Power Punch

First of all, power is about making life for people around you better. Second, power is about feeling better about yourself, in the sense that you have done good things and people have benefited. And I would say it's certainly much more the first than the second power is all about making a difference to the people around you. N R Narayana Murthy, Chairman, Infosys I don't feel as though i am superman. Power is responsibility and hard work... the day one forgets that, all power leaves you. Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro Power is a very loaded term. It seems to suggest influence and how much influence i have or don't have is for others to judge. Power is also a very misunderstood term. Being called powerful tends to boost people's egos. I have no ego. I just do what it takes to make my businesses thrive. If people say i'm powerful, it's not going to change my character or my behaviour in any way. Vijay Mallya, Chairman, UB Group To me the thing that matters most is the ability to influence the course of change... After all it's about the power of ideas. Nandan Nilekani, CEO, Infosys

Life is an Opportunity, Make the Most of It

Discourse: Avdeshanand Giriji http://spirituality.indiatimes.com
Life is an opportunity; it is God's greatest gift. Life, full of promise, is expanding every moment, and the transitory moments flit past before we know it. Pause to think: Am i being vigilant in life? Am i endeavouring to learn how to experience true consciousness?
What we are or wish to become and the constant exercise of its acceptance or opposition is what causes the state of inner conflict. This inner conflict is verily like a great war being waged in us and the huge armies of conflicting emotions attacking and counter-attacking reduce us to a state of helplessness.
This state gives rise to confusion and despair, increasing our vulnerability and affecting adversely our ability to move towards equanimity.
Only when you cultivate the habit of reaching out to conscious knowledge and concen-tration, you will move towards greater clarity and understanding of the present state. In order to set this process in motion, you need to make a fundamental change in your daily routine.
A person is able to make his future bright and secure only to the extent that he is able to transform himself. This transformation does not take place on its own.
This fundamental change will be the result of your dedication to those purposeful ideals which you form studying the scriptures, teachings of sages, and by emulating the high example set by noble preceptors.
When you perform your duty after becoming conscious of loyalty to self, then all directions inspire you to move towards your aim. When life's aim is clear, knowledge of direction is spontaneous. When your spiritual ambitions yearn for fulfilment, reawakening takes place.
In your preparation to be perfect and great, as a seeker, you have to give up narrow-mindedness. The first step in
the journey to perfection is this: A seeker, instead of looking for perfection in others, should try to make himself perfect. This change is the basis of real progress and fundamental development. For his own progress a seeker should not wait for the progress of others. Such a wait would cost him dearly.
Introspection, just once, means a touch of that great immeasurable power of limitless energy and supreme brilliance. As soon as our inner self awakens, the seed of all these good things sprouts, and then all our mental, physical, super-sensual powers fill us with the fragrance of consciousness achieved in our own presence and then inspire us to Supreme Divinity, excellence and an exalted living style.
We have not to give up or abandon something for this achievement, nor have we to hate or ignore anybody, because everyone is the abode of the same Almighty. We are the extensions of that One only.
In this state whatever experience you gain will cover all your information and knowledge and will create in you a divine experience of supreme compassion and divine love. You will then be an instrument for common good and welfare of all.
You will become most sacred like the purity of all the holy places of pilgrimage and experience the divine peace of worship. It is our nature to be most sacred and for achieving this state all our activities should be directed towards the Supreme.

Sufi Delight

I become you ,you become me ,I become the soul, you the heart, How can they now claim ,I am apart, you are apart? Amir Khusro By day i praised you ,and never knew it. By night i stayed with you ,and never knew it. I always thought that ,I was me... but no, I was you ,and never knew it. Rumi Repeating the name ,of the Beloved ,I have become the Beloved myself. Whom shall i call the Beloved now? Bulleh Shah O Allah! If i worship You for fear of Hell, burn me in Hell, and if i worship You in hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise. But if i worship You for Your Own sake, grudge me not Your ,everlasting Beauty. Rabia al Basri 'I' and 'you' are but the lattices,/ in the niches of a lamp,/ through which the One Light shines./ 'I' and 'you' are the veil/ between heaven and earth;/ lift this veil and you will see/ no longer the bonds of sects and creeds./ When 'i' and 'you' do not exist,/ what is mosque, what is synagogue?/ What is the Temple of Fire? Shabistari

Rumi's Eternal Dance

As The Mystical SeekerPranav Khullar http://spirituality.indiatimes.com
The quest for liberation and the path leading up to it has been metaphorised and expressed richly in various cultural traditions through music, poetry and dance. Jalaluddin Rumi's mystical legacy, for instance, continues to inspire generations, transcending all ethnic boundaries, reverberating in every corner of the globe.
Rumi was a passionate musician who believed that music and dance were to be seen as spiritual disciplines in themselves, a perfect trigger to lead the soul to higher dimensions a concept and philosophy which led him to found the order of the Mevlevi, the dance of the whirling dervishes, the "Sema" or turning, the sacred ritualistic dance, which represents the journey of the seeker who turns to truth through love and abandonment of the ego.
Rumi's meeting with his preceptor Shami Tabrizi, is consi-dered the great catalytic point of Rumi's life, which converted him from an intellectual scholar to a passionate Sufi. The intense call was evocatively penned by Rumi as "the drum of realisation of the promise is beating/ we are sweeping the road to the sky/ your joy is here today, what remains for tomorrow...". But Rumi also saw inner transformation as an arduous process, almost painful, since it required the death of the ego.
Rumi talks of the Islamic concept of Oneness: "What is Tawhid? To burn oneself before the One", says Rumi in his Mathnawi. Man has to die unto himself to be one with that divine consciousness. The death of the ego stands at the heart of Rumi's thinking, and is quite physically embodied in the swirling movement of the sacred dancing he evolved as a measure to attain truth.
Dance became a rhythmic expression of dhikr or remembrance. As Rumi would put it "...whatever there is, is only He/ your footsteps there in dancing/ the whirling... see... belongs to you/ And you belong to the whirling...", a kind of remembrance that the whole universe there is whirling around Him.
Equally magically, Rumi loved the "ney", the reed flute, and saw in it a metaphor for the seeker himself: "...listen to the reed, and the tale it tells, how it complains of separation...". The wandering minstrel that he was, he saw music and dance not just as expressions of divine love, but complete 'paths' in themselves, in which the bliss of divine communion could be experienced easily. The true spirit of the Sufi is musically sketched as "...we are the flute, our music is all Thine/ we are the mountains, echoing only Thee...".
The ecstatic flight into the Divine was, for Rumi, best embodied in the path of music, "helping the seeker focus their whole being on the Divine... and in doing so the ego is destroyed and the soul resurrected". In quintessential Sufi style, he reaches out by declaring his mission as one of love, where "...love's nationality is separate from all religions. The lover's nationality and religion is the Beloved".
Shahram Shiva cites this as the enduring legacy of Rumi, "...where the world of Rumi is neither exclusively that of a Sufi, nor that of a Hindu, Jew or Christian... it is the highest state of a human being, a fully evolved human being...". It is a testimony of the universality of his mystic-musical appeal that Rumi concerts are being organised worldwide in this International Year of Rumi.

Water World

Water flows from high in the mountains ,Water runs deep in the Earth ,Miraculously, water comes to us, And sustains all life. -Thich Nhat Hanh Fierce national competition over water resources has prompted fears that water issues contain the seeds of violent conflict. -Kofi Annan, UN SG What is the earth but a lump of clay surrounded by water? -Bharatrihari Children of a culture born in a water-rich environment, we have never really learned how important water is to us. We understand it, but we do not respect it. -William Ashworth We labour long and earnestly for peace, because war threatens the survival of man. It is time we laboured with equal passion to defend our environment. A polluted stream can be as lethal as a bullet. -Senator Alan Bible Though living near a river, do not waste water; though living near mountains, do not waste firewood. When you drink the water, remember the spring. -Chinese proverb

River Mythologies Tell A Different Story

V Rajaraman http://spirituality.indiatimes.com
With most of the world's rivers under threat from pollution and global warming, it would be instructive to revisit our traditional perceptions of rivers as life-givers and sustainers.
Spiritual tradition enjoins us to remember in our daily prayers the sacred rivers Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada, Sindhu and Cauvery as a thanksgiving to Mother Nature. In ancient times people held rivers in awe and endowed them with mystical origins.
The turbulent Ganga was brought down to earth by Lord Shiva and to humble the pride of Ganga knotted her in his matted locks. The Cauvery began its flow from a 'kamandala' that sage Agastya kept by his side while meditating. Vinayaka, taking the form of a crow, tilted the vessel and the water that spilt from the vessel became the wide and sprawling river. This is one among the many Puranic versions of the origin of the Cauvery.
The Cauvery since that timeless mythical day has been flowing through the plains braving the vicissitudes of history. In the process, under the patronage of administrators from the ancient Chola dynasty to recent times, the river has engendered glorious traditions of art, music and literature. The cultural heritage which Thanjavur and Mysore have inherited could rival that of any other in the world.
The trinity of Carnatic music, Thyagaraja, Shyama Sastri and Muthuswami Dikshitar, belong to the Thanjavur-Cauvery delta. The mighty temples that dot the banks of the river, many of them masterpieces of architecture, still bear eloquent testimony to what the Cauvery did, not only in fertilising the soil but in nurturing the mind and soul of man.
The tradition continues even today though mutilated by opportunistic interpretations of modernity. The Cauvery watches it all with sagely dispassion from Coorg where she originates in the cool and dense shades of the green mountains and flows into the eastern coast where she meets the blue waters of the Bay of Bengal.
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are at loggerheads over the sharing of the waters of the Cauvery. "Politics is too much with us", as poet William Wordsworth once bemoaned. A little philosophical reflection is necessary to subdue frayed tempers and nerves. Do we belong to a river or does the river belong to us?
I wonder if there would have ever been the glorious Egyptian civilisation if the waters of the Lake Tana in Ethiopia and those of Lake Victoria, much south of Egypt, had been stopped from flowing their respective courses into the Nile Valley of Egypt. And what if China stopped the mighty Brahmaputra flow through the gorges of the Himalayas into the plains of north-eastern India?
'Never ask the origin of a sage or the source of a river' is a familiar adage in India. Rivers are known to rise as though from nowhere, change their course unpredictably or just go into subterranean oblivion like the mythical river Saraswati which continues to baffle geological speculation.
To arrogate claim over a river or its waters is to ignore its unpredictability, its vagaries, its potency for destruction as much as our failure to understand its blessings. At the substratum, a philosophical recognition or, still better, a perception of the river is necessary to understand how best to harness its waters; in short how best to use its waters for the benefit of all, for the common good.

Spotlight on Sport

Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence: in other words, it is war minus the shooting... there are quite enough real causes of trouble already, and we need not add to them by encouraging young men to kick each other on the shins amid the roars of infuriated spectators. George Orwell Unlike any other business, sports must preserve an illusion of perfect innocence. The mounting of this illusion defines the purpose and accounts for the immense wealth of sports. It is the ceremony of innocence that the fans pay to see — not the game or the match or the bout, but the ritual portrayal of a world in which time stops and all hope remains plausible, in which everybody present can recover the blameless expectations of a child, where the forces of light always triumph over the powers of darkness. Lewis H Lapham Cricket — a game which the English, not being a spiritual people, have invented in order to give themselves some conception of eternity. Lord Mancroft Many think life is a game; the English think cricket is a game. George Mikes

Transform Heat To Light With Inner Alchemy

Do not use heat as heat: use it as light. When you think anger is coming to you, close your eyes and meditate on what anger is. Dig deep inside and find out the source from where it is coming. When we get angry we begin to think about the object of anger, about who has created it, and not of the source of anger, from where it is coming. When you get angry, close your eyes. This is the right moment to meditate. Go deep, and you will come to the source of heat from where the accumulated energy is bursting forth to go out.
Observe it; do not indulge in it — because if you indulge in it, it will be thrown out without being transformed. And do not suppress it — because if you suppress it, it will be thrown back to the original source which is overflowing. It cannot absorb it. It will be thrown back again with a more forceful movement. Just be conscious. Move inward to the source. This very movement slows down the process; this very observation transforms the quality of anger, because this calm observation is an antidote.
Anger and calm observation are different phenomena. When this calm observation enters into anger, it changes the energy, the very chemical composition of it, and heat becomes light.
Then the anger is neither thrown back to the original source which cannot contain it because it is overflowing, nor is it thrown to the object in a foolish wastage. Then this energy neither moves out to the object of anger, nor is it suppressed back to the original source. This energy moves to the periphery of your body as light. When diffused, anger becomes ojas, an inner light.
So do not be disturbed and disappointed if you have much anger. That only shows you have much energy. A person born without anger cannot be transformed. He has no energy. So be happy that you have energy, but do not misuse it.
Energy in itself is neutral. This is the secret science of inner alchemy — to change heat into light, to change coal into diamond, to change baser elements into gold . Our 'chemistry'is born out of alchemy. The word 'alchemy'comes from Egypt. The old name of Egypt was 'Khem'and 'Al Khem'means 'the secret science of Egypt'. The Egyptians were deep in the alchemy of inner transformation, in how to transform the inner chemistry. Many Egyptian mum-mies are preserved. They are the oldest, most ancient mummies, and still scientists are not able to probe into how and why they were preserved.
Why they were preserved is difficult to understand, but more problematic is the 'how', by what chemical process they were preserved. They are still as fresh as if they had just died. If there had been any outer chemical process, our chemistry could know it; we are more chemically developed than old Egypt. The real thing is that these bodies were preserved not by any outer chemical process, but by inner alchemy. If your sex energy, which is the source of life, can be transformed inwardly, then your body can be preserved for any length of time very easily — even for a million years. If the cells of your body lose sex then the body can be preserved, because birth comes through sex and death comes through sex. Your freshness, the youngness of the body, comes through sex, and then deterioration comes through sex.
Excerpted from The Ultimate Alchemy. Courtesy: Osho Inter-national Foundation.

Joy of Satsang

' Bin satsang vivek na hoye Ram kripa bin sulabh na soye'— Without satsang, vivek or the power to discriminate does not come. It is difficult to obtain vivek without the grace of Rama and without participating in satsang. It is tough to live in this jungle we call life. Tulsidas, Ram Charit Manas Satsang is to be in the presence of a Master, in a loving communion. It is a very special word — it cannot be translated into any western language, because nothing like this has ever happened there; it is uniquely eastern. In fact, the relationship between a disciple and a Master is an eastern phenomenon, a contribution of the East to the world of consciousness... Between a Master and a disciple the question is not of knowledge but of being. Not that the Master knows more than the disciple — sometimes the disciple may know more. The Master is more than the disciple, not that he knows more. He has more being, he has more soul. It is not a question of his memory; it is a question of his existence; he has a totally different kind of existence — integrated, centred, rooted. Osho

You Can See i to I When You Transcend the Ego

Jahanavi Shandilya
In school, children are constantly reminded to "put the donkey last". Relegating the 'I'or the first person singular — that this page now uses in the lower case — to last place might have been nothing more than a teacher's fetish for the rules of English grammar.
However, the principle underlying the tradition of putting the 'donkey'— a euphemism for the first person singular — last could possibly arise from the realisation that the idea of an individual who identifies his body with himself is an anthropomorphic concept that reeks of self-importance and arrogance. In other words, it's the ego-expression that, though shackled by the body-mind entity, deludes itself to be master of all it surveys. Contrast the concept of the individual 'i'and its infinitesimal smallness and limitations, with that of the more expansive and inclusive 'I'that refers to unlimited awareness.
The 'I'is all-pervasive; but the 'i'is restricted to the one individual who occupies a certain space. If the 'I'is infinite consciousness — without beginning or end — it is understood to be pure.
When it's not, it's impure and that notion is represented by 'i', a mere speck or less in the vastness of infinite consciousness. Sage Vasishta took great pains to explain to Prince Rama the difference between the bada 'I'and the chhota 'i': When its own reality is seen the 'I'does not appear as the ego-sense any more, but as the one infinite reality, 'I'.
In fact, 'I'becomes entity-less. When this truth is revealed to one with a pure mind, says Vasishta, his ignorance is at once dispelled; but others cling to their own false notion like a child clinging to the notion of the existence of a ghost. Craving for heaven and even for liberation arises in one's heart only as long as the 'i'is seen as an entity. So there is only unhappiness. The notion of 'i'as 'I'can be got rid of only through self-knowledge.
Only by the constant remem-brance of the truth that the self is a pure reflection in the infinite consciousness does the notion of an anthropomorphic 'i-ness'cease to grow. The world-appearance is a juggler's trick; all subject-object relationships between it and me is foolish. When this understanding takes root, 'i-ness'is uprooted. When it is seen that it is the 'i'that gives rise to the notion of a 'world', both of them cease in peace.
However, continues Sage Vasishta, the higher form of 'I-ness', which gives rise to the feeling "I am one with the entire universe, there is nothing apart from me", is the understanding of the enlightened person. Another type of 'I-ness'is when one feels that the 'I'is extremely subtle and atomic in nature and therefore different from and independent of everything in this universe.
This, too, is conducive to liberation. It is the individual 'i-ness'that identifies the self with the body and this is to be abandoned.
By persistent culti-vation of the higher form of 'I-ness', the lower form is eradicated. Until then, all references to the individual must necessarily be represented by the lower case 'i'.
In due course even the higher form of 'I-ness'should be abandoned, Vasishta advises Rama. Then one may either engage oneself in all activity or remain in seclusion: For such a one there is no fear of downfall.

Another Beginning

Ugadi and Gudi Parva are Hindu new year celebrations that fall on the first day of the month of Chaitra according to the lunar calendar. It signals the end of the winter harvesting season and the start of the upcoming one. Thanksgiving to God is celebrated by rejoicing through dancing and singing on the occasion. Hindubooks.org Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. Buddha Another fresh new year is here.../ Another year to live!/ To banish worry, doubt, and fear,/ to love and laugh and give!/ This bright New Year is given me/ to live each day with zest.../ To daily grow and try to be/ my highest and my best! I have the opportunity/ once more to right some wrongs,/ to pray for peace, to plant a tree,/ and sing more joyful songs William A Ward Age after age, Millennium after millennium, Yugadi returns. Bringing with it new joy of the New Year and of a new life. D R Bendre Nothing is worth more than this day. Goethe

Krishna's Message Is That Of Universal Love 'Abdu'l-Baha

A man from India said to 'Abdu'l-Baha: "My aim in life is to transmit as far as in me lies the message of Krishna to the world".
'Abdu'l-Baha said: "The message of Krishna is the message of love. All God's prophets have brought the message of love. None have ever thought that war and hate are good. Every one agrees in saying that love and kindness are best". Love manifests its reality in deeds, not just in words. For love to manifest its power there must be an object, an instrument, a motive.
There are many ways of expressing the love principle; there is love for the family, for the country, for the race, there is political enthusiasm, there is also the love of commu-nity of interest in service. These are all ways and means of showing the power of love. Otherwise love would be unseen, unheard, unfelt and would remain altoge-ther unexpressed, and unmani-fested. Love is unlimited, whereas material things are limited. You cannot adequately express infinite love by limited means. Perfect love needs an unselfish instrument, absolutely free of fetters. The love of family is limited. Often members of a family disagree; they might even hate each other. Patriotic love is finite; the love of one's country causing hatred of all others, is not perfect love. Compatriots also are not free from quarrels amongst themselves. The love of race is limited; so is the love of country. Love must be free from boundaries. To love your own race may mean hatred of all others, and even people of the same race often dislike each other.
Political love is bound with hatred of one party for another, so this love is limited and uncertain.
The great unselfish love is bound by none of these imperfect, semi-selfish bonds; this is one perfect love, accessible to all and can only be achieved by power of the Divine Spirit.
No worldly power can accomplish love that is universal in nature. Animal creation is captive to matter, but to man, God has given freedom.
Animals cannot escape the law of nature, whereas man may control it, for he, containing nature, can rise above it. The power of the Divine Spirit, enlightening man's intelligence, has enabled him to discover means of bending natural laws to his will. He flies through the air, floats on the sea, and even moves under water. Man's intellect has enabled him to overcome limitations of nature, and to discover her mysteries. The Divine Spirit will give to man greater powers than these, if only he will strive after the spiritual and endeavour to attune his heart to Divine infinite love. When you love family members or compatriots, let it be with a ray of Infinite Love. Let it be in God, and for God. Wherever you find the attributes of God — love that person — whether he be of your family or of another, of your country, faith, colour, race or another.
The underlying goal of achieving universal love should motivate you to accept everyone as your own and love them unconditionally.
'Abdu'l-Baha, son of the Prophet Founder of the Baha'i faith, on the occasion of Naw Ruz, the Baha'i New Year.

Enjoy Differences For Variety Spices Life

Swami Sukhabodhananda www.prasannatrust.org. A young couple asked, "We have been married for several years but the only thing common between us is our irreconcilability. We are not able to make decisions; our indecisiveness is our common point. We don't even smile at each other. What do we do?"
My response is simple: Celebrate. Celebrate your differences. Make your differences fuel your togetherness. Just imagine how boring life would be if there were no differences.
Often people say they are upset that life is full of contradictions. Life is not so small that we can put it into compartments like good and bad, right and wrong, evil and noble.
Life is vast; so vast that it is big enough to include contradictions in its fold. The Kali symbol is a good illustration of this.
Goddess Kali is shown dancing on the chest of her husband, Shiva. She loves her husband and at the same time dances on his chest, almost killing him. Life is full of contradictions.
One has to accept them gracefully and at the same time change whatever is possible. We also have to learn to accept what cannot be changed.
While we're discussing differences, let us also accept the fact that the context of a relationship should be one of love, and not of expectation.
Love has to go through transformation and purification. Only then would we find that we are bigger than our differences, and that we are slaves to differences.
Differences add richness, variety and spice to life. One should be creative in a relationship. In a music concert, there would be different musical instruments but all of them are harmonised to create symphony.
The many tones, pitches and notes come together in a pleasing symphony. Exactly in the same way, you are different, your spouse is different. Learn to enjoy the differences
The most important aspect in a relationship is that we should stand for transformation and growth. Transformation involves de-hypnotising ourselves.
We are hypnotised into believing that love begins where differences end. Differences in fact add richness to life.
The only thing one should be alert to is that differences should not be based on the ego; but on inner growth. We can operate either from personality or from innocence.
Personality comes from ego while innocence comes from a childlike nature. That which arises out of ego makes you feel heavy whereas what arises out of childlike innocence makes you feel light.
When we are happy and pure and operate from innocence, our logic will have a different lustre; our understanding would have a different aura. It becomes divine.
On the contrary, when we are impure and unhappy, our logic becomes dull and dry. The greatest decision one has to make is the decision to be good, happy and helpful to humanity.
In every organisation it is important to take healthy decisions and create good discipline. This adds character to organisational culture.
Enjoy life's differences and make decisions that take you closer to your destination:
Life is an opportunity, cash in on it. Life is an adventure, get into it. Life is a tragedy, grow from it. Life is a struggle, make it sacred. Life is a song, sing it. Life is a promise, meet it. Life is a game, play it. Life is a duty, fulfil it. Life is a challenge, face it. Life is a dream, realise it. Life is beauty, feel it. Life is bliss, experience it.

God's Children

A parent should never make distinctions between his children. The Talmud In a family, parents are responsible for the welfare of children and offer children an embracing, unconditional love. World Scripture I think that saving a little child And bringing him to his own, Is a darned sight better business Than loafing around the throne. John Hay, 'Little Breeches' Love children especially, for like the angels they too are sinless, and they live to soften and purify our hearts, and, as it were, to guide us. Woe to him who offends a child! Feodor Dostoevsky Children are God's apostles, day by day Sent forth to preach of love, and hope, and peace. James R Lowell Cornelia kept her in talk till her children came from school, and these, said she, are my jewels. Robert Burton Just become a child, and your eyes will be able to see the point. And from that moment, growth goes on happening. Osho

The World Is What You Like To Think It Is

L R Sabharwal Socrates was sitting outside of the gates of Athens. A man came up to him and said, "I am thinking about moving into Athens. Can you please tell me what it is like to live here?"
Socrates replied, "I would be happy to tell you, but first would you please tell me what it was like in your previous home city?"
The man roared, "Oh, it was awful. The people stab you in the back and rob you blind. I am leaving only enemies". Socrates frowned and continued, "Well, you best be on your way because you will find the same thing here in Athens".
Later another man stopped to speak to Socrates and inquired, "I was considering moving here to Athens. Can you tell me what it is like to live here?"
Socrates asked the visitor: "First tell me, what was it like in your previous home city?" The man smiled and said, "Where i come from the people all work together and help each other. Kindness is everywhere and you are never treated with anything but the utmost respect". "Welcome to Athens", smiled Socrates, "You will find the same thing here".
The world is what we think it is. The outside is a reflection of our inner self. If we look at the negative side of things, then our outlook would be bleak.
And if we are an optimistic we would feel that positive things surround us everywhere. The first person had negative traits whereas the second person had everything good to say about his home city.
Most situations in our life can be seen as a relationship interaction, be it a personal relationship such as internal dialogues, or our dealings with a friend, family member, or co-worker.
All things around us are merely reflections of our self-emanations. If we learn to live our lives with this understanding, then we have no one to blame for our lives.
Usually we want to blame other people and the outside world for everything. The physical world is a projection of our beliefs and feelings which we then think is "reality".
As a man thinks, so he becomes. To take charge of our lives, we have to go within and become intensely honest with ourselves about ourselves.
Start accepting that whatever comes to us comes because we have attracted it with thoughts, beliefs and feelings. We can take charge of our lives by taking charge of our thoughts, beliefs, feelings and tendencies.
Belief is the thermostat that regulates what we accomplish. A person, who believes he is worth little, receives little.
If you believe you are unimportant, so every-thing you do has an unimportant mark. As time goes by, lack of belief in ourselves shows in the way we talk, walk, and act.
Unless we readjust our thermostat, we shrink in our own estimation. And, since others see in us what we see in ourselves, we grow smaller in the estimation of others. You are a product of your thoughts.
When you adjust your thermostat, you move forward. When you believe in yourself, good things do start happening. Your mind is a conception workshop producing numberless thoughts.
You have to explore your inner self, "Think doubt and fail; Think victory and succeed". http://spirituality.indiatimes.com

Kashmiri Quatrain

Whether my words have meaning tomorrow, Tomorrow's critics will decide; But I’ll find the gushing waters eternal If they relieved you of present pain. Translated by Trilokinath Raina
Shadows: Give up questioning your destiny and hope of eternity, if you can get hold of a few moments, enjoy them... Opening the eyes exposed my dreams to the evil eye. Many surging vernal breasts became scorched wilderness. Take a look around and you see a sizzling fair, Reckon a thought and a lone crow in the void. The days gone by i longed to create stars; I wrack my brains now to give myself a name. All beliefs are like withered greenery on the uplands, All consciousness is like an infuriated serpent. All gods are mine own shadows, All monsters like my animated self. Halls appear to be furnished with the gibberish of monkeys, Comb the forests to robe saints. What kind of steering and whither the shore, The boat is drifting unguided in the dark. O danseuse, circle round him disrobed. Abdul Rahman Rahi, Kashmiri writer-poet, winner of Jnanpith Award 2004

Disaster Management Of A Sage

Ajit Singh Hakuin Zenji, an 18th century Japanese Zen master, was known for his piety. It so happened once that an unmarried girl from his neighbourhood got big with child.
When questioned by her parents, she named the monk as the father of the unborn child. Enraged, the parents minced no words and lambasted the monk severely.
Hakuin Zenji would neither refute nor accept the allegation. "Is that so?" was all he would reiterate. When the child saw the light of the day, it was brought to Hakuin Zenji.
The monk would now find food for two, though in the wake of his soiled reputation, he would, many a time, receive more barbs than food.
By the time the year was out, the girl-mother could stand it no longer and revealed the identity of her lover, a fish market help, to her parents.
The parents apologised to the monk, repeatedly begged his forgiveness and the cu-stody of the child.
The sage handed over the child to them, mumbling a whisper: "Is that so?" Innocence is neither defensive nor offensive, neither reactive nor proactive.
When first the monk said, "Is that so?", he perhaps meant: "Is this what these people believe?" As he was aware of who he was, he was like an alien to their belief system.
He didn't depend upon their opinion to define himself. To him the charges were irrelevant offscourings that called for no response either in yes or no.
While his reputation played see-saw, he turned around and spoke to existence: "Is that so?" A man of piety owes his allegiance only to existence.
When the child was brought to him, he took yet another existential dispensation. A sage does not question anything dished out to him by existence.
Any hesitation would be tantamount to a disregard of existence. J Krishnamurti would call such an attitude "choicelessness" but a sage does not choose even "choicelessness" because that would mean losing his inner dyna-mics, his inner balance.
In Zazen Wasan, Hakuin Zenji's song in praise of zazen, he sings: "We stand beyond ego and past clever words/ Then the gate to oneness of cause-and-effect is thrown open".
What the child needed immediately was a father's love and protection and not the gossiper of idle village folks. Being in present was his metier.
And so he baby-sat the child till the day he was asked to part with it. Had he not deve-loped any bond with the child? We don't know.
We only know that he remained rooted in the fulcrum of his inner balance. For him depth of living was more meaningful than any length of living.
For length we scour the past and the future but depth happens in the hear and now. There was no knee-jerk action from him, only a lover's plaint to existence: "Is that so?", that is to say, What is this joke, now?
The sound of one hand clapping is a beautiful gift of Hakuin Zenji to Zen. This koan like any real koan cannot be solved. But it is an existential treat to be experienced.
We who bobble in the ambit of bubble chambers created and sustained by a ceaseless flow of frivolous thoughts, would do well to work on it to get a glimpse of Hakuin Zenji's envious, yet accomplishable, state.

Song of Silence

After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music. Aldous Huxley
Silence is the true friend that never betrays. Confucius In this vastness there is place for space and much more. In this eternity there is place for time and the chimes of its measure. In the depth of the deep there is space for the light to enter but not the door to escape. In the roaming mind, there is space for the quietude by tapas of fortitude. In the emerald blue silence there is space for awareful existence of the fullness of ananda. In awareness there is the melody of the music of the spheres pulsating with cosmic life — heard only in silence. In consciousness, you and i are nowhere or everywhere vibrant in the soft whisper of the fathomless silence, If only we listen. Rajan, TOI reader, Mumbai Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute. Josh Billings In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. Martin Luther King, Jr I have often regretted my speech, never my silence. Xenocrates

Food for Thought

What are you thinking right now? if...your thoughts shape your life, would you want what you were just thinking right now to become true for you? if it's a thought of worry or anger or hurt or revenge or fear, how do you think this thought will not come back to you?...
Imagine yourself in line at a...buffet in a luxurious hotel, where instead of dishes of food, there are dishes of thoughts. You get to choose any and all the thoughts you wish. These thoughts will create your future experiences.
Now, if you choose thoughts that will create problems and pain, that's rather foolish. it's like choosing food that always makes you ill. We may do this once or twice, but as soon as we learn which foods upset our bodies, we stay away from them. it's the same with thoughts. Let us stay away from thoughts that create problems and pain...
Can you imagine what a whole generation of adults would be like if they had been taught these subjects in school?... We would have happy people who feel good about themselves. We would have people who are comfortable financially and who enrich the economy by investing their money wisely... Louise L Hay

Age of Consciousness Just Round the Corner

By neelammehta@rediffmail.com. Contact: 9810065913

The writer is forming Discussion Groups for consciousness conversations.
These are exciting times. An evolutionary mutation of consciousness is just round the corner. In the history of evolution, whenever a critical mass of members of a species adapts to a new way of being, mutation happens and the species evolves. A new level of human consciousness is on the verge of emerging. It is just waiting for the critical-mass tipping point.
There must have been a period, just before we became full-fledged homo-erectus, when some of us were still using our forelegs for walking while others were using these as hands with increasing dexterity and perhaps already walking on twos. And then suddenly, a critical mass was reached and everyone started following the new model.
Thereafter, mutated offspring were born with erect walk and dexterity already programmed into their DNA. Likewise, today we find a host of individuals struggling with challenges of unconsciousness uncovering the games we play, the masks we hide behind, the multiple identities of ego we live from.
As soon as enough of us become consciousness-conscious, that critical mass will be achieved. A new chapter in the story of evolution will begin. What will the new realm look like? The world will no longer be black and white; good and bad, because at the source of all dualities is conscious and unconscious.
Once unconsciousness is dispelled, everything comes under light. That is what enlightenment actually is — not some thunder and lightening phenomenon that leaves in its wake a halo around our heads. When everything in our minds is brought under the light of our 'seeing' or consciousness, we can call ourselves enlightened.
Hidden drivers no longer run our lives, making us act against our very own will. It is these drivers that are at the source of all wrongdoings, and in the extreme case, all crime. When you act from full consciousness, then whatever action you take, is exactly as it should be.
It is said that 'the human brain works only at a tenth of its capacity' or that 'the quantum of unconscious memory is far, far greater than the conscious material in the human mind'. 'Tripping' or the use of stimulants enhances our mind capacity only marginally and the results are dramatic: creative insights, spiritual highs and even ecstasy.
Imagine a new reality where instead of marginal access the whole domain of uncons-ciousness is accessible. We paid a huge psychological price for our transition from the animal to civilised state. The process of socialisation demanded rigorous discipline, and discipline implies repression of spontaneity.
Individuals needed to fit into social moulds and the price was individuality. That individuality our singular uniqueness is what we call our spirit.
The spirit of the individual got alienated. in the larger interest of community-building we stopped heeding to it. We had left it behind in the march past to our scientific glory, where being in step was of supreme importance.
Consciousness pioneers and the science of psychology are enabling us to retrieve this lost essence of our selves. We are fast approaching the critical mass. it is in the air and it is infectious. Everyone will catch it willy-nilly because it is in the natural flow of human evolution. The countdown has begun.

Truth About Tantra, An Ancient Technology

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev The tantric ways generally seem extreme for social situations, because they do not fit into norms. Tantrics are willing to do just about anything for their growth or to have one inch of growth or movement within themselves.
So they have no right and wrong. They will simply do what is needed. Because of this, they created and earned a wrong type of reputation that they are doing all kinds of weird things all the time, but that is not what tantra really is.
There are three dimensions to tantra. One is mantra, or pure sound. The next is yantra, or corresponding form. If you feed sound into the oscilloscope, depending upon the frequency, amplitude and other aspects of the sound, it gives out a certain form.
So every sound has a form attached to it. Similarly, every form has a sound attached to it. So the sound is called mantra, the form is referred to as yantra; the technique of using these two things together is called tantra.
Tantra literally means 'technology'. Technology is designed to create what you want. Physical technologies are all about creating physical situations the way we want them, and when human minds try to create what they want, they will ask for many things.
If all your prayers were answered, your life could truly be a disaster. Tantra does not believe in creating what you want in terms of the physical existence around you, but is focused on what is generally considered as paranormal, in creating forms and identities which will function way beyond your own intelligence.
Tantra essentially focused on making an intelligence beyond one's present capabilities available. In yoga, it is known as tantra yoga; learning to use your body, mind and energies as instruments of life so that it becomes available to a much higher possibility.
If one wants to have this capability of being truly able to create as the Creator did, the most fundamental thing is to be able to keep your personality off your imagination.
Once you built this in your imagination, there is another step of infusing it with life energies so that it becomes a live process by itself.
Tantric traditions acquired mastery over these things. Generally, people do not know how to act towards something that does not concern them, or they are not involved in it.
If you can cross that limitation, you can do mira-culous things if only you can take away your individual person from your thought, emotion, activity and energy.
Tantra yoga fundamentally takes away your individuality from simple things that you do. At one point in time, they were preaching, 'You must believe in God', now they are preaching, 'You must believe in yourself'.
That was bad enough, this is horrible. 'If i don't believe in myself, how can i be confident? If i do not build my self-esteem, how can i operate in the world?'
The very air that you breathe is doing such complex functions to keep you alive. Does it have any self-esteem? If it had, it would go into your lungs and tickle you and do something else with you.
Without any inhibition or fear, we can inhale and take air inside. Is there any one person whom you can take inside with total confidence; do you know what they will do once they get inside?
The individual identification has become so strong that it has completely dislocated the human being from his original nature; he has stopped operating as life.
If he operates as life alone, his capabili-ties are immense and do not need to be limited to what is contained within his physical form; because he has access to everything

Master of the Universe

The Tao is the source of everything. Tao is the creator and master of the universe. Tao is God - the Supreme Power. Before the earth and sky existed, before the creation of the universe, the Tao existed. After the universe is annihilated and nothing remains, the Tao will continue to exist and to create and control a new universe. The Tao is limitless, invisible and formless.
It cannot be seen, heard, smelled or touched and is beyond the power of human comprehension. Tao activates everything, yet we cannot see its action. It works without effort, yet nothing is left undone. Man usually calls it "Nature". Nothing can exist without the Tao because everything depends on it. Tao is God and our soul issues from God's essence. We are God's children.
While you are alive your soul dwells within your body. As soon as the soul leaves your body you are dead. Your soul is from God, but your physical body is from your parents. You already had the Tao within you yet it did not realise it. Therefore, you have had to search for it. Master Peng, Chung de Culture & Education Foundation, KL, Malaysia

You Are Fortunate If, Your Mom Is 'Mean'

Some day when my children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates a parent, i will tell them, as my Mean Mom told me: I loved you enough... to ask where you were going, with whom, and what time you would be home.
I loved you enough to be silent and let you discover that your new best friend was a creep. I loved you enough to stand over you for two hours while you cleaned your room, a job that should have taken me just 15 minutes.
I loved you enough to let you see anger, disappointment, and tears in my eyes. Children: Parents aren't perfect, you know.
I loved you enough to let you assume the responsi-bility for your actions even when the penalties were so harsh they almost broke my heart.
But most of all, i loved you enough... to say "NO" when i knew you would hate me for it. Those were the most difficult battles of all.
I'm glad i won them, because in the end you won, too. And some day when your children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates parents, you will tell them. Was your Mom mean? I know mine was.
We had the meanest mother in the whole world! While other kids ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, eggs, and toast.
When others had a Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches. And you can guess our mother fixed us a dinner that was different from what other kids had, too.
Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times. You'd think we were convicts in a prison. She had to know who our friends were, and what we were doing with them.
She insisted that if we said we would be gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less. We were ashamed to admit it, but she had the nerve to break the Child Labour Laws by making us work.
We had to wash the dishes, make the beds, learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, empty the trash and all sorts of cruel jobs.
I think she would lie awake at night thinking of more things for us to do. She always insisted on us telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
By the time we were teenagers, she could read our minds and had eyes in the back of her head. Then, life was really tough!
Mother wouldn't let our friends just honk the horn when they drove up. They had to come up to the door so she could meet them. While everyone else could date when they were 12 or 13, we had to wait until we were 16.
Because of our mother we missed out on lots of things other kids experienced. None of us have ever been caught shoplifting, vandalising others'property or ever arrested for any crime.
It was all her fault. Now that we have left home, we are all educated, honest adults. We are doing our best to be mean parents just like Mom was. I think that is what's wrong with the world today.
It just doesn't have enough mean moms!
E-mail Forward

Living Faith

As ordained by the Lord Eternal A new way of life is evolved. All the Sikhs are asked To accept the Holy Granth as the Guru. Guru Granth should be accepted As the living Guru. Those who wish to meet God Will find Him in the word. Guru Gobind Singh
Three things are there in the vessel: Truth, contentment and intellect. The ambrosial Name of God is added to it, The Name that is everybody's sustenance. He who absorbs and enjoys it Shall be saved. One must not abandon this gift, It should ever remain dear to one's heart. The dark ocean of the world Can be crossed by clinging to His feet. Nanak, it is He who is everywhere. I can't measure Your grace; You've made me worthy of You. I am full of blemishes; I have no virtue, You have been compassionate. Compassionate You have been and kind, Thus i met the True Guru. Nanak, i live on the Name alone, It pleases my heart and soul. Epilogue in Mundawani

Story of Scheherazade Then and Now

MARGUERITE THEOPHIL
One Thousand Nights and a Night, or The Arabian Nights, brought the unforgettable woman of spirit and strength, Scheherazade, into our lives. The frame story has King Shahriar, so shocked by his wife's infidelity that he has her killed. Deeming all women unfaithful, every night he acquires a new wife who is executed at dawn. This continues until the wazir's daughter Scheherazade comes up with an ingenious plan, volunteering to become Shahriar's next wife.
Each night, Scheherazade spends many hours "beguiling the night" with a story that always breaks off before dawn at a key point, ensuring that the king keeps her around a bit longer to hear a bit more. By the time 1,001 nights are up, Scheherazade has given birth to three sons, and the king, impacted by both her faithfulness and her brilliance, makes her queen, revoking his monstrous decree.
The story shows up in the many adaptations and imaginative sequels produced even today. In Penelope Lively's The Five Thousand and One Nights, Scheherazade, around today with new stories reminiscent of Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters, bores poor Shahriar who longs for the 'old style' stories she once enchanted him with. John Barth, in his reworked stories, presents the Arabian Nights from the perspective of Dunyazade, Scheherazade's younger sister.
In Githa Hariharan's When Dreams Travel, the saga is recalled by Dunyazade; as the bereaved sultan prepares a white marble monument to his late wife, Dunyazade puzzles over the mystery of her death and the perennial jockeying of the sexes for love and power.
In a translation by Husain Haddawy from a 14th-century Syrian manuscript, we are told she is a woman who "...had read the books of literature, philosophy and medicine. She knew poetry by heart, and studied historical reports, and was acquainted with the sayings of men and the maxims of sages and kings". Intelligent, knowledgeable, wise and refined, she offers insight into a woman's life before male-centred customs and interpretations consigned women to second-class citizenship.
Fatima Mernissi, whose earlier work, The Harem Within, pointed out how differently those in the East and the West regar-ded Scheherazade, later wrote Scheherazade Goes West, a tongue-in-cheek portrayal of the western female trapped in an invisible socio-cultural harem.
Scheherazade's stories enthral as they provide a timeless example of a seemingly 'weaker' protagonist outwitting authority and conventional power in the most unexpected of ways. Marilyn Jurich's Scheherazade's Sisters reminds us of fables, myths and stories of clever, self-sufficient women with courage and initiative. She considers them female 'tricksters', naming them trick stars, through whose actions that expose hypocrisies and stupidities of society, the "system" is circumvented or foiled and usually changed for the better.
Azar Nafisi, as university professor in Tehran, saw in this wise storyteller, "who made her world as she talked about it", a woman who used her courage, erudition and wit to overcome the threat of likely death and who, in the process, transformed a kingdom and a king.
For Scheherazade the choice was between cruel injustice or awakened imagination, between unjust death or life-giving telling. Her stories saved not only her life, but also the life of her people, and the life of the embittered king too; for without her and the stories he would go on being a monster. The writer is a Mumbai-based organisational consultant, personal growth coach and workshop leader.

Women in Verse

Break the bond of custom, from the prison of tradition escape delight not in your weakness, from this imagined delicacy escapefFrom these self-conjured vows of greatness escape It too is bondage, from love's bondage escape. Not only the thorn, the flower too emasculate rise my love! You have to walk along with me. Kaifi Azmi
Life, I only beheld you in dreams... you for whom I searched. What can I even tell you of my state? I reconciled myself to the long, lonely journey of life... I did not find what i had been searching for... but on this pretext, I beheld the world... The one i had been searching for... Umrao Jaan Ada
Believe in yourself to the depth of your being nourish the talents your spirit is freeing Know in your heart When the going gets slow that your faith in yourself will continue to grow Don't forfeit ambition When others may doubt. It's your life to live you must live it throughout learn from your errors don't dwell in the past never withdraw from a world that is vast believe in yourself find the best that is you let your spirit prevail Steer a course that is true. Sent by a TOI reader

Story of Scheherazade Then and Now

MARGUERITE THEOPHIL One Thousand Nights and a Night, or The Arabian Nights, brought the unforgettable woman of spirit and strength, Scheherazade, into our lives. The frame story has King Shahriar, so shocked by his wife's infidelity that he has her killed. Deeming all women unfaithful, every night he acquires a new wife who is executed at dawn. This continues until the wazir's daughter Scheherazade comes up with an ingenious plan, volunteering to become Shahriar's next wife.
Each night, Scheherazade spends many hours "beguiling the night" with a story that always breaks off before dawn at a key point, ensuring that the king keeps her around a bit longer to hear a bit more. By the time 1,001 nights are up, Scheherazade has given birth to three sons, and the king, impacted by both her faithfulness and her brilliance, makes her queen, revoking his monstrous decree.
The story shows up in the many adaptations and imaginative sequels produced even today. In Penelope Lively's The Five Thousand and One Nights, Scheherazade, around today with new stories reminiscent of Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters, bores poor Shahriar who longs for the 'old style' stories she once enchanted him with. John Barth, in his reworked stories, presents the Arabian Nights from the perspective of Dunyazade, Scheherazade's younger sister.
In Githa Hariharan's When Dreams Travel, the saga is recalled by Dunyazade; as the bereaved sultan prepares a white marble monument to his late wife, Dunyazade puzzles over the mystery of her death and the perennial jockeying of the sexes for love and power.
In a translation by Husain Haddawy from a 14th-century Syrian manuscript, we are told she is a woman who "...had read the books of literature, philosophy and medicine. She knew poetry by heart, and studied historical reports, and was acquainted with the sayings of men and the maxims of sages and kings". Intelligent, knowledgeable, wise and refined, she offers insight into a woman's life before male-centred customs and interpretations consigned women to second-class citizenship.
Fatima Mernissi, whose earlier work, The Harem Within, pointed out how differently those in the East and the West regar-ded Scheherazade, later wrote Scheherazade Goes West, a tongue-in-cheek portrayal of the western female trapped in an invisible socio-cultural harem.
Scheherazade's stories enthral as they provide a timeless example of a seemingly 'weaker' protagonist outwitting authority and conventional power in the most unexpected of ways. Marilyn Jurich's Scheherazade's Sisters reminds us of fables, myths and stories of clever, self-sufficient women with courage and initiative. She considers them female 'tricksters', naming them trick stars, through whose actions that expose hypocrisies and stupidities of society, the "system" is circumvented or foiled and usually changed for the better.
Azar Nafisi, as university professor in Tehran, saw in this wise storyteller, "who made her world as she talked about it", a woman who used her courage, erudition and wit to overcome the threat of likely death and who, in the process, transformed a kingdom and a king.
For Scheherazade the choice was between cruel injustice or awakened imagination, between unjust death or life-giving telling. Her stories saved not only her life, but also the life of her people, and the life of the embittered king too; for without her and the stories he would go on being a monster. The writer is a Mumbai-based organisational consultant, personal growth coach and workshop leader.

Blame & Criticism

When a worldly man is miserable, he blames the people around him, the system, and the world in general. When a seeker is miserable, he blames not only the world — he also blames the Path, the Knowledge, and himself. It is better not to be a seeker so that you blame less... A certain level of maturity is needed to see things as they are and not to blame the Path, the Self, or the world. Sri Sri Ravishankar
We often add to our pain and suffering by being overly sensitive, overreacting to minor things, and sometimes taking things too personally. We tend to take small things too seriously and blow them out of proportion. The Dalai Lama
It's of no use holding others responsible for your ruin, destruction... because whatever happens to you is the result of something bad you've done someone, somewhere in the past. The person who has harmed you is only the medium through which God has managed to teach you the lesson. Anjleena Khunger, A TOI reader
People ask you for criticism, but they only want praise. W Somerset Maugham

The Spiritual Dimension Of Holy Matrimony

Avatar Meher Baba
Most people enter married life as a matter of course. Others under-take it as ritual as that is what is expected of them.
However, the success or otherwise of a marriage will hinge on the manner in which the relationship between two individuals — who have now become life partners — is handled.
Marriage could be a spiritual experience, but again, it all depends on cultivating the right attitude. From the spiritual point of view, married life will be a success only if it is thoroughly determined by the vision of Truth.
It cannot offer much if it is based upon nothing more than the limited motives of the physical or if it is ins-pired by considerations which usually prevail in business partnerships.
A fulfilling marriage transcends the here and now so that the partnership evolves into one that seeks and achieves the Ultimate.
Marriage needs to be undertaken as a spiritual enterprise which is intended to discover what life can be at its best.
When two partners undertake the spiritual adventure of exploring higher possibilities of consciousness, they cannot at the outset limit their experiment by any convenient calculations concerning the nature and amount of individual gain.
Matrimony almost always makes many demands on both partners for mutual adjustment and understanding, and creates many problems which were not originally expected.
Though this might in a sense be true of life in general, it is particularly so in a marriage where two souls get linked in many ways, with the result that they are called upon to tackle the whole complex problem of personality rather than any simple problem created by some isolated desire.
In one sense marriage could be regarded as the intensification of most human problems. As such it becomes the rallying ground for the forces of bondage as well as for the forces of freedom, the factors of ignorance as well as the factors of light.
As the quality of life in marriage of an average person is determined by mixed motives and considerations, it inevitably invites an uncompromising opposition between the higher and the lower self.
Such opposition is necessary for the wearing out of the lower self and the revealing of the Divine Self. A marriage develops so many points of contact between two souls that severance of all connection would mean the unsettlement and derangement of practically the whole tenor of life.
Since this difficulty of breaking away from one another invites and precipitates inner re-adjustments, marriage is really a disguised opportunity for souls to establish a real and lasting understanding to help cope with the most complex and delicate situations.
The spiritual value of a marriage depends on many factors. If it is based upon shallow considerations, it can deteriorate into a partnership in selfishness.
If it is inspired by lofty idealism, it can rise to a fellowship that not only requires and calls forth increasingly greater sacrifices but actually becomes a medium through which the two souls can offer their united love and service to the whole of humanity.
At the outset, in a marriage, partners are drawn to each other by physical attraction as well as love; but with conscious and deliberate cooperation they can gradually increase the element of love.
Deep love forms through a process of sublimation, by mutual sharing of joys and sorrows. Love grows deeper till possessive and jealous love of the initial period is entirely replaced by a self-giving and expansive love.

Grand Marathon

Perform action, O Arjuna, being steadfast in yoga, abandoning attachment and remaining balanced in success and failure. Evenness of mind is called yoga. Bhagavad Gita II.48
Man, in his eagerness for the desired result of actions, is intensely attached to the actions themselves. Even if it is success and even if i am happy for the moment, it is in the shadow of a terribly oppressive fear that it may not last; and the success is eclipsed by fear of loss. Happy is the man who has a balanced mind; balanced in success and failure. To him success is not success; it is duty discharged. To him failure is not failure; for even that is duty discharged. He has done what had to be done the appropriate action in the right spirit. Duty discharged is perennial success. And it belongs to God, not him. Swami Venkatesananda
In detachment lies the wisdom of uncertainty... in the wisdom of uncertainty lies the freedom from our past, from the known, which is the prison of past conditioning. And in our willingness to step into the unknown, the field of all possibilities, we surrender ourselves to the creative mind that orchestrates the dance of the universe. Deepak Chopra

Running 24x7, Out Of Breath All The Time

By JANINA GOMES
Life is a journey. It is also a race, often to nowhere. That's the danger — of dissipating precious energy — and we need to overcome this tendency.
We run 24x7, out of breath, complaining the lack of time, as we rush from one useless pursuit to another, neglecting to turn our energies within.
However, there are those who run towards a positive goal or mission, widening the distance between the runner and sources of violence that can destroy.
In metaphorical terms, we run two kinds of races: the race of the violent and the evil, where all energy and time is directed to destroy others and the other race, where energies are marshalled in pursuit of truth.
Running is part of sports and adventure. It is also a part of life. When we feel impelled to reach a goal, metaphorically speaking, we run towards it.
We hasten towards a good situation to bring it to fruition. We run when we are joyful, victorious or triumphant.
Running away from something is important when what we're fleeing is nasty, whether people or situations. For running is also a protective device, helping us avert danger — physical, psychological or social.
When faced with violence, our first instinct is to run and hide. That is why violence and the act of running are closely linked.
When violence is social, its manifestations are often ambiguous. Sometimes, the violence is overt and at other times, covert. In both cases, our basic instinct to protect ourselves is to run.
When violence is at the personal level and it is directed against us, we make a personal choice to hasten away from what would destroy us.
Our protective antennae can pick up negative vibes that are sometimes directed at us. Some people move into battle mode when this happens. Others quietly remove themselves from the situation.
When we are inspired by God, He comes to our aid; He gives wings to our feet. The Book of Isaiah says: 'Those who hope in Yahweh will put on wings like eagles.
They shall run and not grow weary". Running here is closely linked with hope — the hope that comes from living a clean life, hope that flows from authentic living, hope that comes from serving others, and hope that rests in finding the living God.
The fact that people run races and marathons, sometimes to signal personal victory, sometimes to raise funds for benevolent causes, shows how deeply the idea of a race is embedded in our lives.
When we see images of people from all walks of life running together it does inspire a build-up of collective solidarity.
So racing is not confined to Formula One car racers; it's not only about the endeavour to promote physical or technical excellence.
Running or racing can have all these aspects and more. There are those who run to achieve goals far worthier than mere personal glory —and the race is inward rather than outward.
Still others run the race thinking that the race itself is the end. Others run to accomplish the tasks and responsibilities that life has given them in a selfless and generous way.
How many of us, at the end, can say, as did St Paul: 'I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith"?

Bhaja Govindam Is A Hammer ..by.. K S Ram

Adi Shankaracharya’s Bhaja Govindam was inspired by the sight of a young Brahmin in Kashi exerting himself to learn by rote certain rules of Sanskrit grammar. This, Shankara felt, was an example of mistaken values, so vigorously pursued by so many in this world.
The poem, composed impromptu, presents the essence of Vedantic thought: the integrated practice of jnana, karma and bhakti, the three recognised paths to liberation in life. The poem is popularly known as Moha Mudgara, or A Hammer on Delusion. And this, in fact, is what the poem is.
Swami Chinmayananda says: “These 31 stanzas have a crack-whip style and effect about them. There is no softness, no delicate consideration in the approach to correct erring man”.
The Erring Man! That indeed can be a very contentious term. What error? “Even though, in (this) world, death is the end, nevertheless, (men) do not give up, sinful conduct — Yadyapi loke maranam sharanam, tadapi, na munchati, papacharanam.
An agnostic carpe diem or ‘catch the day’ practitioner might wonder: Even though! — why, precisely because death is the end of life, aren’t the sinful ways, meaning here a life of sense-indulgence, justifiable? Where then does the poem stand?
Even in today’ s context, life at the level of senses is not complete. It represents a particular (low) level of existence. At this level man continually oscillates between joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, and the entire host of the ‘pairs of opposites’. There is no end to misery here. A strong force, the force of maya, holds man bound to this level of existence.
Through yoga, however, man can master his senses. That the aim is not to suppress them, because senses are Important; rather, the aim is to master them so as to be able to steer them at will, from or towards their objects. With the senses thus controlled, mind honed, man transcends the ‘pairs of opposites’ to achieve equanimity of mind. In this state, he ceases to be unduly elated when joys come or shattered when sorrows strike. This represents a state of liberation-in-life, marking a substantial cessation of worldly miseries. However, this state again is not an end in life. The end is moksha, when the ego is completely annihilated, the small self wholly and finally merged into the Cosmic Self, Brahmn, through the grace of God.
A scholarship in grammar — or, for that matter, any such academic ‘specialisation’ — by itself has no relevance to progress towards the above end in life. Unless man strives to find this end, unless he gains equanimity of mind, his life is under-lived; futile, and there can be no end to misery.
In the light of Vedanta, the verse mentioned earlier would become: Fool, don’t stay satisfied with the deluding joys of the senses. These will only mislead you from misery to greater misery. Use well the opportunity life offers. Refine the mind and senses so you can steer them at will, from and towards their objects. Through jnana and bhakti, see into maya and achieve the state of liberation-in-life.
What’s more, as the last stanza states, moving in the above direction, one soon begins to discover, more and more clearly, a guide within, infallible, who, one recognises in due course, to be the Self, the Lord-God that one had earlier thought to be outside of oneself.

Holi Hai

Colour me now, before You leave me. Colour me with Your song. Colour me in Your secret melody. Colour me in the light of Your laughter. Colour me with the kindness of Your tears. May Your colours, colour my very soul. Rabindranath Tagore
An ecstatic lover of God enjoys Him in different ways. Sometimes he says, "O God, You are the lotus and i am the bee, or You are the Ocean of Satchidananda and i am the fish". At other times the lover of God says, "I am your dancing-girl". He dances and sings before Him. He thinks of himself as the friend of God and sometimes as His handmaiden. He looks on God sometimes as a child, as did Yashoda, and sometimes as husband or sweetheart, as did the gopis. Sri Ramakrishna
The heart of man is the seat of this Lila, which can be reproduced at all times, in the heart of every true bhakta. Nilakantha
Krishna, who can fathom the depths of thy heart? As the juggler makes the wooden puppet dance, so, too, does the man whom you inspire, dance without knowing why he is dancing or through whom. Sanatan

Creating A New World Of Enlightenment

Andrew Cohen
In the traditional notion of enlightenment, the egoless state is just consciousness or Being. There is no activity involved, no relationship.
It is easy to be egoless when there's no relationship. Anyone can experience egoless consciousness in the stillness of meditation.
The real challenge of enlightenment is egoless engage-ment in an intersubjective, creative context. That is the call of the future, a new enlightenment to bring into being.
The new enlightenment is not an individual but a collective emergence. It occurs when all individuals involved awaken simultaneously to the Authen-tic Self, which is the evolutionary impulse itself, the energy and intelligence that created the universe, experienced directly in the heart and mind.
In that awakening, there is no difference between the deepest spiritual revelation of oneness and a fully embodied, conscious engagement with others and with the life process itself.
The timeless paradox of enlightenment enters the stream of time in a collective or intersubjective context, and becomes the ground for a higher evolutionary or developmental process.
The Authentic Self or evolutionary impulse is the urge towards ever-greater complexity and higher integration. So in this state, there is living revelation that there is only One, while simultaneously there is the appearance of the many.
The many, in the knowledge of being One, are ceaselessly striving to realise greater complexity and higher integration.
If each individual is deeply committed to the Authentic Self, to such a profound degree that it has displaced the separate ego to become the primary locus of identity, something quite miraculous and dramatic starts to occur.
The nature of the Authentic Self is ecstatic urgency and unconditional commitment to creating the future. So when two or more individuals come together and awaken to the Authentic Self, a glorious future is created, at the level of consciousness, right now.
Heaven comes to earth now. Heaven is a state of being in which the ego is not necessarily transcended altogether but is overcome.
Ego is overcome when an individual's primary locus of identification shifts to the Authentic Self. Then the future at the level of consciousness does emerge in the present moment, and that's what a truly new world is.
It's not a vague utopian vision a thousand years from now; it's a new structure in consciousness that emerges at the deepest level, in the most interior dimension of the Cosmos, in real time, right now.
At first it is glimpsed as a new potential; eventually it becomes an actual structure in consciousness that emerges through the many simultaneously.
In this egoless field, everyone is relating to each other from a radically different perspective, for very different reasons. That is how a new world is born.
A new world means a new level or stage of development that we have to build together. Throughout history, there have always been extraordinary individuals who were trailblazers; but new stages of cultural development are not individuals.
They are intersubjective structures that are created in consciousness as people come together having transcended old value systems and world views and created new ones.
If the shared foundation upon which we build new structures is the transcendence of individual and collective ego, we are going to be consciously creating nothing less than an enlightened culture.

God and I

Arjuna: Of those steadfast devotees who love you and those who seek you as the eternal formless Reality, who are the more established in yoga? Krishna: Those who set their hearts on me and worship me with unfailing devotion and faith are more established in yoga. Bhagavad Gita 12:1-2
May today there be peace within. May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you... May you be content knowing you are a child of God... Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us. St Theresa's Prayer
You are there, hence am I, You are in me and hence I in you, There be none else within, without, All around i sense your presence So permanent yet so transient. The reality fixture is such a mirage, Where the spirit provides the charge; Thank you oh Divine! for showing me Thy presence is Not such a facade. Ramola Kumar

Passing The Spiritual Baton Of A Realised Guru

Discourse: Swami Kriyananda
Some gurus leave behind a legacy of spiritual writings. Others establish organisations. In both cases, the legacy is more spiritual than philosophical or material: It is of their vibrations of consciousness. Even a stone that has been blessed by a spiritual master becomes infused with his spiritual vibrations.
To hold that stone with reverence and faith is to draw blessings from it. People of spiritual sensitivity understand that true scripture contains holy vibrations, not only ideas. When i told my guru that his autobiography had affected me deeply, he replied, "That is because it contains my vibrations".
While a book's vibra-tions may uplift, they cannot guide. For wise guidance, a wise guru is needed. My guru said to me, "No scripture can take the place of a true guru. If someone misunderstands a point, the scripture will be unable to correct his perception. The guru, on the other hand, can show him the way".
The same is true of any organisation the guru founded. Paramhansa Yogananda, speaking of his headquarters, remar-ked, "I have meditated everywhere on these grounds".
Indeed, any sensitive person can feel the moment he steps onto that pro-perty that its vibrations are sacred. Yet the same teaching applies to this property as to scripture: It may inspire, but it cannot guide. It cannot even teach.
Supposing everyone in that ashram were to fall from the guru's ideals. (Such things have been known to happen.) In this case, while the vibrations would still inspire, the place itself would have no more power than a museum with sacred relics.
A master's true legacy, then, cannot be a mere physical structure, as it cannot be limited to his writings. Such endowments are primarily vehicles for his consciousness that must be kept alive by living disciples.
Some gurus leave behind a legacy of spiritual writings. Others establish organisations. In both cases, the legacy is more spiritual than philosophical or material: It is of their vibrations of consciousness. Even a stone that has been blessed by a spiritual master becomes infused with his spiritual vibrations.
To hold that stone with reverence and faith is to draw blessings from it. People of spiritual sensitivity understand that true scripture contains holy vibrations, not only ideas. When i told my guru that his autobiography had affected me deeply, he replied, "That is because it contains my vibrations".
While a book's vibra-tions may uplift, they cannot guide. For wise guidance, a wise guru is needed. My guru said to me, "No scripture can take the place of a true guru. If someone misunderstands a point, the scripture will be unable to correct his perception. The guru, on the other hand, can show him the way".
The same is true of any organisation the guru founded. Paramhansa Yogananda, speaking of his headquarters, remar-ked, "I have meditated everywhere on these grounds".
Indeed, any sensitive person can feel the moment he steps onto that pro-perty that its vibrations are sacred. Yet the same teaching applies to this property as to scripture: It may inspire, but it cannot guide. It cannot even teach.
Supposing everyone in that ashram were to fall from the guru's ideals. (Such things have been known to happen.) In this case, while the vibrations would still inspire, the place itself would have no more power than a museum with sacred relics.
A master's true legacy, then, cannot be a mere physical structure, as it cannot be limited to his writings. Such endowments are primarily vehicles for his consciousness that must be kept alive by living disciples.