inner voice hindustan times [innervoice@hindustantimes.com]

Laugh and be happy

2012-01-29T22:54:00.000-08:00

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Hindustan Times

If you ever happen to meet God, do you know what you would tell him? "Oh, I have met you inside." God will dance with you when the day dawns in laughter and love. True prayer is laughing in the morning. Don't just be laughing outside but from deep inside. Laughter comes from the centre of our being, from the core of our heart. True laughter is true prayer.

When you laugh, the whole world laughs with you. It echoes and resounds and that is really the worth of life. When things go all right, everybody can laugh; but when everything falls apart, and then if you can laugh, that is evolution and growth. So, there is nothing in life that is more worthy than your laughter. Never lose it for anything, whatsoever. Events come and go. Some are a little pleasant, some are unpleasant; but there is some area deep in you that is left untouched. Hold on to that.

And anytime we don't feel up to that innocence, what do we do? You can attend to several layers of your own existence. First, the body--- see if you have had good rest, proper food and some exercise. Then attend to the breath. Every mood of the mind has a definite rhythm in the breath. By attending to the rhythm in the breath, the mind and body can be elevated.

Observe the sensation and feeling in the body. Observing thoughts as thoughts, emotions as emotions, opens us to our true self, the godliness within us. The very observation changes it. When you do this, all that is negative falls away. And the nature of positive emotions is to grow. If you observe when you are angry, the anger will fall away. And if you observe if there is love, love grows.

That is the best and only way. Observe that thoughts come and they pass. We need to be able to see things as they are, objectively or totally subjectively. That essence in life, when it blooms from within, allows true laughter in life. - www.artofliving.org

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Happiness strings

2012-01-26T20:32:00.000-08:00

MN Kundu, Hindustan Times

Unblemished happiness arises from wishing for others’ happiness, while unending suffering arises from wishing exclusively for our own happiness. Shantideva warned, “If you do not switch your concern from your own happiness to relieving others’ pain, you will not achieve Buddhahood and there will be no pleasure in your own cyclic existence.” Maitri bhavana or cultivating a mind of unconditional love and benevolence for all sentient beings, therefore, constitute an indispensable spiritual practice in Buddhism which culminates in identification of oneself with all beings.

While mindful meditation develops observing awareness, maître bhavana cultivates empathetic awareness. Empathy is the ability to share others’ emotions, thoughts or feelings by imaginatively stepping into their world. In doing so, we realise their concerns, fears, hopes, passions as our own, which changes our behaviour towards them. This uplifts our negative emotions transforming them into positive with loving care, concern, benevolence and well-wishing.

Maitri bhavana has three dimensions. When we are aware of others’ happiness, we experience mudita (empathetic joy without jealousy). Awareness of suffering of others is transformed into karuna (compassion with a sense of empathy, not pity). Awareness of empathetic joy and suffering of others make us probe deeper into their root cause lying in past actions or karma, which develops upekkha or equanimity, calm, loving, non-judgemental awareness of the flow of phenomena.

Maitri bhavana needs to be generated regularly in meditation and then practised daily. Sit down with deep relaxation. Focus on breathing. Concentrate in heart centre and cultivate maître feelings for yourself, friend, difficult person with whom you have conflict, and to all sentient beings. Send emotional vibration of love, appreciation, forgiveness, apology and good wishes through imagination or creative visualisation.

It makes us harmonious with the world transcending hatred and intolerance. It makes us magnetic and radiant with love, benevolence, serenity, warmth and calmness. It is a panacea for all the major world problems today.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Welcome all changes

2012-01-26T20:26:00.000-08:00

VN Chhibber, Hindustan Times

Welcome the New Year as all beginnings are good and auspicious. Change the calendar with gladness for a spiritual leader’s prophecy is that the year will be better: “In 2012, there will be higher awakenings; shifts in consciousness and new beginnings at all levels.”

Mark Twain had said: “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, dream, discover.” He wanted us to be adventurous. And GK Chesterton felt: “The object of a New Year is not that we should have a New Year. It is that we should have a new soul.”

What Oren Arnold said about X’mas holds good for New Year too: “To your enemy, forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to a customer, service; to all charity; to every child, a good example; to yourself, respect.” Self-esteem ensures well-being. You have been gifted with a human frame that is His marvel of outer and inner engineering – strong exterior with tenderness within.

I attended a spiritual workshop recently. The participants owe their ‘metamorphosis’ to it. What we learnt is that we have to repose full faith in whom we believe. We may exercise patience for our prayers to be answered. Tolerance has high premium.

Travel light to go through life’s journey – with no heavy burden on lean shoulders. Take quick decisions, master emotions, discriminate between the real and the fake. Speak soft and sweet that is music to the ears.

In a relationship, contact with another through a firm handshake or warm embrace. Gift-giving is sign of intimacy of self with fellow beings. Forget, forgive and renew contacts. Along with physical obligations, we fulfill our spiritual duties also by making sure that we are as much in contact with Him as we are with family and friends.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Divine intercession

2012-01-18T20:00:00.000-08:00

Thomas Mathew

No sane person will doubt that all great works, including the Vedas, are God-inspired writing. Poets, the so-called unacknowledged legislators of the world, invoke the blessings of the muse after drawing the requisite inspiration. Nothing happens without a cause, as ‘the cause and effect’ theory enunciates.

There can’t be any creation sans a creator. Hence our gratitude to the creator, the source of infinite wisdom and knowledge, ought to be expressed through benign words and meritorious deeds.

Our indebtedness to our creator necessitates acts of kindness and love by helping the poorest of the poor and the genuinely needy, visiting patients and similar acts of benevolence and kindness.

Truth to be told — that is one of the reasons behind the believers’ prayer to “make me an instrument of God’s peace.” But that is different from temporal peace. It’s John Keats who put it aptly: “Beauty is Truth and Truth Beauty.”

Doctors claim that they treat and God cures. Experience bears proof that God is the dependable friend whose invisible hands work through good angels many a time in the form of humble human beings. Lord Buddha got enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree. Moses got the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19&20).

John Milton justified the ways of God to man in his epic verse, The Paradise Lost. It is not only the chosen few who get enlightenment; even the persecutor can get it. According to The Holy Bible, when Saul was going from Jerusalem to Damascus to persecute Christians, “suddenly a light from heaven flashed”. “He fell and heard a voice saying, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? He asked: Who are you, Lord?”

The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” (Acts…9: 3-6). And Saul, was filled with the Holy Spirit…” (Acts…13: 9).

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Vision of life

2012-01-18T19:52:00.000-08:00

Sadhguru

Despite all the conveniences and facilities we have because of science and technology, humanity still remains in absolute confusion and mess. Most people in the world live their lives without even understanding what it is that they really want for themselves. Or even if they know what they want, they neither have the will nor the vision to create this. Most of the time they settle for anything that they feel is easy or for whatever is within their reach.

If one has a vision of what one wishes to do, it is not beyond one’s capacity to create it. It may happen in this lifetime, it may take a couple of lifetimes but what we want will definitely come. For that person whose vision of life is clear and he just seeks it every moment of his life, the highest things will come and fall at his feet.

What you know as the highest, you just seek that. It does not matter whether it is going to happen or not going to happen, simply living with the vision itself is a very elevating, liberating, and joyous process. Whether it is going to happen tomorrow or after a hundred years is not the point. You are not concerned about the result in the end. It is just that you have a vision and you give your life towards it. This is one of the easiest ways to attain the highest also. The whole Gita is just about this — to simply give yourself to what you want, not caring whether it is going to happen or not going to happen. It is a spiritual process by itself.

Vision is an important way of transcending limitations within and outside ourselves. If what you want is very clear to you and if you are set on it, what seems to be impossible today, tomorrow it becomes a normal part of your life. So, have a vision, and right now.

-www.ishafoundation.org

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Shortcut to salvation

2012-01-17T20:50:00.001-08:00

PP Wangchuk, Hindustan Times

Do you want to get freedom from the cycle of life the fast track way? Perhaps, you would say yes. Like you, reportedly five lakh people gathered at the Mecca of Buddhists, Bodh Gaya, in Bihar last fortnight to attend the Dalai Lama’s Kalachakra. There were thousands of them from China, the US, Europe and several other countries.

American actor Richard Gere, who once called himself the Amitabh Bachchan of the US, too was there. Always there whenever and wherever the Dalai Lama has a function, Gere calls the Buddhist spiritual leader a great “wish fulfiller” because he fills you with satisfaction, contentment and happiness. In his words, “the Dalai Lama is a Guru who understands and has internalised the words of the Buddha.”

What is Kalachakra? It is the way to the cycles of our breath and the practice of controlling the most subtle energies within one’s body, thus paving the way for the path to enlightenment. What actually happens is that the Guru trains his disciples’ psycho-physical continuum with his initiation, and the disciples have to meditate on the path that consists of the generation and completion process. The result is that the disciple/yogi actualises his ultimate aim – having the Buddha body—that is the divine image of emptiness.

Kala in Sanskrit means time and chakra is wheel. It means time cycle. That shows the concept is based on the importance of time and cycles of life. Time is everything in one’s life and cycle or wheel represents beginningless and endless of life.

Perhaps one gets a better understanding of Kalachakra from this prayer of the sixth Panchen Lama, in his ‘Prayer of the Kalachakra Path’: “May I be inspired to accomplish the meditations of the supreme Yoga of the profound tantric path of Kalachakra/ the king of tantric traditions/ and thus purify and dissolve all the physical materiality/ giving rise to the dance of the empty body/ in union with the great unchanging bliss/ that in turn induces the highest enlightenment/ the state of primordial Buddha Kalachakra.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

The winner takes risks

2012-01-10T20:11:00.000-08:00

Divya Kapoor , Hindustan Times

I have always been a person ruled by my mind and driven by my fears. Before taking any decision, I used to be scared but would soon realise that I am living for myself and people who bother about me and not for any third person. Then why think about society and why don’t we take decisions instead of thinking about the consequences?

During moments of fear, I remind myself, “Fear is a conditioned response, a life-draining habit that can easily consume your creativity and spirit if you are not careful. When fear rears its ugly head, beat it down quickly. The best way to do that is to do the thing you fear, fast!” We are so much overpowered by fear that we start being slaves of an unknown and nonexistent ‘master’.

We are scared and we don’t take risks as we have the fear of failing.

And then, one day, I decided that I will be a risk taker; at least taking risk will assure me of my existence rather than dying slowly, in fear.

Fear is for losers and cowards, risks are for the brave. It’s better to be a soldier and die with your will, than to be a mouse and die with someone else’s pill.

I take risk with everything now whether it’s decision of going to a different place for studies or it’s just a personal decision. But whatever decision I take is a well-thought and determined one.

Risk takers are game changers; they turn the table on their side and rule the world. Imagine, if Bhagat Singh had been horrified of death, would he have made a mark in the national struggle? If the first person who climbed the Mount Everest, Edmund Hillary, had fears of heights or fear of losing, could he have made it?

People who don’t fear are indeed the people who live life freely and fully; they are the ones who have freedom from their thoughts and theories. They have just one theory—life is larger than fear.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Be one with nature

2012-01-09T20:00:00.000-08:00

Vineet Mani, Hindustan Times

The car was moving at a normal pace but the person sitting inside the car seemed restless. The car was passing by a narrow road running in the midst of snowy hills. The sun was shining bright, a pleasant breeze was blowing making tall trees swing. The chirping of birds and sounds of different animals was adding to the beauty of the milieu. The beautiful scenery was just perfect and may be imagined as beautiful lines of a Nature-loving poet or the casual paintings of a carefree artist. But the person sitting inside the car had no concern to appreciate the beauty spread all around.

Occasionally, he looked sideways but paid no heed to Nature’s gift. He appeared to be interested only in reaching his destination. He preferred to be in his own world, totally ignoring nature’s beauty.

Life is a topsy-turvy curve and everyone faces challenges. As a child grows, the struggle and its intensity grows. The dominance of materialism has forced a majority of us to make undesirable compromises, many a times unwillingly.

We have lost the ways to spend our lives naturally. We are not willing and prepared to lead our childhood carefree moments of life any more. Is this a cumbersome exercise? Many of us who yearn to go back to such days might murmur yes as an answer to this question.

But the people who are growing closer to nature and self will raise a stiff objection. Ask them and they will say, just open your eyes, look around, set aside the day-to-day tension and troubles for a while and learn to relax.

You will be able to observe that the world around is as simple and beautiful as it always was. It depends on your being a little more receptive to the good things of life and nature’s bounties. It is our ignorance that keeps us blinded to the things we can enjoy and be one with nature.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Mantra of good life

2012-01-09T19:59:00.003-08:00

PP Wangchuk , Hindustan Times

‘Allah, Liberty and Love’ can be a good title for a film or a book. And yes, this is the title of the latest book by Irshad Manji. It is all about the vital elements of life like God, liberty and love and how one can use or misuse them for one’s personal gains. The holy Quran, like any other religious book, is a great treatise on the philosophy of life, teaching one the art of living a pious, useful, purposeful and helpful life. It is no good your being good unless you use your goodness to help others who are less fortunate and less aware of the responsibilities and the principles of life. At one stage, the Quran says, your being a believer in Him is of no good if you shun away the nonbeliever. It is your duty and responsibility to get the nonbeliever “back home” and show him/her the right path to become a true son of God so that he too, later on, does what you did.

Much of the ills that the world is afflicted with are because of the inability of the people to change with the times. The Quran advocates the change of mind and heart in a manner that they can adjust with the fast-changing world. It calls for change within before one goes for change without.

Don’t we have the saying that God helps those who help themselves? Manji too says something similar by quoting the Quran that Allah does not change the condition of the people until they change what is inside them.

Manji wants that the Muslim community should not be left behind in fostering peace and progress in the world. It must come out of its cocooned existence. The clergy particularly has a great role in making the community a dynamic of change. The Quran lays great importance on the need to understand its basic principles so that the world becomes free of any kind of strife; and peace and progress are on everybody’s mind.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

The hermit’s lesson

2012-01-06T20:17:00.001-08:00

JK Verma , Hindustan Times

It was an early sunny morning in the holy city of Kashi. In the eastern border of the city, there lived a hermit with his disciples in a huge ashram. The ashram looked beautiful and serene with flowers blooming and sweet fragrance coming from all sides. Birds of all kinds and hues were making pleasant noise.

The disciples in the ashram were busy preparing for the hermit’s visit to a nearby town. The natives were informed that the hermit will make an important announcement. The people were very excited. As the hermit arrived on the dais, he said, “sons and daughters of the soil, I have been informed that an opportunity has arisen that a sacred soul from amongst you is invited to see heaven and the special thing about it is that the person so chosen may visit heaven with his full earthly body”.

“I, therefore, request all of you who are desirous to avail of this rarest of rare opportunity to gather here again on the next full moon night. And remember the one who will scrutinise and try to find a suitable person amongst you would have a divine vision. You will come to know about this at a later stage.”

So, on the full moon night, all the people came up with great excitement. The hermit talked to each one of them. They told him about their lives and how they have been true devotees. One person said he has been going on pilgrimage every year, whatever the obstacles. Another said he offered pure milk on Shivaling every Monday.

After the marathon exercise of meeting hundreds of people, he asserted, “I have listened to all of you and have come to know everything about you but my eyes were searching something else. I could know nothing about what you have done for others in your life time. God has not created each one of us with the same abilities. It is because of this that we should think of others also as they too are a part of this universe.”

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

The Guru and his truth

2012-01-05T02:15:00.000-08:00

Swami Kriyananda, Hindustan Times

I met a very old yogi (132 years, as he claimed) in Puri many years ago. He was very much a believer in total non-attachment. I asked him, “Are you saying that one shouldn’t even enjoy a beautiful sunset?” “No,” he replied. “Everything is maya. This world in all its aspects ought to be totally spurned.” I know that’s one approach to enlightenment. But I confess the idea has no appeal to me. I’d say that beauty in a sunset is one of the many manifestations of God. I can’t imagine Him being wholly pleased by anyone’s complete rejection of His handiwork. Nor can I imagine Him spurning his own creation contemptuously. Such an approach to God seems dry, lifeless, and unattractive.

My Guru (Paramhansa Yogananda), whose birthday falls today, had a quite different approach to spiritual truth. He loved and enjoyed everything, but without attachment, and always as a manifestation of the supreme joy and beauty. It was wonderful to see his positive attitude toward everything. He could be very stern as well, in the matter of non-attachment to this world.

But I wonder whether utter rejection of beauty and delight in God’s creative manifestations isn’t itself a kind of egotism. Isn’t it a sort of judgment, in a sense, to spurn everything and anything?

I must say, I like my Guru’s approach better. He affirmed life, and said YES to it, but then gave every enjoyment back to the supreme source of all joy: Satchidanandam.

I have to admit that that old yogi must have achieved something, if only because he’d been able to live so long. But whatever he had, I didn’t feel from him the joy that inspires one to seek spiritual truths. I think that, along with the practice of “neti, neti” (not this, not that), there ought, surely, to be a companion practice: “This! This!”

God’s joy is beyond pleasure and pain, beauty and ugliness, all happiness and sorrow. To find Him is to find joy, love and beauty everywhere!

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

The inner blast

2012-01-04T20:25:00.001-08:00

Ravindra Kumar , Hindustan Times

Just as St Paul was conditioning his mind on the road to Damascus to punish Christians, but had a sudden change of intention because of an “intense light” that possessed him, one has to go through some kind of crisis —moral, mathematical, religious or scientific — in order to experience the “inner blast”. That makes one “twice born” and then one qualifies to enter the “kingdom of God.”

Richard Maurice Bucke described his experience in his book ‘Cosmic Consciousness’, “The mind becomes overcrowded (as it were) with concepts and these are constantly becoming larger, more numerous and more and more complex; some day (the conditions becoming all favourable) the fusion, or what might be called the chemical union, of several of them and of certain moral elements takes place —the result is an intuition and the establishment of the intuitional mind, or, in other words, cosmic consciousness.”

Richard Maurice Bucke spent an evening of spring in his 36th year with two of his friends reading and talking about Wordsworth, Shelley, Keats, Browning and Whitman in particular.

While he was driving home peacefully after midnight, enjoying passively, he suddenly found himself wrapped around with a flame coloured cloud.

He thought it was some kind of accidental light, but soon realised it was a light from within.

The “inner blast” lasted for a few seconds and soon he was experiencing resurrection from the crisis and was filled with joy and an indescribable “intellectual illumination.”

It was as if he had been blessed with bliss that left a permanent taste of heaven thereafter. He learnt that the universe is not a dead but a living reality and that everything is working towards a predefined goal (as per the “teleology” of Max Planck). Love is the binding principle and things are working for the good and happiness of all. The illumination lasted only a few moments but its effects were ineffable. He claims he learned more within the few seconds of illumination than in the previous months or even years of study, and that he learned much that no study could ever have taught.

www.quantumsoulaware.com

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

It's Godly victory

2012-01-03T20:13:00.001-08:00

PP Wangchuk, Hindustan Times

Can one ban God and his works? If one were to go by a petition in a Russian court, one can try, at least. But the court has said no; and has described the petition as frivolous and ridiculous as there is nothing in the Gita to suggest that it promotes violence.

The whole “patently absurd”issue arose over a book, titled 'Bhagavad Gita As It Is’ by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, ISKCON founder. A petition was filed in a court in a remote Siberian court that the Gita (read Krishna) promotes violence and that it causes social discord and hatred towards nonbelievers.

The hue and cry over the issue apparently was the result of misreading/ misunderstanding of a few verses saying that a king is justified in resorting to violence in order to protect his subjects and their rights and land. A king is no king if he fails to do his ‘dharma’ of protecting his subjects. It is his moral obligation and duty.

The crucial point is that the court verdict is a vindication of the fact that the Gita is one of the greatest treatises that help promote peace and progress. It promotes one’s willingness to fight for justice and peace for all.

The book by Swami Prabhupada is a clear, simple and honest translation of the Gita with commentaries, mainly on the verses wherein Krishna tells Arjun how even war is justified for a just cause and that it is cowardice to run away from one’s moral and social obligations. It is common sense that one who fights for one’s just causes and for peace can’t be called a terrorist or an extremist.

Those who have read the Gita through their “correct eyes” will admit that the Gita is an encyclopaedia of means and ways to peace and happiness. It is a book that shows one the right path when one is entangled in dilemmas. It helps one live a meaningful life; and hence makes one realise the purpose of life.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Spiritual growth

2012-01-01T22:46:00.000-08:00

Satish Kumar, Hindustan Times

Relaxing in the precincts of my house recently, I was pondering over the part of life gone. Age has withered my physique, perhaps in the right proportion as I am nearing 70. And then I asked myself: "What is the purpose of living? Is it merely eating, sleeping and perpetuating one's progeny?"

But that is what even animals too do. Then how are we different from the animals? Can't we, gifted with higher intelligence, do things different and better?

In childhood, one plays around and pursues studies till or a little after teenage. Then job hunting begins. After getting a job, one marries and settles down in life and strives to find happiness generally by maintaining a family in a proper way. Gradually, age catches up with everybody. And in old age, parents have to survive mainly on savings or depend on their children.

Meanwhile, their children grow up and they too do the same things their parents did. This is how the world goes. I became remorseful as I started thinking that a whole life time has run out.

But I could get satisfaction from the realisation that there is a great purpose behind our living. The motto of life may be to realise God by practicing spirituality for attaining salvation. Self-realisation may be a precondition for that purpose.

Besides, service to humanity is one of the best ways to serve God. The inner self feels very satisfied when you help someone in need. Remember, by helping others you help yourself. Rather you feel grateful to that person because he gave you an opportunity to help him.

I would like to recall the story of a rich man who earned name and fame.

He had toured the world many times over. But he felt that he lacked something. Perhaps he feared that he might lose his own soul.

The moral is that a man can hardly be at peace with himself unless he grows in spirituality. That might require the urgency of the advice of a Guru or the reading and understanding of religious texts.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

The purpose of life

2012-01-01T22:45:00.000-08:00

Satish Kumar, Hindustan Times

But that is what even animals too do. Then how are we different from the animals? Can't we, gifted with higher intelligence, do things different and better?

Meanwhile, their children grow up and they too do the same things their parents did. This is how the world goes. I became remorseful as I started thinking that a whole life time has run out.

I would like to recall the story of a rich man who earned name and fame. He had toured the world many times over. But he felt that he lacked something.

Perhaps he feared that he might lose his own soul. The moral is that a man can hardly be at peace with himself unless he grows in spirituality. That might require the urgency of the advice of a Guru or the reading and understanding of religious texts.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Attitude of gratitude

2012-01-01T22:43:00.001-08:00

I remember, as a child, being reminded that I should be grateful for all the good things I had in my life. As children, we were never allowed to gripe and crib about the food that was placed before us, whether it was karela or tori. We were taught to say "thank you God for the food" because mother would remind us that there are millions of children around the world who are going to bed hungry.

If something was denied to me as a child, I was told to go to my room and make a list of all the things I had which the other children did not. This was mother's way of teaching us to live with an "attitude of gratitude".

Today I see this attitude in a whole different perspective. I feel that it is important for us to be thankful for what we have, not only from a spiritual point of view, but also from a scientific point of view. When we count our blessings, our mind gravitates towards the positive, we then start concentrating on what we have and realise how fortunate we are.

In life, we find ourselves at a stage or state that we think about the most. If we think we are fortunate, that is the fortunate positive state we lie in. Look around you, the people who you think are leading fulfilling and meaningful lives are people who are consistently in a happy and grateful state. However, this is not a natural state. It is a "cultivated" state because we are socially conditioned to look at the negative side of life.

Living with an attitude of gratitude will help us focus on what we have as we will then see ourselves living this beautiful and richer part of life. If this doesn't make you grateful then the fool proof way of feeling grateful at any time of the day, anywhere, in any situation, is to remind yourselves of this pearl of wisdom, "If you are miserable about all the things you want but haven't got, think about all the things you don't want and haven't got!

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Balancing your Karma

2011-12-23T21:15:00.001-08:00

Ravindra Kumar, Hindustan Times

A woman was walking towards Empire State Building in New York to jump and end her life. She married five times and each one of husbands deserted her. A friend advised her to consult one Dr. Michael Newton for past life regression and know the cause of these happenings. During the session, she travelled back into her five past lives and came to know that every time she came to earth as a male. Higher souls had advised her against it as she would collect a lot of negative karma.

However, before the present incarnation, she requested higher souls to bring her to earth as a woman and that she should undergo the same sufferings that she had caused to others in her five previous incarnations. Coming out of the session, she wept endlessly, which washed her sin/karma. Later, she married and this time it was successful.

A friend in Tanzania owned big factories and was proud of his wealth. One fine evening, his car met with an accident and he died, leaving behind all factories and his family. My younger brother’s teenage daughter in Delhi hanged herself to death through the ceiling fan because of the failure in her love affair as her parents did not agree with her. Some women commit suicide on the death of their husbands and some industrialists do the same on the failure of their business.

Failures like this occur in life to balance the karma from former incarnation(s) and one is supposed to live the miserable afterlife to learn the lesson. But if one ends one’s life without learning the appropriate lesson, one will have to incarnate again under till the lesson is learnt.

If you see a person shivering with cold in winter, you cannot help him much by giving a blanket or some money as the nature wants him to learn some lessons which can be learnt only that way; the next life then may be trouble-free. Only when all lessons are learnt either by suffering or by sincere repenting, one can turn to spirituality.

www.quantumsoulaware.com

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Life without angularities

2011-12-21T20:45:00.000-08:00

VN Chhibber, Hindustan Times

On family values, says the Dalai Lama, “If there is love, there is hope to have real families, real brotherhood, real equanimity, real peace. If the love within your mind is lost … no matter how much material progress is made, only suffering and confusion will ensue.” Have you ever reacted

to a situation impulsively and later wondered why you reacted that way?

Decisions have to be taken, but not post-haste, without reason. Without enough awareness of the gap between stimulus and response, there is no real freedom of choice. You are just the product of your conditioned responses. Allowing yourself to react automatically will evoke the old feelings of anger, fear, sadness or jealousy that can only further discord, misunderstanding and regret.

Using the human capacity of self-awareness, imagination, conscience and independent free will, you can exercise this freedom that is even larger than the freedom of your opponents or enemies. You could choose your own response to anything that stood in your way.

Your wisdom will reduce complex situations to simple ones and you will become a genius. This approach eventually makes you an inspiration to others. Between happening and response, there is a space. In that space is your power to exercise your response wherein lies your growth and uniqueness.

Space always exists between situation and response; you hardly have to strive for it. Your freedom of choice lies in becoming increasingly aware of this gap, using it wisely, making it into your ‘zone of considered and considerate decision’.

If within the in-between space, you take a moment to breathe deeply, decide not to always want to ‘win the argument’ etc., then it will prove that you want a favourable outcome for everyone.

Imagine having the magic power that could freeze time long enough to the most appropriate response, in any given situation.

In time it should become more natural to respond in a way that promotes harmony. The Buddha had stressed that which is most needed is a loving heart.

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The power in prayer

2011-12-18T21:02:00.000-08:00

RP Sharma, Hindustan Times

Prayer is the humblest expression of seeking divine intervention by a believer in the karmic journey otherwise determined purely by the inflexible principles of karmic cause and effect. Prayer is acknowledged in every religion and faith. The karmic journey of life is always fraught with too many uncertainties which do give rise to many insecurities resulting from unexpectedly challenging situations. This often leads to a situation where even the most confident amongst us would feel hopeless and frustrated. The power of prayer works miracles in these situations.

The moment one sits in prayer to invoke the divinity, the spiritual energies of the body and mind get activated. This is not something which happens purely at a psychological level, there are now scientific and medical researches to prove how the power of prayer ignites the release of certain kinds of hormones in the mind which are responsible for arresting the release of hormones that trigger depression and other negative feelings.

There is no particular form and method or even time for prayer. The prayers have to come straight from the heart as naturally as the cry of a child who seeks mother's attention when in distress. Words are not important and even not relevant to an extent. It is not the mental or physical energy which carries the prayers, it is the emotional energy that carries the prayers. All prayers are heard, no doubt about it.

Anybody and everybody can pray. It is not necessary that all prayers would be fully accepted, divine intervention is an exception and not the rule, yet no prayer would ever go completely unrewarded.

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A Guru is a live map

2011-12-18T21:01:00.000-08:00

Sadhguru, Hindustan Times

Let us say all that you are seeking is to go to a distant city right now. If you are alone and there are no proper directions, definitely you would have wished, that there was a map to tell you how to get there. On one level, a Guru is just a map, a live map. If you can read the

map, you know the way and you can go. A Guru can also be like your bus driver. You sit in the bus and doze off and he will take you to the city you want to go to; but to sit in the bus and doze off, or to sit in the bus joyfully, you need to trust the bus driver.

Every moment, at every curve in the road, if you go on thinking, ‘Will this man kill me? Will this man go off the road? What intention does he have for my life?’ then you will only go mad sitting there. We are talking about trust not because a Guru needs your trust. It is just that if there is no trust you will drive yourself mad.

Right now, you trust unconsciously. Everyday when you sit in a car and go to work, unknowingly, you trust this vehicle, which is just a bundle of nuts, bolts and pieces of metal, so much. You have placed your life in the hands of this mechanical mess, which is just nuts and bolts, and rubbers and wires. You have placed your life in it, but you trust the bus unconsciously. If the same trust arises consciously, it would do miracles to you.

So if you can draw your own map, if you can drive your own bus, that is wonderful. But on an uncharted path, if you go without a map, it may take lifetimes to find a certain place. It may take lifetimes to cross. If you go with a map you will cross easily. If you go with a good bus driver, you will cross very easily.

-www.ishafoundation.org

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The curse of stress

2011-12-18T20:59:00.001-08:00

Dinkar Shukla, Hindustan Times

One can say stress is a boon as long as it is in manageable proportion. It delivers results. But if it grows out of proportion, it could lead to serious problems. Prolonged stress shatters the immune system of the body.
'Jeevan Sadhana - A Noble Art of Living', has articles that

identify the causes and effects of stress. In substance, they point to haphazard way of living, declining culture of cooperation and camaraderie, cut-throat competition and, most importantly, unbridled ambition. All this add up to aggravate the intensity of stress.
If left unmanaged, stress becomes a source of psycho-somatic maladies. It could lead to diseases of the heart, stomach, skin, respiratory system and even to mental breakdown. The mind could be the first victim. School-going children easily fall prey to stress-related ailments. Stressful urban life too results in the growing incidence of diabetes and other complications.

It also discourses on the way to lead a healthy, vibrant, enlightened, happy and balanced life. At one point, it says that stress is just a messenger, a warning signal or an alarm bell. It cautions us to set things right before it is too late. What is, therefore, called for is to have the right attitude. It also reminds one to direct one's energy towards positive thinking, pursuit of a healthy life-style and meditation on problems that are overpowering.

Unbridled ambition too has been diagnosed as one of the main causes of stress. It is agreed that one must dream and set his sights high so far as life's goals are concerned, but the key word is compatibility.

The 5th Century philosopher, Democritus, had observed that a wise person limits his ambition according to his ability. H.W. Longfellow had said that most people would succeed in small things if they are not troubled with great ambitions. In his classic, 'Les Miserables', Victor Hugo had noted that many great deeds were done in the small struggles of life. Similarly, the protagonist in Harold Robbin's novel, 'The Lonely Lady', rues that people don't get frustrated by systems alone but by their dreams as well.

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Yeh Zindagi Na Mile Dobara

2011-12-13T00:20:00.000-08:00

kamal wadhwani

The universal law states that everything in the universe moves vibrates and travels in circular patterns. The same principals of vibration in the physical world apply to our thoughts, feelings, desires and will in our ethereal world. Each sound, thing and even thought has its own vibrational frequency, unique unto itself.

It is a law of the universe that the sun rises from the east and sets in the west, the moon shines in the night and there are 15 nights with moon and 15 nights without moon – these are unchangeable laws of the universe.

In the same manner, the law of life of a common man is unchangeable. Here, I indicate myself as a common man. And my morning starts without the chirping of birds. My day starts with noise pollution and air pollution of buses and other vehicles. As usual I get up early in the morning and after morning tea I go through the newspaper and find tumult reported from everywhere. After I am free from morning ablutions I go to my office and being a common man I work hard for the two square meals of my family. After facing hardships of work during my office hours I come back home at night. Exhausted and tired, I climb the stairs of my house on the 2nd floor very slowly accompanied by the sound of the cricket commentary from my neighbor’s house entering my ears telling me that India is in a sound position. As I move up the first voice gets diluted and the second one starts. I hear Mr. Amitabh Bachan in Kaun Banega Crorepati and that very moment I forget my tiredness and I start dreaming.

Amitabh Bachan - Mr. so and so, “How do you feel sittimg on the hot seat ?”

“Sir, as an ordinary person feels on seeing a God blessed person.” I reply.

Mr.Amitabh - “ok ok. Now it is the 8th question for Rs. 6,40,000. What is man? And your options are: 1-Animal 2-Human being 3-Soul 4-Brahma.”

I start dreaming within the dream: “ Rs.6,40,000 is a big amount. With one part of this amount I can clear my all debts and rest part of the amount I will keep safe for my daughter’s marriage.”

Mr. Amitabh Bachan breaks my reverie - “What is your answer?”

“Sir, the option is A - An animal.”

Mr. Amitabh- Why an animal?

“Sir, because a man acts like an animal, behaves like an animal and our ideas are so

polluted that we think like the animals.”

“Lock kar diya jaye?”

“Yes”, I say.

“Yes, this is the right …..”

In the meanwhile my mind gets disturbed by the sound of my father’s cough and I knew it was again the bronchitis attack - my dream breaks and I come out of the fantasy. I rush to my father’s room and pull up his shirt and rub his back softly. My mother stands near by wearing an old sari with one of its part torn.(Anchal) Perhaps, with it she had been protecting me from rough winds in my childhood. She covers her head with this part and through this part of her sari I get a peep into my colorless life.

Suddenly I turn back and I see the smiling face of my wife who tries to add a little bit of color in to my colorless life.

I remember the quotes of Vivekananda - ‘My nature is to love Him. And therefore I love. I do not pray for anything. I do not ask for anything. Let Him place me where ever He likes. I must love Him and for I cannot trade in love”.

So where He has put me, I am pleased with it.

Kamal Wadhwani

20-b pkt-b ph-2

Ashok Vihar

Delhi-52

Mob-9250535204

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Master your mind

2011-12-07T21:27:00.001-08:00

Simi Bajaj, Hindustan Times

No one can escape it. Each one of us has been a victim of this vicious whirlpool of feelings leading you to a state of mind full of emptiness called depression. Life is like a roller coaster ride with so many ups and downs. We have to buckle up and face it with a positive spirit. Each

one of us has our own destiny, which is set before our birth. Many times, one gets the feeling of being helpless, when faced with situations that are beyond your control. This is the time when God is testing you; this is where your inner strength guides you to search for the right cure.
Always remember, when God shuts down your favourite window, he opens another door. It all germinates in the mind. Thoughts generate actions, which invoke reactions.

The great philosopher, Montaigne, had observed that "the great and glorious legacy of a human being is to live with purpose."

The secret of ever-lasting happiness is to first accept the fact that happiness is a journey and not a destination. To be happy, first you have to savour the beauty of your life and live every moment, as if it was your last day on earth.

Let go of the burdens of the past and do not worry too much about the future, appreciate the present and live for today.

Mahatma Gandhi had said, "when I admire the wonder of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in worship of the creator..."

God has given us so much. We must bow our heads down with gratitude. Life is not perfect, there is grief and sadness everywhere, but our minds have to accept this fact that setbacks should not crush our souls, but should inspire us to surge ahead in life with clear vision. Humanity is the biggest religion above all. Love and kindness should start at home where tender brains should grasp the importance of being kind. And remember these words of Winston Churchill, "the price of greatness is responsibility over each of your thoughts."

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Be a space changer

2011-12-07T21:24:00.001-08:00

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

There are three types of space that exist. One is the external space (Bhut Akash), in which all the elements are there. The second space is inner space (Chit Akash) where thoughts and emotions come. And the third space (Chid Akash) is the space of energy where there is no thought, no emotion but

you feel energy.

All inventions come from these three types of space. We seldom understand and pay attention to these three spaces. You may have noticed in life that in some places you get jittery and angry. In that space, there are people who have been agitated; when you go there, it affects your behaviour.

And when you’re in good company, you feel lighter, uplifted, and at peace.

There is a beautiful story. There was a small hill in a beautiful garden and whenever the gardener would go on the hill, he would invite everybody walking on the streets saying, “Please come and take flowers and fruits.” When the people would come and he got down from that hill, he would say, “how dare you come here, this is trespassing,” and chase them away.

This pattern kept repeating itself. So the wise people thought they would find out in what space he was in. They decided to dig the mound and found a big golden throne that belonged to a king called Vikramaditya. This king had been a pious, generous king of good character and he had ruled the country sitting on that throne, many years ago. Therefore, the vibrations still existed. So whenever the man went on the hill he got into the generous space and when he came down he became nasty. So the space you are in matters a lot.

Similarly, when you are singing in a group, the space generated is harmonious and serene. But that won’t be the case in a disturbing situation. That doesn’t mean you should avoid people because they are not good company. You have to be strong; and instead of running away from negative influences, you must positively impact any environment.

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God, my dearest!

2011-12-07T21:20:00.001-08:00

Ajit Kumar Bishnoi, Hindustan Times

I would like to share my experience; the kind of benefits I am deriving due to my connection with God. There is so much happiness that it spills over. I feel like a king and I have never been happier. Maybe, this is what you call bliss. Peace engulfs. Worries come and disappear. I wouldn't call myself fearless, but nothing disturbs me for long. I feel satisfied with what I have. As a matter of fact, I feel that I have been provided with more than I deserve. There is so much comfort that I feel satiated. All desires miraculously get fulfilled with time; nothing appears impossible. Yes, my desires are proper, because they are inspired by God. Consciousness is slowly turning spiritual; attraction for material objects is diminishing.Not only in the matter of desires, my dearest friend and master, God, guides me all the time. I have completely surrendered myself to Him, and He never disappoints me, not for long in any case. When I stray or I am likely to make a fool of myself, he warns clearly and unequivocally such that I cannot miss or ignore the warning.I have lost count of the number of times He saved me from embarrassing situations. This has helped in my purification, and my self-respect has gone up. God provides answers to whatever troubles me. The answers come from many sources such as from another person or newspapers. I feel blessed. God has such an assuring presence that I never feel lonely. And my mental control comes from God only. I take oaths to reform myself, and He fulfills them. This has helped me in making a steady progress in my life/spiritual journey.Minor miracles do happen all the time. Nothing surprises me any more. I am always hopeful, and why not with God being my support! Time passes as it has wings. Sleep comes easily. People around me also seem to get help from God. Wouldn't I be sad if they were affected? Thank you God, thanks a million!

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Life a learning process

2011-12-07T21:19:00.001-08:00

Lama Lobzang, Hindustan Times

To celebrate the 2600th year of Sambodhiprapti (enlightenment of the Buddha), over 800 world Buddhist leaders and scholars are having brain-storming sessions in New Delhi from Nov 27 to 30, under the umbrella theme — ‘Collective Wisdom, United Voice’. Organised by Ashoka Mission, New Delhi, the congregation will be known as Global Buddhist Congress. Since India has been the birth place of Buddhism, the congregation is being organised at an international level to highlight the contribution of Buddhism to world peace so that social development take place unhampered in a cordial manner.Representing 32 countries, the delegates aim at finding out newer ways and means to examine the capacity and the resilience of Buddhism to engage itself and be useful in giving a more peaceful and progressive world. Hence, the topics discussed include conflicts and violence, social disparity, environmental degradation, the role of ethics and values, besides seeking novel ways to make Buddhism play a more effective role in evoking the conscience of the people in trouble-hit regions of the planet.Besides all-faith prayer meetings, a ‘dhamma yatra’ will end with the planting of saplings from the sacred Boddhi trees from sacred locations like Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and Sri Lanka.A Buddhist cultural heritage festival (Sambodh) will highlight the richness of the cultural “assets” of various nations and how they can be used as cementing bonds between the countries. Focus will also be on how to locate and preserve priceless Buddhist artifacts and monuments all over the country and elsewhere, where they remain neglected.India, the mother of many cultures, will indeed be richer if we can care for our heritage and love of humanity. That was the message the Buddha had left 2600 years ago. And the message will reverberate over this week as the Buddhist leaders will chant in unison the peace mantra for a more loving and caring planet to live in.

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The divine hand

2011-12-07T21:17:00.000-08:00

Ravindra Kumar

When a woman in New York jumped from the helicopter, she forgot to press the button to open the parachute. She became very nervous and panicky seeing immanent death. Suddenly her astral body came out of her physical body. In these few moments of being out-of-the body, she could visualise the right button, which she pressed just in time and landed safely to her amazement.However, her mission changed completely after this experience with divinity. She took to meditation seriously, achieved success and is now guiding people spiritually in New York.One has heard of many people who have reported near-death-experience while on the operation table. They go to strange places, experience extra faculties like seeing everywhere at the same time, travel with the speed of thought, disappear at one place and reappear at another without traversing the space in between, and so on.One must read books like Life beyond Life by Dr. Raymond Moody, and those by Edgar Cayce and Dr. Michael Newton. Some of them have taken to meditation afterwards through a Guru or otherwise in search of permanent peace and bliss. When asked about death, St. Paul said, “I die daily” (in meditation).Real spiritual search begins only after such a touch of divinity is experienced either accidentally or through the help of a Guru, and not through reading scriptures theoretically. Religionists going to temples, mosques or churches have rarely reported touching such levels of spirituality; they mostly remain theoretical with bookish knowledge.When a man asked Guru Gobind Singh that nothing has happened to him in 50 years of coming to the temple, the Guru replied even 50 lifetimes will not help this way unless he finds a jnani (wise man) who can take him to His own level. On how to find a jnani, He said when the desire is intense, the Guru will appear Himself. Otherwise, he cannot recognise the Guru even if living with Him. Many of us in this way miss the opportunity because of not having the “burning desire” to find the truth. - www.quantumsoulaware.com

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Prisoner of excuses

2011-08-15T22:10:00.000-07:00

PP Wangchuk

At times we become prisoners of our excuses and try to look for reasons for not doing what we should be doing. We invent convenient excuses for not taking up a task and keep on postponing it. One way of doing this is to say that the situation is not good and that it would be better to

wait for another day, another time. And thus we lose days and months waiting for the right time for action. In the process, we lose several chances for “achievements” that could have been ours.
Aren’t we told to remember that tomorrow never comes? And even if it comes, things may not be any better, or may be worse. That is why it is said that if you don't do today's work today, you have missed a chance to do a thing that could have made a big difference in your life.

So, wisdom lies in letting things and situations be as they are because they too have reasons for what they are and where they are. You must make the best use of whatever situation you have to deal with. Once you take up your task, there is always a possibility that the situation that you found earlier unfavourable may turn out to be quite good enough to be in your favour.

And you are too happy to carry out the task at hand.

One must remind oneself of what Horace had said, "Seize today, and put as little trust as you can in the morrow." It gives us the message that tomorrow you don't know; and what you are certain about is today. Exploit it and get the best out of it. And if you have tomorrow to deal with, it is a bonus.

Our sages tell us that dedication and devotion can get one whatever one wants. With these two “tools” in life, one can even expect miracles. And what are miracles?

They are nothing but the fruits of hard work and perspiration. Nothing in life ever becomes real until you expect it and work for it wholeheartedly.

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A hero we forgot

2011-08-15T22:09:00.000-07:00

CD Verma

On this Independence Day, let me recall two national heroes: Shyam Lal Gupt of north India, and P.Venkayya of South India. Perhaps many people do not know that it was Shyam Lal Gupt who wrote the famous national song ‘Jhanda Ooncha Rahey Hamara…. ‘ Even today this song, emblematic

of national unity, is sung in chorus at the flag hoisting functions. And it was P.Venkayya, a resident of Muslipatnam in the Andhra Pradesh, who designed the National Flag, our Tricolour.
Shyam Lal Gupt, son of Vishvesar Gupt and Kaushalya Gupt, was born in 1893 in village Narwal in Kanpur district of UP. After completing his education, he started a monthly magazine “Sachiv” to give expression to and satisfy his patriotic and literary urges. It was through this magazine that he came in contact with Ganesh shankar Vidyarthi.

At his instance he joined the congress party and joined the Indian National Movement, led by Mahatma Gandhi.

By that time, the Congress had designed and approved the Tricolour as the national flag.

Now was needed a national song which could inspire and stir the minds and souls of millions of people of India. Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, convinced of Shyam Lal Gupt’s literary acumen, entrusted this job to him. So enthused by the patriotic fervor and flash Shyam Lal was that he took just one night to compose the song. And thus was born the national song.

Vidyarthi handed over the song to Purushotam Dass Tandon, the then Congress president. At the direction of Mahatma Gandhi, this song was sung in chorus at the 1938 Haripur Congress Session.

At this Congress session, Subhash Chander Bose had hoisted the national flag. In 1967, Mrs Indira Gandi, had honoured Shyam Lal Gupt with a ‘tamra patra’ at a function held at the Red Fort. Before 1967, people did not know the creator of the national song.

And after 1967, you and I never cared to ever remember this great hero. Can we be more grateful hereafter?

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A month to redeem

2011-08-15T22:08:00.000-07:00

Firoz Bakht Ahmed

The month during which the gates of mercy are wide open, the gates of hell are shut and the devils are chained up is the ninth month in the Hijri calendar — Ramzan — holding special significance for Muslims. This month is the most superior of months in which Allah revealed the Quran. The

sighting of the new moon is a social event in itself. The enthusiasm is such that it is welcomed by bursting of crackers. No matter what religion, fasting from food, water and other things sets a context within which a person tries to establish God’s presence in his soul. He who fasts also knows that he has to keep away from hypocrisy, covetousness, lies, dishonesty, backbiting and evil in all its manifestations.
A fasting person feels very close to other human beings and the rest of the creation as well. He can feel the pangs of agony suffered by a beggar who does not get his food on a daily basis. He is much more forgiving and adjustable and accepting of their co-workers.

He is more liable to overlook others’ frailties, frivolities, whims and petty jealousies. He becomes truly humane.

God’s blessings and mercy are so abundant this month that anybody who truly repents becomes as free of sins at the end of the month as when he was born.

It is a glorious chance offered to us by the Almighty, a chance to cleanse and purify ourselves from the filth of sins and evil.

The Holy Prophet has advised believers: “O people . . . your back is breaking under the heavy load of your sins, so prostrate yourself before Him (in Ramzan) for long intervals, and make it lighter.”

Muslims must make it sure that Ramzan, instead of becoming a season for culinary competition, gluttony and wasteful consumption, becomes a period when the faithful not only show piety and compassion but also use the occasion to send across a strong message of communal harmony with love and brotherhood.

They must remind themselves that there are millions going hungry while they feast during Ramzan.

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Belief in Creator must

2011-08-15T22:07:00.000-07:00

Rajesh Krishan

As humans, we have limitations. This is probably why we set boundaries in our lives; and as a result, we have to limit our view on life. Some of us believe that human life is related to religion; while others, especially the younger generation, perceive life from a so-called ‘practical’

angle, and relate the source of life to science.
Both the views are important as they are driven by the same source — belief.

Both the beliefs are meant to make us believe that we understand how the world functions and the role human beings play in it. However, I’m not a strict follower of religion, nor am I an ardent science fan.

I firmly believe that human life in every kind of form is sacred as it’s powered by God.

We are not a creation of religion or technology, but rather a creation of God. So, why then do we perceive people as Sikhs or Muslims, Hindus or Christians, white or black, poor or rich, weak or strong? Why, we, as humans, fail to look beyond our fixed perception of life, and judge people by the standard of our own limited perspective.

I use the word ‘sacred’ for life. That it’s essential to believe that the life of each human being is of infinite significance. It’s the essence of all human beings, and defines our humanity.

I believe that if all beings are regarded by all humans as sacred (not as in religion but as in nature), then there won’t be any oppression or discrimination. But, to believe in this, we need to believe in God.

We need to believe that there exists a divine creator of all that exists, and you can name it God.

It’s important because we cannot achieve human dignity without the supposition of the human as “sacred”, or as a godly creation. And, I believe it’s important (and possible) to recognise the sacredness of human beings without giving it a religious connotation. The idea is to create a direct connection between humans and God.

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Be good to be good

2011-08-15T22:06:00.000-07:00

PP Wangchuk

Last Sunday, I read all over again all the interesting SMSes that I had received over the last one year. And lived for some time in a world far removed from the reality of the present. If I was thrilled to read some of them, there were others that reminded me how cruel the world we live in is.

And yet some others reminded me of some great virtues of life, which, if applied in life, could make our existence on this planet much more meaningful and enjoyable.
One of them was this: God asked a young girl, "What is forgiveness?" The girl replied, "It's the wonderful fragrance given to us by a flower when crushed. Or the lasting auspicious colour those mehendi leaves give us when ground to pulp."

It is difficult to be a Gandhi or a Christ and follow them. But it is not impossible. One who understands the nature of life and its ultimate aim can very well see reasons good enough to be a Gandhi or a Christ. And if you deliberate on the pros and cons of forgiveness, you will realise that your victory lies in showing the other cheek.

I am a fan of Robert Browning. He is one who would give you gems of lessons for living a good and purposeful life. Reflect on these words, "It's good to forgive, best to forget." By forgiving someone who has wronged you or harmed you, you rise to the level of gods. That is why Peter von Winter, the great German opera composer, had said, "It is manlike to punish, but godlike to forgive."

The best and the most sublime enjoyments of life can be tasted only after forgiving your 'enemy'. You will realise that you have not done anything good to your 'enemy' but to yourself because, as Winston Churchill said, nothing is more costly, nothing more sterile than vengeance.

One has to be necessarily kind and loving because only kindness gives birth to kindness. Remember this truth that you can't be good until you are good to others!

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The eternal bond

2011-08-15T22:05:00.000-07:00

Brahma Kumari Asha

Do we ever stop marveling at the magic of love? They say love is as delicate as a flower that a single touch can bruise it, and yet so strong to withstand all storms. Purity makes love bloom and strengthens it for all time. The festival of Raksha Bandhan (Bond of protection), tomorrow,

speaks of this sacred, loving relationship that nurtures, protects and uplifts.
Although the present era has modernised the festival greatly, its simple and significant meaning exists incognito. A number of legends are connected with tying of the ‘Rakhi’ - symbolising the bond of love and protection, but the most intriguing one is where the devtas (deities) are said to have lost their heavenly kingdom to the asuras (devils).

Before he sets out for war to regain the lost sovereignty, Lord Indra’s (King of the Devtas) wife applies tilak of victory on his forehead and ties him a Rakhi. In due time, the deities gain victory and return to heaven.

Rakhi is undoubtedly the only bondage that truly frees us from all other bondages – all insecurities, fear and sorrow. Having forgotten our true identity of being an infinitesimal point of divine energy – soul, atma, ruha and spirit, we have got entangled in the bondage of ‘body- consciousness’ and the web of the vices (lust, anger, greed, attachment and ego).

God comes at the fag end of Kaliyuga, to awaken and enlighten the inner being, and He teaches us how to regain our lost sovereignty.

When the tilak of ‘soul-consciousness’ is applied, and one ties the sacred thread, i.e. taking the pledge to stay in original nature of peace, love, purity, wisdom and mercy, one’s every thought, word and action becomes elevated and divine. One sees every other being as a child of God and part of my spiritual family.

This unlimited vision of brotherhood breaks all barriers of caste, creed, age, gender, religion, socio-economic status, sanskars (personality traits). One then can live by one’s true self-respect and help others do the same.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Be always grateful

2011-08-15T22:04:00.000-07:00

With the rush and constant chasing of new frontiers of life, there often comes a moment when we fail to acknowledge the beauty and essence of what we already have. There is a cute little story on how we fail to realise our own worth. A magician called upon a person and made a 10-rupee

note disappear from his pocket. The person thought that he would get his money back after the show but that did not happen. By the time the show got over, the man grew impatient and went straight to the magician to enquire about his note.
Seeing the sad, dejected face of the person, the magician returned his note and asked, “Are you happy, now?” “Yes, content and happy,” the man replied.

“Did you notice, you haven’t gained anything more than what you had come here with? The only change occurred is that now you are going out with a cheerful face and not with a long one with which you had entered this place,” the magician enquired. “Yes, I understand, our source of happiness lies within us; we need not look for it anywhere else,” the man exclaimed.

“Yes, it’s not that you were not happy earlier, you were. But earlier just because you did not acknowledge the value of what you already possessed, you had also failed to notice your happiness,” said the magician.

That is it. We always want to have more and more of everything without realising that we already have enough to be happy, but we keep harbouring the false notion that we are just one ‘thing’ away from our happiness. And we get entangled with this thought forever, just replacing our demands every time.

It’s in our interest that from time to time we willfully cut ourselves off from the humdrum of our daily life and stop taking a note of everything that we have or have gained with pain and effort, and thus appreciate a thing for its intrinsic value.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Break your limitations

2011-08-15T22:01:00.000-07:00

There are three ways to approach the spiritual process. One way: Slowly by doing the right things through a few lifetimes, you will get there. Another way: You remain in your present circumstances, keep yourself open and focused and make yourself available to your Guru, and when the last moment

comes, he will take care of it.
Another way is: You want to know life beyond its limitations now. You want to break your limitations and go beyond. Then you should not be concerned about what is happening around you because many things will happen that nobody will approve of. Society, your family too may not approve because they related to you because you were one kind of person. If you become another kind, they will not be able to relate to you anymore.

They cannot live with you unless they have the wisdom and the sense to see you as a great possibility that ‘My partner has gone ahead. It is wonderful to have somebody who is ahead of me.” Once you recognise that somebody is way ahead of you, that relationship cannot be husband and wife, or mother and son; it will become something else.

So, the other two options are better for a lot of people, that you do the right things, be available to your Guru, and when the last moment comes, he will take care of it. Or you are not even willing to be available but you do a few little things; practise some kind of nourishment for yourself so that somewhere in the future, something will happen. I do not wish that for anyone. Either you must break your limitations now or at least in the moment of death it must happen.

Between you and the ultimate, there is nothing else but yourself – just your own mental structure. If you have to break that, we have to do something in reverse. This is a simple thing you can do: team up with somebody that you do not like. Spend time with that person, very lovingly, joyfully. A lot of things will break. -www.ishafoundation.org

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

love from soul and sacrifice

2011-08-15T21:56:00.000-07:00

Story starts from year 1990 far away in the black clouds of violence and choas a family living with the fear but fear not stilled
in their soul anyway four people were present in the family a responsible and caring soft hearted son of his mother and father
his father was expired some years ago . his wife was golden soul and their child was born that year not affected by fear choas
or any other negativity there were two more members a mother and his younger son wandering like hopeless mates not willing to dare
and sacrifice in the first half mother father son and rest of the two members in the family broke down when the ghosts of violence
and blood reached closer to their home but it was unable to reach their soul of courage and feeling of sacrifice. family was sitting
under the roof of truck keeping peace and calm the baby was in arms of her mother she was confident about him as well as his father
when they reached delhi they had no home facing reality they were filled with hope and love of each other and were dedicated to god
soulfully.the moral of the story describes the patience trust and honesty and love for the family in the times when we are trapped
by the diificulties no matter we are saved clearly by owns selfless and soulfull love and care.

soul of ants

2011-08-15T21:54:00.000-07:00

There is no one like god to care for us god has created humanity and so plants trees grass leaves and animals due to high headedness and in the deep mud of ego we put the foot of devil
over them we learn about good from god and elders they are not simply the only words there is one heart touching story of ants ants are small because the made by the god god
thinks about every souls protection and theirs also due to our arrogance we always crush them by our devil foot why the enemy arrogance does the sinful thing ants are sharing
and caring in nature and are united for every moment be it sorrow or happiness they bite us when we do wrong or disturb them one day ants were going to their home they saw sugar
crystals the selfless of the noble soul goes along with other ants and holding each crystal carefully and walked towards home . Ants have small body but noble and soulful in
quality good nature comes from quality of soul like ants we are so selfishly blind in nature not known to their qualities at all just running in blind race of materilstic poison
we cannot become ants we surely become noble kind soul like them. God bleess everyone noble soul human beings plants grass and leaves we all are his dear children soul of humanity
is dear to him and become blessed like noble ants

Total surrender

2011-08-01T04:20:00.000-07:00

Rajendra Bist,

It would not be an exaggeration to say that almost half of our lives are spent in trying to understand what life really means and what should be the best means to charter it in the right direction. It is not possible to say a final word on the subject, given the mysteries and complexities

of life.
I am reminded of an Urdu couplet 'Umre Daraz Maang ker layae they char din , do arzoo mein beet gayey do intzar mein'.

These were the words of the last Emperor of Hindustan, Bahadur Shah Zafar, meaning, "God gave us four days ; two days were spent in nurturing great expectations and the rest two in waiting for their fulfillment."

Despite the craving for material gains and all that, we do realise that there is an eternal truth about life that it cannot be led to our complete satisfaction. That is why we find people crowding places where religious discourses are being delivered. I happened to come in close touch with a senior army officer whom I met in a temple. I was greatly moved by his ideas and simplicity. He always advised me to leave everything to God — total surrender. Every morning, he would stop for a few minutes and tell me something which I find difficult to forget. He used to often discuss epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. We used to debate on many points like the genesis of 'total surrender'. It owes its genesis to Bhagwad Gita. Lord Krishna told Arjuna not to be disturbed by the big question about God's existence but leave everything to Him (as Lord Krishna was Narayana himself) .

Things do not go the way you want to. You have to learn to reconcile to the situation you are in. Greta Garbo went to the extent of saying, "there seems a law that governs all over action so I never make plans." However, this does not mean renunciation of action. We have to play our role in the best manner we can, and leave the rest to Him.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Hope of humanity by love

2011-07-30T02:06:00.000-07:00

Gautam Gigoo

Once upon a time there was living a family of four members happiness sorrow kindness humbleness they live in us their home was soul with no doors windows or verandah there was
thier mother hope four of them were sweet and pure like their mother . sometimes one was left alone other one was there to support they used to teach humanity and love learned

from mother hope i am also human being rotten because of outer dust surrounded by inner pearl of soul of hope my mother i have learned from her humanity love care not words they
are precious then life or home moral is these four members bond with us to support soul in humans and blessed by god calling sorrow also with them. love is supported by humanity
caring and trust between souls. each one would know and hold at every stage. HOPE is sweeter then the any sweet for filling emptyness in soul caring and sharing are cousins of
them just like flower loves even the sorrow of dryness and shining of blossom the same is with soul soul is kind mother of body saving from every thorns made due to the sometimes
egoistic self centered mind soul is saver and hope of humanity saves from trouble and makes us one by pure love a human being is not known by the postion but character of the nature
the four friends remind us from the first day of life to serve with them trust them but we trust strangers and become danger hmm so hope of humanity is connected with love where
caring sharing helping are also family members god bless humanity always and save for love so that there is no difference between human it is not we are one by soul

Aparna soul of mother

2011-07-30T02:04:00.000-07:00

Gautam Gigoo

This story of immortal innocence of love starts from village in kolkatta there lived young aged girl her name was aparna she was teacher she used to teach children both in morning
evening class there was no age bar aparna was not a teacher she was mother to her children

actually children coming to her home for study were orphan but aparna with her pure
innocent soul of mother love them take care of them they started living with aparna she loved them so much without thinking who were they or what she was innocent and clear from
soul noone was crying or shouting in front of her children respected her they were always saying to her she is their mother aparna used to smile with tears of happiness .
Aparna had also lost her mother one week ago she was old and seriously ill and her father died when she was child she was not broken she started to teach children in the village
the children are orphan no one was willing to see them the humanity was gone when they met aparna they were all happy from within aparna and children were living in her home

sharing food not in plate aparna affectiontely put every single piece of food with love and care to children they eat with aparnas hand and aparna eats with children sweet hands
children aand aparna are not strangers they are connected through god grace god sent aparna to be mother of the children and all were living in the family this story tells only
one thing love and affection is not categorised if anything changes every mother takes care of her child even if he is not her son mamata is the answer in the story thank you aparna
aparna forget all the things even her own problems those children sweet innocent smile and their fingers relieved her they lived happily forever with feeling of aparnas mamta care and
their smile. APARNA was sweet soul hearted living with her children loving them she knew that she is their mother and children her soul they were all dear to her more then anything
THEY were blessed with soul of aparna her tears had become sweet water and she used to give that sacred watr to children and herself they all become one soul of love

Daily ways to nirvana

2011-07-28T21:31:00.000-07:00

Shalini Rai

There may be no easy route to success. Yet, everyday life offers us a hundred different chances to attain a higher level of consciousness. At home, in office and elsewhere, there are plenty of opportunities to empathise, forgive and evolve. Take those who are rude or mean or nasty

towards you. There are two choices facing a person who has to deal with malice, jealousy and bickering, daily. You can either respond in the same manner as your antagonist does, or take the opportunity to rise above him.
"You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger," said the Buddha.

The Buddhist Abhidharma texts classify jealousy as part of hostility. They define it as "a disturbing emotion that focuses on other peoples' accomplishments and is the inability to bear their accomplishments."

It's a fact of life that those who harass others are quite miserable themselves. They are blinded by rage, jealousy and resentment and knowingly walk into the abyss of self-destruction.

Buddhist monk Mittavinda harassed another 'perfect' monk and had to repent for 1000 lifetimes, thereby acquiring 'The Curse of Mittavinda'. The Jataka Tales narrate how this monk, once happy with his simple village life, did not realise how lucky he was and let jealousy consume him, literally.

When Christ said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," he meant that the cross of forgiveness and magnanimity had to be carried by the humbler, more evolved person. He meant that although the easy way out was to react, the humane approach was to rein in your response.

For, in the end, the wheels of life come a full circle and teach us all the lessons that we need to learn, in this life and in the next. These immortal lines from Magna est veritas put it well: "For want of me, the world's course will not fail; When all its work is done, the lie shall rot; The truth is great and shall prevail, when none cares whether it prevails or not."

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

STORY OF FLOWER

2011-07-27T21:47:00.001-07:00

Gautam Gigoo

flower also known blossoming flow in which leaves plants make family under kind sun making their food known photosynthesis when autumn comes leaves start falling down either they
take break and say to their branches we just coming in a moment and caring tree also agrees after taking a walk on ground or roaming with the air coming from sweet sound of rain
or cloudy season maiking clouds fill with hope flower is flowing and filling of hopes and humility for mother nature thanking her to take care of us we are children of her i travel
and seeing green plants standing towards direction of sun thanking him for supporting and to guide at every path of moment.
A human being is also a flower blossoming in every season even after home of autumn season autumn is grandma of every sweet flower coming to see her child and his soulmatesleaves
flower tells the story how he fills up with blossom in dawn of season he sees thanks to friend who stoods still and calm promised by mother nature and flows like sweet river of
blue saying to friend pebbles settled in her heart. AIR SUN WATER AND MOON CHILDREN OF MOTHER NATURE TAKE CARE OF FLOWER AND LEAVES IN THEIR FAMILY.

life of lotus

2011-07-27T21:46:00.000-07:00

Gautam Gigoo

lotus flower [kamal] is blossoming in the soul of mother earth we are not different we are also children of our mother but one quality lotus have is the loving nature to blossom
humanity exists because of love plants and flowers they are our family but we fool minded beings think living in a big house having things acually we are surrounded by objects
not feelings we have emotions but do not know it then why we call our family poor they are poor living on the footpath my feeling is one for everybody we have to become lotus
no plastic flower phool hamesha khilkhilate hain weh muskurate hain humanity also exists by lotus because we are having kindness and faith through lotus flowers make you selfless
and honest and encourages you blossom in light of sorrow thank you lotus god bless you you made us understand humanity and to be faithful to our mother just like you are sweet
and kind and loved by mother filling us with hope of love with care thank you lotus dear making us realize to forget and leaving ego and selfish thoughts and raising towrads humanity
and connected to divine soul through humbleness and seeing the inner self with happiness and taking care thank you lotus it gives one clear message be a lotus thinking about
selfless and caring nature faithful to mother

A father’s pain

2011-07-26T21:09:00.000-07:00

PP Wangchuk

When we are in deep suffering and pain, we either try to seek refuge in God or question his authority and morality. At times, one may do both simultaneously. Nothing wrong with that. As frail and ignorant human beings, we all fall prey to such ways of life in order to seek a way out of troubling

situations that we are thrown into for, apparently, no fault of ours.
I was prompted to write this after reading columnist Arun Shourie's book, 'Does He Know a Mother's Heart? : How Suffering Refutes Religions'. Shourie, who has a spastic son, Adit, 35, has seen, felt and lived with suffering all his life very stoically, but with doubts and a thousand questions unanswered in his mind. The book that he has written is an account of his mental pain, anguish and helplessness parents have to endure for God's ways of indiscretion. At times when he feels how helpless he is, he questions the very morality of God.

If Shourie has gone through a life of agony and torture, experience has also taught him how to lessen and carry on with piercing pain. He finds salvation in the potentiality of the untapped mind. Meditation, he feels, can trigger a kind of mechanism that can give you the required peace of mind and awareness to deal with the problems in life. But he is at the same time one who has strong belief in the power of action. Action, he believes, is a greater anti-dot and a pain killer. One must work on things that can minimise one's pain and help those who are suffering or those who are trying to lessen others' pain.

Shourie dismisses using props like God and godmen. One may or may not take such an attitude but it is true that nothing works like 'action'. A 'doer' can overtake a 'sayer' a hundred times. Action is life and inaction is death. Convince yourself that inaction is the greatest sin. And it compounds into a life of misery.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

How to look at life

2011-07-25T21:07:00.001-07:00

Manisha Gupta

During a recent tour of Europe, our guide narrated an interesting episode. On one of his tour groups to the Eiffel Tower, he took the group up to level 3 of the tower. The student group was awe-struck by the mesmerizing view of the entire city of Paris below them. But one young girl was worried

and sad. She questioned the guide, “But I came to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower. Where is the Tower?”
He was amused at her ignorance and replied, “But you are standing on the Eiffel Tower at level 3”. The girl, still worried and hassled looked at him in dismay with her large questioning eyes, “But I can’t see the Tower?”

As the guide finished telling us his story, it set me thinking. Isn’t it so true! When you are standing inside the Eiffel Tower, obviously you don’t see the Tower. You can see it only when you are removed from it and at a distance from it. Simple, yet so complex! And that’s precisely what happens in your life. You don’t see the potential, the qualities, and the positives in yourself simply because you are inside yourself.

Therefore, to know your full potential, you need to step out of yourself and stand away to actually see what beauty, what quality lies within you. To appreciate anything, you need to observe it from far. Same the case with God! Since He is deep within you, you never see Him. To know either yourself or God, you need to step out of yourself and see yourself as another, from a distance.

One must use this concept to not only take good photographs of huge, famous attractions such as the Eiffel Tower but also to get a real, proper understanding of people who matter to you and also to take a good look at life itself.

The ‘Tower of Life’ is the biggest tourist attraction for the most important tourist in the world — man!

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

hope of rain

2011-07-25T21:04:00.001-07:00

Gautam Gigoo

children the bossomed flowers in a special state of mind playing with mud on a sea shore .There a house built on the base of hope and trust the grandmother having on two children
believing to be making house built of mud. There is no mud shining fragrance of rain. Rain mixed with air and mud completes the hope of children in their innocent hope of nature.
The children are small as compared to any young fellow working in office or selling food. They are not clever like a fox to shape up like a lion. They build up again it without any noise of arrogant thinking or standing towards one
own loss of breaking house. They build hope of rain out of breaking,crying in peace stoodand rain water enlightens their hope and shines the dawn of nature of children with
grandmother seeing the coming of rain

faraz[responsibilty]

2011-07-25T21:03:00.000-07:00

Gautam Gigoo

In a small town of kolkatta there was a small house not small house made oflove trust and care a girl living named asha with her parents and younger brother named roy her father
was working in a mill factory for last 45 years and so on but he was not able to see from his eyes there was one speaciality in him he never cared about the problem nor he worried
and he also make sure to family not to take it seriously as it is not a problem but he has done good work without help of eyes what is the need of eyes. now he is to retire in
two three days asha came to her mother mother said with care to her now you have grown up take the responsibility your father is retiring from work now you will handle the responsibilty
next day along with the dawn of sun asha woke up and came downstairs to see her parents face it was not a ritual but her good culture and respect towards them. the day has come
she is going to mill factory before going her father told her asha beta i have seen the realities of life and i cannot see but undersatnd the feelings and responsibilty in you. you will do work with kind nature and
good mind and soul.
asha takes blessings of her parents her brother roy is in another room waiting for her sister to come and hug him because he is going to school there is story competition asha comes in his room blesses him amd kisses
on his forehead. when she reaches out towards work after reaching to mill factory she goes to head officer who will guide to her work in 10 minutes aftersorting out some of his work. . she is uderstanding about work
telephone rings up there is telephone kept in head officers room she goes inside room pickes up the phone there is worried and tearful sound of her mother she informes asha about her father her father is ill suddenly
and his eyes are going red and about to close down after hearing this asha got worried and tears wrew about to come but she controlled them she told head officer about the condition
and asked to leave immediately she left and rushe dtowards home when she arrived her mother was crying father was sitting with eyes which wre not blind but there was hope of the
responsibility asha was close to her father knew it closely before any information of sigh or sorrow.
she put her both hands on her fathers face he was relieved before cure mother was also relieved and she took her father to doctor for chekup when they reached there was a long
line of people there were 10 benches on each of them sitting or waiting asha and her father was sitting on the last bench when the turn came both entered into doctors room
with no sigh but relief in mind of the cure of love by asha to her father. by the worldsake they were in clinic and doctor takingout sthoscope and there was miracle asha s father eyes were in the light it was asha s pure hearted love for her father that cured him her immense feeling for him
she knew her faraz[responsibility] love is name of responsibility care and feelings that existed fully in asha s soul
after coming to home her mother was joyed to see asha s father can see she hugged him withsoul and kissed on his forehead and her daughter. with love you can fulfill each
responsibilty and can cure the soul faraz is nature of child when born knowing responsibilty either whatever be the conditions
this point goes to asha for fulfilling her fathers responsiblity beacuse she knew he was unable to see but knowing every sense
ashas brother roy studying in school in 10 th class was not surprised he was knowing that didi cared everyone with selfless love
and care even when her mother and brother knew what was situation her father who was not the victim and he cared for his family
after the condition from which he is going the moral no problem can stand in front of love it is name of faraz flowing in ashas soul selflessly and pourly
now they live happily the medicines given by doctor have filled up the deficiency but it is cured by ashas love care from soul and
tears also connected her

Spiritual tips

2011-07-23T21:04:00.000-07:00

AK Bhargava

It is quite difficult to find out how much one has progressed on the path of spirituality. Looks are deceptive. Some claim to have realised God but in reality they are as much involved in worldly affairs as any other.
To know where they stand, one does not have to do any religious

discussions.
A few habits can bring out in the open as to where they stand.

One sure way is to watch a man and see how he reacts to any mini crisis.

Stephan Convey says life is made up of 10% incidences and 90% about how you decide to react to it. Although we have no control over what happens to us next but we have control over how to react to it.

You have no control over the red light but you can control your car to avoid unpleasant situation.

Take a hypothetical case of your having a quick breakfast in the morning. Your daughter accidentally knocks over the coffee on your suit over which you or she has no control.

You scold her and she starts crying. You then criticise your wife for placing the cup so near the edge and pick up a verbal dual. You storm up to change your suit. Meanwhile, your daughter is still crying and not yet ready for school. She misses the bus. You rush to drop her to school.

Since you are late, you drive fast and get a ticket. You reach office late to discover that you have forgotten your briefcase.

Who caused all this mess? No one else but yourself!

You could have reacted this way. You could tell your daughter, "It's okay, be careful in future, finish your breakfast while I go and change and see you off in the bus". You pick up your bag and reach office in time in a good mood for the day's work.

Spirituality reflects in your small acts of helping others and remaining calm in crisis. The Gita gives so many nice tips that you could adopt and live in peace.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

NOKIA Inner Voice Hindustan Times App Now On The Move...

2011-07-20T23:57:00.000-07:00

Nokia HT Inner Voice For those who listen Hearts.....: "
by ipsjolly

This App have articles which are published daily in Hindustan Times an Indian newspaper.These will let you think in a Fourth dimension And Inspire you make your life more charming........."

Brave new world

2011-07-18T04:15:00.000-07:00

PP Wangchuk

The Dalai Lama says,"If I were a doctor, I would write in all my prescriptions to patients: Be altruistic and you will get better." The quality of being altruistic should be every human being's top priority on the list of things to be done on any given day. It is this quality — thinking

of others before self — that makes one a true human being. Otherwise, any kind of wealth you amass is of no use because you are poorer within by as much.
When you have concern for others, you develop leadership qualities because of which you become fearless and courageous. But when you confine yourself to the ‘I', you shrink and your world too shrinks to a dark and fearsome dungeon. You will start feeling insecure and the world outside for you will be foreign and you may take it as dangerous. You will see nothing positive around. You will consider even those who come to help you as your potential enemies. You see danger at every step you take and an enemy in every person you meet. This kind of daily 'happening' can make your life miserable as you will feel insecure even in the most secure place of your home.

But altruism opens up a brave new world. It makes you not only courageous but also kind and helpful. It makes you feel that your power and strength lies in making others feel good and ‘powered'. The world is as good as you are, as it reacts the way you do.

As a result, you feel good and on top of the world. You find no excuse not to be at the service of humanity. On the other hand, one who takes recourse to excuses, I would like to give this reminder from Alexander Pope," An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie; for an excuse is a lie guarded." And, as Roman philosopher Cicero says, the greatest theatre for virtue is conscience." Virtue and conscience are the tools for altruism.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

The Guru’s day

2011-07-15T22:01:00.000-07:00

Sadhguru,

The day of Guru Poornima has been revered by every spiritual tradition in the East. The yogic tradition, the Hindus, the Buddhists and the Jains have held this as a valuable day. The word ‘Guru’ in Sanskrit can be translated as ‘dispeller of darkness,’ and Poornima means the full moon day. This

day is dedicated to the Guru and is celebrated to honour the ancient lineage of enlightened beings that graced the world with their presence, imparting the knowledge of the Self to those seeking inner transformation.
On this day, over 15,000 years ago, Shiva — the Aadhi yogi or first yogi — transformed himself into the Aadhi Guru or first Guru, and began the transmission of yogic science — a conscious way of evolving human consciousness. This first transmission of yoga happened on the banks of Lake Kantisarovar, in the upper parts of the Himalaya, a few miles beyond Kedarnath. Shiva had found his first seven disciples who are today celebrated in this country as the Saptarishis, and he expounded the whole mechanics of life making — how this life is made — knowing life from its origin to its ultimate. From there, the whole system of yoga evolved.

Guru Poornima is also the first Poornima after the Sun’s run with relation to this planet shifts from the northern run to the southern run, which in this tradition is known as Uttarayana and Dakshinayana. The southern run is the phase of intimacy or the feminine; the earth is acting out her role as a woman. It is from the day of Guru Poornima that all the festivals related with the feminine begin in India. The whole culture of this land is attuned to this. Every month there is some festival and especially those festivals that are concerned with the feminine energy are celebrated only in these six months.

These two aspects of the sun’s run in relation to the planet have a significant impact on how the human system functions — the next six months are the time of receptivity. Shiva chose to teach in this season because this is the time when all beings get more receptive.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Four steps to freedom

2011-07-14T22:03:00.000-07:00

VN Chhibber

Do you have a free soul? Who are free beings? Bhagvad Gita says: “Free from expectations and free from all sense of possession, with mind and body firmly controlled by the self, they do not incur sin by the performance of physical action.” Besides global warning, another warming —

of greed, desires and passions — is affecting the soul within and the environment without. Why does the soul need an environment? As salubrious environment is needed for our well-being, so it is with the soul. There are four elements of environment necessary to keep the soul healthy and fresh: friendship with Him, with Nature, silence, and assembly prayer.
Friendship with and love for Him is essential. You need a good friend to see you through thick and thin. Imagine His generosity. Nature with its abundance – rivers, mountains and valleys, green flora, and fauna is aesthetically invigorating; it generates energy that brings calmness and detachment from gross physical. At this stage, one has to choose either worldly life of ever-amassing wealth, or spiritual way of life that leads to goodness, stability and peace.

Nature: The miracle of clouds changing saline sea water into pure water reveals the secrets of the cycle of nature. With admiration comes love. This is the start of bonding with nature when every tree, every flower, every river, mountain and valley seem sacred.

The current restlessness is due to the absence of silence in the inner and outer environment. There is yearning for activity both outside and inside the mind. In such a hectic lifestyle, the soul feels suffocated and clamours for stillness, for silence.

Satsang means following those on the path of spirituality. It means being in guru’s presence along with other devotees and sharing knowledge of scared literature. It means group kirtan, prayer or meditation. It purifies and generates universal love energy.

These four pillars set the stage to remove karmas that cover the soul. To enjoy a life of peace and harmony, we need a balanced physical environment and also a rejuvenating spiritual surrounding.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

The flame of life

2011-07-13T22:05:00.000-07:00

MN Kundu

Waves of the sea arise from the sea and dissolve into the sea. Similar is the case of birth and death. There is neither birth nor death but a mere flow of phenomena in which we observe birth and death through self-consciousness or ego. According to the Vedanta, there is neither creation

nor annihilation but constant transformation and manifestation amid cosmic delusion. When the Absolute is observed through the delusive time, space and causation, the creation is manifested. Nothing is created or destroyed.
When the observer self, the observed reality and the act of observation are merged into oneness, we go beyond eternalism and nihilism.

When the flame is extinguished, it is not annihilated; it only awaits further appearance under appropriate conditions. Not exactly the same flame, as nothing remains the same in two consecutive moments.

Birth cannot mean creation out of nothing; death cannot mean dissolution into nothingness.

Everything is in a continuous process of transformation and hence transitory.

Although, in the ultimate sense, we are neither born nor will die; in the relative sense our self-consciousness is the nucleus around which the physical and mental formations assemble for the time being with a name and a form.

Neuroscience holds that this consciousness is not a product of the chemical and electrical functions of the brain. It has rather an extra cerebral abode. Extensive research on the near-death experiences also proved that this consciousness continues perfectly well even when the biological brain ceases to function.

Our body-mind complex functions like a television set which does not produce the channels but only manifests the same under appropriate conditions. Similarly, our consciousness is manifested or operated through the body-mind mechanism.

Any concept of birth, death or reincarnation centres on the continuity of consciousness. Actually, we continue with separate sense of existence in consciousness alone. Innumerable cells of the body die and are born every moment.

Likewise, we are reborn again and again with fresh inspiration and renewed aspiration towards enlightenment.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Nature as driver

2011-07-12T22:07:00.000-07:00

Ravindra Kumar

There are three modes of nature—satva, rajas and tamas. When a man is under the mode of satva, he acts righteously, philosophically or spiritually. His actions are non-materialistic. Under the mode of rajas, he acts practically in the material world to earn a living or acts in a result oriented

way.
Under the mode of tamas, he feels lethargic and does not like to do anything. Thus, it is the mode of nature which is responsible for the behavior or action of a person and not the person himself or herself.

There is another factor called prarabdha which carries the result of past actions stored in one’s causal body, according to which one suddenly acquires material benefits like financial abundance or satisfactory personal relations, which make one happy.

On the other side, prarabdha may be negative and may suddenly produce unhappy results like burning of a factory or a woman becoming widow. In either case, there is no way to explain the reason of such a happening.

A person in fact plays in the hands of nature under the influence of these two factors—modes of nature and prarabdha. This is what saint Kabir hinted at when he said, “do patan ke beech sabut bacha na koy,” that is, no one is saved between the two stones rubbing against each other.

With the understanding that one is not the doer (as modes make one do things) and performing selfless actions (acting without expectation of results), one develops “equanimity”—the art of remaining normal under dualities like pleasure and pain, gain or loss, and honor or dishonor.

With regular practice, one surpasses the modes of nature, and conquers enemies like anger, lust, attachment, greed and ego. With such qualities, one is called a saint or yogi who gets entry into the ‘kingdom of God.’

One can achieve these results by self-practice, chanting of mantras (advised in all religions) or more directly with the help of a guide or Guru, who has achieved oneness with God.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Align thought and deed

2011-07-11T22:10:00.000-07:00

Pradip Kumar Nath

A value is a value for me only when I see the value of the value as valuable to me. This is how Swami Dayanand of Arsha Vidya Gurukulum, Coimbatore, defines value. Many among us may find it difficult to follow values such as truthfulness, non-injury, honesty in our lives because we have

not perceived the subtle gains that come to us by following these values. Or, maybe, we are too careless to realise the importance of values in life.
Chapter 13 of the Bhagwat Gita elaborates the 20 values that Lord Krishna teaches Arjuna. These values are fundamentally necessary for a seeker to prepare the mind for the knowledge of the Self. One of these values is “Arjavam” which means straightness.

Used as a value “Arjavam” or straightness is like the English word rectitude (from the Latin word Rects, Straight) which means conducting oneself in accordance with one’s ethical standard.

“Arjavam” means an alignment of thought, word and deed. What is non-alignment of thought, word and act? When I think one thing and say another, or when I say one thing and do another, that constitutes non-alignment on my part. The avoidance of this gap, that is division between word and action, word and thought and action and thought, is “Arjavam”.

Of course, no need to ask if there is any importance of alignment of thought, word and deed?

The answer is an affirmative yes. With non-alignment, I would be disintegrated. I would be no longer a complete person. If there is a gulf between me and the thinker, the speaker or the actor, the result will be a restless mind. It will be troubled by guilt and conflicts.

This kind of mind is not quite a receptive instrument ready for learning anything. For such a mind, self knowledge is a far cry. The mind needs to be together, not a split one in order to prepare itself for the teaching of Vedanta. Therefore, “Arjavam”, the alignment of thought, word and deed is included as one of the values of Jnanam (Self knowledge).

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The trial of life

2011-07-11T22:07:00.000-07:00

PP Wangchuk

Each morning puts a man on trial and each evening passes judgement — Roy L Smith. How true! How many of us are consciously aware of this 'test' of life? For those who are not aware of this truth, there is nothing but problems galore. A whole life goes waste without even knowing that it is

gone!
As day breaks, one is exposed to the realities of life. If one faces them and overcomes them by meticulous plan and hard work, one sees a day gone beautifully and rewardingly. On the other hand, if one takes it casually and lets the day go 'unnoticed', the 'evening judgment' can't be in one's favour. And this has its own chain reaction. One problem unsolved today leads to more problems tomorrow. It is like, as they say, woe begets woe. And then, don't we say that nothing succeeds like success.

We try to avoid the present moment (today) because we take the excuse that the situation around is not congenial and that we need a day that suits our perception of a suitable situation. Mind you, that day may never come; and when one realises this, it may be too late.

Success makes one realise the importance of the 'present' and no matter what the 'situation' is, one plunges into action. He tells himself, "let it be what it is around and let people be as they are. If they don't change, I will change."

Plan and execute your work with dedication and whole-heartedness. When you come across obstacles, don't get disheartened. Miracles happen in such cases and you will start wondering how you could do it as it seemed at one time an impossible task. It is all faith and dedication that has done the wonder.

Of course, you have to love your work. That will give you confidence and the will to surmount all the difficulties. In fact, as in love, loving your work will make most of the difficulties disappear. Similarly, one has to love life. That will enable you to see the brighter aspects of everything around you.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

india Fearless mantra

2011-07-10T22:12:00.000-07:00

Amritbir Kaur

We constantly live in fear. Sometimes we fear failure but at times we are even secretly afraid of success. The old English proverb, ‘Do your best and leave the rest …’, tells us not to be obsessed or be over expectant about results. Life begins with the fear of sharing toys with siblings

and others. Then comes the stage of being terrified at the very thought of going to school, the bullies in the school etc. And, who can forget the fear of examinations!
There is the stage of ‘storm and stress’ (as Stanley Hall calls it) – the age of adolescence: a complete package of all sorts of fears, apprehensions, doubts and endless worries. Then life brings you at crossroads and you have all the apprehensions about joining another institution for higher institution.

A shift from school to college or university is seen as a big shift in life. Once education is over, fears encircling us are those related to getting a decent job.

This vicious cycle of fears goes on endlessly. The fear of losing someone or not having someone you want, the fear of being beaten or the fear of accepting victory with the expected grace, fear of leading a good life or the fear of death, fear of telling lies or the fear of speaking the truth, the fear of not being able to see the new horizons or the fear of venturing out in search of those new horizons. This is how life goes on. We live in fear and die with it.

And then the most important, offer to the Almighty the prayer ‘make me thine’. These three magic words can work wonders. When we are ‘owned’ by that Supreme Power, we leave it to Him to fulfill our tasks.

It is after this submission to Him that we gain confidence. It is only then that we can confidently second William McKinley’s thought, “Our earnest prayer is that God will graciously vouchsafe prosperity, happiness and peace to all…”

And all will be well with you and the world.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Attitudinal change

2011-07-08T22:13:00.000-07:00

Divya Kapoor

I have been a very negative person most of my life. Whenever something wrong happened with me, I always blamed God. I believed my stars were not in their appropriate position. My faith in stones and astrology increased day by day. In other words, I became a slave to my uncontrolled mind.

I fondly recall the day which has proved to be a transforming experience in my life. I was at an airport and my flight was delayed, giving me time to visit the bookshop. I chanced upon a book titled “You can Heal Your Llife”. The book changed my thinking altogether.

The essence of the book was that it led the reader to understand that when one thought negatively, one didn’t achieve anything. I took a decision to give positivity a chance.

I consciously changed my thinking patterns and learnt a golden key to developing wisdom in life, “The mind is your best friend if you can control it and worst enemy if you are under the control of your mind”. I changed my psychology and inwardly started consoling myself that I will have the best as I deserve the best in life.

I told myself that I wasn’t aware of the span of my life. And, either I could live in complaint mode or I could live in the enjoyment mode. The choice was mine. I made it a practice in my daily routine to remind myself that I was God’s child and deserved being in a natural state of happiness. Furthermore, when the sun rises every morning, it rises for everyone. You have to take this oath everyday that “The seeds of success are in abundance in the universe and I will definitely produce results if I am patient, optimistic and hardworking.”

I believe there is a thin line of difference between people but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude .When we put together faith, hope and love, we can develop positivity in a negative world.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Spiritual tips

2011-07-05T21:25:00.000-07:00

AK Bhargava

It is quite difficult to find out how much one has progressed on the path of spirituality. Looks are deceptive. Some claim to have realised God but in reality they are as much involved in worldly affairs as any other. To know where they stand, one does not have to do any religious discussions. A

few habits can bring out in the open as to where they stand.
One sure way is to watch a man and see how he reacts to any mini crisis. Stephan Convey says life is made up of 10 per cent incidences and 90 per cent about how you decide to react to it. Although we have no control over what happens to us next but we have control over how to react to it. You have no control over the red light but you can control your car to avoid unpleasant situation.

Take a hypothetical case of your having a quick breakfast in the morning. Your daughter accidently knocks over the coffee on your suit over which you or she has no control. You scold her and she starts crying. You then criticise your wife for placing the cup so near the edge and pick up a verbal dual. You storm up to change your suit. Meanwhile, your daughter is still crying and not yet ready for school. She misses the bus. You rush to drop her to school. Since you are late, you drive fast and get a ticket. You reach office late to discover that you have forgotten your briefcase. Who caused all this mess? No one else but yourself!

You could have reacted this way. You could tell your daughter, “It’s okay, be careful in future, finish your breakfast while I go and change and see you off in the bus”. You pick up your bag and reach office in time in a good mood for the day’s work. Spirituality reflects in your small acts of helping others and remaining calm in crisis. The Gita gives so many nice tips that you could adopt and live in peace.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

The sixth sense

2011-07-04T21:30:00.000-07:00

Sadhguru

Whatever experience you have through the five sense perceptions is sufficient experience only for survival in this existence. If you are seeking something beyond survival, then the sense perceptions are not enough. You have never experienced any power beyond yourself except nature. You

are not blowing the wind. The wind blows with tremendous power but you did not start this wind. And you did not create yourself; you just happen to be here. Without that energy or that something which is beyond you, nothing can happen. Something must have created you.
Now that you do not know what created you, the next immediate thing you will say is that God must have done it. Now where has God come from? Since you are a human being, you think that God is a big human being. So whatever your idea of God is, it is simply coming from the limited experience of who you are. It is only in your mind. The only thing that you can really experience is that which is within you. But you have never really looked at that which is within you.

Whatever you have known, either of the world or yourself, has come to you only by seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting. If these five senses go to sleep, you will neither know the world nor yourself. The sense organs are limited perceptions. They feel everything only in comparison to something else. If I touch a steel rod, it feels cool simply because my body temperature is higher. Suppose I lower my temperature and touch it, it will feel warm. So this is not a genuine experience. All yogic practices are aimed at giving you an experience beyond the five sense perceptions.

Obviously there is so much more than what you call as 'myself' in this existence. What you call as 'myself' is still a limited experience of who you are. If you transcend this identity of who you are, then there is no distinction between what is 'you' and what you are referring to as the 'power beyond.'

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Theory of Karma

2011-07-04T21:28:00.000-07:00

A K Bhargava

There are many theories around the theory of Karma. A lot of us believe that our present actions are the outcome of our past actions. That means we have no control over them for any improvement. But Karma determines only our experiences and not our actions. Our personal happiness and

sorrow is the result of our past actions but what we are doing at present is not the result of past actions.
There is a tendency sometimes to blame Karma for our decisions. Secondly, Karma is very empowering. We wrongly understand that we have no choice in life that is bound by our Karma.

Basically, Karma gets mistaken for fate or destiny, which it is not the case.

If work is Karma, its effect is Karama-phala or fruit of work. It is difficult to deny that actions have consequences. Everything that we do has results.

Secondly, it is difficult to deny that we all want our life to be happy, meaningful and fulfiling. Thirdly, it makes difficult to deny that our hope for justice for life makes it difficult to oversee that goodness is rewarded and evil punished. That is what Karma theory in the essence is.

There is no need to blame anyone for our sorrow or be indebted to anyone for our happiness. We are responsible for both for our action as well as the results of our actions.

We rarely question the existence of happiness in our life. If something makes us happy, we say we deserve it. Only when there is failure, then we ask, “why me”.

The general tendency is to find an external cause for the trouble and blame it. Then the control as to when I should be happy or unhappy depends on others. Then there is no freedom to be happy.

It is inevitable that some news or happening will make some of us happy and some others unhappy. Should I be overwhelmed by the joys and sorrows in life?

Both can be overwhelming. If we are getting overwhelmed by joys or sorrows, then the clarity of our mind is lost.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Who am I?

2011-07-04T21:27:00.000-07:00

PP Wangchuk

That is a profound question, and difficult to give a straight and simple answer. Of course, you have a name and several identities at any given time. But those are external and ‘perishable’ identities. It is there today and may or may not be there tomorrow. And, hence, it can’t be your

permanent and lasting identity. Pandit Shriram Sharma, in his Absolute Law of Karma, says each and everyone on this planet conceptualises an individual according to his own bent of mind. And the man himself is confused all the time in his multi-personal bends and lives with multiple identities while in interaction or relationship with others.
But then the point is that all these multiple identities could help one realise one's multiple roles and hence one's purpose in life too. It helps him become more responsible and ready to face the realities of life. Of course, not all people realise this and, therefore, they pass on without really knowing who they are and what the purpose of their lives is. A precious life goes sheer waste!

To understand the truth of 'Who am I?' one has to go beyond the external identities without giving them up but with them as multiple tasking responsibilities. One has to strive hard to remove the veil of ignorance that one is always shrouded in. Also, we have to get rid of the make-believe world that we are so much used to live in and with. And, remember always, if you don’t know yourself, you will never know and understand any of the people you interact with in life. That is why some people have problems with others, always.

One has to reach a stage where the reality of life is face-to-face and one can't get out of it. Only then, it can be said one has the answer to who am I? The answer does not come easily as it is tagged with the outcome of one's ability to see the reality of life and its purpose. Once you see the light inside, the answer is an automatic outcome.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Play the winner

2011-07-02T21:31:00.000-07:00

VN Chhibber

I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.” – MK Gandhi. Tolerance, a rare virtue, bounces back even when you are thrown against a tight corner. A square can’t bounce as it has angularities; a ball can as it is

light and round.
Virtue of tolerance comes from sensing each thing as a riddle and being part of the solution. Also, all things move in cycles — that which is cumbersome now is bound to change character.

There is movement in tolerance, there is flexibility, for one is not afraid of change.

Change is a constant phenomenon. Someone who is tolerant simplifies things to remove hurdles.

Humour during tolerance comes from good nature and cheerful outlook towards life.

Is it possible to have tolerance as a virtue rather than a necessity?

Virtue acquired gives us godly power. We come close to Him by becoming soul-conscious.

“In the practice of tolerance, one’s enemy is the best teacher”, says the Dalai Lama. Watch and with the passage of time let the cycle of events unfold themselves.

This brings us a sense of well-being, and then solutions fall into place, into pattern. A philosophy evolves that lasts a lifetime.

One has to love people as they are, and appreciate them for their talents.

When you begin looking into people’s eyes and see their rarity, and you meet them with your rarity, then tolerance comes naturally. It is an expression of your well-lubricated and hassle-free life.

When there is no tolerance, at home or at workplace, each little thing becomes a burden. It is like standing on the edge of a cliff and nagging or grumbling out of habit.

Tolerance is saying yes to the game of life and enjoying it to the hilt. This virtue stands you in good stead.

In due course of time, you are ahead of others in life’s journey.

You will be deeply admired for your accomplishments in life. And to this, if you add a few other qualities, you move towards divinity.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Changeover to success

2011-06-29T21:33:00.000-07:00

Vineet Mani

There was a murmur in the classroom. The students were whispering. Some were giggling and others were struggling to hold their laughter. Everyone seemed amused. A fragile child was standing in the middle of the class and was reading out from a textbook. He was fumbling, making mistakes.

The teacher wanted him to read in order to bring improvement in his language but looked utterly disappointed. He had tried on several occasions earlier too but to no avail. There was no trace of improvement. Students mocked at him. He did not reply but his eyes were moist.

After a few days, the teacher went through the same process. A few hands went up, including the child in question. The teacher wanted to ignore him, but the confidence in his eyes compelled him to give him a chance. The child started reading slowly. The other students waited for the moment to make fun of his mistakes. But with every line he read, his confidence grew.

His voice was clearer, and there were no flaws. The students, who were ready to make mockery, started listening to him intently. When he completed reading, the teacher called him to his desk and gave a gentle pat on his shoulder. All the classmates were looking at him with awe and appreciation.

The teacher asked him how he could bring in the dramatic improvements. The child stood up and pointed towards one of the classmates and said, “He made me realise my abilities to perform.” The other child was new in the school and was a gentle fellow.

“He called on me the other day and pleaded me to come out of dejection. He spent hours with me and we kept practising. He did not laugh at me even once and pinpointed towards the mistakes and gave probable measures to rectify them. With his support and his trust in my abilities, I started practising with hope.”

The teacher looked around the entire class. They were all shamefaced. Only the two boys were in their best form and they felt on top of the world.

innervoice@hindustantimes.com

Where the GOD turns HIS HEAD down

2011-06-26T23:58:00.001-07:00

Fix the mind on me, worship Me alone, pay obeisance to Me. By doing so you will come to Me. Give up dependence on all Dharmas, take shelter in Me alone,
I will free you from all sins. (Gita xviii. 65-66)

It was not so that the Arjuna was the only best devotee. There have been greater devotees than him. The devotees of higher orders do not desire to be pardoned from the sins. We desire Moksha also as well as freedom from worries.But the devotees of high order do not ask to Lord as kind and forgiving.

The Gopis have conjugal sentiment towards Lord but so far as the high order of love is concerned, the Gopis stand just like Drashta. Love, Lover and Beloved all three are one. The sun does not enter in to the mirror. It is only the reflection the mirror becomes dazzling due to the sunlight, in the same manner the devotee reflects as a .person of love.At this stage, Lord, devotee and devotion become one . Every limb of the body and all efforts are intermingled in the form of love.The love ceases to be there. The lord and devotee both come under one and the same condition. There is obsolute oneness.Whatever there is only pure love. God is love and love is God. Radha herself is krsna and krsna Himself is Radha. The stage of oneness is supremely highest. It is belived that when Gauranga Mahaprabhu
Came out to see people, they got merged into love.

I n Grantha Sahiba it is clearly said, “Meri bhaandi bhagat chhadai “ It means once I fixed any one’s fate,only My devotee can change his fortune even not Me.
This is the immense power of devotee where God turns His Head down.

Kamal wadhwani

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2011-06-24T21:31:00.000-07:00

Dear HT inner voice Readers there is a good news, Now you can read all article on your nokia mobile, Install Nokia HT inner voice app on your mobile and enjoy all articles directly on your mobile. The application is totally free. So install today to enjoy reading

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Best Teachers

2011-06-24T02:24:00.000-07:00

BY MEHAK BURZA

You were either honest or you weren't. This was the core principle, which my grandparents taught me. They believed there was no in between. They had a simple motto hanging on their living-room wall: - "life is like a field of newly fallen snow; where I choose to walk, every step will show." They didn't have to talk about it — they demonstrated the motto by the way they lived.

Sitting on their knee watching the sunset, they introduced the word Integrity to me. Integrity? I used to question, my eyebrows raised. They understood instinctively that integrity means having a personal standard of morality and ethics that does not sell out and that is not relative to the situation at hand. Integrity is an inner standard for judging your behaviour.

Unfortunately, integrity is in short supply today-and getting scarce. But it is the bottom line in every area of society. And it is something we must demand of ourselves.

A good test for this value is to look at what they said:-

Stand firmly for your convictions in the face of personal pressure.

Always give others credit that is rightfully theirs.

Be honest and open about who you really are.

Integrity means you do what you do because it's right and not just fashionable or politically correct. A life of principle, of not succumbing to the seductive sirens of an easy morality, will always win the day. It will take you forward into the future without having to cheek your tracks in a rear view mirror.

My grand parents taught me that.

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Bliss of giving

2011-06-22T06:44:00.000-07:00

The great Indian businessman, Sri Ratan Tata, has made a $ 50 million donation to Harward Business School , one of the largest individual endowments the U.S. school has ever received .

Mr. Anand Mahindra donated $10 million for a Humanity Achievements Center at Harward .

Giving alms has always been acknowledged, in all cultures, as one of the great services rendered to God. Renunciation of all possession, it has been said, is ahimsa and unrestrained appropriation of all possessions is himsa.

Some wise man has said - “in this world it is not what we take but what we give that makes us rich.”

In Chicago in 1893, January, Rutherford, one of the richest men in history, went to see Swami Vivekananda. Swami ji was resting. Rutherford produced from his pocket a cheque of big amount in favour of swami ji and offered it to swami ji but swami ji did not look at it: next day, he gave him a cheque with double the amount of the previous one. Swami ji didn’t look at it. The third day, Rutherford asked Swami ji - “How much money do you want Swami ji? Please tell me. And give me audience to discuss with your good self a problem I have.”

Swami ji asked him what was his problem. He said that he didn’t have peace of mind though he was perhaps the most affluent person in the world. Swami ji told him, “Donate ,donate as much as you can and you will get the peace of mind.”

As has been said – “How is rainfall possible without clouds? How can corn grow without sowing seeds? Likewise , how can the living beings attain bliss without renunciation? Every living creature is aspirant for happiness and happiness is the outcome of renunciation.”

Renunciation lends divinity to men. Lord Bahubali followed the path of renunciation and attained divine-hood - he conquered the kingdom of the great sovereign Bharat, after whom this country is named, and returned it to him conquering it without waiting for the eyes to wink.

Bahubali was the noble soul who laid the foundation of Indian culture by renouncing the kingdom he had won. His statue adorns the Sravanbelgola hill in Karnataka and millions go there to pay their homage to the the immortal heritage of a great Indian renunciate.

Kamal Wadhwani

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Does God Exist ?

2011-06-22T06:39:00.001-07:00

This article is my own perspective of things and I don’t wish to hurt sentiments of anybody. Many a times I have thought about this topic but I have never reached a conclusion . I belong to a Tamil family and since I was born I always trusted the existence of God . While you are at home your beliefs never change because you live in a secure environment.But as you grow up and when life starts hurting you more often you look forward to your God.That is the time you realize his absence and start challenging his presence . The harder you try to embrace him, the farther he seems to go away. If God really exists why does he seem to sit back and watch when the tsunami is wiping off a country of people he created ? Why does he not help the unfortunate people of this world every other day ? The only reason why some of my friends believed or had a slight inclination towards god was that they thought he was responsible for human existence as science had not proved how life came on earth .

Now let me take you to a different world where we assume that God exists and we are aware of it. He takes care of everybody there and keeps people happy and also keeps a check that there is no injustice in the system.Every move of yours is controlled by him . Now would you like to live in such a world ? Will you realize the emotion of happiness if you don’t know what sadness is ? You will only be a puppet in the hands of God. Its not that he is not there in our world but its just that post creation he wants us to live they way we want to live. He wants us to adapt and build our own environment . He wants you to live every possible emotion and make life a LIFE. Praying or not praying to him is a personal choice . He is not going to hurt people who don’t pray . To people who pray , he may not help directly but gradually make their conscience become clear. As children we are made to believe he’s there and we are taught to fear him when we do a wrong thing. So he inadvertently becomes responsible to build our conscience . We live with that . Now if you look back, just that acceptance of God made you a good person and shaped your personality. You did not give anything to god but in the pursuit of following his path you improved upon yourself . I personally believe in God and feel he’s there. I am against superstitious beliefs surrounding God but have faith in him. The reason behind this is some of the miracles I have seen in life which I cannot see as mere coincidence. Concluding this article is difficult but what I feel is having faith in God only helps humanity in general and not having a faith does not make it worse. So it is completely a personal choice. Let me know your views and as usual criticism is most welcome

Ganesh Shanker

Is the Earth Crying?

2011-06-22T06:37:00.000-07:00

Yes, the Earth is crying. She is badly wounded. Her soul is fragmented. Her two sons – Dharma, righteouness, and Gyana, knowledge, are also injured and are prostrate on the mother earth. Earth is crying and beseeching Rama - “ Where are you? You were the example of adherence to truth, adherence to righteous conduct. O, Rama, you were the ideal man, ideal husband and a very truthful and brave king. At present, every where there is untruth, arrogance of money and of power and loss of values. True knowledge has been lost in the pursuit of selfish motives and greed. Power has corrupted therulers who care not for the suffering masses. Come and save this world”.

Rama replied, “ O Maa, I cannot. To-day the whole world appears to me as a ball of fire. Raga, Dvesha, lobha, jealousy, passion and greed are every where. How can I find a brother like Laxmana now? Yes, at every step I come face to face with Ravanas and in this world and there are infinite number of Ravanas and finally you will see that Rama will be killed by Ravanas.Or, I will be anotherJesus on the Cross.

After that Earth calls Lord Krishna, “ O Krishna, where are you ? Druapadi is calling you. Desprataly she needs you.Women today are the most vulnerable, are being subjected to all kinds of violence. Come, take birth again and protect them.”

Lord Krishna replied, “ O Maa, if I come to this world, I will be killed by thousand and thousands Shishupals, Duryodhanas and Dushanas. I myself will be cornered in the cakarvayuha of evil.”

“O Lord Buddha, please listen to me,” Earth next says - “Sectarianism, bigotry, fanaticism and violence afflict humanity;abuse and disrespect have become the public discourse. Age, knowledge and good conduct are no longer respected. Buddha, you are the messenger of peace, compassion, empathy and sympathy. Hold this world with compassion and lead human beings to the path of love and peace again.

Lord Buddha smiles with deep sarrow and refuses to come to this earth where he has been rudely abandoned.
At last Earth prays to Paramatma, God, to send any one of them to save this world otherwise this world will have to be destroyed by His own wrath.
God listens, waits and watches. The hour it seems has not yet come – but is near.
KAMAL WADHWANI
20-B PKT-B PH-2 ASHOK VIHAR
DELHI-52

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Prayers are answered

2011-06-16T21:25:00.000-07:00

Rose Tirkey

We pray daily, sometimes quietly and other times aloud. We pray for our near and dear ones’ health, direction and salvation in their times of distress and pain. But it’s not always that things happen the way we want them to happen. Despite our prayer, tragedies happen with all of us. What does this

mean? Didn’t God hear our prayer or didn’t He understand how much it hurt us? Does it mean that we stop praying and give up on God?
No. Prayer will be more vital now than it was earlier. God’s desire to hear from us is still alive. Faith is not demanding of what we want; but is trusting God’s goodness in spite of life’s tragedies. We grieve, we pray and we keep on praying. We should understand that God has His own ways and plans, which is much more supreme. When He takes away something from us, He wants us to have something better.

We need not question God’s ways to answer every call or prayer because we know that He will somehow, somewhere will not break our trust and someday will surely hear our request. It is for us to listen to Him and see the signs of His blessings on us. If we keep our eyes on our Lord, He will never take His eyes off us.

“He sees the Good Shepherd, bringing him to still waters.” It clearly pictures a quiet place, a retreat from the pressure of life, where we can rest in the presence of the Shepherd of our heart and be strengthened for what lies ahead. We beg and plead. God may never give us exactly what we ask for. But He may have something better in mind.

Keep on praying because He will surely answer one day. He will help us wait patiently and to trust Him for His good perfect answer. We know that in the pain and struggle of living without answer, we may find comfort in our Heavenly Father. Something beyond the tears, pain and loss; there is hope where there is praying.

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Smile is the way

2011-06-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

Vineet Mani

Harsh words were falling on his ears from all sides. His classmates adopted all the techniques to ridicule him. They were throwing paper balls, chalk pieces on him but he did not respond. In fact, he could not. The small, thin boy was a new entrant and had nothing special about his appearance. His

ordinary clothes, tattered bag and unpolished pair of shoes narrated his family's financial state of affairs.
His strong and affluent classmates got an opportunity to make fun of him. It was a daily affair.

The boy wanted to run away but could not as his peasant farmer was under huge debts and he was his only hope.

But one day the classmates crossed all the boundaries. The boy felt like shouting loudly and chase them away. His eyes got filled with tears. An outburst seemed imminent. But the boy gathered his emotions, closed his eyes and remembered Him.

What to do in such a situation? he mumbled. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and looked everywhere. And he started smiling, looking at each and every fellow.

The perturbed classmates wanted to see him weeping and pleading. On the contrary, the boy was smiling. They tried to tease him through various ways and means but all in vain.

After a few days, they all lost interest in ridiculing the boy. They wanted to hear him cry for their entertainment but nothing happened.

Some classmates approached him and enquired for such a reaction.

He smiled and said, "The other day when I closed my eyes and asked the Almighty how to handle such an adverse situation, He smiled at me and told me to just smile and everything will be fine, and that retaliation was the easiest thing to do. When I first smiled at you, I realised that I am feeling elated not only on my tolerance level but on your pitiful condition. You were simply wasting your energy and precious time in such a non-constructive activity."

The classmates were baffled and could not utter a word.

The boy went off smiling as usual.

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Faith the saver

2011-06-08T21:20:00.000-07:00

Rajesh Krishan

After having two sons(me being younger),my parents were delighted to have a daughter. But, my sister was born with some medical issues which required special treatment. The doctor was a friend of my parents and used to call my sister ‘gulab ka phool'. He told my parents that she needs to be operate

d and confessed that he was afraid that the operation could prove a failure. ‘Kahin gulab ka phool murjha na jaye’, that was what he said emphasising that she may or may not make it, and, therefore, her life would be in God’s hand.
That was when my parents opted not to subject her to medical treatment and have faith in God. They travelled all the way down to Puttaparthi to seek blessings of Satya Sai Baba in whom my parents had complete faith.

My mother, who had my sister in her lap, was among thousands of devotees sitting in rows across from one another waiting patiently for Sai to appear. My mother tells me how she was praying silently with her eyes shut when Sai appeared before her.

For few moments, my mother was speechless. She simply couldn’t believe that out of thousands of people, Sai came straight to her. My mother laid my sister at Sai’s feet to which He commented, “Keep her with you, in your lap”. He then placed his hand on my sister’s head and walked away.

That event had two effects on my parents. As humans, my parent’s faith in life and God was strengthened. As parents, they’re now sure that their beloved gulab ka phool won’t wither.

My sister is now well over 30 and she is doing well. I think this story could inspire a lot of people to have such hope, hope that there is more to our lives than what we see happening in the physical world. Only that one has to have complete faith.

Let me conclude with these lovely Kutless lyrics: I’ve seen miracles just happen/Silent prayers get answered/ Broken hearts become brand new/That’s what faith can do.

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Theory of Karma

2011-06-08T21:18:00.000-07:00

AK Bhargava

There are many theories around the theory of Karma. A lot of us believe that our present actions are the outcome of our past actions. That means we have no control over them for any improvement. But Karma determines only our experiences and not our actions. Our personal happiness and sorrow is the

result of our past actions but what we are doing at present is not the result of past actions. There is a tendency sometimes to blame Karma for our decisions. Secondly, Karma is very empowering. We wrongly understand that we have no choice in life that is bound by our Karma. Basically, Karma gets mistaken for fate or destiny, which it is not the case.
If work is Karma, its effect is Karama-phala or fruit of work. It is difficult to deny that actions have consequences. Everything that we do has results. Secondly, it is difficult to deny that we all want our life to be happy, meaningful and fulfilling. Thirdly, it makes difficult to deny that our hope for justice for life makes it difficult to oversee that goodness is rewarded and evil punished. That is what Karma theory in the essence is. There is no need to blame anyone for our sorrow or be indebted to anyone for our happiness. We are responsible for both for our action as well as the results of our actions.

We rarely question the existence of happiness in our life. If something makes us happy, we say we deserve it. Only when there is failure, then we ask, “why me”. The general tendency is to find an external cause for the trouble and blame it. Then the control as to when I should be happy or unhappy depends on others. Then there is no freedom to be happy.

It is inevitable that some news or happening will make some of us happy and some others unhappy. Should I be overwhelmed by the joys and sorrows in life? Both can be overwhelming. If we are getting overwhelmed by joys or sorrows, then the clarity of our mind is lost.

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Play the winner

2011-06-07T21:22:00.000-07:00

VN Chhibber

“I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.” – MK Gandhi. Tolerance, a rare virtue, bounces back even when you are thrown against a tight corner. A square can’t bounce as it has angularities; a ball can as it is ligh
t and round.
Virtue of tolerance comes from sensing each thing as a riddle and being part of the solution. Also, all things move in cycles --- that which is cumbersome now is bound to change character. There is movement in tolerance, there is flexibility, for one is not afraid of change. Change is a constant phenomenon. Someone who is tolerant simplifies things to remove hurdles. Humour during tolerance comes from good nature and cheerful outlook on life.

Is it possible to have tolerance as a virtue rather than a necessity? Virtue acquired gives us godly power. We come close to Him by becoming soul-conscious.

“In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher”, says the Dalai Lama. Watch and with the passage of time let the cycle of events unfold themselves. This brings us a sense of well-being, and then solutions fall into place, into pattern. A philosophy evolves that lasts a lifetime. One has to love people as they are, and appreciate them for their talents.

When you begin looking into people’s eyes and see their rarity, and you meet them with your rarity, then tolerance comes naturally. It is an expression of your well-lubricated and hassle-free life.

When there is no tolerance, at home or at workplace, each little thing becomes a burden. It is like standing on the edge of a cliff and nagging or grumbling out of habit.

Tolerance is saying yes to the game of life and enjoying it to the hilt. This virtue stands you in good stead. In due course of time, you are ahead of others in life’s journey.

You will be deeply admired for your accomplishments in life. And to this, if you add a few other qualities, you move towards divinity.

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Spiritual sense

2011-06-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

PP Wangchuk

How does one get spiritual sense? By being good and doing good? By praying and engaging in activities that are religious and humanitarian in nature? Ajit Kumar Bishnoi’s latest book, ‘Spiritual Sense’, answers all these queries. Apart from the obvious — God, soul, dharma, liberation and happiness— t

he book also covers topics like intelligence, mind and time.
What one liked most in the book was the chapter on liberation. What happens after liberation? The author says that liberation is not one’s exit from this material world forever. One may have to return time and again just as God incarnates Himself on this planet with some mission. Or, God may send you to this earth time and again as his representative to carry out specific duties.

Apart from such cases, there are what the author calls “small souls” that suffer from the “defects of making mistakes.” They too are liable to be sent back to the earth by God just like the case of a thief sent to jail.

“Remember, Lord Krishna has described earth as a place of misery. Then, some souls, out of curiosity, may come here, as tourists travel from rich countries to other countries. Since one is liberated, there is freedom and one can opt for such travel. One may even decide to stay here, like many from rich countries choose to settle in poor countries…”

This is quite interesting for those who believe that it can be true. For those who don’t believe in such cases, it is good entertainment. And, to make my concluding observation, no sane person would say that one who does not believe in God can’t be spiritual. That is, one who believes in God may not be necessarily a greater spiritualist.

Some atheists are known to have been great humanitarians!

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Truth most overrated

2011-06-03T21:26:00.000-07:00

Rajneesh Batra

What is the most over-rated virtue of life? After much deliberation and first-hand experience, perhaps I got the answer: Truth Some of you might ridicule me, but I have strong reasons to believe this way. It is undeniable that we crave for ‘truth’ in every domain of our lives without looking at ours

elves how ‘truthful’ lives we have been pursuing.
Truth is a relative term. If something is an ‘absolute truth’ for somebody, it may be an ‘absolute lie’ for some others. Never forget that a ‘half filled glass’ is always ‘half empty’ too.

There is nothing in this world like ‘absolute truth’. One has to fix the wheels of lies to move it forward. For example, if one has to give a true opinion about a dark complexioned woman, he would say that she carries ‘sharp features’ which don’t suit fair complexioned people. Can anybody say that it is a ‘truthful’ statement? No, because the ‘truth’ was given the ‘crutches of lie’ to stand.

Let us take two recent examples. One of Manu Sharma, whom one court finds totally innocent and the other finds him guilty of the ‘rarest of the rare’ crime. That too on the same grounds and on the basis of the testimony of the same witnesses. In the second case, when Geelani is acquitted in the case of ‘attack on Parliament’, it was said that ‘truth’ prevailed. But when Mohammad Afzal was slapped with death sentence in the same case, the judicial system was called ‘biased’.

Defining ‘truth’ is thus very simple. ‘Truth’ is a ‘sugar-coated candy’ that is liked till it reaches the ‘sour’ core of it. We accept a statement as ‘truth’ until it suits us, and after that we dump it citing various and hilarious reasons.

Whosoever in this world is in the search of ‘truth’ in any form, should first assess himself whether he is capable of vetting the ‘hidden truth’ behind the ‘surfaced’ one.

Except for death, there is no “absolute truth” in this world. It is a matter of perception only. A million of truths get defeated by a single lie!

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God needs no proof

2011-06-02T21:27:00.000-07:00

A K Bhargava

If you think God does not exist, you are right. As per the Vedanta, God does not exist. It is only Brahman which is the base of life and universe. The nearest thing to God is probably the space or ether which supports the universe. When He has no form, desire, ego or any qualities of His own,

how can anyone become devoted to Him? However, He is supposed to be within us all. The whole universe is His creation. When we talk of Love for Him, we talk of Love for his creation. A lady had once approached a Swami and asked him how she should love God when she knows nothing about Him.
The Swami asked her if there is any one whom she loves. She said she loved her grandson. The Swami told her she should consider her grandson as a gift from God and bestow her love on him and God will get that love.

The grosser a man, the bigger proof he needs for His existence. Someone needs a scenario like Mount Everest to marvel about Him, but others who are more subtle and sensitive get impressed just by seeing a pomegranate so nicely packed with seeds as God’s most wonderful creation. Similarly, a Bhakta sees His image in His statue.

Not that the statue is the God. We see India in our flag but the flag does not become India. We see marriage in a marriage ring but marriage does not get nullified if the ring is lost. Similarly, we have God or Brahman. He does not cease to exist if images are not there.

Like in Sankhya Yoga or Gyan Marg, logic plays an important part but the same logic you cannot apply in Bhakti Marg. But one thing is sure: If one is really devoted to the Lord, his actions get dedicated to the Lord and he would find it difficult to harm others. It is easier for a Bhakta to become a Karam Yogi.

The best way is to choose a path which suits you and let others choose their own.

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Nurture nature

2011-06-01T21:29:00.000-07:00

We are today on a collision course with nature and the damage to environment has become the greatest bane of our times. This blue planet of ours is in peril as never before. In sheer arrogance and under false notions, we are violating the laws of nature and playing havoc with the plethora of fauna a

nd flora created munificently by the divine order. The need is to realise that the ecological crisis is a symptom of the spiritual crisis emanating from man’s total ignorance, insatiable rapacity and utter selfishness.
It requires reshaping our present attitudes and redefining our values and adopting a renewed respect for the divine laws; failing which our very existence will be at stake.

We must remember that many present-day ailments like cancer, AIDS and TB are the outcome of our disrespect for nature. Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the sacred scripture of the Sikhs avers: “Air is the spiritual as well as the temporal teacher, water is the father, and earth is the great mother of all. Day and night are the two nurses, in whose lap all the world is at play.”
Dharminder Singh Ubha

Then, isn’t it an unpardonable sin to pollute the air, our Guru and to dump effluents in our progenitor, the water? As we puncture the ozone layer, the cycle that manufactures chlorophyll in green plants is damaged or hindered and since plants are an essential part of this cycle, we simply pave the way for choking ourselves to death.

In India, trees have always been associated with wisdom, morality and life force. Their worship or veneration is common all over the land. Sri Granth Sahib is replete with references where the Guru or the Lord has been personified as a tree.

Interestingly, 48 of the Sikh Gurudwaras in India have been named after various trees. Sri Guru Granth Sahib preaches to live in harmony with nature in order to live a healthy life.

A healthy and pollution-free environment will give us a healthy society.

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No heaven, no hell

2011-05-31T21:30:00.000-07:00

PP Wangchuk

Stephen Hawking, physicist and cosmologist, recently ridiculed the idea (belief) of the existence of what we call heaven, and wrote it was a figment of imagination. It may or may not shatter the belief of most of us that we can rest in heaven peacefully after our journey on this planet comes to an en

d.
But, one thing is sure, it is just a belief, and beliefs are neither correct nor wrong.

Taking the same yardstick, one can happily claim that there can be no place called ‘hell’ as well. Because heaven and hell are like the two sides of the same coin and that one can’t exist without the other.

True, nobody can prove the existence or non-existence of heaven and hell, just as one can’t prove the existence or non-existence of God.

It’s all a matter of faith and conviction for the believers and a matter of “reasoning” for the non-believers.

And none can say with authority that one is right and the other is wrong. One must respect those who believe in the existence of ‘beings’ that may or may not be there; and the latter too must respect the first for their belief in there being nothing beyond what one can see and feel.

My point is if you believe in, say God, then God is there. And, if you don’t believe, then God is not there. That tells us that belief primarily refers to the attitude one has on something. Whenever one takes something to be there, rightly or wrongly, belief is said to have formed. Under ordinary circumstances, most of the things we believe in are quite mundane and are universally accepted as true, even if wrong.

Belief is central to the mind-body functioning. No physical organism can have beliefs without direct and close association with mind. That explains why very young children don’t have beliefs.

Most contemporary philosophers describe belief as a “propositional attitude.” That again tells us that beliefs are nothing but thoughts turned into a more acceptable form of proposition. And hence, one can say beliefs can be justified and acknowledged as knowledge.

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Good life code

2011-05-29T21:41:00.000-07:00

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Most of the time in our lives, our desires ruin us. But all desires are not bad. In the Bhagwad Geeta, Lord Krishna says, “I am those desires that uphold dharma.” Do not suppress desires, rather, awaken viveka (power to discriminate between truth and untruth) in you. To let go of desires you have

to follow a certain code of conduct. This is the manure by which the rose of love will blossom.
Ahimsa (non-violence): Be non- violent, in your action, heart, speech and thoughts. You may be non-violent in action due to fear of the law. But in the mind when you said, ‘‘I am going to kill them,’’ you have already choked them.

Satya (Truth): Follow the truth and live in the moment. The phrase ‘Be truthful’ means to express the truth your whole life —speak the truth, speak pleasant truth, and speak beneficial truth.

Saucha (Purity): If some rice is mixed with wheat, soap powder and sand, that mixture is impure. But if the same are presented separately, you would say they are all pure. Observing the observer is saucha. It is when your own mind becomes a witness of its own actions and finds a gap between its own senses, and does not mix with any outer objects.

Daya (Compassion): When people engage in some activity or behave in a certain manner, which you don’t like, it triggers anger in you. Just for a moment, have compassion for the way they are. Then a shift happens. Your self expands and laughs at the smallness of events.

Astikya (Faith): You reason for everything that you do and for all your experiences. When reasoning or logic breaks down, you tremble. Faith, reality and truth are beyond logic. If you could reason out all your life and all its experiences, then you have not lived or known life fully.

Every a bud takes its own time to bloom; don’t force it to become a flower. Wait for the time to come, for the total blossoming in you to come.

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New Year thoughts

2011-01-27T21:54:00.000-08:00

PP Wangchuk

Even though sad to think that the New Year makes one older by a year, it is nevertheless good to have feelings and expectations that the bad days are gone and one may yet see one’s hopes and aspirations coming true. I received a message wishing me a new turn in life that could be, in a way, reward
for all my hard work for decades without much in return. One hopes that happens, and yet one could be better off expecting nothing spectacular happening.

I am a fan of John Keats, and used to memorise his beautiful poetic lines during my college days. One of his poems is emphatic on not to expect anything in life until it happens. “Nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced. Even a proverb is no proverb to you till your life has illustrated it.”

So, that is that. My New Year resolutions have this point clearly drawn. Work hard, even madly, but never expect that great returns will come your way. If they come in course of time, fine; otherwise one need not bother much. The very fact that you have worked hard and sincerely will give you peace of mind and happiness. You will have sound sleep and good health too. What else does one need?

One more thing that experience teaches is that one does not make full use of all the opportunities that comes one’s way. Even if one grabs 50 pc of these opportunities, one would have been miles ahead in terms of achievements. What I see is that we lack the strength to make sound judgments, and don’t pursue our goals all the way. We are too lazy and give up too easily. Nothing is impossible, only that we make it so by our thoughts and actions not being in tandem.

Also, one must value time and must never let

it go wasted. Shakespeare reminds us how we while away out life: “… we play the fool with time and the spirits of the wise sit in the clouds and mock us.”

New year, new life

2011-01-27T21:53:00.000-08:00

Ragini Gulati

Happy New Year! But one wonders will it really be a happy new year? It is quite natural to feel certain amount of uncertainty and the fear of the unknown. The problems never change, the prospects look dim and yet, we need a new beginning, a ray of light, a fresh new feeling of hope that all is not
yet lost, that, indeed, there is a way to make it. A new year brings to us all that and much more.

The rising sun is a symbolic dividing line between one day and the next. Every day, we begin a new chapter of our lives. The whole day stretches before us, a pristine wonderland of potential, a clean slate unsullied by mistakes, failures and disappointments.

A new year is a chance to reinvent our lives and reinvigorate ourselves. It is like a blank paper given to us, waiting to be filled up. Each day holds its promise, and life's journey begins anew. No matter what we have done or what others have done to us, it is a chance to start afresh. When we cross out the past year and welcome the new year with open arms, there is the promise of a whole new future awaiting us. Truly, there is something tremendously exciting about new beginnings.

An important part of preparing for a new year is to review the past year and learn from it. The past is gone and cannot be changed but the future holds possibilities. A new year gives us a chance to break through from the habitual and constraining chains of the past and build a better future for ourselves.

The Bible has examples of God giving people second chances. That is exactly the promise God holds forth. We may have been through troubled waters in the past but God offers to us, right now, the exciting promise of a new beginning. And remember, “Each morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.” --- Buddha.

Talking to God

2011-01-27T21:52:00.000-08:00

Kusum

Constant communion with God is the gateway to peace and happiness. Though omnipresent, we can’t see Him with our naked eyes but sure we can see Him with our inner eye. As a child I used to talk and interact with God in innumerable ways. Sitting in the verandah of our cottage in Cherrapunji, midst
thick shrubs, trees and pouring rain, I used to make paper toys and write letters to Him and they used to reach Him! And, I used to get replies along with gifts too!

Of course, all this was courtesy my mother, but I was too naive to understand all that. I also used to see Him; God used to visit me in my sleep. These were probably my sub-conscious thoughts but for me all that was real. I used to narrate this to my mother to the extent of describing His looks and dress — long robe, flowing beard and smiling face. I now realise the reason for this image — I have always adored pictures of Lord Jesus Christ and Rabindranath Tagore. As I grew up, I realised the truth. My mother’s post office service was a way to inculcate in me a deep faith in Him. I felt a little deprived for sometime — no letters, no toys from Him and no ‘meetings’ either. But soon I realised that the feeling of His omnipresence, or rather His presence around me, had become inextricably woven in my very being.

What I read as a little girl in school — faith in personal God and self surrender to Him, is a gospel for me. Just surrender yourself to Him, and let Him take your charge. I am constantly in communion with Him. I talk to Him, share with Him and at times also express my disappointments, little realising that He has His own plans for us and in these disappointing moments are hidden appointments with what is in our best interests. If we all keep communion with God, there will be love and peace around.

Fearless steps

2011-01-27T21:50:00.000-08:00

PP Wangchuk

The world celebrates from tomorrow the 150th birth anniversary of one of the greatest sons India has ever produced. Swami Vivekananda lived a short life of 39 years but did a thousand years’ work of revolutionary nature. Here was a monk from Kolkata who wanted us to be fearless and acquire the
spirit of a rebel. He was relentless against the undesirable and dogmatic and ritualistic ways of life.

“I will die a thousand deaths than lead a jelly-fish existence and yield to every requirement of this foolish world.” That is the very essence of the Swami’s philosophy and he lived and proved his belief until the very end. One can say, the Swamy inspired and transformed millions and brought them out of the rut of the times.

Success in life, whatever the field, does not come if one tries within the conventional comfort. One has to think of ways to rebel and kick off the oft-trodden path to achieve one’s goal and make a difference to one’s self and thereby to society at large.

The rebel in the young Swami was so ignited that once he remarked,” Human help I spurn with my foot. He who has been with me through hills and dales, through deserts and forests, will be with me.”

The Swamy was a born optimist, and he was sure that his life was meant to show the world a meaningful life and that won’t come by being a nice, obedient and hardworking person. That could be left to the animals who would work as per their master’s calling. The Swamy’s sense of belief in himself and his capacity to overcome obstacles on the way to his destiny is reflected in these words. “Have faith that you are all born to do great things. Let not the barks of puppies frighten you --- no, not even the thunderbolts of heaven --- but stand up and work.”

Yes, as the New Year has set in, we need to stand up and act with the zeal, fearlessness and rebellion of the scale the Swamy had. Success does not come being a couch potato!

Staying alive

2011-01-27T21:49:00.000-08:00

Dinkar Shukla

"The sun never sets on one's problems". How true! I had heard this many years ago. Life is such that problems keep cropping up every now and then. I, too, had my share of problems. But the profound statement would surface in my mind and enable me to wade through the problems without getting
disheartened. Once I found myself in such dire straits that there seemed to be no way out. It happened when I had lost my job, which was my only source of livelihood and my only hope of continued education. Things worsened as time passed.

Soon a day came when I did not know as to how to arrange for the next meal. The wolf was standing at the door. Several days went by one after the other with nothing but plain water to subsist on. And I had no one around to look up to. I had huge responsibilities to fulfill and so the thought of suicide could never enter my mind.

How did I muster the courage to get over the calamitous situation? First, my faith that this phase would pass. And what fuelled my faith were two priceless books I had read. One of these was the Diary of Columbus. The great mariner and visionary records the progress of his voyage of discovery at the end of each day. It seemed to be an endless sailing through the turbulent waters of the North Pacific Ocean. For days on what Columbus recorded in the Diary was the repeat of a one-line statement: "This day we sailed on, course WSW (west south west)". No sight of land day after day. Columbus was the only one on the ship who would look forward to the next day with renewed hope while all his mates kept cajoling him to turn back.

The other book that helped boost my dipping morale was Lust for Life. It was about the life, work and struggle of the immortal Dutch painter of the 19th Century, Vincent Von Ghogh, each of whose paintings ironically fetched millions of dollars after his death.

Be happy now

2011-01-27T21:45:00.000-08:00

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

If an alien visits our planet and watches football or a cricket match, he will be shocked. One leather ball and so many people after it! The alien would say, “This world has so many things. Just give a ball to each player. Why cause such a commotion?” For an alien, this appears unintelligent and
useless. But fans of football or cricket will say, “Oh we had such a fantastic time!” Because the one purpose of everything that man has created is for happiness. And it is for the same reason that God created this beautiful creation. God is trying his best; he has created so many things for you to be happy. God wants to see you full of enthusiasm, compassion and joy.

But what do we do? We keep a long face, worry about this and that. What are you waiting for to be contented? Everybody keeps postponing his or her happiness. A child thinks she/he will be happy when they go to college, then thinks she/he will be happy when they start earning, then thinks she/he will be happy once married.

And the story goes on and that special day never comes! What’s the fun? Life is not meant for this. It is a mixture of problems and pleasure. In life, there’s 20% sadness and 80% happiness. But our mind converts the 20% into 2000%. If you can win your mind, you can win the whole world.

When the mind is outward and stuck in an event or incident, you have to retrieve it back. You think life is miserable because you are hanging onto desires of the past, not accepting the present, not moving ahead or hoping for something too much. Wisdom is to see the past as destiny, future as free will and be in the present moment. So, resolve to be happy now.There are two ways of looking at life. One: “I’ll be happy after achieving a certain objective.” The second: “I am happy come what may!” Which one do you want to live?

Attachment blues

2011-01-27T21:42:00.000-08:00

AK Bhargava

Love is one of the most used words. I love myself, I love my family, and I love ice cream. What is the difference between love and attachment? Is attachment pre-requisite for love? Or is it possible to be detached and full of love? Superficially, it is difficult to distinguish between attachment and
love. In Vedanta, we find attachment is deplored but love is acceptable. While love is a source of joy, attachment leads to pain and bondage. One of the secrets of spiritual life is to know the difference between love and attachment. But the two have got so intertwined that we have both love and attachment in our life.

What is attachment? The Sanskrit word is Raga or Moh. Detachment is Viraga or letting go. Attachment can be to a place, person or object and is seen as getting involved in the world while detachment is seen as isolating ourselves from the world. Attachment develops with sense of 'I' and this sense of ego spreads its tentacles in the form of ownership and leads to idea of mine. 'I' seldom stands by itself. 'I' always wants mine. 'I' is weaker than not 'I'. So 'I' makes itself larger by owning something like my family, my community or my country. Thus, 'I' feels itself larger and it develops into 'Mine'. To defend this 'I', we add more 'Mine' and thus give rise to Raga.

'I' vanishes in deep sleep and so does 'mine'. So mine cannot exist unless 'I' exist. This attachment to 'I' and 'mine' produces all the problems we have in life. Attachment also brings fear, fear of losing. What am I attached to, what motivates me in life? Depending on the answer we get we will be able to understand the source of joy and sorrow, freedom and bondage. Attachment leads to bondage and stress while detachment leads to freedom.

True love wants freedom and joy just like detachment. The more detached we are, the more loving we become. Rama, Christ and Buddha were detached, yet very loving.

Beauty of concepts

2011-01-27T21:41:00.000-08:00

VN Chhibber

We have created beautiful concepts. One of these is the idea of relationship. What we discover, what we create, is with a view to making life more comfortable and happy. The first relationship is with yourself. Do you have low self-esteem? Do you feel inferior? If your reply is in the affirmative,
then you stand to lose in life’s journey.

One ought to have a clear relationship with self. Do you think you are learned or skilled to earn through honest means?

You have to have enough for yourself and your kith and kin. If you think you are fit on this score, half the battle is won.

If you think in a specific way, it is unique to you. Why do you need a relationship? For happiness or for security?

If both, you have to set up a relationship with the Divine. Even hunger can form relationship. You enter into relationship with food for each particular part of your body. You may grow with relationships, with contacts, and remember that all the possibilities are voiced from within.

Like a TV set, your channel may start showing negative frames and in your wisdom you can instantly change the channel.

When you meditate, you are nourishing the human soul. And when you feel the hunger to feed the soul, then regular meditation begins, and it becomes effortless. We start by remembering the Divine, and if we do it most of the time, it comes naturally.

Life is not an illusion for us to hide in the high Himalayas. Life is beautiful and the future of life is life divine. By awakening to the hunger of our being, we see divinity around and divine hand in everything we handle.

Relationships get soured owing to ego. Do not be driven by ego, but have the upper hand. Benign humility takes you to great heights. And as a superior soul, you will be cherished as one in millions.

With change comes creativity. Welcome it

2011-01-27T21:39:00.001-08:00

AK Agarwal

Creativity and change are closely related as they depend on each other. When change take place in your life, it takes creativity to get through it. Creativity, then, causes another change in how you respond to a given situation. Both, the new change and the creativity to handle it, have certain
risks involved leading to a new direction. You may experience fear and anxiety; and at the same time, there may be joy and excitement.

At times, these changes can occur too rapidly in a short span of time. The loss of tradition in one's life and too much of newness can lead one to a nervous breakdown. There are certain limits to one’s ability to bounce back.

Humans tend to act contrary to nature’s will. And then there are personal changes like marriage, children and the loss of one’s dear ones etc. that require a great deal of creativity to carry on with life.

Women especially have to be highly creative to deal with the problems these life changes bring about. They are the ones often in charge of most of the developments occurring in a family.

In such cases, one has to not only get adjusted to the new developments but has to reevaluate one’s entire life and go for drastic changes. One has to reinvent oneself. It is here that creativity is the key to making it through this kind of trauma.

Actually, one should reinvent one’s life on a daily basis so that one does not get into a depression. Your ability to creatively deal with the situation at hand will determine your success or failure.

One way is to see whether you could do better by moving to another place. One must understand that it is change that opens up new opportunities. History tells us that those who could invent great things were those who were desperately in need of them. That is why it is said that necessity is the mother of invention.

All great inventors had turned to their individual creativity for resolution.

Prayer for goodness

2011-01-27T21:38:00.000-08:00

VN Chhibber

“Those who really seek the path to enlightenment dictate terms to their mind. Then they proceed with strong determination.”—Gautam Buddha. Mind is a bad master, but a good servant. Prayer is like breathing. Without breathing we can’t live. Prayer is communion with Him. We become
more like Him.

Prayer is not only asking Him for this or that — the relationship is valued in itself, as in other relations of love. Does not God know what we need? But God wants that our will should not bend towards negative desires, but desire the good with deep fervour. We must also acquire the capacity to will the good, so that it happens as we wish.

In unselfish prayer, the first focus is Him. His name, His kingdom, His benign will. The second focus is other people, inclusive of the self. Prayer can achieve miracles of healing and change that cannot be explained medically. In prayer, we may be alone. But group prayer is more lasting and full of zest.

Prayer has to be learnt. It is like swimming. When you are first thrown into water, you may sink. By repeated struggle, you acquire the skill of keeping your head out of water, afloat.

The first rule in prayer, as in swimming, is not to give up just because you do not succeed in a couple of attempts. Prayer is a spiritual skill to be acquired by regular practice. The second rule is to ‘let go’, to let the water support you for relaxation. Swim with the current.

Have full faith. The third rule is to keep up the practice.

The fourth rule is to develop the discipline of prayer through self-control and fasting. Fifth, use your entire body in the service of prayer. Sixth, keep balance between personal prayer and satsangh. Seventh, prayer needs to be nourished by reading scriptures and articles and meditating.

Prayer is for common good. It creates all-round goodwill and love for fellow humans. It lays a solid life foundation.

Celibacy and spirituality

2011-01-27T21:37:00.000-08:00

Sadhguru

The whole dimension of spirituality is to grow beyond the physical. If your involvement with the physical is very deep then naturally your attachment to the body is very strong. It is not sex per se which can be an impediment in one's growth but generally sexuality breeds an attachment to the body;
in that context this has been said.

But does the physical act itself stop a person from pursuing his spiritual path? Not at all, but what is being said is, unless your focus is strong and pointed, the chances of progress or the progress itself will naturally be very slow because you are thinking in many directions at the same time. For a person who wants to go all out and do things in a short time, the advice is definitely not to get entangled with these bodily aspects.

Though people would like to project their sexuality as a very conscious process, it is not so. It is a compulsive process. Maybe, it is handled a little consciously by some people while others do it compulsively but essentially the ingredient, the basic seed of sexuality is a compulsive process. It is physiological and chemical; it is the function of the hormones which is driving you like that.

So, unless you are able to transcend all compulsiveness within you, definitely it is an impediment in that sense. Any kind of activity, whether it is eating or sexuality or talking or whatever, if it is a compulsive process, if you are enslaved to it, then that is an impediment.

If you look at what is causing this compulsiveness, if you understand that and handle that aspect, then compulsiveness goes away. That's definitely moving towards freedom.

If one pursues a spiritual path, irrespective of where he is right now, gradually he may evolve out of many compulsions within himself.

Soul search

2011-01-27T21:33:00.001-08:00

Taking refuge in myself/ coming back to myself/ I am free. That was the Buddha hours before he died. Buddha, it is said, called an assembly of monks and nuns and told them about the essence of enlightenment. He told them it was one's inner-self that one had to seek and realise its importance. And
that it is the inner-self that gives one the ultimate shelter and liberation from the never-ending pangs of life.

Last Sunday, I happened to visit a monastery where a spiritual Lama tried to dispel misconceptions we lesser mortals hold. The Lama told the gathering about the importance of undertaking pilgrimages, visiting places of worship, listening to sermons, doing prayers and meditation. These are the tools for the common man to make him realise who he is and what is the ultimate purpose of life.

Meditation after listening to a religious discourse can lead one to self-discovery and the rich inner world. Meditation is a tool that helps one become humble and pushes him towards the ultimate goal of liberation.

That is why Thich Nhat Hanh stresses that meditation helps one water the seeds of joy and happiness in our garden (my word) of consciousness. "Joy and happiness are the food of a Zen monk. Before eating, we say, may all beings be nourished by the joy of meditation?"

The inner world is one's ultimate destination where joy and happiness are like the fruits in an orchard. When you are one with yourself, it is then that you can see yourself in everything around you — be that your worst enemy or the starving souls in your surroundings. It is at this point that the real you awakens and tries to make your life purposeful and useful.

It is at this stage that you become a blessed being.

Your mission is complete and the tree of life that you have nourished so well bears fruits.

PP Wangchuk