and as we grow up through the years our sense of joy changes from the real simple pleasures of childhood innocence into a material sense of joy which is borne out of desires and needs. As children the simplest of things gives us untold joy and we break out in uncontrollable laughter – we have done this ourselves as children and we see it so often in children upto the age of 5 and sometimes till the age of 10 even.

As we grow older, we absorb a lot of stuff and especially in the modern era our joys are driven by our possessions – big house, big car, jewellery, designer clothes, gadgets and what have you. You see someone else’s possession and think you must have that too, and that drives your desire to acquire it whatever the cost. You don’t ‘feel’ joy till you get it. These are the material expressions of joy and happiness which are absolutely short lived! This is because with change in technology with passage of time more and more new ‘toys’ come into the market and our search for that elusive ‘True Joy’ continues through acquisition of ‘things’.

Joy expresses itself under certain conditions, but it is not created by those conditions. Thus, when someone receives ten thousand rupees and exclaims, “Oh, how happy I am!” the condition of having received ten thousand rupees has merely served as a pickaxe, releasing a fountain of joy from the hidden reservoir of bliss within. So, in human experience, certain events are usually required to bring forth joy, but the joy itself is the perennial native state of the soul. 

So, how do we reach this perennial source of joy. This happens very easily and naturally as we start meditating. Our attention turns inwards and with the passage of time and progress under the guidance of a Master, we find the inner world to be far more beautiful and joyous than anything in the outside world. On attaining self-realisation our journey within continues to seek greater and greater depths, and with this we begin to enjoy the sound of silence, the resonance within and we see our soul and the light within fills us with that perennial source of joy – true joy, lasting joy, total bliss!

 

The Nature of One’s Soul

 

The Nature of One’s Soul

Since childhood I was very fond of reading comics, novels and a whole lot of entertaining reading. In the vacations I would join a local library and bring a book home to read. I was kind of greedy and would slip in a commando comic inside my trouser and take one book in hand and register the book in the hand and go. Next day I would return the registered book and quietly slip the comic in the comic section. This went on successfully for a few days and then one day I got a tremendous sensation in the small of my back and a voice kept telling me to put the comic back. But I ignored it!! When I went to register the book in my hand the attendant asked me to raise my shirt and I did so and he removed the comic, accused me of stealing and gave me a tight slap across my face. I had nothing to say, as it would have just made things worse. The reason for telling you this story is that during your youth the soul is very strong and keeps talking to you – we stop listening to it, that’s when it becomes dormant.

The nature of one’s soul is always pure and pristine; it is our intellect and the muck we gather in society that makes the physical body in the form of that individual as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. In fact, nothing is good or bad – it just is – it is our perception of things and events and people which makes things, situations, people appear to be good or bad.

When we start meditating and start going within into the proximity of our soul, that is when we come to know the beauty of our soul. The moment this starts happening the nature of the physical body also starts becoming like that of the soul – we start becoming like children - innocent, care free, joyous and full of fun. It all starts reflecting in our personality as people start getting attracted towards you for no apparent reason. You will definitely observe this as years go by and your state improves through regular meditation. That is the nature of everyone’s Soul – pure innocence, joyous and carefree!

The Divine in One’s Life

 

The Divine in One’s Life

When we go out in nature, we see the divine all around us – the peace, the calm, the energy which one’s feels quietens our minds, that is nothing but the divine. The hills, the mountains, jungles/forests, river banks, seas, oceans – where there is nothing but calm, silence and complete peace. When we are in such areas our attention automatically starts going within as the thoughts in our minds stop – this is completely natural as there are not thoughts in nature. Nature gives us a pure environment which we just have to absorb quietly.

That is one way to come in the presence of the divine – the other is meditation. Meditation under the guidance of a living realised Master is the fastest way to self-realisation and the commencement of one’s inner journey! The habit of being inwardly in the calm presence of one’s soul – the ‘God’ within, thus keeping that consciousness steadfast day and night. Being in constant companionship of the soul helps one remain healthy, protected from being enslaved by disease, suffering and fear. Don’t you feel that is worth the effort?

Meditate every morning and welcome the day by thanking the God within for this beautiful day and whatever it brings; meditate in the evening too to thank God for the day gone by and feel the divine before going to sleep at night – once you start doing this you will start feeling happiness, joy, bliss beyond expectation!

Effort is necessary, but that effort will make one a king enthroned in the kingdom of peace and joy. Time spent in the pursuit of extraneous material things is a waste of man's precious opportunities to know the God within. Once you find the peace within you will learn to live with it and even the most trying of circumstances will not make you lose your equilibrium. Such is the power of meditation and becoming one with the divine lying within each one of us. Make the Divine a daily part of your life and stay blissed and blessed.

 

 

 

The River Meets the Ocean

 

The River Meets the Ocean

Once a seeker embarks on his journey – there is only one dedicated goal and that is liberation. The seeker is looking for that one guide, that one realised Master who will take him home. The Master comes in your life when you have an intense desire to know the ultimate truth – this could be because of the desire awakening in this birth or in the previous birth. There are several seekers who go to the shrine of a saint and seek guidance from the bottom of their heart – when the call to the universe is from so deep within, that is when a realised Master – your liberator comes into your life. For some, it appears that they have no such desire in this birth, but because of their intense penance in previous births, without apparently seeking out the realised Master, the Master seeks such souls out and reminds them of the purpose of their lives.

This is exactly what happened to me – I wasn’t looking for liberation or any such thing, I was deeply involved in just living life’s day to day struggles, when out of the blue twelve years ago a friend with whom I had lost contact for almost twenty years comes back into my life and tells me about a saint who has come from the Himalayas and who teaches a very simple form of meditation. He introduced me to Samarpan Meditation and with the passage of time I got a personal audience from the Master and then things moved really fast from then onwards.

Meditation became a regular feature – morning and evening was something I have not missed for a single day since February 2009! The journey went on and still continues – the river was flowing towards the ocean. The day is not far when it will merge with the ocean. That is exactly what happens when a person dies in the state of liberation (moksha) – at the final breath the soul departs without any desire, totally empty, a complete wide, no thought at all in the end – that is when the soul merges with the Supreme Soul or becomes one with Universal Consciousness – that is when the river (soul) finally meets the Ocean of Consciousness. Pray that we all attain that final state where there is nothing else to be achieved and just merge with the Ocean.

The Second Corona Lockdown - A Poem

 

Second Corona Lockdown 

Why do we have a second lockdown

Is it because our minds have been locked out

Locked out minds of unbalanced politicians

Playing games with lives of citizens

One year to prepare for second wave

Four months prior warning all in vain

Some governments just interested in looting

The public may land in hospital for all they care

What has become of humanity

Has it become a victim of power and vanity

The virus keeps changing form

And we keep running around like nothing is wrong

Life has its way of turning around

Just have faith and stay at home

If you live you win and fight again tomorrow

Today is important for staying alive

Don’t watch the news or read the news

You don’t know what you are watching or reading

Is news or something to make you confused.

Stay at home and dive inwards

And maybe you will find the peace

That is needed to survive this scare

For scare it is as no virus will dare

Break the protection you are under

Just meditate regularly and create the shield

That will never yield – virus or no virus!

Concept of Group Souls

 

Concept of Group Souls

I had heard about the concept of group souls from a spiritually advanced couple about eleven years ago. The concept is simple really – when souls take birth, they come with the objective of settling their past birth karmas. The parents you are born to, the relatives you have, the friends and enemies you make is all a part of that karmic evolutionary process. Thus, you find that there are certain people who are a part of your life from beginning to end and some people come and go at intervals or just come and go after a period of time – the permutations could differ. You never know the reason why and the mind tries to rationalize why this or that happened. Anyone who is not on your same evolutionary and spiritual frequency will distance himself from you, while all those who are vibrating at the same frequency as you will come closer to you.

All creatures on earth are in reality bundles of energy vibrating at a certain frequency. You can understand this when you fall sick and go to the doctor who tells you to take tests based on your illness – all the scan reports come in the form of graphs which show whether your heart, your brain etc is within the given vibration pattern. This shows that we are basically bundles of electric energy (simplistic explanation). When something goes wrong with you the frequency changes!

Each human being has group souls which continually help each other to elevate themselves to a higher frequency band, this is a process which goes on unknown to the physical body, but the soul is entirely aware. Generally, it is said that if you listen to your heart – meaning your emotional – while taking decisions then you are closer to your soul, listen to your soul, while those who take decisions intellectually are practical and don’t bother to much about emotional niceties. Each level of soul on earth finds his/her own guide or Guru whose sole job it is to raise the awareness of his group of souls to the next level where another guide appears, till they reach the level where a living realised Master comes into their lives.

With the realised Master entering your life you now find yourself to be part of a huge collectivity of souls who are vibrating in a high set frequency band. Here too you will find bad apples, but by this time the soul has taken over as your guide and will tell you whom to steer away from and whom to stick on with. Take the guidance of your soul – it is your own Guru. Meditate regularly and awaken the Guru within you, that is the goal of every soul – then rest assured you will be well on the pathway to liberation!

 

 

 

 

 

The Chakra Conundrum

 

The Chakra Conundrum

There are many people who are not aware of ‘chakras’, which are basically energy centres in the body lying along the spinal cord – medically they are known as glands such as the pituitary, pineal, thyroid, thymus, adrenal, pancreas, etc. Those who are seekers and are meditating regularly, listen to spiritual discourses of realised Masters are aware of the chakras. When we learn about the chakras there is a natural tendency to see or seek means of finding out what is the state of our chakras. Earlier this was not possible, but now with the advance of technology there are several ways in which one can find out about one’s chakras. You can google and learn about this – the objective of this post is not to know about the state of one’s chakras!

Swamiji always says in Hindi, “chakra ke chakkar me mat pado” – meaning do not get involved in knowing about your chakras. Now, why does He say that? Suppose you come to know that all your chakras are balanced and you have a good state – what does that do to you, most likely you will get into an ego trip and tell others that you got a very good chakra report. The moment you do that you will most likely attract the negative attention of others who may feel miffed at your message and think why does that person have balanced chakras and not me! Once this starts happening you start attracting the negative attention of such persons and at a very subtle level this affects you thus unbalancing your chakras. Your ego also creates an imbalance – so what is the point in getting your chakras checked?

In the other case, if your chakras are not balanced then you go into guilt and feel – I meditate so much, then why did I get such a report! So, instead of going on an ego or guilt trip, it is best to just meditate and leave it to nature to do the rest. Believe me, if all your chakras are balanced you will feel buoyant, there will be radiance on your face, you will not fall sick, etc. If you find yourself in such a situation then understand that all is well with you. If not, then all you need to do is meditate regularly and balance yourself. It takes time, but it happens just as the sun rises and sets every day. So, just meditate and do not get involved in the chakra conundrum!

The Other Person's Shoe

 

The Other Person’s Shoe

As we go through life, we are always making expert comments on all kinds of situations. We come across people who are sailing through life, who appear happy or sad, who are struggling, who resort to crime or cheating, who work hard for no tangible benefit, etc. and we invariably start making assumptions about such persons! These assumptions are based on our own experience without having a clue as to the other person’s situation. Our subconscious mind is filled with memories which we are not even aware of and when a unique incident takes place in our life, we jump to a conclusion based on what the subconscious mind throws out – the ordinary person is not even aware of the subconscious mind – the thought just pops up in the mind and that then becomes your reality!

Any incident that takes place requires three things – yourself, someone else and a set of circumstances which result in some incident. In this we have control only on ourself. We cannot control the circumstances nor can we control the behaviour of the other person or persons in the given situation. If the situation is going out of control, the best thing to do is try and put yourself in the other person’s shoes and try to see the situation from that person’s point of view. If you learn to do that then you will invariably be able to manage the situation calmly.

How we react in any given situation is in our hands. Meditation teaches us to stay calm and focused. When we exude an aura of calmness then that has an impact on our surrounding circumstances and also rubs off on the other protagonists in the situation. Conflict invariably is caused by an angry response to an adverse situation. Anger usually is a result of fear of consequences – you do not know how to react – anger is the defensive mechanism to hide that fear. Anything said or done in anger will only have negative consequences.

So, to best judge any given situation learn to put yourself in the other person’s shoes – look at the situation from the other point of view, then your own point of view and you will always find a way out of any situation which does not hurt either party. Regular meditation helps you maintain equilibrium, be balanced in your actions and reactions. When we learn to live in the moment all our actions and reactions are always positive and have a beneficial effect under most circumstances. Stay balanced, stay focused, learn to assess situations from all angles and all will be well!

 

 

Does Creativity Exist in Each One of Us?

 

Does Creativity Exist in Each One of Us?

I was always fascinated by the way in which certain people could churn out poems at the drop of a hat. It appeared as if verse was readily flowing from the tip of their tongue! I would sit and think – can I do it? And then one day, while sitting in office suddenly words started churning in my mind and I wrote down my first poem. Thereafter I wrote three more – the words suddenly start churning in your mind and you get the message that – ok, looks like some poem is waiting to burst through. I immediately voice record the flow of words and then replay and pen them down.

How does this happen? With the development of the sacral chakra and the Agya chakra your creativity expands along with creative knowledge. Before joining the Samarpan Meditation family writing poems was the last thing on my mind – in fact I always felt that it was way out of my league and I am not cut out for it.

With regular meditation and the clearance of the energy centres in your body, things start happening which you never would have imagined – all of them good and positive! So, I have started believing that creativity exists in each and everyone of us. It just needs a kick start to be activated! That can happen suddenly once you connect with your inner core through meditation – it could be poetry, it could be painting, singing, dance, just about anything.

I have come to believe that nothing is impossible, you just need the right key to open the lock. Once you find the key which opens the lock – then creativity just happens. We are all very creative persons – on a lighter note this creativity abounds in us when we give excuses while reaching school or office late.  The kinds of excuses we can come up with are examples of the inherent creativity within us – hahahaha!

Jokes apart, with regular meditation lots of doors open and once grace starts flowing you will find yourself doing such positive things that you or anyone near and dear to you would have ever imagined. Meditation is the key to open doors to higher levels of consciousness. Come, join the family and elevate yourself!

Thought Pollution

 

Thought Pollution

I am sure you have heard about all kinds of pollution – but thought pollution is most likely to be new for you. Actually, this is the most dangerous kind of pollution, because it pollutes one’s mind. How does this happen? Well, have you observed while travelling in a crowded bus, or waiting at a bus stop, somebody passes by and you get a serious urge to slap that person! This is because that person is generating negative vibes which are emanating from his/her mind. All this happens at a very subtle level. In extremely crowded areas there is no guarantee that thoughts passing through your mind are even your own! You may be thinking along certain lines and suddenly your mind changes track and you start thinking about something else without any rhyme or reason.

All this happens because your mind is subconsciously absorbing someone else’s thought waves. This is the danger – because most people think only negative thoughts, of events of the past and how to respond in the future. When there is excessive thought pollution it is likely that your head starts feeling heavy and you feel stress. When this happens and you do not see any suitable cause – try going to uninhabited places or places with scarce population density.

When you go to hill stations, or set out for a sail in the sea, enter a forest camp – here in the presence of nature you will observe that your mind has suddenly become calm, thoughts are few and far in between! The reason is nature does not think – it just exists. Thus, when you are in nature your nature too changes – you become calm, your mind becomes stable and you find yourself to be at peace.

You can protect yourself from thought pollution even when you stay in crowded cities. The solution is to meditate under the guidance of a realised Master. With regular meditation as you go within, and learn to keep your attention within, you will observe that your thought process has slowed down. This happens because meditation slows down your breathing, your bio-rhythm slows down and with that your thought process also slows down. There is a direct link between your breathing and thinking. When you become angry your pulse rate is high and your mind is racing – that’s why the saying, ‘count slowly to ten’ – this helps your breathing to normalise and your anger to dissipate thus calming your mind. Try holding your breath for a minute and see for yourself whether you get any thoughts – you don’t!

With your journey into your inner world, with the passage of time your energy body or aura becomes strong and forms a protective shield around you – one of the things this helps with is keeping unwanted thoughts away. So, meditate and find that inner peace, then your mind will surely become an ocean of calmness.

My Health, My Responsibility

 

My Health, My Responsibility

I have been a sports person right since childhood, going out for an early morning run, soaking in the morning freshness while running. The rush of adrenaline as one gets the second breath and just striding on comfortably while others fell back while trying to catch up used to give me a real high. Through the years I have been running, doing yoga, meditating, eating to live rather than the other way round. Unless we control our own diet and exercise no one can help us. We can hire trainers, join gyms, etc. but at the end of the day unless we ourselves decide to lead a healthy, disciplined life there is no one on earth who can really help us to stay fit.

There are so many companies selling diet food, promoting this diet and that diet …. we now have nutritionists telling us what to eat, how to eat while trainers tell us how to exercise, how much to exercise etc. But believe me, in my experience if you follow a healthy regime your own body talks to you and you instinctively ‘know’ what is good for you and what is not. Most of us have stressed lifestyles – work, home, travel, irregular eating hours, eating junk from outside – all this has a direct impact on one’s wellness and wellbeing!

Your body needs detoxification if you feel you are putting on unnecessary weight, you feel that you are filled with gas and the body feels bloated, there is stress, tiredness and listlessness, dull skin tone and so on. Anything that makes you feel not ‘you’ – means the body needs detoxification.

With regular practise of yoga and meditation one can keep one’s body healthy. For detoxification of the body intermittent fasting and a judicious, healthy diet will help cleanse you from within. Fasting is extremely good for health – our ancestors recommended it, our religious festivals have it built into them – all of this has already been thought of by our ancestors – the question is do we believe them? It is fashionable to debunk our history in the name of modernism, when the entire western world is learning from our heritage and patenting products made out of our herbal knowledge.

If you want to remain healthy for a long period of time, become responsible for your own health – eat judiciously, fast intermittently, exercise regularly, meditate twice a day and cleanse your mind, body and soul – stay healthy, stay focused in the moment, radiate peace and love. Live by the dictum – My Health, My Responsibility!

Good and Bad

 

Good and Bad

So many things in life are defined in binaries – good-bad, love-hate, like-dislike, light-dark, and so on. Let’s consider good-bad as a binary. We normally understand that whatever is positive, beneficial, healthy, etc as good for us and that which is not is bad for us. Our vision of life normally does not extend too far into the future, so we act in ways that are good for us in the immediate future. Everything we plan and do is for our, our family’s own future benefit. We do this almost every day and then something happens which makes our decision look bad and we start thinking why did we do this.

Such is life, it makes man’s decision look silly, whereas just a moment ago we had thought that this was possibly the best decision we had ever taken. If there are other people involved in this then we try and analyse what went wrong, whether it was anything we did, or the circumstances changed or someone came to put a spanner in the works!

Whatever it is – our perception of good has now become bad. That is life! What is good today can turn bad tomorrow and there is nothing you can do about it. The only thing you could do was to take the bad in your stride and move on, because it takes just another twist of fate to turn what is considered bad today to good tomorrow!

Our approach to both the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ should be the same – without attachment, whatever happens always happens for the good – if you have this attitude then you will never have a ‘bad’ moment. That is because your understanding of life has accepted that there is nothing ‘good’ or ‘bad’ in life – everything just ‘is’. It is our mind which decides good and bad – it is our expectation, our fear, our desire, our love, etc which defines good and bad for us. Basically, the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ exists in our subconscious mind based upon our past experience.

When we start meditating, we slowly start living in the present moment, the past is forgotten and the future is not here. When this happens, then our perception of good-bad disappears and everything appears to be good – because we are living in the moment – and the moment is the only reality, everything else is just history or a mystery yet to unfold. Live in the moment and be ‘happy’ or better still – just ‘be’ – thus living in the moment will start reflecting on your face, which will start glowing with a kind of radiance. Be joyous, be happy, spread joy, spread happiness because everything just IS – nothing is good, nothing is bad!

The Blame Game

 

The Blame Game

I am sure that we have all experienced this at some point in our life. What is the blame game? One becomes part of this when one refuses to take responsibility for one’s actions. The easiest thing in the world is to blame someone else when things go wrong. The ego plays a central part in this life’s drama as the protagonist refuses to face the facts and accept that he is wrong. This is when he starts looking for excuses and fall guys to transfer the blame to. You will see this happening everyday if you are part of a large organisation or if you observe politics. This blame game is like a game of ping pong! It keeps going on till the topic changes!

If one tries to go to the root of the problem then we find out that there is no self-analysis or introspection to find out if one is truly right or not. And if one realises that one is wrong, is one large hearted enough to accept that publicly and say, “Sorry, I was wrong, my bad.” It takes a different kind of person to accept one’s mistake in public, apologise and get on with life.

Most of the time, people will argue, shout from the rooftops and give excuses, blame someone or something and keep saying if this had happened that would have happened. These are purely self-serving apologists and should be recognised as such.

If we want to be honest and true to ourself, then it is best to accept responsibility for one’s actions. No one is right all the time, we are all humans, we are allowed to make mistakes, learn from them and with the bad experience become better human beings. That is life.

If one starts meditating early in life under the guidance of a self-realised Master, then one’s clearance starts early – the soul becomes the mirror to one’s existence. It starts showing the person his faults and shortcomings and nudging the person to change. Once the soul becomes strong then the person will not do anything that goes against the conscience, in fact the energy field around the physical body becomes so strong that nothing that is adverse comes in the aura field. The person is protected at all times – it is like a divine shield. Even if something bad does happen, the person has the inner strength to ride that storm without too much discomfort and progress in life. Now, there is no blame game as the soul becomes our guide!

‘Sadhana’ – my understanding of the word

 

‘Sadhana’ – my understanding of the word

The Hindi word ‘sadhana’ according to the Hindi dictionary means – becoming established, completion, fulfilment of an objective. When we translate Swamiji’s messages we interpret it as ‘spiritual practice’. This spiritual practice could be anything because there are many paths to reach one’s spiritual goal. These paths include dance, playing musical instruments, singing and meditation. In fact, any kind of intensive practice – it could be ballet, dancing on the ice rink, classical singing practice, etc. – all these require devotion of time, a faith in one’s abilities and a confidence that one can do it. We have all heard great classical singers and musicians – their songs and music generate a kind of energy which makes one close one’s eyes and get lost in the ecstasy of that music. We notice that all these performers give years of their life to practice their art before they appear and perform in public – another thing, they always thank teacher, their ‘Guru’ before their performances.

A sadhak is one who performs ‘sadhana’ – without the kind of dedication, faith, commitment, feeling of surrender to the Guru and to the knowledge one is seeking to imbibe it is simply not possible to progress. For one to progress, one has to empty one’s self of all preconceived notions one may have built by reading books, listening to music etc. Without emptying one’s self one is not yet ready to imbibe the required knowledge which is flowing all the time in the universe. The moment one becomes empty, a channel, the knowledge starts flowing continuously, the energy is received and can be felt.

When I started meditating, I had no concept of energy, but within 5 – 6 months I could feel the flow of energy, the flow of consciousness as it washed through within me. It is a feeling which is very difficult to describe as the energy flows between the hypodermis/dermis and the epidermis as it starts from the crown of the head and flows right down till the toes in continuous waves.  

One’s sadhana has to be focused on the objective, specially while meditating – if our objective is liberation or moksha then we have to sit down and begin to empty ourselves. The sooner one embarks on the path, the more the time to reach one’s goal. Liberation is not attained on dying – liberation is that state of mind which lives in the present moment, it is a state of void where everything is and nothing exists.

Embrace the Darkness

 

Embrace the Darkness

Yesterday I had written about being selfish and embracing the darkness. Today, let us see how we can reach the stage of ‘embracing the darkness’. Once we have been blessed with the seed of enlightenment by a Realised Master, it wholly and solely depends on us for watering that seed and making it grow into a strong oak tree. This is a slow process, in the spiritual sphere if things have to happen, they happen in a flash or it just does not happen. There are a few very lucky, pious persons who have reached that stage of ‘seeing the light’ and being enveloped in its bliss. But, for the most of us it is a slow process – what we need is dedication and a firm belief with complete faith that we will reach our ultimate destination – our inner abode.

As we start meditating in collectivity and alone for 30 minutes each – as Swamiji says meditate alone to gather speed and meditate in collectivity to obtain control over the speeding vehicle. So, it is essential for us to meditate alone as well as collectively. This has to be regular - you can’t say its too early, I am tired, we’ll see tomorrow etc. and not wake up for the morning meditation – no excuses! Once there is regularity and consistency in meditation our body becomes amenable to sitting for half an hour, the mind becomes calm, breathing slows down as we start going deeper and deeper within.

This is the phase where we enter the dark never ending ‘tunnel’ – or that’s what I call it out of my experience. It is a very benign tunnel, very friendly, there is no element of ‘fear’ as we embrace the silence and the darkness of the tunnel. Only once have I seen that flash of light which resembles the power of a 1000 Suns, and after that I guess as Osho says, there is now a subconscious expectation, after which I have not experienced it again.

Every spiritual experience that one gets needs to be forgotten at the subconscious level again and again, then there is scope for progress, else we keep moving around in circles. That is my perception – I may be wrong. The darkness needs to be embraced, we need to make it our friend and not be afraid, only then will we be able to head towards the ‘light’ at the end of the tunnel!