hi folks!
My name is Ravi Singh and i want to narrate an anecdote that happened practically with me.
I use to believe in god and had a notion that there is a supreme power who rules us all, and that is true to an extent.
But, as we all know that "God helps those who help themselves" that is one has to do their respective karams (work assigned) and then only can one gain success in life. I belong to a joint family wherein there are certain rules and regulations for one and all.
My father is an Adhyatmik Guru that is he preaches as to how one can become one with god. That is if i had complete faith in Shivji (or any god for that matter) believed that he would come to save me in case i am in trouble then he will definitely help me. I was use to listening all such things from the childhood, but really never believed in the same.
Once while i was doing my M.B.A from Gaziabad, i wanted to go to vaishnodevi along with my friend from college. I asked my father for permission to do so, but he denied saying that the weather out there is really not very good and u can go some other time. I was very very upset at the prospect of not being able to go with my friends, becoz i came to know that the weather was absolutely perfect over there.
All my friends went to vaishnodevi, but after they came back from the trip did i come to know that they were trapped in the thunderstorm and there was snowfall as well. Suddenly the weather had changed and become very extreme and that they faced lot of difficulties while they were there.
Now, i suddenly recollected as to my father denying me to go there due to bad weather. I, now never question my father's decisions over the minutest of things.
I now see him more as an Guru rather than father and have full faith in him. Now, i realize as to why people from all over the world come to seek his advice for their various problems.
Thanks for your patience to read this article, but here i want to emphasize on the importance of faith on god or any person or any thing for that matter.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Thursday, December 13, 2007
I used to be a diver of the ocean
“Main marjiva sumund ka dubki mari ek,
Muuthi layaa prem kii jaa mein vastu anek”.
To simplify:
I used to be a diver of the ocean, who searched for pearls.
When I dived deep into the
One has to die a living death. Hope and care for living has to be
given up then something can be achieved. In the ocean of worldly
bondage a boat can move, the self can cross it and become free
only when there is no desire left. If the weight of desire increases
the boat will sink.
۞۞۞۞
The sound of the bell is considered as special. Whoever can listen
to it must concentrate on it. If the mind focuses on it, one is able
to reach the center. If the soul can latch on to ‘shabd’ then one
remembers it even when asleep. If it happens that one attains to the state of Videha, then, even on lying down to sleep, one hears
‘the sound’ and the mind focuses on it. One is if body-less:-
OM JAI GURUDEV
"Jagat bhog jo hain nishpaapaa, so sab dein turvavein aapa.
Jog bhog sang sang karwavein, dou bairin ko jod milavein
udyam, pesha, kuchh na chhudvein, rakhi jagat mein bhakti
dridaavein.
Raag beech bairaag karaavein, Parmaarath anuraag badaavein".
To simplify:
This is the ultimate word about Grihasth Satsangis that Satguru conveys: Live in this world whilst remaining detached from it break away from the vain self. Satguru helps one to do so. He enables one to free oneself of what may seem as contradiction in this. He does not make one give up either business or profession. He enables one to achieve firmness towards devotion whilst being a part of this world. Within the melee of the world, he teaches asceticism subsequently the sadhak's devotion to parmarth increases day by day
Jog bhog sang sang karwavein, dou bairin ko jod milavein
udyam, pesha, kuchh na chhudvein, rakhi jagat mein bhakti
dridaavein.
Raag beech bairaag karaavein, Parmaarath anuraag badaavein".
To simplify:
This is the ultimate word about Grihasth Satsangis that Satguru conveys: Live in this world whilst remaining detached from it break away from the vain self. Satguru helps one to do so. He enables one to free oneself of what may seem as contradiction in this. He does not make one give up either business or profession. He enables one to achieve firmness towards devotion whilst being a part of this world. Within the melee of the world, he teaches asceticism subsequently the sadhak's devotion to parmarth increases day by day
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Submission to God
" Manushyanam Sahsreshru kishchadyatati siddhayae,
Yatataamapi siddhanam kashchinam vaetti tattvatah."
This couplet from the Gita conveys that out of a thousand aspirants very few attain the stature of Siddhas. Out of these few only one or two know 'me' as the 'Kaewalya Swaroop' - as the One and only eternal principal.
Shiv conveys to Brahma in these words that though there exist various ways for one to elevate oneself to the Supreme state, they are difficult; unless one follows the Siddha Mahayog and seeks the help, blessing, of a Satguru.
"The awakening of the inner self is the first step of yog. As the sadhak of spirituality becomes averse to the world outside, he begins to resist wordly temptations and receive divine wealth whilst coming close to the soul. Then, the day dawns when, through a totally settled Samadhi he becomes the manifest soul, established in the pure happiness of the soul." But this inner awakening is possible only through the grace of Sidhha-purus or accomplished Satguru. Only through his grace can a sadhak attain the 'Kaewalya Swaroop'.
Yatataamapi siddhanam kashchinam vaetti tattvatah."
This couplet from the Gita conveys that out of a thousand aspirants very few attain the stature of Siddhas. Out of these few only one or two know 'me' as the 'Kaewalya Swaroop' - as the One and only eternal principal.
Shiv conveys to Brahma in these words that though there exist various ways for one to elevate oneself to the Supreme state, they are difficult; unless one follows the Siddha Mahayog and seeks the help, blessing, of a Satguru.
"The awakening of the inner self is the first step of yog. As the sadhak of spirituality becomes averse to the world outside, he begins to resist wordly temptations and receive divine wealth whilst coming close to the soul. Then, the day dawns when, through a totally settled Samadhi he becomes the manifest soul, established in the pure happiness of the soul." But this inner awakening is possible only through the grace of Sidhha-purus or accomplished Satguru. Only through his grace can a sadhak attain the 'Kaewalya Swaroop'.
Divya Charitamrit
" Tulsidas ji has stated-Guru bin hoi ki gyan, gyan ki hoi birag binuu,
gawahin ved puran,sukh ki lahiya hari bhagati binuu
To simplify:
No knowledge can be gained without a Guru and also no knowledge can exist without detachment from worldly pleasures, there cannot be real happiness without devotion to God. So declare, the Vedas and puranas.
gawahin ved puran,sukh ki lahiya hari bhagati binuu
To simplify:
No knowledge can be gained without a Guru and also no knowledge can exist without detachment from worldly pleasures, there cannot be real happiness without devotion to God. So declare, the Vedas and puranas.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Resolving The Paradox Between Psychology And Spirituality
It seems that there is a contradiction between the psychology of transcendence and the spiritual idea of transcendence.
Psychologists believe that through the proper application of intelligence and self-cognition one can have a full and enjoyable life, with wealth, health, and a great relationship, as well as a sense of communal belonging and contribution.
Those in spiritual groups, in particular of an eastern orientation, believe that one has to get rid of the lustful ego that craves only fleeting things and to unify with divine consciousness.
The most popular compromise to resolve this seeming paradox is that you have to build up the self and let it go. In Vedic philosophy this is expressed as becoming a householder in the first stages of life then retiring to pursue transcendence.
Yet most believe, because of cognitive dissonance, that they should choose one view or the other.
Thus, there are those who believe that they should be worldly and experience the world as it appears to be.
Then there are those who believe that they should reject the world and dedicate themselves to getting out of the misery of the cycle of birth and death.
Here is another way of understanding this paradox.
The self is a transcendent consciousness. It is not limited to a particular body or a particular lifetime. Because it is not anything in particular, the "I" is not an "it." This is why Buddhists say there is "no-self."
Similarly, the world itself is entirely illusory. I don't mean this metaphorically or even psychologically. At the subatomic level, again there is no substance. There are just probability patterns that literally flit in and out of existence! For example, an electron can appear under an observing instrument then disappear, then reappear again. There literally is no stuff! This is why the Vedantists say that the world is Maya, or illusory.
Yet to all purposes, on the macroscopic level, both an intelligent being and an intelligible world appear to exist.
On this level, personal growth and advancement is necessary, not because it means anything on a cosmic scale, but because there is literally nothing else to do with this adventure of life. You can either resist evolution and suffer all kinds of lack or you can embrace evolution and the refining of mind and enjoy fulfillment of resources and experiences.
Thus, when you look at things from the view of levels of perception, all contradictions disappear, just as the contradiction of day and night disappears when you understand that the sun and earth are in a cosmic dance.
It is possible to be engaged in the world and to actually enjoy it and at the same time to enjoy meditation and contemplation to experience the inner sky of blissful freedom. It is by no means an easy path, but after a while, they will support each other. Material success and harmonious relationships will give you the opportunity to retreat to your inner work. Similarly your inner work will contribute to your increase of abundance and maintaining a loving relationship with others.
Psychologists believe that through the proper application of intelligence and self-cognition one can have a full and enjoyable life, with wealth, health, and a great relationship, as well as a sense of communal belonging and contribution.
Those in spiritual groups, in particular of an eastern orientation, believe that one has to get rid of the lustful ego that craves only fleeting things and to unify with divine consciousness.
The most popular compromise to resolve this seeming paradox is that you have to build up the self and let it go. In Vedic philosophy this is expressed as becoming a householder in the first stages of life then retiring to pursue transcendence.
Yet most believe, because of cognitive dissonance, that they should choose one view or the other.
Thus, there are those who believe that they should be worldly and experience the world as it appears to be.
Then there are those who believe that they should reject the world and dedicate themselves to getting out of the misery of the cycle of birth and death.
Here is another way of understanding this paradox.
The self is a transcendent consciousness. It is not limited to a particular body or a particular lifetime. Because it is not anything in particular, the "I" is not an "it." This is why Buddhists say there is "no-self."
Similarly, the world itself is entirely illusory. I don't mean this metaphorically or even psychologically. At the subatomic level, again there is no substance. There are just probability patterns that literally flit in and out of existence! For example, an electron can appear under an observing instrument then disappear, then reappear again. There literally is no stuff! This is why the Vedantists say that the world is Maya, or illusory.
Yet to all purposes, on the macroscopic level, both an intelligent being and an intelligible world appear to exist.
On this level, personal growth and advancement is necessary, not because it means anything on a cosmic scale, but because there is literally nothing else to do with this adventure of life. You can either resist evolution and suffer all kinds of lack or you can embrace evolution and the refining of mind and enjoy fulfillment of resources and experiences.
Thus, when you look at things from the view of levels of perception, all contradictions disappear, just as the contradiction of day and night disappears when you understand that the sun and earth are in a cosmic dance.
It is possible to be engaged in the world and to actually enjoy it and at the same time to enjoy meditation and contemplation to experience the inner sky of blissful freedom. It is by no means an easy path, but after a while, they will support each other. Material success and harmonious relationships will give you the opportunity to retreat to your inner work. Similarly your inner work will contribute to your increase of abundance and maintaining a loving relationship with others.
The Gift
Give yourself the gift of laughter, song, and love. Touch your life with your own magnificence. You are the ocean. Life itself. You are everything that you were meant to be. Touch your own soul; become whole once more.
Everything is the way it is. Let yourself see it as it is. Free yourself from the delusions of despair.
You cannot save the world from it's nightmares, but you can save yourself; and in doing this, you will salvage the world; for it will see your clear light and hear your clear call.
What if you don't have everything you need right now? Who you are is pure gold. You are the incarnation of abundance. It is right here where you are. Each part of your body is sacred, a miracle of life. And your mind is the greatest thing ever known among all living forms in the history of creation.
When you walk, you grace the earth itself with your presence. Who are you is the gift of life itself. How many more sunrises will it take before you allow yourself to celebrate the miracle of you?
You have lots to give and lots to share.
All lack, limitation, negativity, scarcity are the delusions you entertain to hide your own glory from yourself. And as you suffer through these things, you bring them into physical actuality. Free your energy, your mind, your life from these parasites of thought.
Instead, use your power and get everything you want when you want it. How? By learning how to love, by learning how to sing, by learning how to be yourself fully and completely, without inhibition.
Release yourself from the burden of what might have been. Allow the future to be as it will. Everything you want is here right now. What can be a greater blessing than life itself. To be, just to be, is glory itself. Take this moment to contemplate your own unique expression. Take the next one to celebrate it forever.
Yes, just be. Just be whoever you are. Just be yourself. And celebrate! For the rest of your days.
Not a moment can be grasped and held; not a step can be retraced. As you dance through your dramas of life, remember only this singular truth: you are the magnificence of all life.
Everything that exists filters itself through your senses. Can you celebrate the delicious moment? Or will it pass away as you evoke the hell of your sorrows and damn the cheerful lightness of the air all around you?
Give yourself the gift, before another moment has slipped away.
What is the gift?
The gift is you, my friend; just YOU. For never ever again in all of time and space will there ever be another even remotely like you.
May you be well and happy.
Everything is the way it is. Let yourself see it as it is. Free yourself from the delusions of despair.
You cannot save the world from it's nightmares, but you can save yourself; and in doing this, you will salvage the world; for it will see your clear light and hear your clear call.
What if you don't have everything you need right now? Who you are is pure gold. You are the incarnation of abundance. It is right here where you are. Each part of your body is sacred, a miracle of life. And your mind is the greatest thing ever known among all living forms in the history of creation.
When you walk, you grace the earth itself with your presence. Who are you is the gift of life itself. How many more sunrises will it take before you allow yourself to celebrate the miracle of you?
You have lots to give and lots to share.
All lack, limitation, negativity, scarcity are the delusions you entertain to hide your own glory from yourself. And as you suffer through these things, you bring them into physical actuality. Free your energy, your mind, your life from these parasites of thought.
Instead, use your power and get everything you want when you want it. How? By learning how to love, by learning how to sing, by learning how to be yourself fully and completely, without inhibition.
Release yourself from the burden of what might have been. Allow the future to be as it will. Everything you want is here right now. What can be a greater blessing than life itself. To be, just to be, is glory itself. Take this moment to contemplate your own unique expression. Take the next one to celebrate it forever.
Yes, just be. Just be whoever you are. Just be yourself. And celebrate! For the rest of your days.
Not a moment can be grasped and held; not a step can be retraced. As you dance through your dramas of life, remember only this singular truth: you are the magnificence of all life.
Everything that exists filters itself through your senses. Can you celebrate the delicious moment? Or will it pass away as you evoke the hell of your sorrows and damn the cheerful lightness of the air all around you?
Give yourself the gift, before another moment has slipped away.
What is the gift?
The gift is you, my friend; just YOU. For never ever again in all of time and space will there ever be another even remotely like you.
May you be well and happy.
Love Is The Answer To Happiness
The thesis of this discourse is this: love is the answer to happiness.
Love, the most powerful force in creation, is also the most misunderstood.
It is misunderstood because of the context with which it arises: that of relationship. All relationships imply love, either an offering of it or a withdrawal of it. Thus, our understanding of love is conditioned by varying degrees of attachment and aversion. And because of this, there is an element of self-protection that is projected outwardly and becomes control.
Thus, our understanding of love is completely contaminated by all the associations that arise from it.
So what we have then is conditional love; love that is allowed if certain conditions are met.
In truth, none of this is really love, just as a delicious meal, sprinkled with some mud cannot be said to be appetizing any longer.
Love, real love, is acceptance. That is all it is. Simply accepting what is. From that acceptance flows giving and caring, nurturing and compassion.
When you see a beautiful flower wet with dew, you feel an out-flowing force from your heart. This emotion is love. It is a complete acceptance of the flower. You may call it beauty or appreciation, but it is really love.
A mother, seeing her child sleeping peacefully, feels love. This is a pure acceptance of the being of the other. Of course, when the child is awake, shouting, crying, and arguing, expressing it's being in a radical way, breaking some social convention of one sort or another, the mother's love is still there, but now it is mixed up with other emotions, anger, confusion, embarrassment. Thus, control is now exerted. A tension visits the relationship and the love that is implied in it is clouded over, at the heart of which are various degrees of non-acceptance.
When the love is uninterrupted, as in the still flower or the sleeping child, it is pure. It is spontaneous. When conditions are imposed, the love becomes something else, not quite definable, but definitely not as spontaneous, pure, and free.
What made Mother Teresa a lover of life? She accepted what was before her. Poverty, disease, and distressing situations. Her love then moved her to give, and the giving was to provide relief to the other.
Love that has conditions, that exerts control to bring the other into alignment with one's belief systems is not real love. There may be elements of love in it, but it is tarnished with some desire for egoic gain. The other must love back. The other must be appreciative. The other must return something to us.
Philosophers, poets, and spiritual people have long believed that love is the central force that holds the universe together. The physical union of love creates children. The emotional union of love creates families and nations. The intellectual union of love creates ideas, discoveries, and inventions. Philosophically, one can even say that the union of subatomic elements in relationship to each other or of planetary bodies in relationship to each other is part of that harmonious, blending, accepting energy that we call love.
Love does not necessarily mean approval. One cannot truly love something despicable. But love does mean acceptance. And once there is acceptance, there is understanding and insight, and if change is necessary for well-being, it is done with wisdom, not reactive emotion.
If human beings were committed to studying love and applying it, the entire planet would change rapidly, and instead of our continued creation of chaos, harmony and cooperation would occur. All sorts of wonderful prospering circumstances for the well-being of all life would emerge.
But as a species, we associate contention with intelligence and survival, and as long as we prefer exclusion to inclusion, we will continue to wreck our own lives and the world in general with our confused thoughts, feelings, and behavior.
When we begin an inquiry into love, then the journey to right living can be said to begin. What is right living? That which provides well-being for self and other. When well-being is high, there is a feeling of safety and acceptance, which creates happiness, a sense that all is well, good, and true and that we need not guard against sorrow.
The summum bonum of all life is happiness. It is the ultimate motive, the end of all striving. Yet this happiness does not come uninvited. It feels invited when love is present.
Love, the most powerful force in creation, is also the most misunderstood.
It is misunderstood because of the context with which it arises: that of relationship. All relationships imply love, either an offering of it or a withdrawal of it. Thus, our understanding of love is conditioned by varying degrees of attachment and aversion. And because of this, there is an element of self-protection that is projected outwardly and becomes control.
Thus, our understanding of love is completely contaminated by all the associations that arise from it.
So what we have then is conditional love; love that is allowed if certain conditions are met.
In truth, none of this is really love, just as a delicious meal, sprinkled with some mud cannot be said to be appetizing any longer.
Love, real love, is acceptance. That is all it is. Simply accepting what is. From that acceptance flows giving and caring, nurturing and compassion.
When you see a beautiful flower wet with dew, you feel an out-flowing force from your heart. This emotion is love. It is a complete acceptance of the flower. You may call it beauty or appreciation, but it is really love.
A mother, seeing her child sleeping peacefully, feels love. This is a pure acceptance of the being of the other. Of course, when the child is awake, shouting, crying, and arguing, expressing it's being in a radical way, breaking some social convention of one sort or another, the mother's love is still there, but now it is mixed up with other emotions, anger, confusion, embarrassment. Thus, control is now exerted. A tension visits the relationship and the love that is implied in it is clouded over, at the heart of which are various degrees of non-acceptance.
When the love is uninterrupted, as in the still flower or the sleeping child, it is pure. It is spontaneous. When conditions are imposed, the love becomes something else, not quite definable, but definitely not as spontaneous, pure, and free.
What made Mother Teresa a lover of life? She accepted what was before her. Poverty, disease, and distressing situations. Her love then moved her to give, and the giving was to provide relief to the other.
Love that has conditions, that exerts control to bring the other into alignment with one's belief systems is not real love. There may be elements of love in it, but it is tarnished with some desire for egoic gain. The other must love back. The other must be appreciative. The other must return something to us.
Philosophers, poets, and spiritual people have long believed that love is the central force that holds the universe together. The physical union of love creates children. The emotional union of love creates families and nations. The intellectual union of love creates ideas, discoveries, and inventions. Philosophically, one can even say that the union of subatomic elements in relationship to each other or of planetary bodies in relationship to each other is part of that harmonious, blending, accepting energy that we call love.
Love does not necessarily mean approval. One cannot truly love something despicable. But love does mean acceptance. And once there is acceptance, there is understanding and insight, and if change is necessary for well-being, it is done with wisdom, not reactive emotion.
If human beings were committed to studying love and applying it, the entire planet would change rapidly, and instead of our continued creation of chaos, harmony and cooperation would occur. All sorts of wonderful prospering circumstances for the well-being of all life would emerge.
But as a species, we associate contention with intelligence and survival, and as long as we prefer exclusion to inclusion, we will continue to wreck our own lives and the world in general with our confused thoughts, feelings, and behavior.
When we begin an inquiry into love, then the journey to right living can be said to begin. What is right living? That which provides well-being for self and other. When well-being is high, there is a feeling of safety and acceptance, which creates happiness, a sense that all is well, good, and true and that we need not guard against sorrow.
The summum bonum of all life is happiness. It is the ultimate motive, the end of all striving. Yet this happiness does not come uninvited. It feels invited when love is present.
For Your Eyes Only
Imagine what would happen if you made a decision not to be unhappy anymore.
Yes, that's right. Give it up. Quit being unhappy. Sure there are plenty of reasons to be unhappy--the unpaid bills, the ache in your shoulders, and your difficult parents, spouse, children, friends, and so on.
In fact, if you really focus on it, the earth has always been a miserable place and if you read the newspapers it appears to be falling apart at the seams even faster than ever before.
There are plenty of reasons to be unhappy. The sensory evidence just keeps piling up.
On the other hand, there is only one reason to be happy. You're alive!
Do you understand what a miracle and wonder that happens to be? No one on this entire planet, ever, has been you. Only you are you. You have a total exclusive on this total immersion movie called life.
Expand this idea a little. The entire universe exists for you only. It only exists through your eyes. If you were to completely blink out of existence, it really would not matter much whether the universe still existed or not because there would be no you to appreciate it.
This means that the only reason the sun shines is so that it can settle on your skin, that rain falls only to make the earth green and beautiful for you, and that mountains and rivers and oceans exist in case you might see them.
True, for everyone else, it exists only for them, too. But what of it? It does not detract from your own exclusive experience.
Only you breathe for you, see for you, hear for you, talk for you. Just think for a moment of the sensory pleasure of being alive. All of this grandeur--just for YOU! Focus on your breath for a moment, and notice how delicious is that experience. You did nothing to deserve that breath or the air around you, yet here it is, offering itself freely to you.
Unhappiness is such a waste of life. It seems to me now that unhappiness is just a bad habit, an expression of ingratitude.
Every day life is blessing you with awareness and all everyone appears to do is grumble, grumble, grumble. Things will never be perfect. Life is short. If you don't enjoy it now, chances are it won't get any better tomorrow. Besides, it's not going to last long anyway.
Life is about love, laughter, and happiness. That's all. Not a complicated concept.
If people lack things, it is because their bad attitude brings them scarcity.
Imagine, for a moment, if instead of crumbling under every adversity, and drowning in uncertainty, you were to remain mindful. Imagine if you had a taste for the adventure that is your life. Imagine if you stopped taking everything so very seriously.
In the cosmic scheme of things, decades pass in the blink of an eye. Before you know it, the show will be over. All your suffering will cease. But before that happens, you still have a chance to grab some happiness.
Who knows, your happiness might even be contagious, and instead of spreading your irritation at the imperfection of all created things, you can just as easily start blessing others with the sunshine of your presence.
If you focus on unhappy events, either in your past or in the world at large, you will only dig yourself deeper into misery. Yet, with just a little effort, you can notice the bird that hops on a branch and think that this little scene was enacted just for you.
Nobody is going to start taking pleasure in life for you. It really is up to you to start connecting with the joy of your own existence and to the magical promise of your own gifts of love, laughter, and song.
It means much to be happy. Even for a day. And it is only today, every day.
Yes, that's right. Give it up. Quit being unhappy. Sure there are plenty of reasons to be unhappy--the unpaid bills, the ache in your shoulders, and your difficult parents, spouse, children, friends, and so on.
In fact, if you really focus on it, the earth has always been a miserable place and if you read the newspapers it appears to be falling apart at the seams even faster than ever before.
There are plenty of reasons to be unhappy. The sensory evidence just keeps piling up.
On the other hand, there is only one reason to be happy. You're alive!
Do you understand what a miracle and wonder that happens to be? No one on this entire planet, ever, has been you. Only you are you. You have a total exclusive on this total immersion movie called life.
Expand this idea a little. The entire universe exists for you only. It only exists through your eyes. If you were to completely blink out of existence, it really would not matter much whether the universe still existed or not because there would be no you to appreciate it.
This means that the only reason the sun shines is so that it can settle on your skin, that rain falls only to make the earth green and beautiful for you, and that mountains and rivers and oceans exist in case you might see them.
True, for everyone else, it exists only for them, too. But what of it? It does not detract from your own exclusive experience.
Only you breathe for you, see for you, hear for you, talk for you. Just think for a moment of the sensory pleasure of being alive. All of this grandeur--just for YOU! Focus on your breath for a moment, and notice how delicious is that experience. You did nothing to deserve that breath or the air around you, yet here it is, offering itself freely to you.
Unhappiness is such a waste of life. It seems to me now that unhappiness is just a bad habit, an expression of ingratitude.
Every day life is blessing you with awareness and all everyone appears to do is grumble, grumble, grumble. Things will never be perfect. Life is short. If you don't enjoy it now, chances are it won't get any better tomorrow. Besides, it's not going to last long anyway.
Life is about love, laughter, and happiness. That's all. Not a complicated concept.
If people lack things, it is because their bad attitude brings them scarcity.
Imagine, for a moment, if instead of crumbling under every adversity, and drowning in uncertainty, you were to remain mindful. Imagine if you had a taste for the adventure that is your life. Imagine if you stopped taking everything so very seriously.
In the cosmic scheme of things, decades pass in the blink of an eye. Before you know it, the show will be over. All your suffering will cease. But before that happens, you still have a chance to grab some happiness.
Who knows, your happiness might even be contagious, and instead of spreading your irritation at the imperfection of all created things, you can just as easily start blessing others with the sunshine of your presence.
If you focus on unhappy events, either in your past or in the world at large, you will only dig yourself deeper into misery. Yet, with just a little effort, you can notice the bird that hops on a branch and think that this little scene was enacted just for you.
Nobody is going to start taking pleasure in life for you. It really is up to you to start connecting with the joy of your own existence and to the magical promise of your own gifts of love, laughter, and song.
It means much to be happy. Even for a day. And it is only today, every day.
Why You Are The Light Of The World
You are awesome. You are the light of the world. And in this brief essay, I will prove it to you.
Your body is a superb machine whose functional details keep scientists in a state of awe and wonder. They estimate that your body has enough power to run a whole city for a week.
Your mind is a computer that has billions of interconnected neurons. You may have enough raw brain power to run a galaxy.
Yet there is something even more amazing about you. You are self-aware, the creator of yourself, and your own creation. You are more than a person, much more. You are a consciousness whose only limit is your own self-belief and imagination.
And, whether you admit it or not, you are here on this planet to do something great with all this raw power and potentiality. You are a creator and you are in a place where creation is necessary. In fact, your internal guidance system, your emotions, will tell you whether you are on track or off track. If you are happy, you are doing something creative and feel fulfilled. If you are unhappy, you are conforming to a reality that does not bring out the best in you.
On the surface of things, it may seem that you have little free-will and are limited in both creativity and imagination. It may also seem that you are pressed in and coerced to do things by stronger forces. And it may also seem that you are different from others, living in a separate objective world of your own.
Yet the study of quantum mechanics shows that at a fundamental level everything is only energy and that this idea of separation is really some kind of hallucination we all share in common because our senses are not subtle enough to observe the fluid interconnection between all things.
Furthermore, a radical subjectivity informs your entire experience of life. That is, you can never not be yourself, and even when you name something as objective, it is a statement that arises from your own subjectivity.
Finally, you are nothing but your own expression of choices, which you bring into existence through creativity and imagination.
This life that you live is the clay that you shape. You are the geometer, organizer, and designer of your life.
As Dr. Joe Vitale said in the movie, The Secret, "You are the Michelangelo of your own life. The David you are sculpting is YOU."
What you think and feel on a moment by moment basis influences all of life because everything about you has some kind of influence.
This is a big concept.
Here is how to understand it.
Think of a row of dominoes leaning up against other dominoes, when there is a change in movement in one, it affects all the other dominoes.
Here is another way to understand it.
Scientists estimate that the flapping of the wings of a butterfly can affect the air currents in a way that gradually magnifies over a distance until it causes weather changes
Of course, all this is very, very subtle. You will never know whether your bad mood affects an international crisis in a war-prone area or whether your good mood creates an act of kindness in a city far away from you.
It has been said that the vibrations of someone with deep wisdom can affect all of humanity. This is easier to understand. After all the history of ideas shows that all that is necessary to influence billions of people throughout time is the ideas of a few people.
What all this means is that beneath the apparent separation between human beings, we are all one; and beneath the apparent lack of power we display, we hide a mighty power.
What you say, think, and do matters. Not only to you, but to everyone. Sometimes it is obvious how your influence spreads. But most often it is subtle, very subtle, hardly noticeable to you, like the flapping of the wings of a butterfly.
Your body is a superb machine whose functional details keep scientists in a state of awe and wonder. They estimate that your body has enough power to run a whole city for a week.
Your mind is a computer that has billions of interconnected neurons. You may have enough raw brain power to run a galaxy.
Yet there is something even more amazing about you. You are self-aware, the creator of yourself, and your own creation. You are more than a person, much more. You are a consciousness whose only limit is your own self-belief and imagination.
And, whether you admit it or not, you are here on this planet to do something great with all this raw power and potentiality. You are a creator and you are in a place where creation is necessary. In fact, your internal guidance system, your emotions, will tell you whether you are on track or off track. If you are happy, you are doing something creative and feel fulfilled. If you are unhappy, you are conforming to a reality that does not bring out the best in you.
On the surface of things, it may seem that you have little free-will and are limited in both creativity and imagination. It may also seem that you are pressed in and coerced to do things by stronger forces. And it may also seem that you are different from others, living in a separate objective world of your own.
Yet the study of quantum mechanics shows that at a fundamental level everything is only energy and that this idea of separation is really some kind of hallucination we all share in common because our senses are not subtle enough to observe the fluid interconnection between all things.
Furthermore, a radical subjectivity informs your entire experience of life. That is, you can never not be yourself, and even when you name something as objective, it is a statement that arises from your own subjectivity.
Finally, you are nothing but your own expression of choices, which you bring into existence through creativity and imagination.
This life that you live is the clay that you shape. You are the geometer, organizer, and designer of your life.
As Dr. Joe Vitale said in the movie, The Secret, "You are the Michelangelo of your own life. The David you are sculpting is YOU."
What you think and feel on a moment by moment basis influences all of life because everything about you has some kind of influence.
This is a big concept.
Here is how to understand it.
Think of a row of dominoes leaning up against other dominoes, when there is a change in movement in one, it affects all the other dominoes.
Here is another way to understand it.
Scientists estimate that the flapping of the wings of a butterfly can affect the air currents in a way that gradually magnifies over a distance until it causes weather changes
Of course, all this is very, very subtle. You will never know whether your bad mood affects an international crisis in a war-prone area or whether your good mood creates an act of kindness in a city far away from you.
It has been said that the vibrations of someone with deep wisdom can affect all of humanity. This is easier to understand. After all the history of ideas shows that all that is necessary to influence billions of people throughout time is the ideas of a few people.
What all this means is that beneath the apparent separation between human beings, we are all one; and beneath the apparent lack of power we display, we hide a mighty power.
What you say, think, and do matters. Not only to you, but to everyone. Sometimes it is obvious how your influence spreads. But most often it is subtle, very subtle, hardly noticeable to you, like the flapping of the wings of a butterfly.
elp Always, Hurt Never
Revenge, the desire to hurt others who have hurt us, only bears bitter fruit. It hurts those whom we have inflicted our wrath upon. And it hurts us, because no single act in the universe goes unrewarded. From that singular act, our own consciousness is wounded by the expression of our animalism.
Nations pride themselves on the swiftness of their retribution but inevitably collapse in on themselves because the seeds of discontent that they sow, hurts all of life. Rome, the greatest civilization that the world had ever known, built on the finest arts and sciences known to the ancient world, the epitome of legal and architectural order, collapsed from within, destroyed by its own impulse to use its mighty force to strike out and subdue.
Today our world is dying because of this impulse to strike out.
We are destroying each other at an alarming rate, both individually and collectively.
And even the earth itself, is collapsing at a faster rate than we can repair. Scientists now estimate that by the year 2050, we will have exhausted the earth of all its natural resources.
The science that we celebrate, the genius of our efforts, are wasted on destructive uses. Instead of using the power of the nucleus to build great civilizations we are busy using it to stockade bombs.
Billions of dollars that could be used to heal the broken places on our planet are used to send people to horrific deaths.
When we seek to hurt life, we hurt ourselves, for we are life.
Revenge it is said is a dish best served cold; but whether it is served with cold deliberation or hot reaction, it is a dish in whose very preparation we imbue a poison that will return to destroy us.
The greatest illusion is this: that we can hurt and not be hurt, that we can wound another and remain unscathed. When we inflict harm upon another, we inflict harm upon ourselves. What goes around comes around. A rudimentary study of history will prove this.
When we love, we reach out to align with life, to nurture and make others better, and in that act, we redeem ourselves from our own past follies.
This love is a precious act. It is our extension of spiritual power in the world. It is a moment of sympathy and support that we have for life. When you bend down and help a child tie its shoelaces, you are tying up all the knots of the world. When you listen in silence and understand another's intention, you are spreading the meme of empathy through all of time and space, for thoughts are cosmic waves that do not know any barriers.
As we extend love to others, it comes back to us.
Yet we cannot love others unless we love ourselves as well.
We cannot live without making mistakes of judgment and do things that we will later regret, because we are na?ve and do foolish things out of that naivety. But we do grow, and looking back at the harm we have invoked, we feel grief. Our act of love, then, is to forgive ourselves. Yet instead of taking this simple act, we damn ourselves repeatedly, and in this way, we still hurt life, because we are life.
When we feel the urge to strike out, we must remember how it feels to have the wound inflicted upon our own flesh, because everything returns to the author of a deed.
Help always, hurt never. Do this and your life will be a blessing to the world and you must reap the harvest from what you have sown.
Nations pride themselves on the swiftness of their retribution but inevitably collapse in on themselves because the seeds of discontent that they sow, hurts all of life. Rome, the greatest civilization that the world had ever known, built on the finest arts and sciences known to the ancient world, the epitome of legal and architectural order, collapsed from within, destroyed by its own impulse to use its mighty force to strike out and subdue.
Today our world is dying because of this impulse to strike out.
We are destroying each other at an alarming rate, both individually and collectively.
And even the earth itself, is collapsing at a faster rate than we can repair. Scientists now estimate that by the year 2050, we will have exhausted the earth of all its natural resources.
The science that we celebrate, the genius of our efforts, are wasted on destructive uses. Instead of using the power of the nucleus to build great civilizations we are busy using it to stockade bombs.
Billions of dollars that could be used to heal the broken places on our planet are used to send people to horrific deaths.
When we seek to hurt life, we hurt ourselves, for we are life.
Revenge it is said is a dish best served cold; but whether it is served with cold deliberation or hot reaction, it is a dish in whose very preparation we imbue a poison that will return to destroy us.
The greatest illusion is this: that we can hurt and not be hurt, that we can wound another and remain unscathed. When we inflict harm upon another, we inflict harm upon ourselves. What goes around comes around. A rudimentary study of history will prove this.
When we love, we reach out to align with life, to nurture and make others better, and in that act, we redeem ourselves from our own past follies.
This love is a precious act. It is our extension of spiritual power in the world. It is a moment of sympathy and support that we have for life. When you bend down and help a child tie its shoelaces, you are tying up all the knots of the world. When you listen in silence and understand another's intention, you are spreading the meme of empathy through all of time and space, for thoughts are cosmic waves that do not know any barriers.
As we extend love to others, it comes back to us.
Yet we cannot love others unless we love ourselves as well.
We cannot live without making mistakes of judgment and do things that we will later regret, because we are na?ve and do foolish things out of that naivety. But we do grow, and looking back at the harm we have invoked, we feel grief. Our act of love, then, is to forgive ourselves. Yet instead of taking this simple act, we damn ourselves repeatedly, and in this way, we still hurt life, because we are life.
When we feel the urge to strike out, we must remember how it feels to have the wound inflicted upon our own flesh, because everything returns to the author of a deed.
Help always, hurt never. Do this and your life will be a blessing to the world and you must reap the harvest from what you have sown.
What is the Connection Between God and Man?
"What is the connection between God and man? If God is unseen, how can a connection be established between man and something unseen? How can man see the connection? Is the one who sees the connection a man, and is one who does not see the connection also a man? How does the connection come?" A man asked these questions of a Sufi gnani.
The gnani replied, "True indeed. Not everything we see or believe in is God, and not everyone we see is a man. But it is easy for a true man to see the connection between God and man.
"God is beyond mind, desire, and thought. From a place beyond mind, desire, and thought, one who acts with the qualities of God, who does the duty of God, who hands over to Him the responsibility for the diseases of hunger, illness, old age, and death, one who does duty without selfishness and has compassion--he is in the state in which God exists. He is a man, an insan. He is God. In that state he can see the connection between man and God, which is made up of the qualities and actions of God.
"When form is created, the ray of the power of God comes into each form. Thus a connection exists between the power known as God and the ray known as the soul. That ray existed within Him in anathi, the dark time before the beginning. The bodies that were formed with the ray of Gods power inside them will live with that connection.
"There are six kinds of lives. One of them, man, has a connection to God. Man had that connection in anathi, and he maintains it even after he leaves anathi. Just as a fish dies when it is taken out of water, the ray of the soul will die if its connection to Gods power is broken.
"Gods power exists for all time. But if man forgets his connection to it and establishes a connection to the five elements, to earth, fire, water, air, and ether, he will live and die with a connection to hell.
"One who maintains the connection to God is a man, while those who prefer the connection to the elements are pulled by those shakthis, their forces and energies, and disappear into the karma of animals। They become subject to millions of births and to hell. One who is connected to God is pulled by that power and grace and will disappear in God.
by WisdomArticles
The gnani replied, "True indeed. Not everything we see or believe in is God, and not everyone we see is a man. But it is easy for a true man to see the connection between God and man.
"God is beyond mind, desire, and thought. From a place beyond mind, desire, and thought, one who acts with the qualities of God, who does the duty of God, who hands over to Him the responsibility for the diseases of hunger, illness, old age, and death, one who does duty without selfishness and has compassion--he is in the state in which God exists. He is a man, an insan. He is God. In that state he can see the connection between man and God, which is made up of the qualities and actions of God.
"When form is created, the ray of the power of God comes into each form. Thus a connection exists between the power known as God and the ray known as the soul. That ray existed within Him in anathi, the dark time before the beginning. The bodies that were formed with the ray of Gods power inside them will live with that connection.
"There are six kinds of lives. One of them, man, has a connection to God. Man had that connection in anathi, and he maintains it even after he leaves anathi. Just as a fish dies when it is taken out of water, the ray of the soul will die if its connection to Gods power is broken.
"Gods power exists for all time. But if man forgets his connection to it and establishes a connection to the five elements, to earth, fire, water, air, and ether, he will live and die with a connection to hell.
"One who maintains the connection to God is a man, while those who prefer the connection to the elements are pulled by those shakthis, their forces and energies, and disappear into the karma of animals। They become subject to millions of births and to hell. One who is connected to God is pulled by that power and grace and will disappear in God.
by WisdomArticles
Praying For Protection
Oh Lord I pray to you, I cry out to you with a great urgency. Hear me Lord as I pray. I lift up my hands in worship. May my prayers come before you as a sacrifice, may my prayers be acceptable before you.
Help me Lord to only speak well of everyone and to keep my mouth on guard and not to gossip. Let evil ways not tempt me Lord nor may I be drawn to do wicked things. Let me not keep company with ungodly people and grant me grace and love not to offend anyone.
Bring to me godly people who will keep me accountable and may I accept this as a blessing. Advice from a godly person I will not reject.
My prayers today I ask to be kept safe from the evil of this dark world and of the spiritual world. May those who seek to do me harm be blessed by you and may they in their blessing forget about me.
Let my eye look to you for everything Lord. Keep me safe and may I shelter in your protection. Allow me to pass safely through the troubles of this world and keep me from harm. To you Lord God be the glory and majesty my father and my God.
Many people slander you my God forgive them in their folly. Many claim to do good but are corrupt. As you look from heaven Lord to seek those who look for you, strengthen us against the corruptions of this world. Living in the world yet keeping us untainted from the evils of the world.
Lord Jesus society is turning away from you - there is corruption everywhere - few look for you my Lord.
People are ambitious grasping for money and worldly success, willing to destroy one another for mere possessions. No one looks to you.
Your people are attacked; protect us Lord through these times of trails and tribulations. Let us, your people, not worry for we have you Lord God.
In you Lord we have great fortunes. In you Lord we will live eternal in your glorious presence. Lord empower us in this life to do your will and to proclaim to the world your son Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
There is so much sin in the world yet no one cares to seek forgiveness. And Lord how many sins do I need to repent of! It is my sin of passion that I must seek forgiveness.
The shame and horror of this is an evil in my life.
Now I decide not to let my passions take hold of me and I come to you to give me strength to accomplish this. Many I see give into their passions and are overcome by them giving many excuses for their ways and justifying their sin as not sin at all.
Lord God help me to sing your praises and to share in the inexpressible joy of a heart trusting in you alone.
Help my stubbornness because I don't always praise you as I should. Yet my soul rests in your goodness and loving-kindness.
Lord help me in my backsliding, my resistance my forgetfulness of you my Lord and God. Evil corruptions urge me to stand in opposition to you.
Help me to proclaim your goodness with a submissive heart. May I look inwardly and ask, am I truly born again, is my spirit as a child in my approach to you, are my wants and needs a stumbling block to others, are my joys fruit of faith,
does my confidence in Christ spring from love, and does it purify my soul.
Let you love shine in my prayer and in my public life, wrap my heart in your love, hold me Lord and never let me go.
There is so much darkness still in me, scourge this out and live in me and cause me to long for perfect holiness.
Help me to proclaim your goodness with a submissive heart.
Help me Lord to only speak well of everyone and to keep my mouth on guard and not to gossip. Let evil ways not tempt me Lord nor may I be drawn to do wicked things. Let me not keep company with ungodly people and grant me grace and love not to offend anyone.
Bring to me godly people who will keep me accountable and may I accept this as a blessing. Advice from a godly person I will not reject.
My prayers today I ask to be kept safe from the evil of this dark world and of the spiritual world. May those who seek to do me harm be blessed by you and may they in their blessing forget about me.
Let my eye look to you for everything Lord. Keep me safe and may I shelter in your protection. Allow me to pass safely through the troubles of this world and keep me from harm. To you Lord God be the glory and majesty my father and my God.
Many people slander you my God forgive them in their folly. Many claim to do good but are corrupt. As you look from heaven Lord to seek those who look for you, strengthen us against the corruptions of this world. Living in the world yet keeping us untainted from the evils of the world.
Lord Jesus society is turning away from you - there is corruption everywhere - few look for you my Lord.
People are ambitious grasping for money and worldly success, willing to destroy one another for mere possessions. No one looks to you.
Your people are attacked; protect us Lord through these times of trails and tribulations. Let us, your people, not worry for we have you Lord God.
In you Lord we have great fortunes. In you Lord we will live eternal in your glorious presence. Lord empower us in this life to do your will and to proclaim to the world your son Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
There is so much sin in the world yet no one cares to seek forgiveness. And Lord how many sins do I need to repent of! It is my sin of passion that I must seek forgiveness.
The shame and horror of this is an evil in my life.
Now I decide not to let my passions take hold of me and I come to you to give me strength to accomplish this. Many I see give into their passions and are overcome by them giving many excuses for their ways and justifying their sin as not sin at all.
Lord God help me to sing your praises and to share in the inexpressible joy of a heart trusting in you alone.
Help my stubbornness because I don't always praise you as I should. Yet my soul rests in your goodness and loving-kindness.
Lord help me in my backsliding, my resistance my forgetfulness of you my Lord and God. Evil corruptions urge me to stand in opposition to you.
Help me to proclaim your goodness with a submissive heart. May I look inwardly and ask, am I truly born again, is my spirit as a child in my approach to you, are my wants and needs a stumbling block to others, are my joys fruit of faith,
does my confidence in Christ spring from love, and does it purify my soul.
Let you love shine in my prayer and in my public life, wrap my heart in your love, hold me Lord and never let me go.
There is so much darkness still in me, scourge this out and live in me and cause me to long for perfect holiness.
Help me to proclaim your goodness with a submissive heart.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Sri Ramkrishna Paramhansa
Sri Ramkrishna was born on 18.02.1836 in Kamarpukur, Hoogli of Khudiram Chattopadhay and Chandramoni Devi. He was the 4th child of his parents, after Ramkumar, Katyayani, and Rameswar and a sister, Sarbamangala. Nicknamed as Gadadhar he was a very reckless but god fearing boy since childhood, and was deeply devoted to serve the mother goddess Kali from a young age. He was inspired by the leelas of Lord Krishna and tried to imitate his feats. As a child he was matured for his age and earned the love of all. He had an unusual memory interested in Hindu mythology.
Once while playing the part of Shiva in the plays performed during Shivaratri, he attained Vhava Samadhi. His elder brother Ramkumar took him to Dakhineswar to assist him in his works as a priest in the temple. In 1855 Rani Rashmoni of Janbajar offered him the job of the priest of the Goddess Kali at Dakkhineshwar Temple. Onlookers would crowd to see Ramkrishna performing puja as they wanted to see the love and devotion with which it was performed. At the age of 23, May 1859, he married Saradamoni of Jairambati, whom he thought would be his ideal life companion. Soon after, the urge of finding the truth of life made him take sannyas under the sage Totapuri who gave him the sobriquet, Paramhansa.
He developed a strange theological relation with Narendranath and soon moulded him in his own way. He taught Naren the truth of life by letting him see a glimpse of the holy spirit. He taught Naren the truth of life by letting him see a glimpse of the holy spirit. It was Vivekananda in later days, who held high the teachings of Sri Ramakishna to the world by forming the Belur Math. In Jan 1st, 1886 in Kashipur Garden an ailing Ramkrishna touched some of his disciples. Those who were touched felt an unearthly feeling never felt before. While some went speechless for a short while, others moved into a state of Samadhi. This incident is remembered by his disciples as Thakur taking the form of a Kalpataru. The great preacher passed away in 16th August, 1886.
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