Introspection

 

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Introspection

In modern times introspection is the need of the hour. In a spiritual context, it means the sincere examination of thoughts, feelings, words, actions and motivations in order to keep them uplifted and beneficial. When we introspect daily – the last thing before going to bed – it brings us closer to our soul.

Introspection involves ruminating on the day’s events, one by one, not dwelling on any single event for any period of time, but just briefly reviewing all the activities – all the circumstances that you have faced, and most importantly how you faced them, your attitude in each situation as you tackled it – whether it helped you in taking care of your karma or adding to it!

With daily introspection you will begin to notice your faults, you will also realise that you had virtues too, which you were not aware of! If possible, make a spiritual diary or if you are capable, them prepare a mental diary where everything is noted! Over time the diary becomes your guide as begin to see the mistakes you made, whether any mistakes kept repeating themselves – these were the ones you needed to give special attention to.

With a Satguru for guidance, this diary becomes the voice of your Guru – as all the mistakes noted in the diary are the lessons in which you failed – so it is the Guru’s voice narrating the mistakes and giving you solutions for course correction.

Another and probably the most important purpose of introspection is to ascertain all our unwanted character traits. And if you truly observe you will notice that ego is the only fault you have! Ego manifests in all the limiting habits of thought and behaviour that spring from our identification with the body and that delude us into forgetting we are in truth a divine soul made in the ever-perfect image of Paramatma.

Real introspection means to examine not only our thoughts and reaction, but to go deeper and deeper, down into our attitudes and underlying motives. As we look at ourselves in the mirror of daily introspection, we should never identify with either our faults or our virtues. This is another principle that is very important in connection with the art of introspection: Remember always what you really are: a soul, absolutely perfect — an individualized spark of God; a spark of Spirit.

The mortal limitations we have gathered around us in the form of habits, tendencies, moods, and so forth are nothing but maya, or cosmic delusion. This maya is everywhere. Without the delusion of maya, the universe could not exist. It is the influence of delusive ignorance that makes us imagine we have a separate existence apart from God and lose sight of the native perfection of our souls. But we are not this maya. We are not these faults, we are not these imperfections; they belong not to the soul but to the ego — the soul in its mortal state of identification with the little human body and mind and their limitations. We are already a perfect being. What we are trying to do on the spiritual path is to restore that perfect nature which God has already given to us as a part of His own being, and allow it to express itself.

Inner Power - 2

 

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Inner Power

Swamiji says – “It is inner power itself that is solely and only your own power”. We all know that we have physical and mental strength or otherwise. But what is our inner power – our atmabal? How do we develop our inner power? Swamiji is talking about the power of intent or in other words ‘will power’ – though this may not actually fit the bill, but it comes closest. It is actually the power which you derive when your soul connects with universal consciousness.

All other powers which are derived from our physical body dissipate and disappear with time, but our inner strength remains with us and we carry this to our next birth too. This is like banking our spiritual gains and putting them in a safe deposit locker. If we don’t attain liberation in this birth then whatever we have accumulated gets carried forward to our next birth.

Inner power is the quiet force within you that knows when to act and when to move and gives you the strength to do so. It acts like a radar, warning you of impending negative scenarios and alerts you to take corrective measures before any of these scenarios consume you. With this power you can ensure that you avoid bad calls and continue on the path of spiritual growth without being affected by any of the happenings. It gives you great inner strength to tackle life’s tough situations without any side effects – you continue to remain balanced and sanguine as if nothing was happening!

Acceptance of all situations in life, remaining humble, subsuming the ego and your desires will help in activating your inner power – all this is possible with regular meditation and mindfulness practice. It is always better to have a realised master to guide you and show you the path. Once you are on the path, with time, your inner lamp is lit and you see the light within you. Once your inner frequency matches that of your brain you would have achieved the alignment with your inner awareness which is needed to awaken these hidden powers.

Always remember that these powers are not meant to be abused, but to be used for the betterment of humanity. It is best not to let anyone know of these powers and to quietly continue living your life as a normal human being.

With inner power you get the feeling of being connected with universal consciousness, you are filled with peace and quiet, your mind has become still, a feeling of fearlessness and a sense of security descends on the psyche, answers to our problem just pop up from nowhere, we learn that acceptance is fundamental to our existence as we evolve spiritually and feel our existence itself is being purified!

Power of your Beauty

 

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Power of your Beauty

Swamiji says – “The power of (your) beauty too is not your power, it remains only as long as the beauty lasts”. When one tries to understand this statement, one has to try and understand it from the point of external beauty – that is the beauty of the physical body and form and one’s inner beauty. When one is young and healthy one’s physical fitness and facial beauty is reflected in the confidence with which one carries oneself, knowing full well the magnetic attraction of your own beauty. This is reflected in how one carries oneself with confidence and how one interacts with others.

But is this beauty permanent? No! With age the beauty starts to disappear, unless of course one is very particular about one’s health and diet, and even then, the beauty of youth never returns. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that one does not develop an ego about one’s health and beauty.

What is left for us to interpret in Swamiji’s quote is – inner beauty, is that permanent? Your inner beauty is 100% about you as a person, your goodness, your compassion, your kindness, your love – all that radiates through your being – and here age really does not matter. But again, this beauty will only last till you regularly practice meditation and mindfulness. If there is a break, then the negativity in the world will end up polluting your inner beauty and you will end up losing that radiance which surrounds your being.

The magnetism which you acquire through meditation is because your aura becomes pure and starts radiating love and compassion. Power/beauty is the living out of one’s essence. It is not power ‘over’ or power ‘in order to’, but being 100% oneself, and living in the truth of who you actually are.

The energy of form is tangible and visible while the energy of consciousness is intangible and invisible. While these energies are intertwined and they do ‘influence’ each other, they cannot be ‘sourced’ in each other. Spiritual energy cannot be acquired from matter and material energy cannot be acquired from the spiritual energy that is consciousness.

The enlightened soul knows they are designed to ‘give to’ the natural world. They give the gift of their own beauty. They give the kind of vibrations that can help to heal and encourage the growth of nature’s variety. And it is only as they do, that they may notice they are uplifted and healed in themselves. They know that nature’s outer beauty is only a reminder of one’s own inner beauty.

Therefore, to conclude, one can confidently say that one’s outer beauty and the power one derives from it is temporary and deteriorates with time, but your inner beauty is enhanced with the passage of time as your spiritual practise ensures that what is beautiful within you is reflected in your external persona – age no bar!

Power of Post & Position

 

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Power of Post & Position

Swamiji says – “The power of (your) post is not your own power, it remains only until the post exists”. This statement is so true and we see the first part of the statement in action on a daily basis. In Maharashtra we have an NCB officer doing his job honestly using the power of his post to tackle the drug mafia and on the other hand we have a state minister abusing his power and position to defame and threaten the officer along with his family members, with the media supporting the minister. It appears that drug money is feeding both the government as well as the media! The statement ‘power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely’ is on display in Maharashtra for the last two years or so.

The post and the power being derived from the post by the individual is not ‘his’ power – it comes from the post and position – and has to be used for the benefit of the government in service of the citizens of the nation, the same principle applies to all posts as you go down the value chain. When we use this post and the power derived from the post selflessly for the benefit of mankind that is when we are doing true justice to the post.

A cardinal rule to remember is we are different from the post. When we retire, we get promoted, we relocate and then the power and position go away, and if are too attached to the post and its power we feel drained, lost and helpless. To get that feeling of detachment, we need the help of meditation and the guidance of a realised Master.

When it comes to Guru-karya too, we are appointed to various posts by His Holiness – and instead of using the post for furthering our spiritual progress under the influence of his subtle presence and divine energy, we end up getting an inflated ego as the power of the post consumes us. The trick is to keep telling yourself that this post is temporary, Guru-karya is eternal, someone else will take my post tomorrow, give the role your best shot, don’t get attached – as it is the work is all done by the Guru-energies through the medium of your physical body. Accept that and you will be fine.

It is always good to remain just as you are regardless of the post, so once your tenure is over, you don’t feel the loss, you continue offering selfless service without the post – because you do this for the joy it gives to your soul. That is the purpose of Guru-karya – the post is just to fulfil some deep-rooted subtle desire of yours which the Satguru sees (you don’t), so enjoy the tenure, remain grounded and progress spiritually!

Wealth is Ephemeral

 

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Wealth is Ephemeral

Swamiji says – “The power of wealth remains only till the wealth exists”. What kind of wealth is Swamiji talking about? To my understanding wealth could be – material, monetary, spiritual, it could literally be anything.

One of the greatest driving forces in the world is the desire to acquire wealth – if you look at India’s history, we have been plundered by the Mughal, the British, the French and the Portuguese over the last 1000 years – why? Just for our wealth – they plundered our gold and jewelry, but in spite of destroying India’s universities and temples they could not destroy the sanatan dharma and the values which the dharma instills in all those who are born in this holy land. Our cultural and spiritual wealth continues to enrich us even today. We are still united as one nation in spite of the hell that we have gone through – that is principally because our cultural and spiritual wealth is timeless and indestructible!

Let us leave wealth as we understand it today and try to understand true wealth in the spiritual sense. Baha’u’llah defines it as, “The essence of wealth is love for Me; whosoever loveth Me is the possessor of all things, and he that loveth Me not is indeed of the poor and needy. This is that which the Finger of Glory and Splendour hath revealed”. When interpreted it means that we acquire spiritual wealth when we work to develop virtues such as trustworthiness, truthfulness, assertiveness, compassion, honesty, honor, selfless prayer, selfless love and so on.

We spend our lives developing virtues, and when it is time for us to leave this material world, these developed qualities assist us in our next stage of existence. In the process of evolution of souls, we all keep gathering virtues in every birth till we reach our final birth where we meet our Satguru who guides us to go beyond Him and find out who we really are. When we reach that stage then we have passed the stage where material of financial wealth has any meaning, at this stage we acquire the wealth of universal consciousness and with that the power of wealth itself disappears because the meaning of wealth has now been transformed.

In the end, wealth loses its glitter and charm, and the only thing that will satisfy our soul would be the fact that we understood the true meaning of wealth and used our material wealth for the good of others. Like Swamiji distributes his wisdom and knowledge free of cost all over the world, we too should strive to attain that wealth after which there is nothing left to attain – but to distribute that which has been attained.

Inner Power / Strength

 

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Inner Power / Strength

Swamiji says – ‘No one can snatch your inner power from you’. The question is - what do you understand by inner power, inner strength? We are all over aware of mental strength, but is it the same as inner power? Many people think that they mean the same thing, actually there is a huge difference. Atmashakti or atmabal is the core strength of a person, it is the power of the soul – and we know that we, souls, are different from our minds. Our minds are used for feeling, thinking and willing.

Inner power gives us great patience which we need at all times as we are essentially very small entities in the overall scheme of things – meaning in comparison to the whole of creation. We need courage for performing our duties and our inner power directly contributes to it. Our inner power gives us self-confidence along with determination, tolerance, compassion which are all required for leading a quality life. People with enormous inner strength are naturally compassionate and kind and they take great pains to purify their existence through their spiritual practice.

Inner power comes from meditation and living a sattvic life through penance and spiritual practice. Spiritual knowledge and consciousness also contribute to it, but a very strong connection to universal consciousness is a must if we want our inner strength to grow. Swamiji has planted the seed of consciousness, self-realisation within us – how we water the seed and nurture it is up to us. Through regular spiritual practice and meditation and leading a principled and disciplined life while living in the midst of society we can slowly and steadily strengthen our inner connection with universal consciousness – once this happens our inner power increases.

As our inner power increases our fear reduces, till we reach a point when we do not know fear at all, at that point we get a feeling of being God Conscious. Consequently, one gets peace of mind, the mind becomes calm amidst a turbulent world. Practically. Everyone is looking for answers to his or her problems; God provides the perfect guidance – the God within you, your soul! With your soul guiding you, you do not get deluded and such people enjoy real happiness as different from temporary sense enjoyments and transient mental satisfaction which one gets by gaining material objects!

A strong feeling of a sense of security descends on the psyche; one feels protected. The other feeling which comes is a sense of completeness and satisfaction. A feeling of being connected with universal consciousness, this gives us that inner power and strength which comes from regular meditation and spiritual practice.

Unconditional Love

 

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Unconditional Love

Swamiji in the beginning of this month wrote a series of messages based on ‘love’. The long and short of those messages was that even if you do not get into a meditative state, an easier path is to ‘love’ selflessly and unconditionally. Love can also take you to the state of fulfilment and completeness. Let us try and see how this happens. When we talk of unconditional love – this implies that if there are conditions, then it is not love. Conditions turn love into selfish attachment. With attachment comes expectation and the problem with relationships is the huge gap between expectations and reality.

If you notice your mind, you will realise that we judge people before we ‘love’ them. This judgement is based on their actions, words and qualities and so on. This is not love, this is simply attachment. Most shocking of all is we don’t even love our own selves unconditionally for who we are! We have inferiority complexes because we don’t love ourselves. Attachment makes us selfish, because we constantly think in terms of “I” eg. Does he/she treat “me” nicely, does he/she take care of “me”, can “I” relate to him, does he/she match “my” social status. Anything that involves the ego which considers people as possessions – that cannot be love.

Unconditional, selfless love on the other hand is loving both sentient and non-sentient beings for what they are and not for who they are. It does not involve trying to change them or mould them into your idea of them – it is letting them be who they are and loving them for it, with all their good and bad points. That is what makes unconditional love beautiful, divine even – accepting people with all their defects and shortcomings along with all their positives. This is a very direct, straightforward, simple and relaxed emotion – unconditional love does not carry baggage!

Unconditional love is not superficial at all, in fact it goes much deeper, it sees the very basic nature of the human being, it touches the soul – when it does that it is pure love and bliss – no conditions attached! So, can one love unconditionally? The answer to this is found daily in nature. The Sun gives light to everybody, trees give shade, water wets everything that comes in its way. Why does this happen – this happens because they follow their true nature. The true nature of human beings is humanity, which implies unconditional love regardless of race, religion, colour, country, language, etc – the true nature of this love is bliss and pure joy of existence.

When we realise our true nature, we will become “love personified” and then we won’t have any conditions for our love; and that’s how unconditional love is possible. With unconditional love comes the feeling of unity with the universe, and this could be another path to liberation and becoming one with universal consciousness.

What can Yoga do?

 

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What can Yoga do?

The common understanding of yoga is that it is good for getting into physical shape. Yoga has become more westernized today and there are far more corrupted forms of yoga with lots of people coming with their own variations of yoga. For instance – Hatha Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga, Ashtang Yoga, Power Yoga, Hot Yoga, Bikram Yoga, Forrest Yoga, Bikram Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Yin Yoga, Restorative Yoga, Kripalu Yoga, Jivamukti Yoga, Anusara Yoga, Sivananda Yoga, Viniyoga, Ananda Yoga, Dharma Yoga, Acro Yoga, Aerial Yoga – these are twenty forms and there are many more variations with music, dance and other creative forms of art mixed to create different asanas. Does this really help? The true form of Yoga – the pristine original form is Ashtang Yoga – the eight-fold path which helps one to clear all external and internal blockages to ultimately reach completeness and a state of void.

If one has got the calling – then the subconscious throws out three questions – Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I headed? These three questions keep repeating within your being – it’s like a recording which is playing within your consciousness.

Once we start getting these questions, we start looking for ways and means to get answers, which leads us to yoga and meditation. Swamiji tells us to go to the samadhi of an enshrined Guru and plead to be guided to their living Master or Satguru – one who can transfer the seed of awakening into you in a subtle way. Once we find our realised Master, he starts guiding us within, we start practicing yoga and meditation. During Swamiji’s 8-days meditation camp, the fourth day is the day of awakening. When Swamiji introduces you to meditation by giving you the spiritual experience of Shirdi Sai Baba, I felt cool vibration on the palms of my hand – it was like an ice-cold eddy whirling on the palms of my hands. This was the indication that soul-realisation has happened, my duty was to meditate regularly alone and in collectivity to convert that seed into a strong tree. It is now 12 years plus since that day – February 5, 2009!

Does yoga really accelerate our perception or help us perceive this reality as it is? I am talking about yoga in its true sense, its ultimate form, not just asanas. Many of us practice asanas daily – mainly to get a nice shapely physical body, we don’t focus on the ultimate reality of yoga – going within to become one with the universe. What then is the true understanding of yoga? If you understand the dialogue between Lord Rama and Yoga Vasishtha – it is basically a conversation in which Lord Rama keeps enquiring and Yoga Vasishtha keeps answering his questions. Just like the Bhagavad Gita – all the 18 chapters have yoga in their titles – so yoga is a mode by which you try to find the truth!

Without a healthy body you cannot have a healthy mind. Without a healthy mind, you cannot even inquire. So, first steps are laid and then begins the inquiry. And through your meditation practice, you open up your understanding and intelligence, so that subtle thoughts are grasped. Unless subtle thoughts are grasped, you cannot go beyond. So, it means opening up of your conditioned mind – for this discipline is required. This means discipline over the food we eat; we start avoiding food which has a gross influence on our body and mind. We avoid food and drink which intoxicates us as this hinders our thinking ability. This does not mean we throw away thought, but we try to make thoughts subtler and subtler till one day it becomes quiet.

This state is ‘yogas chitta vritti nirodha’ – all the vrittis or fluctuations are removed and in that the chitta becomes quiet and calm – now this is no longer the mind – it is the state of ‘no mind’. This is the state of supreme consciousness. Now your state is ONE and that is pure consciousness – the mind does not exist as a separate entity any longer. That is the aim of Yoga!

The Soul's Wisdom

 

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The Soul’s Wisdom

We are all aware that there is a great difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is something which one acquires through learning, reading books, studying various subjects – this is all information which one studies and absorbs into one’s memory. So, where does wisdom come from? Wisdom is the knowledge that one’s soul acquires as it transitions through several births – it is the experience of many lifetimes which lies buried in the soul. That is the wisdom emanating from the soul at the appropriate moment.

Swamiji has said many times that once you obtain self-realisation your start getting tidbits of information or knowledge which you have not studied anywhere. This wisdom comes from connecting with universal consciousness, with the subtle energy of the Satguru – who is the medium of universal consciousness in the present time – this knowledge cannot be given, nor can it be received – it gets transferred automatically once you tune in to the required frequency.

One of the rich qualities of the soul is its wisdom. Tapping into our soul and its powers can enrich and transform our life. How can we tap into the power of our soul to access its wisdom? This inner wisdom is available to us any time we want, through meditation. Once we learn to access this divine wisdom we reach a state of supreme consciousness – here we get to know the answers to life’s mysteries and the purpose of our birth. We begin to see life as more than a string of meaningless events and start seeing a purpose and find a lesson in all that occurs. We start becoming witnesses and become mindful of all that is happening. It is like a 360-degree vision that one acquires.  

Those of us who have got soul-realisation look at life from a new and refreshing perspective. Rather than being tossed about on the sea of life, battered and dashed by every wave, we begin to watch life just as we watch a movie with sub-titles, where the words at the bottom of the screen let us know the happenings at the spiritual level. We may still experience the roughness of the sea and the battering of the waves, but we witness and observe them with the deep inner knowledge that there is a reason and a purpose for everything that is happening.

The key to unlock the wisdom of the soul is meditation under the guidance of a realised Master who can transfer his state to you – Swamiji does that on an ongoing basis – the question is – are we receiving it? Are we vibrating at the same frequency? If we are, then the inner wisdom is accessible and available to us. We remain in ignorance of all this because blockages keep us from tapping into that reservoir of universal wisdom lying within each one of us. 

Within us is a wisdom greater than any we can ever accumulate on earth. We have inside us a source of knowledge from which all other knowledge flows. We can do so by going within through meditation under guidance of a realised Master.

The Inner Sunrise

 

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The Inner Sunrise

The rising Sun always gives me goosebumps as it paints the sky in colours of crimson and orange as it rises over the horizon. It is one of the most beautiful sights and I can never tire of seeing nature’s beauty paint the sky in various hues of orange and red – the energy one receives on seeing this wondrous sight every morning is wonderful. Every day the sun rises without fail whether we see it or not; similarly, we too have to wake up every morning whether anyone sees us getting up or not.

The universe does not want you to be in any other place than where you are at now – you are always where you have to be – that is nature’s law. The change with life begins with your present space and time if you work towards understanding the process of life. You need to open your body, mind, and heart to experiment in life. You leave all the laziness and lethargy behind. You stay fit and remain active to participate in life. With a genuine desire to live and go deeper within you come across a realised Master sent to you because of your deep-rooted desire to go within – that is nature’s law – help is always available for those who seek it! The Master helps you find your own internal bearings. Under his guidance you realise that the heart is the space where you get attached to life. All the feelings and emotions are the beautiful aspects of life that enhance the quality of life.

The understanding towards life, allows you to experience life with detachment. You engage with every moment of life, but still, you remain detached from within. All this starts happening when the sun within you rises and lights up your inner space. Meditation helps you to get ready for the oncoming day in advance. The mind in you is different from the brain – the mind is the subtle form inside the physical body.

As the day progresses, the sun shines brighter bringing more light and energy to earth. The earth gets nourished along with all forms of life – both animate and inanimate – it does not differentiate between anyone or anything as it radiates and gives light equally to everyone and everything. Nature follows its natural course, similarly, you too have to understand your intrinsic nature, with the lighting of your inner lamp – the rising of your inner sun, you begin to see life in its true form.

You become a witness as you realise that you are nothing and you are everything. You are the sun, the moon, the stars, the galaxies – you are the universe and the universe is you. Once your inner sun rises realisation dawns and you discover your true intrinsic nature.

Stick With What You Know

 

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Stick With What You Know

It is said that experience teaches us everything we need to know – and life is the biggest teacher. But nevertheless, it is human tendency to explore the unknown and try to chart new waters. Nothing wrong with that either. It is just that when we step out into the unknown, the risks and pitfalls that one comes across could permanently put you down. Hence, it is best to stick to what we already know. This is true in all aspects of life, sports, ‘friends’, business, finance, stock markets, spirituality too.

When one tries to take risks, one is basically leveraging one’s position to try and get an early advantage – when your stars are on the rise this may catapult you on to a higher trajectory giving you early success. This does happen, as the saying goes - when you ride the tide as it rises it takes you farther than you expect. Similarly, risks can give you 2x, 4x, 10x, 20x rewards but mathematically they can also bring your reward to zero – because the higher the risk the greater the chance of 20x being affected by the multiple 0 – which will make 20x into 0 = 0. So, you fly high and ultimately end up with nothing other than stress, a bank overdraft and income which is now inadequate for the lifestyle we have become accustomed to because of the sudden high growth!

Swamiji says the quicker you rise, the greater the risk of falling, and when you fall the height from which you fall makes getting up very difficult. He explains it by giving an example of mountaineers – they start from the base camp and then keep climbing and stopping to get acclimatised to the oxygen at higher levels, and then continue climbing till they reach the peak. It is the same with spirituality, keep doing what you know, your basics should be solid – meditate regularly, love unconditionally, do not discriminate on any grounds, be mindful, show compassion and always be happy and joyous as you go through life.

Swamiji says we need to meditate only for half an hour everyday and for the rest of the 23.5 hours we should live in a state of meditation. What does this mean? It basically means we should live in the moment; the mind should be in the now – not vacillating between the past and the future. As far as the spiritual process is concerned you burn like an incense stick – slowly, thus giving out fragrance over a longer period of time. Stick to what you know – in all aspects of life, you may not become world famous, but you will definitely become popular in your own world defined by your own aura!

Delaying Gratification

 

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Delaying Gratification

We live in a world where we want everything yesterday. Our wants and desires are so superficial and there is so much temptation out there along with money at our disposal that we fail to make any distinction between our desires and our needs! If we could just experiment with our will power and see if we can delay our desires and need for instant gratification – will this have a beneficial effect on my overall well-being? Just give it a shot and find out for yourself! As part of an experiment in Stanford University, psychologists had studied the impact of marshmallows on children. Those who could delay their urge to eat the marshmallow and who were rewarded with an additional one, were found to have better outcomes later in life – including academic success, physical, psychological health and social competence!

The fact that you can delay your gratification by resisting the temptation of a smaller but more immediate reward in preference for a larger and more enduring reward later is actually the key to long term success in life! When one can delay one’s gratification it relates to other similar skills such as patience, impulse control and will power, which are all a must for success in life.

Today, the general culture teaches us that ‘more is merrier’. We look for progress and we want it quickly and fast. But with this comes the risk of paying a heavy price. We spend time on acquiring unnecessary items, we spend resources on things we don’t need and we accumulate a mess for the future generation to clean up! We live a selfish life by seeking what we are living for today – instant gratification, the deep desire for fulfillment without any kind of delay or wait. The biggest problem with instant gratification is that it does not give one any lasting satisfaction. Its entire purpose is to substitute lasting pleasure of earned enjoyment with a fleeting pleasure of instant joy. It is easy for us to be blinded by our immediate wants over what we need over time.

This same principal applies to spirituality, there is no instant gratification – for spiritual progress one has to keep at it with full awareness. Meditate regularly then over time you will actually begin to feel the progress. Instant gratification does not work – neither in the material world or in the spiritual world – lasting benefits come from long term investments – both for wealth creation as well as spiritual progress. Money cannot buy you the kind of inner bliss, joy and happiness which comes from achieving an inner state of equilibrium and peace. Don’t look for immediate results – long term and lasting growth comes by staying invested over a period of time – both financially as well as spiritually.

Life is Like a Snowball

 

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Life is Like a Snowball

We have all heard about the snowball effect – a small ball of snow starts rolling down the mountain and as it gathers speed it gathers more and more snow and other particles and keeps growing in size till it reaches a point of significance, and it could potentially become dangerous but could also be beneficial instead. Simply put it is something which increases in size or importance at a faster and faster rate. This concept has been applied to many things and it is also applicable to spirituality.

Very early in life we set the snowball rolling in the direction we want our life to take. If we begin traveling in a certain direction – whether toward or away from spirituality – we will create a momentum that is difficult to stop. Most of us do not think about spirituality early in life – we are more concerned or interested in having a good life, earning income and creating wealth for a good and comfortable life-style. Absolutely nothing wrong with that! The problem comes when we adopt means which are not ethically or morally correct to satisfy our desires – that is the crossroad of life at which we need to stop and think – should we take the easy path or the tough one; that will indicate the kind of spiritual spine that you have! The easy path leads you to quick wealth and bad health and worse legal complications at some point in life, money earned through shady means always has hazardous consequences. The tough path will initially slow you down, but its impact and snowball effect after the critical mass has been gathered will give you lasting benefits.

So, when it comes to investing - whether it is your money or in your spiritual inclinations – it is best to begin early. The earlier you begin the better it is – that is because the power of compounding comes into play. Simple math indicates that you need to invest over a period of 25 years for the real benefit to occur. It is the same with spirituality – like Swamiji says, the youth have the power of age on their side – the more time one has to pursue one’s spiritual practice, the better it is to achieve that state of void which one is seeking. Whether it is finance or spirituality – the snowball effect is extremely important for you to gather that critical mass to fulfilling your financial or spiritual goals!

Compound interest is elementary math and the best part is that it works not just on money, but on most things in life, including habits and relationships. Start early, start small and let time work its magic – whether it is for your financial well-being or spiritual or both. That’s for you to decide!

Is Financial Strength Needed for Inner Growth?

 

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Is Financial Strength Needed for Inner Growth?

I have been told quite often that one need’s financial security to even think about treading the spiritual path. I have contemplated on this quite a bit – the question which kept cropping up in my mind was – were Swami Samarth, Shirdi Sai Baba, Gajanan Maharaj all from well to do and rich families? No! They were souls who came to earth to show the way to inner growth through devotion, faith and worship. Today, we all follow a path that takes us to financial independence – but one is never financially independent, isn’t it? Ask yourself – how much is enough? When do I stop? One never knows, till it is too late!

In the race for a better life, a better tomorrow we completely forget our today and end up in a race we can never win. With cheap credit availability and credit card companies wooing you with mouth-watering temptations it is easy to fall prey and end up in a debt trap which eventually ties you up financially! As Calvin Coolidge once said, “There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no independence quite so important, as living within your means.” It is very important to spend less than you earn, save a little, be frugal and wise and at the same time enjoy life to the fullest by living happily with what you can afford! Happiness being a function of the mind, unless your mind is happy you never will be as money cannot buy happiness – that is for sure!

Being spiritual while living in society is tough – you will find your friends moving away once you walk on this path, new friends will come into play, life changes as you realise that being spiritual means journeying inwards as you live your life in the material world. Both can happen simultaneously as regular meditation gives you an inner strength and fortitude to face life confidently without worrying about things which may or may not happen, things not in your control. You get the inner strength to face life full on even in adverse circumstances and overcome the tough times with a smile and move forward without ill-will towards anyone. As Benjamin Franklin said, “If you know how to spend less than you get, then you have the Philosopher’s Stone.” By doing this you earn lots of happiness, save for a rainy day, buy inner peace with the savings and what have you. Live within your means and you will always be at peace. The inner journey has got nothing to do with money – it is a calling which you get when your desire to meet “God” transcends all other desires!

It’s Okay to be Imperfect

 

Photo Credit: Spiritual Formation Centre

It’s Okay to be Imperfect

As we move through life trying to be perfect in an imperfect world, we end up getting hurt and scarred physically, emotionally as well as mentally. Life is such a huge rollercoaster ride and the situations, people, incidents which happen - some because of our fault, some because of someone else and many are just natural mishaps – but all of them leave scars on both the body and mind. In such a world trying to be perfect is madness – because it is something which is always within reach but never attainable!

The better approach is to embrace one’s imperfections – how does a scar matter, it does not change your looks – and if anyone dislikes you because of how you look without looking at your heart, then such people are best left behind in your life’s journey! I remember reading in a book long ago – I forget the author – that a scarred heart healed after life’s hurt and experiences is far more beautiful and sensitive than one which has not experienced any of your spectrum of hurt and emotional trauma. Such a heart is in a much better position to be filled with compassion and love because it has experienced what you may be experiencing today. The advice from such persons is invaluable and will always help you to heal and move on in life.

All the hurt and trauma one experiences in life is part of one’s karma and essential for enduring and moving onward on the spiritual path. Like Rumi said, “The wound is the place where the light enters you.” This statement is so profound and positive – just imagine two scenarios, one, where the hurt damages you physically and emotionally, you feel let down and depressed and end up blaming everybody but yourself for the situation you find yourself in; and second, like Rumi says you let the light enter within you from the wounds – you let the light heal the hurt as well as provide light and energy for your spiritual awakening. Which would you like it to be? The second approach obviously – inner well-being follows inner growth.

As you turn inwards you actually begin to see all your imperfections as if you are standing in front of a mirror – you become a witness to your imperfections and you smile and accept them, after which they are no longer ‘imperfections’ – they become ‘you’ in all your imperfect beauty!

In Japan, an ancient Zen practice which beautifies broken pottery - ‘Kintsugi’ - literally means to ‘join with gold’. In this practice, the pieces of a broken pot are brought together and glued with lacquer inflected with gold powder. The Japanese believe that the golden cracks make the pieces even more valuable – it embraces the breakage as part of the object’s history, instead of something to be hidden or thrown away.

Let’s end this post with a quote from Ernest Hemingway, “The world breaks everyone and afterwards many are strong at the broken places.” They are beautiful too, in my opinion!

Don’t be too Serious in Life

 

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Don’t be too Serious in Life

I am sure at some point or the other in your lives you have been told to take life seriously – either by your parents, relatives, friends, teachers, etc. My point is life is meant to be enjoyed – it has been said that life is a journey – enjoy it. Life takes you up and down the rollercoaster – just enjoy both the ups and the downs, that will definitely prolong your life. The more we stress on the quality of life, the more serious we get the more problems we face.

We become serious at the smallest of things and start worrying, why did this happen, why me, will I be late and so on and so forth. Unless you learn to laugh – not at others but at yourself we will keep unnecessarily adding stress, pressure and negativity to situations with our attitude of ‘seriousness’. One of the best things we can do is laugh - at ourselves, at the situation or just for the heck of it.

Nowadays you find ‘laughter clubs’ having a go at laughter therapy in parks – laughing away – even the most serious of people end up in tears of laughter at such sessions – it begins by laughing at the sight of others, and then one gets caught up in that energy and just starts laughing for no reason at all.

Remember Charlie Chaplin, the king of comedy, he said, “Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.” We all have a little bit of madness inside us, let us not lose it. That little bit of madness will carry you through the toughest of situations with a smile on your face.

You will automatically stop taking life too seriously if you follow these tips – Change your outlook – stop focusing on the negative and become more positive. Look for the positive in every situation. Have a goal for each day; this gives you something to look forward to. Begin each day with gratitude. You have a lot to be thankful for, so express that in a silent prayer as you awake. Let go of grudges. They’re counter-productive and lessen your joy. Live in the present. Now is the only time you can act, not yesterday or tomorrow. Be conscious of this moment, fully aware and present. This helps maximize your joy of experiences and relationships. If you make a mistake, learn from it. You’re only human, after all, and humans make mistakes. By finding the lesson in the mistake, you add to your knowledge and increase your problem-solving ability so that you’re more confident the next time. Pursue your interests and dreams. Life is enriched when you go after what you passionately believe in or desire to experience.

Meditation cleanses you from inside, makes you innocent like a child and once that happens you will always be happy and laugh at what life has to offer - because life is nothing but just a play.

A Calm Ocean Contains Turbulence Below

 

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A Calm Ocean Contains Turbulence Below

I am sure all of you have heard about Tiger Woods, the famous golfer. Tiger had everything going for him on the outside – fame, fortune, humongous skill, a loving wife and family, accomplishments and the world stopped to watch him at the top of his game! After more than ten years as the greatest golfer on the planet, the most famous athlete in history, he let it all fall away. Instead of being content with what he had, he started womanizing. He said later that he felt entitled after slogging it out to succeed for all these years, he felt he could get away with anything he wanted to. The temptations were too much and his resistance low – thanks to money and fame women were not too difficult to come by, I was wrong, I was foolish. By the time realisation dawned his life had gone down the drain – the endorsements stopped, his game fell away, everything just disintegrated – why? Apparently, even having everything was not enough!!!

Any captain who sails the high seas, traverses the oceans will tell you that what is happening on the surface of the water does not really matter – it is what is going on below that does! It is the same with life. Tiger could stare down competition on the golf course, hold his own under pressure and come out on top, his stillness was just on the golf course, but deep within he was in distress, he was at the mercy of his passions and wild urges and desires. Question is, isn’t it the same with all of us – to a lesser or greater degree of course. Don’t we all carry our own demons within us, even when we have the world at our feet. Our success in business, relationships etc make us feel content and fulfilled momentarily – as these are all external marks of success, happiness and contentment. But, in reality, what matters is not what is outside but how you feel inside.

If you contemplate the Bhagvad Gita – Kurukshetra is nothing but the war within – the struggle for self-mastery that each one of us must wage. It is nothing but the war between the forces of darkness and the forces of light in every human heart – which force dominates decides the course of one’s life. Ask yourself – on any day, have I lived for 24 hours continuously in a state of bliss, without a single moment of anxiety, irritation, anger, or stress? Most likely you will not remember this at all. We are in a daily conflict with ourselves. In society we measure success in the wrong way, always looking to the outside and rarely within. Money, success and wealth can give you a lot to live with but nothing to live for. Life gives you joy, meaning and purpose when you live for something and not live with something. And what you live for lies within you, not without.

To find what lies within, meditation shows the way, mindfulness practice helps you in living for some meaningful purpose. Meditation takes you within, shows you your true self – once you find out who you are – then life becomes blissful, joyous, happy, content – now everyday will pass blissfully in the moment with nary a worry about the past or the future. As Rumi said, “There is nothing outside of yourself, look within, everything you want is there. You are that.”

What is True Feedom?

 

Photo Credit: The Sentinel Assam

What is True Freedom?

When I was growing up through the seventies and early eighties, I was not dependent on gadgets to help me think. Today we have gadgets for everything – it has gone to the extent that information (information mind you, not knowledge) is available courtesy ‘Google Uncle’ at the click of a button! Whether that information is accurate, motivated, fake or otherwise is a matter for the seeker to decide. In those days we would play outdoors, read voraciously, play the mischief (harmless of course) and generally have a gala time. I had the names, phone numbers and addresses of more than 200 people stored in my brain – today that part of the brain has become useless as mobile devices have more or less taken over the role of the computer, telephone, entertainment – radio as well as video and so on. Life has literally become focused onto a small hand-held device. Children today do not want to read books – they prefer kindle or some digital document – the feel and smell of a good book has gone into the dustbin of history and will linger in the minds of book lovers like me.

So, what gives us real freedom when we are actually tied down by gadgets – we don’t want to play outdoors, mobile games are what we play now, anything physical is considered down-market unless we go ‘gymming’ or dancing or for ‘my yoga class’ – all said by people who have money to burn on paying for being guided in these activities. The pure joy of going out for a long cycling tour, a swim in the ocean, playing soccer, hockey, badminton, running etc is now enjoyed by a very few health-conscious enthusiasts.

Our minds have become chained to and largely influenced by the visual and print media – information is manipulated and served – we do not know the truth and life revolves around the perceptions we create based on ‘information’ served to us. One man’s food thus becomes another’s poison! So, again this begs the question – what is true freedom? And how do we go about achieving it?

Voltaire had said, “Man is free at the moment he wishes to be.” One way to strive for this freedom is to free the mind from the shackles of information overload that it is being subjected to. True freedom can come from good health, freedom to do what we want, the power to think and reflect on things independently – instead of running after wealth, gadgets and acquiring stuff that makes living easy and comfortable. I am not against any of such gadgets, and today they are considered necessary – but we need to ask ourselves whether we are prisoners of these gadgets or we can live without them without losing our mind!

If we learn to reflect quietly, make our mind independent and strive for real happiness and bliss by journeying inwards, we will be in a position to achieve real freedom. The world inside us is far more real than the world outside, which is just an illusion which keeps changing with time. With meditation and mindfulness, we can really achieve true freedom and be liberated from the bonds of the birth-death-rebirth cycle.