Girish's Blog

  Do we see things as they are? We tend to see or interpret situations, conversations, incidents the way we see them and not as they actually are. That is because our brain interprets all such situations, conversations, based on the data already accumulated in its hard drive! Misunderstanding, anger, jealousy, etc can all be avoided if we start seeing things as they actually are instead of seeing them as we are! The modern world is full of news which is more fiction than fact, it is colored, it is painted to suit one’s own view of what the facts are – in such situations it is nice to have clarity of vision to filter out some sense from the fiction being sold as news! When we see things as we are, we are invariably misinterpreting the situation and coloring it with our own idea of what has happened. We need to see situations, listen to conversations, etc dispassionately and interpret them based on facts and not on assumptions. Invariably we use assumptions and jump to wrong conclusi...

  What You Seek is Seeking You! The universe is always waiting to help us reach our goals. The trouble with us is that we keep changing our goals. When we go to management school to set short, medium and long term goals; or even if we go for a job interview, we are asked – what are your goals – please briefly state your short, medium and long term goals. This allows the interviewer to assess whether we will be able to fit into the organisation culture and whether our goals are more or less in alignment with the organisation goals. This is fine when it comes to jobs – but what about our life goals? Have you ever defined them? Have you ever in your wildest dreams had liberation (moksha) as one of your goals? Because, if that is not your ultimate goal then you have missed the purpose for which you have taken this birth! From the moment we take birth the universe is conspiring to take us to our ultimate life goal that is liberation. We lose our path – in this competitive world our pa...

Do you Believe in Yourself? Lots of times people have issues with believing what people say. In these modern times where truth and variations of truth or outright lies change places very often – both in political as well as business discourse – which in effect means in the lives of almost every individual on this planet! How does one deal with such issues? Such questions keep cropping up – there is a saying for liars – there are liars, there are politicians and then to top them all there are statisticians, where everything is manipulated to present figures the way the presenter wants to show it, and who cares about the ‘facts’ – as it is facts are supposed to be stranger than fiction, isn’t it?!? How do you believe what is being drummed into our heads in school, in colleges, in universities, through the media and in one’s office to achieve one’s targets? What does one believe in? The first step would be to start believing in yourself – believe that whatever you do will be according...

  Accept your limitations! Everyone is not born a genius and to balance this out every academic genius does not become a billionaire. Lots of parents end up comparing siblings, and now with the norm of only one child, they end up comparing their own children with other children. This is the worst thing one can do to the psyche of your own child. God has not made any two individuals the same – each one is made differently and is born with the sole purpose of working out his or her own karmas. This fundamental fact is not known to many and a lot of people try to impose their own expectations on their children – in some cases this may work out, but in a majority of the cases this becomes a disaster for the child and subsequently for the parent-child relationship. An easier way to get out of this predicament is for the parent to accept the fact that the child has certain inherent limitations. Once the parents accept this fact, they can start looking for that certain quality or inte...

Is it possible to see  God in everyone? A good sadhak should see the image of Swamiji in every individual – this is what we are told right from our entry into the Samarpan family. What does this mean? This just means that we need to see Swamiji’s qualities in each individual – Swamiji himself is empty, a complete void – so what you see in the sadhak will mirror what you are. Remember this – in Swamiji’s proximity you are at peace, your mind is quiet and still – that is because you are in his aura and your state is mirroring his state; similarly, when you try to look for Swamiji in any other individual you will notice only those qualities which are a reflection of yourself! So, if you see good or bad qualities, they are just a reflection of your own self. You need to sit back and introspect on this – once you start doing this, you will go deeper and deeper and start learning more and more about yourself! Those of us who have accepted Swamiji to be Paramatma, can honestly say that ...

  Are You Afraid of the Dark? I have heard from a lot of people that they are afraid of the dark, they are afraid of being alone in the dark. Why should one be afraid of the dark? Darkness occurs when the sun sets and it is time for the physical body to rest, so it is as natural as daylight – even then people are afraid of the dark! This fear is most likely carried over from some past birth incident and you have no clue from where this fear arises. This fear when it becomes extreme gives rise to symptoms of depression and anxiety. When taken to extreme levels and if it remains persistent it becomes a phobia. When we sit down to meditate, we shut our eyes, the moment we shut our eyes darkness engulfs us – if at this point, we are afraid we will never be able to enter into meditation. Now, this is a serious problem. It is necessary to first work around this problem and then try and go to its root and then get rid of it. Darkness can be avoided by putting on a night lamp, and then you...

  Healthy Body Needed to Nurture the Soul There are a lot of sayings with regards to ‘healthy body leads to a healthy mind’ and so on. All these sayings have come because of the experience and observations made by our ancestors. All such sayings ring true even today. With a healthy, physically fit body the chemical reactions created within you all lead to a state of alertness and general well-being – you feel good about yourself; it gives you the confidence to face the world with a smile. One of the best ways to keep fit is to follow the dictum of early to bed and early to rise. By following this routine, you let the body cycle into a comfortable rhythm – wake up, exercise, meditate, breakfast, work, lunch, work, family time, dinner, sleep and rest for the body to recover. While you do this one needs to remember that anything in excess is not good for the body – it could be sleep, work, exercise, food, etc – with a little bit of practice you will be able to find your own body’s r...