The Journey Within

vari jaon part2

2010-11-05T17:09:00.000+09:00

Journey with the Stupid Fellow

2009-08-19T16:36:00.001+09:00

The term we call life is a unidirectional journey into the flux of space-time. Few years back, we were somewhere, now we are in different situations. Strictly speaking it is not matter of years or days, we are continuously being shifted in new coordinate with each moment. There is a famous Zen proverb A river can not be crossed twice. On contrary and still fascinating, The same person can not cross the river again.

Who are the Companions?

It is impossible and meaningless in a journey alone. It is designed with two companion; the body and mind. Body is the platform where the journey is realized and the mind sets the direction. In this sense the body is the vehicle and the mind is the driver. Now think what happen if these fellows turnout out to be unhelpful and malfunctioning.

Body is an obedient fellow and functions well until its parts are ok and unless it is in urgency. A blind person can not command his eyes to see, and a runner can not control his heart-bit while running. If we can forgive these exceptions, body is always available us as a dutiful by-stander. However, the case with mind is different; It is a ruthless master and a wonderful servant. Unfortunately 99.9% of time, it is at the role of master. If you listen the voice inside your head, it is simply a chatterbox, engaging all the time on the same stuff again and again. You don’t know its course in the next moments. If you are in family vacation, you think about the job left undone, remember the chat with your friends in the last night and so on except that you are there in family vacation and enjoying it fully. When you are in job, the mind is thinking about the vacation.

Only few days back, I was in a park and found a man there walking and talking with himself loud. He was completely oblivious to the present situation and was somewhere in the imaginative world. What has happened to him! certainly a morning walk is not for such unconsciousness. It is to feel the fresh air touching the body, hearing the music of chirping bird around. Now i am fooled by my own mind and it engages in thinking him, a silent monologue. Certainly my morning walk was, also, not to be lost in thinking about the person. If we close the eye and try to concentrate on a thing only for 10 seconds, then we know what sort chattering is going on there.

Mind seldom learn from the past

Another nature of mind is that it is illogical, sort-sighted and stupid fellow. In the morning, It promise to do something, to be someone different and more meaningful. In afternoon it messed with the same silly things, repeats same mistakes, and in the evening it wrapped up with same regrets for being not able to live the day perfectly. It suggests to do something at first, only after few moments it is enticed with something completely different what it has suggested earlier. This becomes the story of every day (for everybody). Until moments back, the person X was the good friend, you have full trust on him. After few moments later, with no apparent reason, he becomes too suspicious and untruthful. If we replace our mind with an behavioral advisor, we would have fired him within a single day. If it were our spouse, we would have divorced soon. Alas! this adamant fellow clings to us refusing the common mean of getting rid of . On contrary, more we desire to get rid of, more possessed we become.

Taming the mind

Fortunately our predecessor had seriously contemplated over this issue and discovered gyan-yoga to come out from the vicious circle. Yoga is more than the body health as is advertised in today’s main-stream media. It certainly does keep the physically fit, but importantly, quiets the chattering mind. To quiet the mind meant to withdraw the energy that we have been continuously feeding it. This is possible by silently listening the voice inside the chatterbox. Once we get used to observe it, it creates subject-object relationship between the thinker and the thoughts. In that process, we can catch the glimpses of the consciousness which exists even if there is no thoughts. Let us find our time to experiment this game.

We are not our mind, it is our companion!

Technorati Tags: Gyan yoga,nature of mind

Wakeup Calls: The Books that Transform your Life

2009-07-15T14:51:00.001+09:00

Many people believe that there are wake-up calls in everybody’s life, shaking us from top to bottom, sometimes shattering our whole believe systems, or provoking to rethink where we are leading. These calls, however, vary in forms. For Mahatma Gandhi, a witnessing moments of abuse to the black people during his journey to south Africa, happened to be the call. For Ramakrishna, while wandering in one morning, a hearing of a woman having her son waken from the late morning sleep,” Ram awake! how long will you sleep?”, turn out be the call. For Lao stu, when he was just woke up from a usual siesta under a tree, a wandering leaf detached from the branch, shook his whole being. For other less sensitive people there are still other ways. They can be of accidents, warning from someone, feeling synchronicity while reading inspiring books and so on. Fortunate are those who could accept the message of change, jump to the journey of transformation, and allow the shift in paradigms likely being taken place.

I found myself bibliophile since the earlier school days. In those days and environment, extracurricular reading materials were hardly available. Neither was I aware of reading culture nor were there library and bookstall in the vicinity. There was no choice of books, whatever available from the friends and senior were assumed great stuffs and were hidden under the pillow or books, lest parents would know the waste of valuable time of doing homework. In retrospect, only few were suitable books for the teenage psychology. Other simply happened to be cheap novels and the junk stuffs.

The thirst of reading remained same, however, the taste and connoisseur within changed by and by. The post high school and pre university days were the golden days for exploring the type and the quality of books around the world. I voraciously read Russian classics ( like Tolstoy, Gorki, Dostoevsky) western classics (like Russell, Bernard Shaw, Khalil Gibran) Indian classics (like Tagore, Sharadchandra Chattopadhaya, Bandhopadhyaya, Prem Chand, Guru Dutta), Nepalese literatures ( like Devkota, Balkrishna Sam, Danush Chandra Gautam, Daulat Bikram Bista). Those reading moments were very satisfying, fantasying and thrilling, but after the pass out of the aftereffect, the same void, boring and emptiness would appear, what next? Go for the next book, like a obsession. I could not grasp the gems from them which could prove to practical, wake up or transforming to me.

During my second half of the university days, I encountered with some books or which were ‘waiting’ for me. Then I knew the meaning of some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, & some few to be chewed and digested. I also realized that among the books to be chewed and digested, (i) some are for wake up call, inspiring to rekindle the dream convincing that development is possible and luring that transformation is awaiting (ii) other are for the map of the journey, since the motivation is not sufficient. Once the dream is fixed, the roadmap is necessary. And (iii) few are like mirror helping to understand where we are. I like to share few books which have influenced me and in some way proved to be wake-up call, guide and mirror.

Wake up Call

Oshodhyan Yog. For me it was the first wake up call describing in simple way what is missing our life and how to achieve. It is encyclopedia of meditation and the meditation techniques being practiced around the world since the time unknown.
The Alchemist: This is a fiction from the Brazilian storyteller Paulo Coehlo who introduces Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who one night dreams of a distant treasure in the Egyptian pyramids and goes for it. Along the way he meets many spiritual message in mysterious ways. he meets The alchemist who not only could transform the lead into gold but also purify the heart.

"My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy confides to the alchemist one night as they look up at a moonless night.

"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself," the alchemist replies. "And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity.”
The Jonathan Livingstone seagull: It is also a fable in novella from about a seagull learning about life and flight, and finally a journey of self-perfection. This small book of 28 pages remained the New York times bestseller list for 38 weeks (wekipedia).
Conversation with God: This is also interesting books where a frustrated man sat down one day asking god the tough questions in his heart. As he wrote his questions to God, he realized that God was answering them... directly... through his pen..where he finds answer of personal life which we dare to ask if we were contact with god.

Guide

Seven Habit of Highly effective people: Although these category of books are specific depending upon the type of the goals being met. This book is practical guide among self-help series incorporating personal, professional and inter-personal aspects.
The Book of Secrets: From Osho, also available in audio form, this book is best for to those who are interested in the meditation practice.
Odyssey to Enlightenment: This is biography of a western seeker who continuously felt the emptiness within whatever success he got in professional life. Spurred on by an unquenchable yearning for truth, one day he resigns from his job, sells everything he had and his odyssey takes him to remote parts of India where he met many Enlightened mystics. This book contains the dialogue with these mystics on the way of his journey. Though his teacher declared him enlightened one. his journey continued until there is no more quest.

Mirror

These books are essence of the sankhya yoga suitable for the those who already entered into the inner journey and help to measure their progress.

Power of Now and The New Earth by Eckhart Tolle are the authentic and clear cut way dealing the complex terms like Ego, Time, living in presence. I suppose must read for seeker.
Mahageeta a commentary by Osho on Ashtabakra (available in audio form also)also falls under the category.

I love to hear from you if you have encountered any such books and love to recommend!

Technorati Tags: Wakeup call,Transforming books,recommended Book

Guru Day: Auspicious Day to Tune with Master

2009-07-07T18:39:00.004+09:00

What is Guru?

There are three intimate relationships in human civilization; Mother, father and the guru. Link with mother is very gross, existential and graspable. It is like earth. Origin of father is due to civilization. In primitive ages, the society could run without the declaration of ‘father’. For convenience and the channelization of evolving society, the adoption of father is sought to be necessary. Though it is subtler than mother, it can be grasped. It is like water. More the society evolves, more prominent becomes the role of the father.

Third comes the guru. The ‘guru’ is difficult to grasp like wind. It can be felt but not seen. Many times it becomes subjective and inconvincible by the logic. With evolution of consciousness, the role guru becomes more apparent. Mother is necessary for life, ‘Father’ makes the life easy and growing, and the guru gives the meaning of life, the possibility of self-actualization, encouraging the disciple by his own presence as the example.

Why does a person need guru?

With practical and the utilitarian point of view, there is no answer. Ask a gardener why he is sowing flowers instead of vegetables and crops. Ask a poet why he sings, or the musician why he pours his being to the music. Ask the chirping birds why they sings so wildly with no apparent reason.

Why do you need guru and waste time and energy- instead devote yourself in something rewarding like job, business and career and make life comfortable? The role of guru is abstract as such. But if you listen your heart, it vibrates with mere remembrance of him, let alone the presence. Remember those moments when you sit in front of him letting his eye to penetrate and dissolve your being. For a disciple, a single moment of silence with guru, his warm palm on the forehead, and the overflowing emotion pouring out from the eyes in response, are answers why there is guru.

True guru or true disciple-hood

Even if one is convinced with necessity of guru, there is question of true guru. There are thousands and one gurus. Who is the real one and convincing to you? We all are seeking true guru and there is hundred questions about the credibility of guru. Are we cultivating true disciple-hood in us, do we have credibility of our search? A true disciple-hood will attract similar guru. A disciple can never find a guru, instead his burning thirst and disciple-hood will draw guru if needed.

Guru Purnima

As per the Hindu’s calendar, today is guru purnima. It is mentioned that there are many astrological coincidences and metaphorical reasons for choosing this one among the fifty-two others. In the monsoon sky full of heavy cloud, the moon is rarely seen. The cloud represents the state of disciple mind which masks the bright light. Only after the dissolution of cloud into rain makes the sky clear with ever illuminating light.

Happy guru purnima dear friends!

Technorati Tags: Guru Day,Disciple-hood

Empty Mind: Is it Devil’s Workshop?

2009-06-17T15:30:00.001+09:00

It is said that If a falsehood is repeated again and again, it appears as truth. A big example is the mere existence of this phrase “empty mind is the devil’s workshop”, let alone its identity as PROVERB. You may rise your eye brow first, let me explain why you need not.

Let’s see the first two words- empty mind. What is mind packed with? With the stream of unceasing thoughts. So the straight meaning is that thoughtless mind is the devil’s workshop. What a thrill and bless to acquire such state! Certainly the devil can not stand there to continue his workshop. If there is no tools and business to do, how the workshop exists!

Being little liberal with the proverb, redefine the words empty-mind as state of mind with no especial business to engage with, the state at which we can feel our mind as being bored and seek something to engage with that kills boring. Then, is bored mind the devil’s workshop? Plainly speaking yes.

source

With gross classification, mind is in three states; grief, happiness and the intermediate - neither happy nor grieve but bored. Grieve or pain never weaken a person, they rather strengthen. Without grief, a thrill of insecurity, restlessness of some unknown challenge, we seldom grow. However, the bored mind finds the situation boring and seeks something to escape from it. Out of curiosity we practice many things which later becomes the habit. All the addictions and the bad habits and their psycho-somatic effect are what we welcome during our boring state. I like to acknowledge that The matter that describes US best is not our career, actions or belief, but our choices and the motives during the free time of the unengaged mind. At that state we seek something pleasing and embrace the quick source which unmistakably happens as the Devil.

But in deep, the devils is not outside. Neither it is binding us and making victim. It is within us and nurtured by the energy we feed as INTEREST. Perhaps the following story better describes it than the many logics.

Junaid was going through the market-place of the town with his disciples. And it was his way to take any situation and use it. A man was dragging his cow by a rope, and Junaid said ’Wait’ to the man, and told his disciples ’Surround this man and the cow. I am going to teach you something.’

The man stopped – Junaid was a famous mystic – and he was also interested in what he was going to teach these disciples and how he was going to use him and the cow. And Junaid asked his disciples ’I ask you one thing: who is bound to whom? Is the cow bound to this man or is this man bound to this cow?’ Of course, the disciples said ’The cow is bound to the man. The man is the master, he is holding the rope, the cow has to follow him wherever he goes. He is the master and the cow is the slave.’

And Junaid said ’Now, see.’ He took out his scissors and cut the rope – and the cow escaped.

The man ran after the cow, and Junaid said ’Now look what is happening! Now you see who is the master; the cow is not interested at all in this man – in fact, she is escaping.’ And the man was very angry, he said ’What kind of experiment is this ?’ But Junaid said to his disciples ’And this is the case with your mind. All the nonsense that you are carrying inside is not interested in you. You are interested in it, you are keeping it together somehow – you are becoming mad in keeping it together somehow. But you are interested IN it. The moment you lose interest, the moment you understand the futility of it, it will start disappearing; like the cow it will escape.

Are you feeling bored? it is the precious gift, an inner space created to feel ourselves. Watch your impulses to choose as an escape.

Bored + aware = God’s workshop.

Bored + unaware = Devil’s workshop.

What do you think?

Technorati Tags: Empty mind,Devil's workshop

Judgment by Intention or Action?

2009-05-19T13:32:00.001+09:00

The real masters are not bound to any disciple and not after exposing good character to impress other. They follow the spontaneity encountered on the context. If there is any tool to judge them, it is the intention behind their action. They are motivated by love/compassion.Others are guided by fears. Here goes the three stories. Contexts are same. Actions may be different, the indicator is the intention. Enjoy!

One

A very rich woman served one monk for thirty years. The monk was really beautiful, always aware, disciplined. He had a beauty that comes naturally when your life is ordered – a cleanness, a freshness. The woman was dying, she was very old. She called a prostitute from the town and told the prostitute, ”Before I leave my body I would like to know one thing – whether this man I have been serving for thirty years has yet attained or not.” The suspicion is natural, because the man has not yet abandoned the whip and the rope. The prostitute asked, ”What am I supposed to do?”

The woman said, ”I will give you as much money as you want. You just go in the middle of the night. He will be meditating, because he meditates in the middle of the night. The door is never closed because he has nothing which can be stolen, so you just open the door, and just watch his reaction. Open the door, come close, embrace him, and then come back and just tell me what happened. Before I die, I would like to know whether I have been serving a real master or just an ordinary, mediocre being.”
The prostitute went. She opened the door. A small lamp was burning; the man was meditating. He opened his eyes. Seeing the prostitute, recognizing the prostitute, he became afraid, a slight trembling, and he said, ”What! Why have you come here?” And when the woman tried to embrace him, he tried to escape. He was trembling and furious.

The woman came back and told the old lady what had happened. The old lady ordered her servants to vacate the cottage that she had made for this man, and be finished with him. He had not reached anywhere. The old woman said, ”At least he could have been a little kind, compassionate.” This fear shows the whip is not yet abandoned. This anger shows awareness is still an effort, it has not become natural, it has not become spontaneous.

Two

Once a monk on the way to collect his daily food came across a house of wealthy prostitute. Those days, the prostitutes used to have great respect and called as Nagarbadhu. The prostitute are always attracted by the monks. They have glow in the face and the carefree in walk. Such a charm! While giving him food, she requested to enter her house and take rest. The monk looked deeply in her eyes, sensed the lust, replied

“It is my honor to be with with you. This time, very famous, wealthy and handsome people are in way to enter your house. Wait for some time. I will come to you when everybody will ceases to visit you”.

Then the monk left. Time passed, the woman getting older, and the whole bodily charm in her vanished away, not to mention her illness. In such state of utter helplessness and grief, there was knock in the door. She surprised years passed no body cared to look to her house, let alone visit her. She did not trust her ear. Suspiciously, she opened the door and saw the monk with ever glowing beauty in his face. He came to her and fulfilled his promises. There was no lust in her expression, she had known every facade of the lust, its meaninglessness. Then said,

“ Do you like to walk in the peace and painlessness?”. It was like oasis. She bursted into tears, “yes”.

“Come with me. It is right time for you. Last time, I did not entered you house as there was no use. The cloud of desire had surrounded to you. I had waited the right time to visit you”. Then he taught the path.

Three

In Gautam Buddha's time there was one beautiful woman -- she was a prostitute, Amrapali. One Buddhist monk was just going to beg when Amrapali saw him. She was simply amazed because kings have been at her door, princes, rich people, famous people from all walks of life. But she had never seen such a beautiful person -- and he was a monk, a beggar with a begging bowl. She was going on her golden chariot to her garden. She told the bhikkhu,

"If you don't mind, you can sit with me on the chariot and I will lead you wherever you want."

She was not thinking that the bhikkhu would be ready to do it, because it was known that Buddha did not allow his bhikkhus to talk to women, or to touch any woman. And to ask him to sit on a golden chariot in the open street where there were thousands of people, hundreds of other bhikkhus, other monks...She was not hoping that he would accept the invitation, but he said, "That's good," and he climbed on the chariot and sat by her side. It was a scene. She was one of the wealthiest women the world had known.

The world knows only two women -- one in the West, Cleopatra, and one in the East, Amrapali -- who are thought to be the world's most beautiful women. And a bhikkhu with a begging bowl...!A crowd was following the chariot,

"What is going on there? Nobody has ever heard..."
And then the bhikkhu said, "My camp has come. Thank you for your being so kind to a poor man. You can drop me here."

But Amrapali said, "From tomorrow, the rainy season is going to be here." In the rainy season the bhikkhus, the monks, don't move. They stay in one place -- only for the rainy season. The remaining months they are always on the move from one village to another village. "From tomorrow, the rainy season is going to begin. I invite you to stay with me. You can ask your master."

He said, "Jolly good, I will ask the master. And I don't see that he will object, because I know him -- he knows me, and he knows me more than I know him."

But before he reached, many others had reached and complained that the man had broken the discipline, the prestige, the respectability... that the man should be expelled immediately. The bhikkhu came -- Buddha asked him, "What happened?"

He told the whole thing and he said, "The woman has asked me to stay with her for the coming four months' rainy season. And I have said to her, `As I know my master I don't think there is any problem, and my master knows me better than I know him.' So what do you say?"
There were ten thousand monks, and there was pin drop silence. Gautam Buddha said, "You can accept her invitation."

It was a shock. People were thinking he would be expelled, and he was being rewarded! But what could they do. They said, "Just wait. After four months Buddha will see that he has committed a grave mistake. That young man will be corrupted in that place, in a prostitute's house. Have you ever heard of a monk staying for four months...?"

The man stayed for

four months, and every day rumors were coming that "this is going wrong" and "that is going wrong." And Buddha said, "Just wait, let him come. I know he is a man who can be trusted. Whatever happens he will tell himself. I don't have to depend on rumors." And when the monk came, Amrapali was with him. He touched Buddha's feet and said, "Amrapali wants to be initiated."

Buddha said, "Look, about all these rumors... When a real meditator goes to a prostitute, the prostitute has to change into a meditator. When a repressed person who has all the sexuality and is sitting on a volcano goes to a prostitute, he falls down. He was already waiting for it -- not even a prostitute was needed. Any woman would have done that”.

Source: "The Sword and the Lotus " and other discourses by Osho

Technorati Tags: Inspiring stories,way of masters,Intention or Action

Common Myths on Spirituality

2009-05-09T17:38:00.001+09:00

Last week, I could not post. Actually I was slightly in low ‘energy state’ and could not lift my energy to write something on the topic this blog devoted to. Without tuning with the proper ‘mood’, trying to express/write is difficult, and if could able to do so, the authenticity seems to be lost and the action also becomes less enjoyable to the doer. It was how I felt! Just like this. One of the notion I collect during the blogging is that- what is written or appeared in the post is important, however, the emotional state and the intention behind the writing are the king; the emotional state affects the outcome of the writing in doer, and the intention wrapped over words catches the attention and attracts similar vibration from the reader.

Ae! let me come to the track. Today is birthday of Buddha. Ah! i love to pray my favorite.

Buddham saranam gachchami (surrender to buddha)

sangham saranam gachchami (Surrender to the sangha)

Dhammam saranam gachchami (surrender to the Dhamma)

I like to share few thing thing this time as continuation of the previous post delusions of spirituality. Let me add few others in this post.

Spirituality is for searching god

People from every generation and race believe that spirituality is related to the search of the God. The god which is ultra-powerful, capable of solving any problem and creating any liked situations. Therefore there are different images of the god in different cultures. However, the quest of spirituality is pure exploration within and has less to do with the god. The purpose of spirituality is to find out the witnessing state; the observer behind the observation. This is what Buddha said- Appo deepo bhava (be light unto yourself). With this notion, the duality of atheism/theism is vanished. There can be debate on whether god exists or not, but nobody debates on the existence of him/herself (It is funny how can it be hehe). If needed ‘god’ can be used as the tools for worship and the prayer, and so are the idols, temples, mosques and churches. The authenticity of teaching and the quality of true-master lie in the effectiveness in making the seeker realized the witnessing state. However charming and convincing they could be - the discourses and teachings in the name of the god/spirituality- lack the true essence, if they miss the sutras of witnessing. Therefore Kabir says- All the pilgrims, vedas, devotions, worship, prayer etc are of no use without the knowledge of Naam (the witnessing essence).

Spirituality is for developing High moral and Character in a person

Many people believe that spirituality is for being good person, creating high moral and good characters in a person. Because of this belief, many people struggle hard and try to show these ‘values’ in their personality, suppressing dark emotions and negative energy within as a consequences. The spirituality has nothing to do with these attributes. A true seeker quietly accepts whatever feeling and the energy encountered during the journey of witnessing. By doing so, the dark aspects in the personality come into surface and the evaporates.

I recall a story of Mao. Once when he was a child, his mother told him to take care of the flowers in the garden as she had to visit her relatives for few days. He responded his mother not to worry, he would perfectly look after the flowers. His mother left and returned back to home after a week. To her surprise, all the flowers in the garden were pale and dying. Upon enquiring him, he worriedly replied it happened in spite of his good care and watering them everyday. What he did was to clean the flower and wash the leaves only. He missed the very important action- watering the root.

Searching the observer is like watering the roots. Good morals, love and character appear as consequences, not by directly working with them.

On this auspicious day, I pray for the wellbeing for all. May this day give the energy and the motivation for the Journey Within.

Buddham Saranam Gachchami!

Technorati Tags: Myth of Spirituality,Witnesser

The Song of Buddha

2009-04-28T12:41:00.001+09:00

I am a farmer

I sowed some seeds

They sprouted and now Flowers have bloomed to them

My whole life is filled with the Fragrance

This Fragrance put me in a different world

A new birth is blessed to me!

(photo: lalupate)

Now I am no longer that I used to be

The unseen and the unknown have open their doors

I am seeing a world which is not seen through the eyes

I am hearing music which ears can not hear.

Whatsoever I have found and known is eager to flow

Just as the mountain waterfalls and springs

Which flow and rush towards the ocean.

Remember, when the clouds are full,

They have to shower

And when the flowers are filled,

They have to release fragrance to the winds

And when a lamp is lit,

The light is bound to radiate.

Something like this has happened

The winds are carrying away some seeds from me

I have no idea in what fields they will land

But I know from the seeds like these

I have attained the Flowers of life

Which are so divine and immortal.

And in whatever field they land,

The very soil there will turn into these Flowers

Just as flowers are inherent in the soil
In death is hidden the immortal

And in death is life

But in the absence of seeds

The dream of the soil remains unfulfilled

The seeds make manifest which was hidden.

Whatever I have, whatever I am,

I want to give away as seeds of divine

What is attained in knowledge-knowing,

Love gives away in abundance

In knowing, one knows God

In love, one BECOMES God

Knowledge is the Discipline,

Love is the fulfillment.

---- Inspired by, from and dedicated to Seeds of the Wisdom (Osho)

What is GOD for You?

2009-04-20T15:54:00.001+09:00

From the time I began to think about the god, I had many concepts- sometimes like the statue and sculpture in temples, other times the pictures and the description written in the ‘holy books’. The different shapes and the layouts appeared in respective situations. From the impact of the culture and the upbringing, the fatherly figure of god with almighty power and strict judgment, became very lasting. The concept of heaven and the hell guided by fear and believed by the traditions around the world, have supported this concept. I wondered whether the God have the quality of love and forgiveness, otherwise where is the necessity of creating hell (paradoxically the scriptures mention the GOD has these qualities).

photo courtesy

Equally amazing is the database system of god keeping account of each and the every deeds performed by the individuals. The god must be very busy and has hectic life. Why did he create the world which would turn out to be burden to himself. Then, I observed people (and participated myself unknowingly) in praying god to fulfill the desires; desire for health, wealth, power, success and what not. God becomes the amplified image of us, being used to quench our desires by praising/praying HIM. The god seems to be like a corrupting government staff who can be bribed by the praying. What is in prayer (that i had known) after-all, it was just begging. There are two devotees (and religions) of god who are the enemy to each other. Both are praying for the individual benefit against other. The god must be in confusing situation to whom he should listen. I wondered which statement is correct: God create us in his image or we create god in our image.

The people who called themselves atheist are against this concept, and logically they seems to be right. Their number is very small and yet theists see risk from them in diminishing the value of humanity. On contrary, the world is always becoming victim from the religious war where all the stupidities are justified and excused by their God. If this fatherly concept is for fulfilling our desire and excuses/justification of our activities (stupidity), can world exist without this concept? Answer seems to be frustratingly 'yes'. After-all, the skeptics and atheists are living with this concept. From Charwak to Epicurus, all have convincing logics and provided indirect contribution of the scientific development and the advancement of the physical world.

By and by, when I went through the teaching of masters, like Buddha and Lao tsu, I just bewildered. How can people call them god and worship their sculptures, who never believe in GOD and worshipping. Buddha said there is no god, only dharma is. Lao tse said only Tao is. That is, there exists only the creative energy not creator. It shattered the personification of god leaving no space- neither for theists nor atheists (all atheist believe in law and mystery of nature). At this level, the god vanishes only the godliness remains. Godliness becomes the love and forgiving (as Jesus declared) or peace and compassion (as Buddha taught). Liveliness/life-energy is god itself. Newton discovered the law of gravity by observing the falling apple form the tree. What brings the apple to the branch of the tree? It is the godliness within. What brings the sweet fragrance and color to the flower? What is keeping us breathing and making our heart bit going? From where the atheists gather the energy and intelligence to argue against the GOD (he he)?

This concept becomes more universal and appealing, nonetheless the concept remains the concept. there is no experience of godliness. It may provide the intellectual pleasure but not the strength and authenticity for living. The Masters from the ages are talking about their direct experience not about the concept. They had the fathomless peace and infectious happiness, which could only possible by incessant experiences. What is god in terms of our direct experience, how to experience god by the systems within our physical body? In our physical realm the experience happens in five levels; taste, sight, smell, sound and sensations. Can GOD be experienced, better speaking, can we experience ourselves as the ceaseless and causeless - taste, smell, sound, sight and feeling residing in the body system?

The mystic and the sages from the age have experienced consciousness in many ways;

Kabir says: Bin bati bin tel (there is lamp burning without oil)

Nanak says: Ek Omkar satnam (Everlasting music)

Jesus says: The Christ consciousness (Everlasting light and Love)

Mohammad (Sufis) says: Nad and Noor ( Music and light)

Hindu Upanishad says: Rasho Vaisha ( Intoxicating taste), Pranab/Omkar (Sound).

and there are many ….

How do a seeker get direct experience of god? First, be with those who have been experiencing. Find the living master. It is said- whatever you read or think, it is just concept- many times the concept itself becomes the hurdle in experiencing the Godliness. I recall a Zen proverb: If Buddha comes in your meditation, kill him.

What is your observation? What is GOD for you, friends?

Technorati Tags: what is god?,mysticism,god experience,god in first hand

Art of Acceptance: Is That So?

2009-04-16T15:56:00.001+09:00

The term 'acceptance', though universally accepted as the fundamental ingredient of ascension, we often mess up with its paradox. Many times, we seek the excuse of our passiveness/laziness in name of acceptance. If you are going to accept whatsoever happens, why to choose the particular one? The question seems to be making sense. Ironically, we often are indifferent during the choice, and attaching with the results. What happens to the understanding during the unfavorable results?

photo courtesy:

I like to share a Zen Story.

The Zen Master Hakuin lived in a town in Japan. He was held in high regard and many people came to him for spiritual teaching. Then it happened that the teenage daughter of his next-door neighbor became pregnant. When being questioned by her angry and scolding parents as to the identity of the father, she finally told them that he was Hakuin, the Zen Master. In great anger the parents rushed over to Hakuin and told him with much shouting and accusing that their daughter had confessed that he was the father. All he replied was,

“Is that so?”

News of the scandal spread throughout the town and beyond. The Master lost his reputation. This did not trouble him. Nobody came to see him anymore. He remained unmoved. When the child was born, the parents brought the baby to Hakuin. “You are the father, so you look after him.”

The Master took loving care of the child. A year later, the mother remorsefully confessed to her parents that the real father of the child was the young man who worked at the butcher shop. In great distress they went to see Hakuin to apologize and ask for forgiveness. “We are really sorry. We have come to take the baby back. Our daughter confessed that you are not the father.”

“Is that so?” is all he would may as he handed the baby over to them.

The Master responds to falsehood and truth, bad news and good news, in exactly the same way: “Is that so?” He allows the form of the moment, good or bad, to be as it is and so does not become a participant in human drama. To him there is only this moment, and this moment is as it is. Events are not personalized. He is nobody's victim. He is so completely at one with what happens that what happens has no power over him anymore. Only if you resist what happens are you at the mercy of what happens, and the world will determine your happiness and unhappiness.

The baby is looked after with loving care. Bad turns into good through the power of nonresistance. Always responding to what the present moment requires, he lets go of the baby when it is time to do so.

What do you think?

Technorati Tags: Zen Masters,Is that so,Acceptance

Love Link: Eckhart Tolle: New Earth

Intention Speaks Louder than Action

2009-04-09T13:54:00.003+09:00

Intention speaks louder than action. Does it contradict action speaks louder than words? I like to start this post with a story.

Once a dacoit entered into the bedroom of a landlord, searched valuable thing around, found nothing, and sought the safe exit. While escaping from the room, the owner woke up. To be safe, he stabbed the owner and ran away. Fortunately, the stab became boon to the owner helping to release the secretion from the old wound of his stomach.
At other time, a doctor was performing a operation of stomach cancer to a patient. He tried his best, unfortunately the operation failed and the patient died. The result becomes unfortunate one.

Photo Courtesy

We are living in strange world generalizing our activities with an industrial process, where the final effect or result is more important than the process. The long story behind the realized effect is apparently forgotten; if the result appears to be acceptable, the story can be ignored. You may argue against the mechanization of your life style. If you believe the success on producing more favorable results, being top on the competition, and generating more facilities, you may have already been victimized by the mechanization in first place.

We all concern in the seen results. But what happening to the doer, what is affecting him- the result or the intention? On the perspective of result, the dacoit seems to be rewarded and the doctor to be punished. But somewhere in a corner, we still have respect of intention. If we go deeper into doer, intention is what he is responsible for. In making intention there is freedom. However, for the result, there is necessity of meeting several combinations, and hence his responsibility is less. For the law of life, intending to do something and realizing the result are qualitatively same. Thinking of killing/damaging someone/something but can not do (may be because of getting caught, lack of determination or whatever reason there may be) and be actually able to do, are same qualitatively; the degree, however, may be difference. In both cases, the intention is same and they will attract similar type of the negative energy field to experience, and vice versa. The intention of sucking lemon or actually do sucking brings similar reaction in our living mechanism; the mind assumes both phenomena as same.

Alternatively speaking, the result is the attribute of time. It is sometime in future and it is not sure that will happen as we desired. Hence, the result oriented perception do not bring the peace in doer as it chases away from the present. On the contrary, the attributes like happiness, peace and the satisfaction are in NOW and same is the intention, so they vibrate same plane affecting each other. Fortunately, this perception, attaching with the intention and effort rather than result, brings a relief leading to peace.

What do you think?

Technorati Tags: Intention,Law of Attraction,Art of Living

Lucid Dream to Yoga Nidra: Entering into the Dreams

2009-04-02T16:51:00.001+09:00

We normally spend one third of our life time in sleeping and almost half of it in dreaming. If a person lives for 60 years, s/he spends 20 years in sleeping and 10 years in dreaming. Then, how can we neglect what is happening during that long period! Dream, therefore, has been topic of speculation and interest for human race throughout time immemorial. Although the biological purpose and the causes of dream are not fully understood, it has attracted every culture with its own belief and interpretation. For psychologists, oneirologists and those who are interested in spiritual ascension, dream is useful tool to understand who actually am I in the deep subconscious level. From the nature of the dream, it is believed to identify the gross egoic body; the personality and the emotional motives hidden beneath the ‘dark’ layer.

(Photo courtesy)

What is Dream?

Perhaps, the most ancient explanation on dream is in Patanjali’s yogasutra. It says, our consciousness travels through four difference planes; turiya (total subjective awareness), ordinary conscious (day to day awaken state), dream (subconscious) or the sushupti (unconscious). Among these levels, the dream represents the subconscious and astral journey of consciousness. The degree of consciousness in dream is very low, and in general the notion of I is totally identified with the chitta (mind-emotion pattern). There are literally innumerable discussion and interpretation on dream and are often controversial too. However, in this post I am sharing the perception based on my observation.

Type of Dreams

Generally, the dream can be classified in three groups. Mind based, emotional based and the existential based. The nature of mind based dream are very fluidic. They are very illogical, random, irrational and uncoordinated. They often appear as the parts of unrelated ‘events’ forming a chain, and sometimes be simulated externally. Perhaps, they are meant to natural washout the junk we collect everyday.

Emotion based dreams are very meaningful in psychology. They generally reflect the ‘personality’ we have created since our childhood and often are repetitive in nature. Continuously suppressed emotion, unfulfilled desires, personal aspiration- are the main causes behind this dream. Dream of Flying, swimming, trying to cross river, lost of way/friends and wandering alone in jungle, sense of fear and being chased by someone, riding animals etc. fall under this category. The contents of this dream, help to discover our ‘personality’; what we have collected and dumped in deep subconscious levels with the course of time.

Existential based dreams are rarely dreamt and are quite intuitive too. Although we may not link any logic with them, they cause unknown but unforgettable sensation and, in deep inside, we are convinced that they are trying to deliver some messages. If something happen to those who are very near to us emotionally, from the level of existence (as we are linked in this plane), the signal of empathy passes into us. At this level, consciousness can travel without the boundary of space and time, and leaves us few drops to taste. The sense of déjà vu, vision of unknown events yet to happen, are few examples of it. (see this link Osho discourse on "The Inward Revolution - The Psychology of the Esoteric who like to explore the esoteric aspects of dream in detail). The second and the third type of dreams are meaningful to us; second reflects who are we and the third delivers the message what is happening.

My Experiment with Dream

Generally we are unaware of US in dream, thus totally identifying with the happening in dream. However, once a while, we all can identify that we are dreaming and thus be able to dissociate with the events there. I have found myself a lucid dreamer, many time I identify the dream as dream and guide the course of dream too (it is funny). Once you know you are dreaming, you have total control in it, as you are now the director of the movie. In lucid dreaming, consciousness is in faint state; if it becomes dimmer, ordinary dream happens, and if the consciousness becomes stronger, dreaming is no longer possible (we wake up). I found lucid dreaming as a healing tool, and try to be watchfulness while lucid dreaming. hehe.. Beyond the lucid dream, there is yoganidra (yogic sleep) where we can consciously enter to, be in and exist from the dream. Here, the sense of ME is present during the entire situation, and this experiment happens to me recently. When I started to sleep and gradually let-go the thoughts, I suddenly knew that am entering to the dream, and became aware of ME rather than the dream contents. Once I was aware of ME, I did not feel any pain and reactive emotions even in travelling across the fire, submerge into ocean, or being attacked by beasts (rather was curious passing through them), which could otherwise be nightmare. Especially the experience in the transition time (entering time and the exiting time) is very thrilling, peculiar (not pleasurable though!) and involvement of change in energy flow pattern. The observation of the astral travel in dream gave the great relief, unusual freedom and the interesting perception about mind-emotion mechanism. However, to live with that understanding and translate it for ‘day to day awaken’ state is still difficult.

What do you think?

Do you have similar observations?

Technorati Tags: Dream,Mystica,Esoteric,Yoganidra

The Zen Sage and Thieves : Way of Master

2009-03-24T12:05:00.001+09:00

Sages are difficult to predict as there is no conditioned mind with them. The common psychology often fails. Sometimes you go with praises and windup with 'angry' responses. Other times, you mess up with condemnation and get bless in return. I have heard about such peculiar Zen masters. Once a student came to ask the suitable technique him to follow. The master looked into his eyes and, all of sudden, caught him on arm and threw out of window from the first storey to ground. It caused serious physical injury but provided other understandings (known only to the student !?). Here, I am sharing an instance of another Zen sage who had diametrically opposite response. The exquisite story goes like this:

Photo courtesy

It is said of one Zen master, one Zen sage.... He lived in a small hut three or four miles outside a village. One night he found that a thief had entered his hut. He was very much disturbed, because there was nothing in the house, and this thief had traveled for three or four miles in the night and he would have to go back empty-handed. The sage started weeping and crying. The thief also became concerned. He said, "What has happened? Why are you crying so much? Are you disturbed that I may take something from your hut?"

The sage said, "No, that is not the thing, I am disturbed because there is nothing here. At least you could have been a little more gentlemanly, you could have informed me before; I would have arranged something for you to steal. There is nothing – what will you think of me? And this is such an honor, that you traveled three or four miles in this night, this cold night, to come to my hut. No one has given such an honor to me before. I am just a beggar and you have made me a king, just by the idea that something can be stolen from me. And there is nothing, so I am crying. So what should I do now? You can take my blanket."

He had only one blanket, otherwise he was naked, just under his blanket he was naked. And the night was very cold. He said to the thief, "Please have some compassion on me and don’t say no, because I have nothing else to give to you. Take this blanket, and whenever you again think of visiting, just send a hint. I am poor, but still I will arrange something."

The thief could not understand what was happening, but he saw the man crying and weeping so he took compassion on him; he couldn’t say no. He took the blanket and disappeared. And that night this Zen monk wrote a small haiku, in which he said... he was sitting still at his window, the night was cool, cold, the full moon was in the sky, and he says in his haiku:

God

if I could give this moon

to that thief....

This is the mind of a sage, or, the no-mind. With this same sage, again another thief happened to come to his hut. He was writing a letter, so he looked at the thief and said,

"For what have you come? What do you want?"

And this sage was so innocent that even the thief couldn’t tell a lie. So he said, "Looking at you, so mirror like, so innocent like a child, I cannot tell a lie. Should I tell the truth?"

The sage said, "Yes."

He said, "I have come to steal something."

The sage said, "There in that corner I have got a few rupees. You can take them" – and then he started to write his letter again.

The thief took the money, was trying to go out, and then the sage said, "Stop! When somebody gives you something you should thank him. The money may not be of much help, but thanking a person will go a long way and will be of help to you. So thank me!" The thief thanked him and disappeared into the dark.

Later on the thief was caught, and it was discovered that he had been to this sage’s hut also, so the sage was called to the court. The sage said, "Yes, I know this man very well – but he has never stolen anything from me. I gave him some rupees and he thanked me for them. It is finished, it was nothing wrong. The whole thing is finished, the account is closed. I gave him some money and he thanked me for it. He is not a thief."

This mind, or no-mind, of a sage is the base.

------------Love reference- Osho: Vedanta - Seven Steps to Samadhi

While writing this, I remembered a poetic piece:

किरणोका कोइ देश नही,
वायुका कोइ गाँव नही,
और, सन्तोंका कोइ विचार नही

( Rays are NOT of any world

Breeze is NOT of any country

and, sages are of NO thoughts )

What do you think?

Technorati Tags: Way of masters,peculiar zen sages

Law of Attraction: Is it Boon or Making Us Victim?

2009-03-19T11:57:00.014+09:00

What is Law of Attraction?

Law of attraction (LoA) simply says: the physical reality in our life is result of our intense thoughts. The foundation of LoA lies on notion that every entity, including the gross matter, in the universe is a bundle of vibrating energy, and the like vibrational frequencies are attracted each other in a way a radio tunes the resonating frequency. It means people's thoughts (both conscious and unconscious) dictate the reality of their lives, whether or not they're aware of it. Essentially,

If you really want something and truly believe it's possible, you'll get it. On the contrary, putting a lot of attention and thought onto something you don't want means you'll probably get that too.

Thus, it says, what you are now is the result of your thoughts generated in the past.

Is LoA Real?

Well, the LoA has attacked the wide circles of people with its controversial claims. The self-help circle and the behavior scientist are in its favor, while the main stream physicists and the medical personnel criticize its claim in the light of existing experimental facts. However, the controversy seems to be the explanation of its claims rather than the claim itself. Whatever the case, most people convince on the fact that:

Changing our thinking 'may not' changes out in the vast universe surrounding us. However, it does change something inside of us; our perception, your focus, our emotions and our thinking from negative to positive. It motivates us to narrow the gap between what we lack to what we want and has an enormous impact on our motivation, energy and creativity, and thus, we will then be more efficient getting our goal.

In spite of lack of objective proof, our experience and broader perspective needs little proof for its existence. More over, the unproven facts can not be always false in first place. The power of observation also develops gradually. The law gravity has always been there even though it was not proved until the 17th century. As I gather from quantum mechanics, LoA is partially proven. QM says every matters is bundle of wave with its unique frequency and like frequency get tuned. The controversy is whether thought is form of measurable energy and can 'attract' the similar one. There is benefit of doubt for both side. Whatever you like, upto you :-).

How LoA not Gives the Favorite Outcome?

By the same principle it attracts what we want, it also attracts what we worry about. When we worry continuously about the failure of our attempts and the future outcome, the universes reads the worried signal being transmitted. Since the universe has no biasness, it gives the added worriedness back to us and thus there is vicious circle created. Still worse, if we know the LoA, we will try to avoid the negative thoughts popping in the mind. Our very knowing, 'I should not be worry', will create more worriedness as negation is the invitation. As a result , there is more likelihood of getting the unwanted outcome.

More importantly, the knowledge of LoA may create the craving of positive thoughts and aversion of negative thoughts, which are the hindrance to the ascension. Unless we have the total acceptance of the negative/darker aspects, they will not come the surface and impossible to release them. Thus if we do not know the antidote of the thoughts, likelihood of becoming victim of the very knowledge is always there. What happen if we give the sharp sword to a monkey?

The Incomplete Explanation of LoA by Mainstream Teachers

The LoA is not a new concepts. The law of Karma and Jesus quote "Ask thy will be given" are related with this notion. However, the well documented form of LoA is in Buddha's technique. The LoA is related to the 'Samyak Sankalp', an ingredient of eightfold path. It mentions that our life realities are directed by our intense bhav (intentive emotion). Although the mainstream gurus often motioned that LoA originated from there, their explanation has made this a mediocre principle, focusing on the intentive thought (rather than bhav) for the realities to happen. It seems that LoA is being explained and taught by the people who do not have taste of thoughtlessness or total Presence. In thoughtless state how the LoA works or is there feeling without thought, I do not know their answer. This explanation may hinder the spiritual ascension too. Explicitly, it motivates to intensely identify with the thoughts and the vision which you like to realize. This way, though works to generate what you want, keeps us away from the true nature and farther away from the state of peace. Therefore, Buddha has given the antidote to de-energizing the thoughts in another ingredient of eightfold path, Tathata (accept what you feeling). Even if there is no thoughts, the subsiding bhavs (love, compassion or Maitri) always attract the like frequency.

Can We Put LoA in Our Favor?

If you go to fight you should first know the defense techniques. So first practice the art of Tathata before consciously applying the LoA. We may have following steps.

If we have nothing special to do, be in Now. Invest more of our energy in feeling the bodily sensations and beyond. The chain of thoughts (positive or negative) if come forwards, surrender them to inner space.
It is never possible not to do anything. We have to make choices, have to fulfill our daily responsibility, and of course they are are enjoyable too. Generate and focus on the giving-based emotion rather than greed-based emotion. Put our energy in the positive efforts. Share the ideas with the friends circle get the feedback and draw more energy.
Whatever the result obtained, accept it as the best gift provided to us according to the present stage of evolution.

In that way we may not gather 'tons' on money, but what we generate is satisfactory to us. Whatever the case, the LOA is always working in background.

What are your observation?

Technorati Tags: Law of attraction,Eightfold paths,Art of Living

Love References:

The Best Spiritual Teachers

2009-03-12T19:57:00.002+09:00

From the title itself you may be guessing that the contents of this post incline to the famous Gurus, new age spiritual teachers or such enlightened mystics who have been guiding seeker to self discovery. Wait! I do write here about the ‘enlightened’ teachers, not necessarily the human one though. If we keep eye open to wider perspective, there are many bewildering ‘lessons’ around us and some of them are really ‘enlightened’ in their own way. From the ancient time, these have been the inspiration to all, and nobody can just pass them without stumbling. Let me underscore them.

1. Flower

No body left un-tempted when passing through flowers. they are source of creative activities to the artists, gift to the beloved one and worship to 'god'. To be transformed into flower from a tiny seed, is indeed, the most precious gift from a plant back to universe. Bringing a vivid picture of a blooming flower surpasses all the poetic expression of beauty, delicacy, purity and serenity. The link of flower to the spirituality also goes back to human early time of civilization, and Flower is reported to be the spiritual master for the self-realization of Mahakashyap the originator of ZEN. The juicy story goes like this:

Once, the emperor of that time, Prasenjita has come to offer Gautam Buddha some flowers out of season, with a great philosopher (Maulingaputta), whom Prasenjita has up to now believed to be his teacher. Prasenjita introduced his teacher, Maulingaputta, and said to Gautam Buddha,

"I offer my gratitude that you are staying in my kingdom; just let me know if anything is needed by the great assembly of monks. One thing more I ask you: I have brought my teacher, Maulingaputta, and he has come with his five hundred followers. He is a great philosopher, a man of tremendous knowledge, very articulate in discussing things. I pray to you to give him a chance to discuss ultimate problems with you.”

Gautam Buddha turned to Maulingaputta and said, ”I am ready. But are you ready?”

Maulingaputta could not understand what readiness was needed.

Gautam Buddha said, ”Readiness means, are you capable of being silent, utterly silent, not a single thought passing through your mind?”

He said, ”Thought is my life, I am a thinker; philosophy is my profession. All that I know about mind is that it is a thinking process. Beyond that I don’t know any silence you are talking about.”

Then Buddha said, ”You are not ready. And it will be a very strange conversation. From the hilltop I will be shouting to you, and from the dark valleys you will be answering me – without understanding me. So first, let us come to a point where our consciousness are at the same level.”

It was convincing, and even Prasenjita said, ”Gautam Buddha is right. But what is to be done?”

Gautam Buddha said, ”Nothing has to be done. Just sit silently by my side for two years. Many people will come and go, and ask – you don’t bother about anything. Your work is simply to watch and be silent. Not a single word for two years.”

At this moment Mahakashyapa, sitting under a tree, started laughing hysterically, could not manage... The whole assembly was shocked – they had never heard him even speak, he did not speak to anybody. You might say something, he would not answer; he would not take note of anybody. People had accepted him as a strange fellow. But what happened? Suddenly, out of nowhere... And he laughed, such beautiful laughter, resounding in that silence of the assembly.

Maulingaputta said, ”Why is your disciple laughing?”

Buddha said, ”You can ask him yourself.”

This is the only mention of Mahakashyapa in Buddhist scripture.

Mahakashyapa said, ”I am laughing because this fellow (Buddha) is tricky. He tricked me also, in the same way he is trying it on you. But now he has become old, so he is saying only two years; I had to remain silent for twenty years. If you really want to ask the questions, ask now. After two years it will be too late.”

And when Prasenjita offered flowers, Buddha called Mahakashyapa and gave those flowers to him. And he said, ”What could be said through words, I have said to everybody. What could not be said through words, but only through silence, I have imparted to Mahakashyapa.”

This presence of the flower become the final kick to the Mahakashyap and become his master.

................from Nansen the Turning point ( Osho discourse on Zen master)

The flower are delivering the message: Bloom dear Bloom!!

2. Next comes the Stones and crystals.

If you see the ordinary rock, what could be heavier, more im-penetratable and denser than it?And,yet,see some of them has great 'courage' to transform into crystals, and become transparent to the light. A mass of 'dirty coal', under inconceivable heat and pressure, transforms into diamonds, and some heavy minerals into other precious stones. What a fascinating and enlightening pursuits! Among them the mysterious paras (philosopher-stone) has the alchemic capability to convert iron to gold. These are the 'gurus' of many sufi fellows, being the source transmuting inspiration. These 'enlightened' rocks are whispering - Transform! Transform! and Be transparent !!

3. Flying Birds

Most reptile creature go on crawling from million years back. They are still remaining unchanged and destined to be most earthbound. However, some refused to crawl any longer and desired for feathers and wings and hence turned into birds, defying the force of gravity that had held them for so long. They didn’t become better at crawling or walking, but transcended crawling and walking entirely. What do you feel when you observe a wild swan flying in the sky!. The story of Jonathan Livingstone Seagull always makes me into tears. The little seagull refuses the tradition of other folk. For them to fly means only to accumulate the food. He seeks larger meaning in flying and learnt the ultimate flying skill, the skill by which he can fly surpassing all the boudary of space and time.

The flying wild swan became the master of Ramkrishna (master of Vivekananda). One day he was in the park observing the setting sun. Suddenly a flock of wild swan came from nowhere and flew across the golden sky. And synchronicity happen inside. He closed his eye and flew wildly in the inner sky and disappeared there!

What they sing: Fly! Dear Fly! why are you satisfying in the earth nook.

4. Finally The Butterfly.

What is the more bewildering story of metamorphosis than that of butterflies'. In a short life span, a tiny egg gives a hungry caterpillar. After his boring eating habit, he pursuits for the higher meaning and enters into 'silence'. When the efforts ripen, a flying butterfly with amazing color mixture born out.

What they are murmuring: Transmute yourself! you are not born for earth-bound and hunger!

What do you feel? Are not they giving a 'kicking' message??

Technorati Tags: Fly,Transformation

Jalauddin Rumi and His disciples

2009-03-05T14:50:00.000+09:00

Dear friends, I am introducing a section called “way of masters”, in which the inspiring stories and instances with spiritual teachers will be described. Way and character of masters is very difficult to predict. Superficially some seem to be quite harsh (like some of the Zen Masters) and others contrastingly soft and kind. They love to teach their students from the everyday life and environment rather than the sutra in the Holy books. Here is one instances with famous sufi mystic and poet Jalaluddin Rumi.

One day Jalaluddin Rumi took all his students, disciples and devotees to a field. That was his way to teach them things of the beyond, through the examples of the world. He was not a theoretician, he was a very practical man. The disciples were thinking, “What could be the message, going to that far away field... and why can’t he say it here?”

But when they reached the field, they understood that they were wrong and he was right. The farmer seemed to be almost an insane man. He was digging a well in the field – and he had already dug eight incomplete wells. He would go a few feet and then he would find that there was no water. Then he would start digging another well... and the same story was continued. He had destroyed the whole field and he had not yet found water.

The master, Jalaluddin Rumi, told his disciples, “Can you understand something? If this man had been total and had put his whole energy into only one well, he would have reached to the deepest sources of water long ago. But the way he is going he will destroy the whole field and he will ever be able to make a single well. With so much effort he is simply destroying his own land, and getting more and more frustrated, disappointed: what kind of a desert has he purchased?

It is not a desert, but one has to go deep to find the sources of water.”

He turned to his disciples and asked them, “Are you going to follow this insane farmer? Sometimes on one path, sometimes on another path, sometimes listening to one, sometimes listening to another... you will collect much knowledge, but all that knowledge is simply junk, because it is not going to give you the enlightenment you were looking for. It is not going to lead you to the waters of eternal life.”

--------------From Osho Discourses

In my case also I had dug lot of well here and there. Many things appeal simultaneously, energy got dispersed and getting none....:-)

What are your observations and experiences?

Technorati Tags: Sufi Masters,Spirituality

Understanding the EGO; Right Remembrance

2009-02-28T17:24:00.004+09:00

EGO is perhaps the most commonly used term in psychology and spirituality, and is rarely understood (at least for me). The reason is- either it is too difficult and messy term, or our difficult and messy approach to know too simple term, I do not know. When i ponder about it, many time i bungle with it. Let us come closer to this term

First, see what dictionary says about ego:

The “I” or self of any person; a person as thinking, feeling, and willing, and distinguishing itself from the selves of others and from objects of its thought.
In psychoanalysis, the division of the psyche that is conscious, most immediately controls thought and behavior, and is most in touch with external reality. (dictionary.com)

The limitation with these definitions is - they hardly point beyond EGO. They know what ego is, but do not imply how to transcend it. Everything get mixed and grabbed by ego itself. Therefore psychologists often need their personal psychologist to understand their respective egos.

Try the existential definition:

It is association of I (rather than the 'I' itself) with FORMs (I like the term used by Eckhart Tolle); the body-mind-emotion composition which Buddha says the impermanence nature, i.e, ego is the identification of I with the bundle of thoughts leading to sense of separation of ME from OTHERS. This bundle makes cloud covering the bright sun of who I am.

Feeling of superiority is EGO: It is most commonly understood form. If someone feels himself special or superior in contrast to other, it is ego. However, a very shy person having sense of inferiority or humbleness is also 'egotist'. In either case, there is false identification of I.
Body Attachment is ego: A beauty queen who is proud of her body is egotist and same is the ugly person who condemn himself.
Carried away by thought- is ego: Any events and the associated emotions which carry us away with incessant thought, means we are captured by ego.
Greediness is ego: A greedy person who contract himself from other by not leaking anything, even to needy one, is an egotist person. However, a kind and generous behavior out-coming from 'morality and ethics', rather than spontaneity, is also not untouched with ego.
.Wanting attention is ego: We bloggers often get captured with ego by identifying us with our post. The symptoms are: feeling possessiveness of them, 'wanting' the attention and comments from others, comparing our success in terms of number of pages we posted and visitor it attracts, and finally our writings are guided by these factors. Getting attention and love from many people is always good, but what guides us- value or the desire of drawing attention?

Why EGO is the root of suffering?

It is attached with forms which are impermanence in nature. As soon as the medium it attached-with vanishes, it is obliged to search new one. This process is on and on and destined to be the chaos. So the ego is never at rest as it always in threat of being loss. It never carries peace. Ego and happiness/peace are mutually exclusive terms.

What can we do?

The above stuff does not imply that we should not take care of body, money, thoughts or whatever we are possessing. Let us go for them according to our need. Whenever they are with us enjoy them with knowing their true weight. But problem arises expecting apple from the orange tree. We guide the FORMs or they guide us?

Fighting with ego and trying to getting rid of it, is also another ego. It does not work.The binding 'ethics, morality and principle' may be helpful in keeping law & order and 'social improvement', but one should go beyond this subtle ego to know the I . The opposite of EGO is, not humbleness, but to be present here and now, i.e. the watchful state. Or more easier way is- to get attached with FORMLESS being or with awareness itself, or the background where these phenomena are occurring. In spirituality, there are two ways to know the truth (I am). One is be watchful with the impermanence nature of FORM and experience the ANATTA (essence of Buddha's teaching and now a days Goenka and Adyashanti teaches the path). If all the FORMs get shattered down what remains is the pure consciousness. It is the way of meditation. The another is- to be attached with the FORMLESS being within and surrender to it. Gradually, the FORMLESS essence comes forward dissolving the FORM. It is the way of devotion(the essence of Nanak and Kabir). Osho has wonderfully guided the seekers by both ways.

I feel easy to be attached with the AWARENESS itself, but many time the FORM steals me away. A funny game of hide and seek...

What are your observation? In which way you fit?

Technorati Tags: ego,spirituality,awareness

Road Map for Spiritual Journey

2009-02-22T23:37:00.005+09:00

The existence has propelled the human being at the peak of unconscious evolution providing the unique capacity to be aware of awareness. From here the journey within possible. In context of evolution of consciousness, human being is on the mid-way where he can understand the purpose of evolution and accelerate it if he desire so. This evolution- call it conscious revolution - that human follows is of mind/understanding, and not restricted by time and space factor, rather by the determination. However, unlike in the outer journey where the path and goal are well formulated, inner journey has vague roadmap. The way is discovered during the journey itself and the ‘goal’ changes very often.

Consciousness is desperately seeking to reach its ultimate point – to experience its true quality – the state of Nirvana. Many people mention different ways. Each seeker has to invent his own way. Though the path is unique, the stumbling points/signposts can be underlined. The esoteric aspects mentioned in the followings paragraphs are disclosed by the beloved Masters Osho Siddhartha (leading master of Oshodhara) and Osho himself.

(1) The Base Point-Human collective consciousness:

It is where most of the population is living. People are running outside to collect more (money, power, knowledge, attention..) for their meaningful living. This is state of chaos moving in a close circle. Generation after generation similar pattern continues.

(2) In Search of scripture-

People, some stage, recognize that it is impossible to fulfill the desire being chased: we can not acquire all the money, health, power that is desired. If ever acquired, it proved to be a fleeting experience. Others are always ahead. It seems that there is limitation in everything. Alarmingly the queue to deathbed is becoming shorter. What to do? Go to church/temple to find bless. Read scripture for getting better understanding on living. Here the many journeys set back. They become ‘religious’ and stick with particular ideology not creating tolerance among other. The collective ego often leads to war.

(3) Looking unto oneself

People aware that the GOD is neither in ‘temple’ nor in ‘bible’; they are actually the ashes of fire once burnt. It seem that they are pointing to read own ‘bible’, to discover godliness within. At this stage people may arrive for different purposes (Deepak Chopra says, he came across meditation in the way to get rid of smoking. S.N. Goenka admits he stumbled with Vipassana on the way to curing his chronic disease). Then, the seeker discovers many thing within: bubbles of thoughts appearing and disappearing ceaselessly with no reason apparently, the link between the events and the habit pattern of reacting them and much more.. Most importantly s/he become aware of power of mind. From here two distinct branches are observed. First is the the path of concentration leading to to achieve awesome art- psychic power, siddhis, mind power, hypnotism, occult art etc. This path if not followed with alert, may strengthen the ego. Hence many masters often discourage in pursuing these art. They are merely side-stuff in the journey. Here is on incident as shared by Osho Siddhartha.

…There was a great sage named Janaki baba. He loved me probably more than any father could love his child. Practically every month he visited me and my family. He had a yakshini Siddhi. He could get anything just by getting his hands in the air. Whenever I asked him for sweets or dry fruits, instantly he used to provide. As a child, I asked him many times to teach me this great art, so that I can influence my friends. But every time he refused to do so by telling me that I have been sent to this earth for a much bigger role and asked me not to indulge in these trifles…

And, th next is the start of journey of meditation, the way to unfocused awareness.

(4) Meeting with Living Master

When a seeker close his eye and tries to meditate many thing hinder him. Happiness/peace is said to be within, but where is it! There is just darkness with unceasing bubbles of thoughts and emotions. He find impossible to win mind. It becomes the analogy of treating oneself by reading medical journal rather than consulting with doctor. The prolonging thirst finally lead to the Living master, the doctor. Without living master, it is almost ‘impossible’ to find the the essence. The rare masters who found, also repeatedly advise to seek the one. Because with his presence, faith emerges, confidence grows and two-way communication is possible. He understands the seeker from core. Master introduces with the godliness within. The Devine love affair starts.

(5) Self realization:

When a seeker is introduced with GODLINESS within from the master and follows dedicately the shown path (selected path fit to oneself), sooner or later the total surrender or the experience of dissolving ego happens. It is termed as enlightenment, satory, pramhamsa etc.

Kabir says- Bund samaya samud me (drop disappeared to ocean).
Osho says- Oceanic experience.
Nanak says- Ek Omkar satnam (Truth is Omkar)
Jesus say - Kingdom of my father

From this stage, the seeker live in the remembrance GODLINESS. The seeker is showered by the unconditional peace. From the state self realization, a person if want rebirth, can select his/her parents and womb.

6) Cosmic Experience or Brahma Gyan:

The journey from self realization is very esoteric. One can realize there is no separation with others. Neither there is supreme GOD who is governing the universe. Everything happens in own choice. Osho mentions these phenomena in his discourse in BEYOND ENLIGHTENMENT. Even after this state, the rebirth is possible (which generally happens out of great compassion). Consciousness can stay here as long as desired and great Avatars generally descend from this dimension. At this plane, seeker may contact the 'esoteric groups' from centuries-back helping others.

7) Nirvana:

This is the ultimate state. From here no rebirth is possible. Osho says it: THIS, THIS and THOUSAND TIMES THIS. Nothing can be said.

Hehe little off-track stuffs, isnot it?

Rekindling the Divine Love: Letter from The Master

2009-02-13T15:45:00.009+09:00

On the Eve of Valentine day, I am very pleased to post a letter, representing the divine romance; the romance between the Guru and seeker. Following is the letter written by Osho to his close friend and a seeker (implicitly the receiver seems to be Haribansh R. Bachchan). Bachchan was a gifted poet full of 'sufi' quality. When he finished writing, his all time famous poem Madhushala (meaning- the place where the divine wine are drunk), he ran all the way from his home to Osho to show his poem. He offered, "Dear one, I wrote a poem, please have a look."

Osho looked the contents of the book, tear filled in his eye. He gazed back to Bachchan and replied.

" O! dear I am happy, it is certainly the master piece. But my tear came for different reason. How perfect it would have been, if the word had came 'the poem was written' instead of ' I wrote the poem' ".

Then Bachchan awestruck back. How lovingly a master guides the seeker to the direction of growth!

The following poem is, however, of different context indicating how master also longs for the true seeker. There is fire on both side. Here goes the poem.

photo courtesy

Love.
Can two persons ever meet?
It is just not possible on this earth,
communication seems impossible
-- but at times the impossible happens.

The other day it did. Being with you,
I felt meeting IS possible,
and also communication,
and without words, too.
Your tears answered me.
I am deeply grateful for those tears.
Such response is very rare.

I have seen your Madhushala,
seen it again and again.
If I could sing
I would sing the same song that is there.
I call that sannyas the real sannyas
which accepts the world with joy.

Aren't samsara and moksha really one?
Duality exists in ignorance,
in knowledge there is only one.
Oh, can that really be religion
which cannot sing and dance
the songs of bliss and love?

P.S.
I hear you are due to come here.
Come, and come soon.
Who can trust time --
Look -- it is morning and the sun rises;
how long will it be before it sets?
.........From a cup of Tea.........

Six Reasons - Why human is NOT evolved being

2009-02-08T23:00:00.020+09:00

Human race is supposed to be highly evolved one; very intelligent, secure and exercising greater freedom. Aham! However I doubt. It seems that though human arrive at the crest of unconscious evolution propelled by the nature ( I do not know but the smart guy, Darwin says ), we are at the trough of the conscious revolution. How to measure the quality of human? There is one proverb in Japanese- hana ga iro-hito ga kokoro (Flower is tested by color and human by heart). Centuries passed, our head has expanded to bigger one but heart? The sense of greed, hatred, revenge are becoming less or same with the advance of time?

The behavioral pattern of human has remained always same. Think what drives our actions; intelligence, judgment or heart? Wait, there is more primitive trait hidden within. Our behavior in great extent is driven by the primitive motives; the sense of pleasure or craving of pleasant sensations (which has nothing to do with intelligence or judgment) and we build up habit according to it. Do not you believe? See some points which we are living with collective acceptance.

We smoke tobacco to ENJOY.

Health? I will see later, pleasure is first. Even the doctor's serious warning can not divorce it with us. The advising doctor takes a smoking break. Our government encourage to install tobacco factory as it provide large amount of tax.

We drink till we loose our awareness.

The staggering person advices to novice one the benefit of controlled amount of drink. The person who does not drink is supposed to be unknown how to enjoy life.

We kill animal for our celebration and party rather than our urgent need.

We have varities of meat in our party. What about our cosmetics? Our hobby is fishing and hunting, funny. In some traditions, hunting is supposed to be civilized activities belonging to elite class people.

We do not steal because there is fear of getting caught, not because it will hurt someone.

If you ever had temptation to steal or possess someone else's, what would resist you? Fear of getting caught which ultimately is matter of prestige ? or the sense of damage and sympathy of hurt that will cause? If there is total safe, then.....why our government officer/leaders/judges are corrupting? Many people ponder why every leader becomes the victim of corruption. The person struggle years against corruption become corrupting when s/she aquire the post, why? Because s/he didnot steal due to fear. Their post gives the leverage of not getting caught.

We sleep extra hours even if it makes us lazier and less fit. In the end we always found the extra slept hours regretting.

We suppose ourselves mindful person, but do we know the mind exist?

We clean our body daily. Protect it from dirt carefully. Do we know how mind get polluted? We feed junk and unhealthy thoughts to our mind ceaselessly from media, newspaper, Internet and what not! We release these junks in our expression, writings and chat. Do we know how to clean and service the mind?

Funny isnot it? what do you think?
Put in the list if any..

Destiny or Freewill?

2009-02-04T23:22:00.014+09:00

One of my fellow blogger has put one interesting topic on freewill and destiny in his blog. Regarding to the 'free will' and 'destiny', there are different schools of thought (i) Almost everything is predestined, very little is in our control, (ii) some part is predestined but in great extent, there is freewill (iii) everything is freewill. The freewill and the destiny are the relative realities at different reference plane. Human lives in three planes; body, mind and existential. At the body level, the degree of consciousness is very low and so is the freewill. If we seek the motives of bodily actions, we will grasp mind and imagination plane, where the degree of freedom is high, but not total freedom. If we go deeper beyond the mind, conscious/subconscious where the bubbles of thoughts rise and sink, there is existential level or the level of being. At that level, I believe, the total freedom be witnessed. In existential plane, what we call destiny is also found to be our collective choice as there is oneness. In lower levels, these are understood as destiny, as we feel ourselves as separate entity hence cannot be able to link the choice we collectively made.

Most of the psychologists, behaviorists and psychoanalysts project the deepest human level unto subconscious level. Beyond that, the observation is not possible; the observer simply remains unobserved. So at that level, the result they concluded free-will as "... biological clock-work that have no more free will than a Swiss watch" is not much surprising.

So i think, we deduce the meaning of observation according to the plane where we are. What do you think?

Free will: the power to choose

2009-01-30T23:40:00.010+09:00

I was thinking to write on different topic. However, due to interesting discussions on the previous post contributed by my friends, I lured to extend the topic a bit more. Rather than trying to ‘answer’ the curiosity which I may not do, I am just holding the topic more. As pointed in the discussion, we found us as the victims of reactive mind. We generally can’t grasp the gap between the stimulus and the response, which is the greatest power- freedom to choose. As soon as we receive events as sensations, there is built-in reaction pattern to respond. Therefore we often lack to witness the 'free will'.

Firstly, there arose the concern about 'events' and life. In ordinary sense, the term events in “life is more important than events” was meant to those particular events which are still binding us, whose negative impacts burden us physically and mentally. We many times create a boundary (emotional, personal and social) because of those events happened in the past.

In general sense, as Caroline wrote “Every event in our life is neutral...until we give it meaning". Our 'life', the way we feel, is not accumulation of events. Rather it is the accumulation of meaning associated with the events. See how a single event carries so many different meanings to different people, sometimes diametrically opposite impact to the different observers. Each event consists of three parts- fact, fiction and truth. Fact is the objective observation, fiction is the unconscious reactive pattern and the truth is the understanding in a direction of growth. So, can we deduce positive meaning with events? Although it is very difficult not to generate fiction in the every events in our life, if we watch carefully, we can do in most of the cases in our everyday life. Getting accustomed to the ‘small’ events we can be master to the difficult events. Even the term ‘attainment’ also comes, as I believe, in terms of collective understanding of the events.

Lastly I like to conclude with very inspiring story, which I always love, of Viktor Franlin who practice the freedom in very adverse environment. I quote the following portion of Franlin's biography from book seven habits of highly effective people. Enjoy if you have not already gone through.

Frankl was a psychiatrist and imprisoned in the death camps of Nazi Germany,　where he experienced things that were so repugnant to our sense of decency that we shudder to even　repeat them. His parents, his brother, and his wife died in the camps or were sent to the gas ovens. Except for his sister, his entire family perished. Frankl himself suffered torture and innumerable indignities,　never knowing from one moment to the next if his path would lead to the ovens or if he would be among the "saved" who would remove the bodies or shovel out the ashes of those so fated.

One day, naked and alone in a small room, he began to become aware of what he later called "the last of the human freedoms" -- the freedom his Nazi captors could not take away. They could control his entire environment, they could do what they wanted to his body, but Viktor Frankl himself was a self-aware being who could look as an observer at his very involvement. His basic identity was intact. He could decide within himself how all of this was going to affect him. Between what happened to him, or the stimulus, and his response to it, was his freedom or power to choose that response.

In the midst of his experiences, Frankl would project himself into different circumstances, such as lecturing to his students after his release from the death camps. He would describe himself in the classroom, in his mind's eye, and give his students the lessons he was learning during his very torture. Through a series of such disciplines -- mental, emotional, and moral, principally using memory and imagination -- he exercised his small, embryonic freedom until it grew larger and larger, until he had more freedom than his Nazi captors. They had more liberty, more options to choose from in their environment; but he had more freedom, more internal power to exercise his options. He became aninspiration to those around him, even to some of the guards. Later, he helped others find meaning in their suffering and dignity in their prison existence. In the midst of the most degrading circumstances imaginable, Frankl used the human endowment of self-awareness to discover a fundamental principle about the nature of man: Between stimulus and response, man has the freedom to choose. Within the freedom to choose are those endowments that make us uniquely human. In addition to self-awareness, we have imagination -- the ability to create in our minds beyond our present reality. And, we have independent will, the ability to act based on our self-awareness, free of all other influences.

Art of living: Reading our inner 'Geeta' or samyak dristi

2009-01-28T15:56:00.020+09:00

In one of my earlier post, we came across the phrase 'Reading our own Geeta/Bible/Koran'. It is worthy to read. If a person only reads the outer scriptures and lacks to read his/her own, there is the origin of hypocrisy; we cannot live, or put our energy to live, what we think and desire. There are many examples who only read the inner 'Geeta' and attained the unconditional happiness. But, there is none in human history who only read the outer scriptures and got peace or attained happiness. On contary, When one reads inner scripture, s/he can attain, then there is birth of scriptures. Jesus attained and the Bible born, Buddha attained and the dhammapad born, Muhammad attained and Koran born, and so on. The outer scriptures, in true sense, are the pointer and catalyst aiming to direct us to read our own, the original one.

How to read the own Geeta?

To read own Geeta means to watch own life and living patterns, and identify the causes of (un) happiness. If happiness is within, where exactly is it? Let us take a closer look. The term we know 'life' is a chain of events happening one after another according to their own laws. But what we interpret is little different, it is the fiction we create according to the way of looking. The event happens outside and through our sensor system we receive the signals. When the mind receive the signals in term of vibration of unique frequency, we feel it through the sensations. There is program within us which judges the feelings in term of 'good' and 'bad'. Then there is craving and aversion of respective sensations. This the origin of pain.

Coming to the point

We are happy or sad, not because of external event, but because of the manipulation of that event; the story being added from our side with that event. If we look at our own past and capture the moments of pain which are even re-striking now, what we find the root?

1) The loss of valuable things?

No. There are lot of news about loss everyday but why this particular one is causing me pain. It is my fiction that the lost thing is MINE.

2) Feeling insulted and victim?

We are creating the outer layer to show other. The layer consists of story known as PERSONALITY. If the feeling are not accordance to that layer, the story amplifies the feeling so that it could be able to hurt us.

3) The result didn't happen as we wish?

In the stage of doing work, there is involvement of me only. But for results, there are many combinations to be fulfilled, there is involvement of entire universe. I am claiming that the universe should only favor me. I am the center of universe! how dare I!

4) Put other events and watch..

Is there any way to getting rid of these chains and bundle of frictions? The trap is due the program written unconsciously by ourselves. Let us write own program. Be programmer.

Be Programmer means

A vision free of fiction may be called as Right Paradigm or Samyak Dristi a constituents of eightfold path of Lord Buddha.

For meditation practitioner who are accustomed to watch own feelings, it may be applicable to be at the state of letting-go, recognizing the fact that all the sensations are ephemeral; the essense of vipassana.

However, for the common people, can we rewrite our story or twist our program based upon:

=> Life is more important than events,

=> people are more important than things,

=> principle are more important than relations?

The question is open so is the answer.

Five Delusions of Spiritual Journey.

2009-01-23T23:23:00.004+09:00

Human race has one religion- it is the quest for happiness. Each of our activity is motivated consciously or unconsciously to get better feeling. Even a thief and a murderer rationalize their actions in term of seeking 'happiness'. We have many beliefs to achieve it; wealth, power, knowledge, truth and so on. Among them, it is amazing that power and wealth have never failed to confuse human race as a synonym of happiness. And, this chaos of struggle to achieve more, makes a person machine depleting much of his life energy. However, in this world of discord, there are still few people who believe and seek happiness primarily in recognizing IT within. They may not be 'religious' but are 'spiritual'.

Here is another aspect which always fascinates me. There is no single person in human history who could have ever become happy by searching it outside. Alexander to Einstein, Russel to Shaw, all found emptiness within during their death. One the contrary, there is no single person in human race who ever have tried honestly to seek peace within and failed to achieve so. In spite of this marvelous fact, why the wealth and power always entice us as synonym of happiness? In great extent, so-called religious activities are also aimed to generate more coin and influence.

Why it is so? There are five delusions about spirituality since ages..

1) Spiritual quest is for few excluded person who are gifted and destined to achieve self- realization.
2) How can we do meditation when the world around us is filled with chaos? There was never perfect peace in world nor will be. In this dialectic world new controversies and disputes, physical or mental form, come and go. A sick person is arguing, " I will not take medicine until i will be healthy".
3) Spiritual activities are for older age and retired life. Phew! we lose all our creative energy in other things and hope to happen good thing with exhausted body and mind. Importantly, who knows we will live until our old age.
4) We have no time for meditation.
It is matter of priority. We never say- we have no time to eat, bath and sleep. We don't say-we have no time for busying in nonsense task, spending hours in TV, seeking something in internet to kill our boring. . We somehow manage. See our priority list, spirituality is probably at the last of the menu.
5) Spiritual practice is for elite and wealthy people.
In the medieval time bathing, shaving and tooth-brushing were termed as activities of elite class. It is a cleaning process and in reach to anybody whoever like to do so.

Way of Sufi: wine, beloved and intoxication

2009-01-20T22:10:00.013+09:00

To those people who are guided by heart and understand the language of love, Sufism is wonderful way. There is no philosophy, no debates and no logic behind it. It only talks about love, wine (god bless) and sweet-heart (god), and nothing else.

There was a young guy with thirst of god and determination to realize same. He went to a Sufi guru to learn the art. After listening his wishes, the Sufi master looked tenderly to the seeker and asked.

" Do you know love? Are you in any kind of love, my son?"

He answered, "No I am in search of god. Each time I think about him. I therefore could not be in love with anybody".

The guru looked more concerned.

" Please think deeply, do you have any minor trace of love with anybody; be it women, children, parents, any..?"

" No . I donot think I have love with someone".
Then the master felt sad and eye full of tears.

" My son, I am unable to teach you my way. I only know the art of love. If you had any kind of raw love, I could have channelized it to the way to Beloved, could have made you drink a wine whose intoxication never deplete. Please find someone other for you".

This is the way Sufi. They talk about intoxication, being drunkard, and being with sweet-heart. Taste of Sufism also can be found in Qawwalis. First time when the western thinkers read about the poem Rubaiyat (by Umar Khaiyam), they doubted it having any spiritual quality..

When reading Khayam, Gibran and Rumi, I always feel mystic thrill in the heart..they are so lovely! Here I am presenting a poem by Mawlānā Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī (مولانا جلال الدین محمد بلخى), commanly known as Rumi, a Sufi mystic of 13th century lived in northern Afghanistan(?). This poem is recited by another spiritual teacher Deepak Chopra.

Enjoy!

Living with New-Year-Resolution

2009-01-16T13:55:00.013+09:00

I recall one of my friend's blog titled Never Stop Dreaming. It is very loving phrase indeed. The dream I am not talking about an unconscious wandering of mind. The dream, for me, means a passion and visualization of higher meaning. To live life in fullest. To pour the whole energy consistently in a direction of growing. A motivation not to satisfy in mediocre activities. To listen the music coming from the unknown world and run after it, like a child follow his mother. It has so much to say...

I also have beautiful dream. You also have. In fact every dream is beautiful, otherwise it does not deserve to be a dream. Now look back to ourselves and our dream. Are we living the dream ? There are mixed answers. For me living the dream is not putting of the joy and happiness until the dream fulfils. Dream doesnot means 'some day' after the achieving 'some thing', I will able to enjoy fullest. The truth is that are we decided to be happy now, on the course of achieving it? While the goal provides a magnificent direction and way to focus, I have better try to live each day squeezing all the joy I can tap of in the given moment. .I heard some where a phrase,

“Remember that the direction we are heading is more important than the individual results”. However, it is not too easy as said nor too difficult and serious as people contemplate. It is a game worthy to play

I believe that if we move in particular direction with passion, whatever result we achieve in a way is better than we are pursuing of. Now a question arises, are we in the direction of our dream. To answer the question, read ourselves. It meant to read own handwriting, own Geeta/Kuran/Bible. Reading own Geeta is more important than the others'. Here is a vey loving and passionate poem, Madhushala, composed by Haribansa Ray Bachchan.

धर्मग्रन्थ सब जला चुकी है, जिसके अंतर की ज्वाला,

मंदिर, मसजिद, गिरिजे, सब को तोड़ चुका जो मतवाला,

पंडित, मोमिन, पादिरयों के फंदों को जो काट चुका,

कर सकती है आज उसी का स्वागत मेरी मधुशाला।।१७।

What is our handwriting, our Geeta? How to read?.. Lets discuss..put our views..
To be continued..

Negation is Invitation

2009-01-13T10:50:00.020+09:00

I like to introduce one section called letter from the masters, in which the personal letter from the master to his/her disciple will be included. The letters express themselves how the master cares his/her own disciples, which I like to say a divine romance. Here, I have put a letter from Osho to his disciple. In earlier time, Osho used to send his own hand written letters to the disciples. His letters generally start with salutation LOVE then goes like .......

Love,
I read your letter

on the way here.

It has touched my heart.

If your desire to know life's truth

becomes strong

then what is longing today

becomes one day the attainment.

Burning desire is all that is needed

and nothing else.

As rivers seek out the ocean

so man if he wants to can find the truth.

No peak, no mountain can stop him,

in fact their challenge awakens

his sense of adventure.

Truth is within everyone

Rivers have to find the ocean

but our ocean is inside us

-- it is a wonder that

so many remain thirsty yet without it.

Actually they cannot really want it.

There is a saying of Christ's:

Ask and ye shall be given.

But if you don't ask, whose fault is it?

There is no better bargain than the attainment of God.

We have only to ask, nothing more.

——Letters by Master Osho

Esoteric Journey of a Soul

2009-01-06T19:41:00.006+09:00

Once there was a little soul
Wandering in the heaven
In the fathomless joy
And in the infinite love

Then,
He prayed to the Beloved
O dear! I like to be away
Away from you temporarily
Pretend I am not love and joy
Dream am separated from you
So that when I awake
Would rejoice with newer ecstasy
Would re-taste the fresher love

Then,
He looked around
There were infinite souls
Rambling in bliss
Were so dear like LOVE itself
Not less inferior than him

Then,
The little soul revealed his wish
To those majestic souls
With embarrassing voice
And ask what he could do for them
As he had the yearn for some good
For the inception of new journey

Then,
One majestic soul propose
O dear! We too come to earth
With same wish as thou have
That time we may pretend
Pretend to hurt you
Act to injure you for some reason

That time,
O tiny one!
O our dearest mate!
Forgive us!!
That will be the elegant gift
And the glorious start
The start of new journey

Mean time,
Suddenly I woke up
With piercing sensation in my heart
Could dream be so real?

Then a question resided in me
Am I the little soul ?
The multitudes around me
Are the majestic souls??
Playing as a part of cosmic game???

New Year Resolution

2009-01-03T10:41:00.018+09:00

Yesterday I awoke till late night. The haunting thoughts popped up in mind as a dissatisfaction of my present ME. Those thoughts propelled me to contemplate my daily routines and the habit patterns. To sleep late morning and regret: I could have got up little earlier, have morning walk and lose a few pound. Work day long. Feel the victim of the situation in which I have no control. Gather with the friends in the evening, chatting and alleging other people and situation for my present ME. Spend time and energy in negative/reactive thoughts-word-actions. The list become very long and boring..

I watched my thought pattern:
"That's me. That's just the way I am." I am determined. There's nothing I can do about it.
"He makes me so mad!" I'm not responsible. My emotional life is governed by something outside my control.
"I can't do that. I just don't have the time." Something outside me, limited time is controlling me.
"If only my wife were more patient." Someone else behavior is limiting my effectiveness.
“ I will start this work later, I have no mood to start now”. I procrastinate. I wait till favorable mood arrive.
"I have to do it." Circumstances or other people are forcing me to do what I do. I'm not free to choose my own actions.
In summary: I always speak the Reactive Language: There's nothing I can do. That's just the way I am. I did not get the opportunity because of the bad system. He makes me so mad. They won't allow that. I have to do that. I can't. I must. I am victim of outside circumstances and I have no control of my self. I wonder where this would lead me. .Is in the direction of the happiness and peace..?

I pondered whether I am a simple bio-program such that my habits, activities and responses are controlled by outside. Is there any mean to deviate from it? I made sketch of my activities and responses (as in figure). At the center there is my being which is surrounded by a small circle (doing); circle of my habit patterns and the activities of my direct control. Out of it lies another circle; circle of my influences where the results are decided jointly by my activities and outside situations (trying). My career, my success and my social behavior represents the circle. Out of this circle is the plane of those actions, in which I have no control whatever I do, like the geo-political conditions, past effects and other situations (no control).
See what am I doing! I blame the activities of outermost circle (no control) for my career and success belonging to middle circle (trying), and I allege the happenings of the middle circle for my habit patterns and happiness (doing). Outside-in approach, a common collective reactive psychology and a way of becoming victim , is not it?

Then I questioned myself, “Can’t I invert the approach? Inside-out. Then, came my resolution.

Apart from achieving my academic and career schedule, I resolve to be the best of myself; to be energetic, healthy, authentic, and forgiving to self and other. The approach is by doing my best in the innermost circle (doing), trying my best in the circle of my influence (trying) and living with acceptance with the incidents of the outermost circle (no control)?”

The big challenge is how to achieve the goal. I know I could not achieve these goals in the great extent in short time. However, I can strife and put my honest effort to achieve them. Thus I decided I would measure my success, not with achieving the goal, but with my continuous efforts to achieve them. The indicator of my success will be the degree of my sincerity in effort NOT in the goal I achieve.

Few times I hesitated to publish the post, later decided to do thinking that sharing with the friends could provide the exchange of positive energy. Friends, I will be very happy to know your resolution. Let's share our resolutions..

Celebration of Being Alive: Happy New Year

2008-12-31T20:11:00.006+09:00

(This poem is dedicated to those who have fire in their heart.

The fire..the passion to know "why am I living in the world''..

I wish may the coming year bring the fruits of their pursuit.)

After the long restless nights of enigmatic dreams

After the drowsy hours of the slumbering mind

Yet to decide “am I still dreaming or awakened?”

There was herald I sensed…

Before I was aware that was not dream

I saw the existence revived all around

In wildness of chirping birds

In the blooming petal of the dewed flower

In the wonderful smell of the wet earth

In the scintillating coolness of still air

When wondering eyes focused on the distant

There was ruby sky on the remote east

And wandering clouds in the far horizon

My heart brightened gradually with remote sky

Getting colored slowly with rambling clouds

Dancing wildly with the blooming rose in subtle breeze

Such a synchronicity everywhere!!

My heart had yet to collect those esoteric feelings

My body yet to receive the awesome sensations

Ah! There was the apex of romance

Between the rising sun and the silent Himalaya

When I noticed the rays kissing the white Himalaya

My heart became Himalaya

Dissolving gradually and gradually

Radiating slowly and slowly with golden blush

With the caressing of the loving rays

And dancing in the rhythm of soundless music

(courtesy: www.spiritofthehimalayas.com)

I said to myself

Wait! Wait!!

I have yet to notice

The hardness vanishing in my heart

The questions dissolving in my mind

The curiosity diluting in the sentiments

With the charisma of blushing Himalaya?

Or the overwhelming emotion of the dancing heart??

In the mean time

I found...

There were my eyes

Bursting with rapture of the overflowing tears

Flooded with joy of unknown emotions

Then I understood the first time..

Why am still living in the world?

Divine Romance - II

2008-12-26T18:36:00.017+09:00

After long restless search for his guru in his teen age time, Yogananda met his guru in an implausible circumstance at the narrow street of Banaras. When I went through at first time, I couldnot continue anymore without letting my emotion to subside. Everytime I read these paragraphs, I feel wonderful sensation in me. The following paragraphs discribe the glimses of thier first union. ( from book: An Autobiography of a Yogi)
--------------------------------------------------------------
...Another day I might have replied impatiently; now I wiped my tear- swollen face and meekly obeyed the summons. Together Habu and I set out for a distant market place in the Bengali section of Benares. The ungentle Indian sun was not yet at zenith as we made our purchases in the bazaars. We pushed our way through the colorful medley of housewives, guides, priests, simply-clad widows, dignified Brahmins, and the ubiquitous holy bulls. Passing an inconspicuous lane, I turned my head and surveyed the narrow length.
A Christlike man in the ocher robes of a swami stood motionless at the end of the road. Instantly and anciently familiar he seemed; my gaze fed hungrily for a trice. Then doubt assailed me. "You are confusing this wandering monk with someone known to you," I thought.

"Dreamer, walk on." After ten minutes, I felt heavy numbness in my feet. As though turned to stone, they were unable to carry me farther. Laboriously I turned around; my feet regained normalcy. I faced the opposite direction; again the curious weight oppressed me. "The saint is magnetically drawing me to him!" With this thought, I heaped my parcels into the arms of Habu. He had been observing my erratic footwork with amazement, and now burst into laughter. "What ails you? Are you crazy?" My tumultuous emotion prevented any retort; I sped silently away. Retracing my steps as though wing-shod, I reached the narrow lane. My quick glance revealed the quiet figure, steadily gazing in my direction. A few eager steps and .....I was at his feet.

"Gurudeva!"

The divine face was none other than he of my thousand visions. These halcyon eyes, in leonine head with pointed beard and flowing locks, had oft peered through gloom of my nocturnal reveries, holding a promise I had not fully understood.
"O my own, you have come to me!" My guru uttered the words again and again in Bengali, his voice tremulous with joy. "How many years I have waited for you!"
We entered a oneness of silence; words seemed the rankest superfluities. Eloquence flowed in soundless chant from heart of master to disciple. With an antenna of irrefragable insight I sensed that my guru knew God, and would lead me to Him. The obscuration of this life disappeared in a fragile dawn of prenatal memories. Dramatic time! Past, present, and future are its cycling scenes. This was not the first sun to find me at these holy feet!
My hand in his, my guru led me to his temporary residence in the Rana Mahal section of the city. His athletic figure moved with firm tread. Tall, erect, about fifty-five at this time, he was active and vigorous as a young man. His dark eyes were large, beautiful with plumbless wisdom. Slightly curly hair softened a face of striking power. Strength mingled subtly with gentleness. As we made our way to the stone balcony of a house overlooking the Ganges, he said affectionately: "I will give you my hermitages and all I possess."

"Sir, I come for wisdom and God-contact. Those are your treasure- troves I am after!" The swift Indian twilight had dropped its half-curtain before my master spoke again. His eyes held unfathomable tenderness. "I give you my unconditional love." Precious words! A quarter-century elapsed before I had another auricular proof of his love. His lips were strange to ardor; silence became his oceanic heart.

"Will you give me the same unconditional love?" He gazed at me with childlike trust.

"I will love you eternally, Gurudeva!"

"Ordinary love is selfish, darkly rooted in desires and satisfactions. Divine love is without condition, without boundary, without change. The flux of the human heart is gone forever at the transfixing touch of pure love." He added humbly, "If ever you find me falling from a state of God-realization, please promise to put my head on your lap and help to bring me back to the Cosmic Beloved we both worship."………………………

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Divine Romance

2008-12-23T19:24:00.015+09:00

Love is the ingredient of life, romance is its active expression and the longing is the realization of its importance. I was always thrilled and fascinated while reading the love　stories during my earlier college time. It was beautiful experience where I could observe my emotional appeared in my heart in the course of reading them. During those times, I learned the another dimension of love- quite different from the one I used to get from my parents- where the pain and happiness merges in one; more the pain of longing, more the out-coming happiness. From the diverse literature I went through, be it Munamadan to Mukund-Indira, or Women in Love to Anna Karenina, the quality of newly discovered love is same; more the sense of giving and understanding, sweeter becomes the story. All of these writers unanimously identified the quality of love in devotion and unconditional nature. By and by, I encountered yet another dimension of love through some ‘intoxicated’ writers/poems like Tagore, Rumi, Umar Khayyam, Khalil Gibran, where the heart longs for their undiscovered beloved; another quality of love in which the ‘self’ intends to dissolve totally with beloved. Their stories were awesome and incredible. The same quality of love, more graspable yet, was also discovered between the seeker, in the quest of self realization and the Master who inspires and accelerates his journey. Their stories were heart-blowing. Because of the avalanche of the surprising emotional, my eyes used to overflow by the tears and it was impossible to read the next episode. And ah! I like to admit that these stories ignited the esoteric fire in me.

Here, I like share few paragraphs from such story. It is the portion of the story when a seeker (Yogananda) was in search of his guru, wandered everywhere and finally　met him (Yukteshwor) at the street of Banaras in an implausible circumstance. .

To be continued....

तलास जारी है...

2008-12-17T11:58:00.021+09:00

(यि पङ्तियाँ मेरी यात्राकी मरुस्थलमे मिली पहली मरुद्यानकी प्रतिविम्ब हैँ। )

मुझे तलाश थी-ऐसी पवनकी, जिसकी एक स्पर्शसे खिले पत्थरभी।
तलाश थी- प्रेमनगरकी ऐसी बादशाहकी, जो एकबार झाँके और बस रुलादे।
खोज थी- उस सागरकी, जो डुबा सके सब गहिराइयाँ ध्यानकी।
तलाश थी- उस साकीकी, जिसकी शराब मैं पिउँ और रहु प्यासा भी,
और ऐसा नशा, जो दे होश भी और मस्ती भी।
तलाश थी- ऐसे आखोँकी, जो पढ् सके मेरी आखोँकी नमी।
तलाश थी-ऐसे नाविककी, जो अगर डुबादे तो भी सही,
और खोज थी- ऐसी वाणी, जो दे होठ्को हंसी और आँखोको नमी ,
तलाश थी- ऐसी चरणकी जिसे भिगा सके मेरी गम अनकही,

और आज जो मैंने पाया सोचके बढकर पाया।

(उही मरूद्यान-ओशो सिद्धार्थको समर्पित)

Battle at Kruger: YouTube's Best Eyewitness Video

2008-12-16T19:07:00.005+09:00

Art of Emotional Mastery: Part II

2008-12-15T12:54:00.006+09:00

Remaining of the earlier section proceeds as follow.

================================

STEP TWO
Acknowledge and Appreciate Your Emotions, Knowing They Support You
You never want to make your emotions wrong. The idea that anything you feel is "wrong" is a great way to destroy honest communication with yourself as well as with others. Be thankful that there's a part of your brain that is sending you a signal of support, a call to action to make a change in either your perception of some aspect of your life or in your actions. If you're willing to trust your emotions, knowing that even though you don't understand them at the moment, each and every one you experience is there to support you in making a positive change, you will immediately stop the war you once had with yourself. Instead, you'll feel yourself moving toward simple solutions. Making an emotion "wrong" will rarely cause it to become less intense. Whatever you resist tends to persist.

Cultivate the feeling of appreciation for all emotions, and like a child that needs attention, you'll find your emotions "calming down" almost immediately.

STEP THREE
Get Curious about the Message This Emotion Is Offering You
Remember the power of changing emotional states? If you put yourself in a state of mind where you truly are feeling curious about learning something, this is an immediate pattern interrupt to any emotion and enables you to learn a great deal about yourself. Getting curious helps you master your emotion, solve the challenge, and prevent the same problem from occurring in the future. As you begin to feel the emotion, get curious about what it really has to offer you. What do you need to do right now to make things better? If you're feeling lonely, for example, get curious and ask, "Is it possible that I'm just misinterpreting the situation to mean that I'm alone, when in reality I have all kinds of friends? If I just let them know I want to visit with them, wouldn't they love to visit with me as well? Is my loneliness giving me a message that I need to take action, reach out more and connect with people?" Here are four questions to ask yourself to become curious about your emotions:

What do I really want to feel?

What would I have to believe in order to feel the way I've been feeling?

What am I willing to do to create a solution and handle this right now?

What can I learn from this?

As you get curious about your emotions, you'll learn important distinctions about them, not only today, but in the future as well.

STEP FOUR
Get Confident.
Get confident that you can handle this emotion immediately. The quickest, simplest, and most powerful way I know to handle any emotion is to remember a time when you felt a similar emotion and realize that you've successfully handled this emotion before. Since you handled it in the past, surely you can handle it again today. The truth is, if you've ever had this Action Signal before and gotten through it, you already have a strategy of how to change your emotional sates.

So stop right now and think about that time when you felt the same emotions and how you dealt with them in a positive way. Use this as the role model or checklist for what you can do right now to change how you feel. What did you do back then? Did you change what you were focusing on, the questions you asked yourself, your perceptions? Or did you take some kind of new action? Decide to do the same right now, with the confidence that it will work just as it did before. If you're feeling depressed, for example, and you've been able to turn it around before, ask yourself, "What did I do then?" Did you take some new action like going for a run or making some phone calls? Once you've made some distinctions about what you've done in the past, do the same things now, and you'll find that you'll get similar results.

STEP FIVE
Get Certain You Can Handle This Not Only Today, But in the Future as Well
You want to feel certain that you can handle this emotion easily in the future by having a great plan to do so. One way to do this is to simply remember the ways you've handled it in the past, and rehearse handling situations where this Action Signal would come up in the future. See, hear, and feel yourself handling the situation easily. Repetitions of this with emotional intensity will create within you a neural pathway of certainty that you can easily deal with such challenges. In addition, jot down on a piece of paper three or four other ways that you could change your perception when an Action Signal comes up, or ways that you could change how you were communicating your feelings or needs, or ways that you could change the actions you were taking in this particular situation.

STEP SIX
Get Excited, and Take Action
Now that you've finished the first five steps—identified what you were really feeling, appreciated the emotion instead of fighting it, gotten curious about what it really meant and the lesson it was offering you, learned from it, figured out how to turn things around by modeling your successful past strategies for handling the emotion, and rehearsed dealing with it in future situations and installed a sense of certainty—the final step is obvious: Get excited, and take action! Get excited about the fact that you can easily handle this emotion, and take some action right away to prove that you've handled it. Don't stay stuck in the limiting emotions you're having. Express yourself by using what you rehearsed internally to create a change in your perceptions or your actions. Remember that the new distinctions you've just made will change the way you feel not only today, but how you deal with this emotion in the future. With these six simple steps, you can master virtually any emotion that comes up in your life. If you find yourself dealing with the same emotion again and again, this six-step method will help you identify the pattern and change it in a very short period of time. So practice using this system. Like anything else that's brand-new, at first this may seem cumbersome. But the more you do it, the easier it will become to use, and pretty soon you'll find yourself being able to navigate your way through what you used to think were emotional minefields.
What you'll see instead will be a field of personal coaches guiding you each step of the way, showing you where you need to go to achieve your goals. Remember, the best time to handle an emotion is when you first begin to feel it. It's much more difficult to interrupt an emotional pattern once it's full-blown. My philosophy is, "Kill the monster while it's little." Use this system quickly, as soon as the Action Signal makes itself known, and you'll find yourself being able to quickly handle virtually any emotion.

From the Book: Awaken the Giant Within.

===============================================

Art of Emotional Mastery

2008-12-11T14:54:00.013+09:00

Emotions are the wonderful gift to us what demarcate human being with a potential robot, however complex program and sophistication are imagined and implemented with it. If we believe happiness is within us, in our way of reacting the present states, then the emotion is the grosser entity within us to work with. No one in this world has become happy and be in peace without mastering the emotions that arise and diminishe according to their own causes. Unfortunately, there are no schools and universities which teach us the way of mastering them. Hence, this branch always has become very subjective, fuzzy and the travel to unknown land. Even more puzzling aspect is that the people who seem to be teaching this art, many-times lack the essence in their own living, thus creating controversy of teaching in the earnest seeker.

Knowingly or unknowingly we are all constantly searching the emotion that brings us the pleasure and avoiding those emotions which bring the pains, be it in bodily or mental form. That means our mind-body state is either in craving state or in the state of aversion. Then, a natural question arises whether we are program or the programmer. Unfortunately, we seems to be a network of program written by our society, upbringing, religions and our so-called education, and naturally the switch of our emotional states- happiness, pain, anger, boring etc - are outside us. If someone scolds ME, without actually knowing to the true ME, the program in ME starts to create the psychosomatic reactions to produce the emotion that we called ANGER. When someone praises ME, the program in ME creates bio-chemical reaction to produce the effect that we label PLEASANT MOOD. If we are programmer of our being, we could laugh wholeheartedly to whatever negative expression is released to us. And equally, when needed, I could be angry against all the positive feeling being presented. Thus to understand, accept and live harmoniously with the emotions consciously, is one of the most wonderful art; and perhaps, most difficult too. The only way to master the emotions is by understanding their true nature, the way they are, without preoccupied judgment of good or bad. The emotions- including those we label them BAD- are our ally not enemy and constantly serving us by delivering the signals which can be used to create the result for the greater meaning of WHO AM I. In the following paragraphs I like to share some secrets I found from the books I went through.

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Part I. Dealing with Negative Emotion

Realize that the emotions you are feeling at this very moment are a gift, a guideline, a support system, a call to action. If you suppress your emotions and try to drive them out of your life, or if you magnify them and allow them to take over everything, then you're squandering one of life's most precious resources.

So what is the source of emotions? You are the source of all your emotions; you are the one who creates them. So many people feel that they have to wait for certain experiences in order to feel the emotions they desire. For instance, they don't give themselves permission to feel loved or happy or confident unless a particular set of expectations is met. ……….You don't have to wait for anything or anyone! You don't need any special reason to feel good—you can just decide to feel good right now, simply because you're alive, simply because you want to. So if you're the source of all your emotions, why don't you feel good all the time? Again, it's because your so-called negative emotions are giving you a message. What is the message of these Action Signals (Negative signals)? They're telling you that what you're currently doing is not working, that the reason you have pain is either the way you're perceiving things or the procedures you're using: specifically, the way you're communicating your needs and desires to people, or the actions you're taking. What you're doing is not producing the result you want, and you have to change your approach. Remember that your perceptions are controlled by what you focus on and the meanings you interpret from things. And you can change your perception in a moment, just by changing the way you're using your physiology or by asking yourself a better question. Your procedures include your style of communication. Maybe you're being too harsh in the way you communicate, or maybe your procedure is not even communicating your needs, and you're expecting other people to know what you need. This could create a lot of frustration, anger, and hurt in your life. Maybe this Action Signal of feeling hurt is trying to tell you that you need to change your way of communicating so you don't feel hurt again in the future. Feeling depressed is another call to action, telling you that you need to change your perception that the problems you're dealing with are permanent or out of control. Or, you need to take some kind of physical action to handle one area of your life so that once again you remember that you are in control.

This is the true message of all your Action Signals. They're merely trying to support you in taking action to change the way you think, change the way you're perceiving things, or change your procedures for communicating or behaving. These calls to action are there to remind you that you don't want to be like the fly who keeps banging himself against the window, trying to get through the glass—if you don't change your approach, all the persistence in the world will never pay off. Your Action Signals are whispering to you (perhaps screaming!), through the experience of pain, that you need to change what you're doing.

SIX STEPS TO EMOTIONAL MASTERY

I've found that whenever I feel a painful emotion, there are six steps I can take very quickly to break my limiting patterns, find the benefit of that emotion, and set myself up so that in the future I can get the lesson from the emotion and eliminate the pain more quickly. Let's examine them briefly.

STEP ONE

Identify What You're Really Feeling

So often people feel so overloaded they don't even know what they're feeling. All they know is that they're being "attacked" by all these negative emotions and feelings. Instead of feeling overloaded, step back for a moment and ask yourself, "What am I really feeling right now?" If you think at first, "I'm feeling angry," begin to ask yourself, "Am I really feeling angry? Or is it something else? Maybe what I'm really feeling is hurt. Or I feel like I've lost out on something." Realize that a feeling of hurt or a feeling of loss is not as intense as the feeling of anger. Just in taking a moment to identify what you're really feeling, and beginning to question your emotions, you may be able to lower the emotional intensity you're experiencing, and therefore deal with the situation much more quickly and easily. If, for example, you say, "Right now I feel rejected," you might ask yourself, "Am I feeling rejected, or am I feeling a sense of separation from a person I love? Am I feeling rejected, or am I feeling disappointed! Am I feeling rejected, or am I feeling a little uncomfortable?" Remember the power of Transformational Vocabulary to immediately lower your intensity. Again, as you identify what you're really feeling, you can lower the intensity even more, which makes it much easier to learn from the emotion…..

From the book Awaken the Giant within

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To be continued……

Spiritual Reality

2008-12-02T13:14:00.002+09:00

(Informative video on the scientific aspect of meditation)

My favorite you tube video

2008-12-01T17:23:00.002+09:00

(Have a good day and enjoy this video)

मृत्‍यु एक रहस्य

2008-12-01T14:58:00.006+09:00

मृत्‍यु एक रहस्य

(यि हरफहरु समाजमा अर्थपूर्ण प्रभाव पर्ने केही मनिसहरुको मृत्‍यु पछी यस ब्लगरको हृदयमा गुज्रेको भाव सँग सम्बन्धित छन। )

हरेक जीवन सँगै मृत्‍यु जन्मन्छ। मृत्‍युले प्रयोग र अनुभवले सम्हाल्न नसकेको ज्ञानको अपवादलाई स्रिजना गरेको हुन्छ। मानव जीवनको सर्वमान्य तर कसैले स्विकार गर्न नसकेको गुरुत्वको सघन केन्द्र हो मृत्‍यु, जहाँ हरेक जीवन सरिता विसर्जन हुन्छ। परिवर्तनको नियमले र समयको क्षितिजले बह्रमाण्डका हरेक वस्तुलाई मात्रै होइन, जैबिक सम्बेदना, मानव मन र चेतनालाई पनि छोपेको सत्य मृत्‍युले हरेक पटक उजागर गर्न खोजिरहन्छ। प्रयोग, अनुभव र बुद्धिको दायरामा अटन नसक्नुको विशिष्टताले गर्दा नै, यो सधैं कव्यात्मक आकर्षण र अध्यात्मिक खोजको प्रेरणा र बिषय बनेको हुन्छ। मानविय चेतनाको अद्वितिय उचाइ चुमेको जीवनको उपसंहार मात्रै होइन, जडता, मुढता र निक्रिष्ट बेहोशिमा धकेलिएको जीवनको निछोड पनि हो भनी मृत्‍युले प्राकृतिक नियमको पूर्णताको सधैं उद्घोष गररहेकै हुन्छ।

Glimpse of Middle Age Zen Spirit in Kyoto

2008-12-01T13:03:00.021+09:00

Kyoto city has many similarities with Kathmandu; surrounded by the mountains, has three famous rivers (Kamo, Katsura, Uji), many temples (around 2000)and castles including the thirteen of them registered in the World Heritage Sites. The glimpse of the zen temples in every nook and corner of the city tells the story, the story how the city enjoyed the apex of zen spirit at those times. The famous zen schools, which manily are the braches from the Rinzai tradition, had many learnt masters who used to have their student practise the intensive zen meditation(zazen and sesshin) in very strict environment leading to quiet mind, no-mind to satori (enlightment) stage. More interestingly, there were schools even for post-satori stage which used to focus on how to preserve the satori wisdom in day to day activities. Please go through the glimse of the past through these pictures.

1) Kodo sawaki, a famous Zen master showing the posture of zazen (courtesy: wikipedia.org).

2) Ginkaku-ji (golden temple), a converted zen school from retirement villa, containing relics of the buddha. The Kinkaku-ji area has many small kutis around lakes, which no doubt are the wonderful place for meditation even today.

3) Tenryu-ji temple, the main temple of Rinzai sect in Arashiyama, Kyoto.

4) Famous Zen garden, The main elements of karesansui (zen garden) are rocks and sand, with the sea symbolized by sand raked in patterns that suggest rippling water. They are often designed to view it in single seated position and believed to provide calmness to human mind.

तलाश-१

2008-10-22T23:33:00.001+09:00

बुद्धि सुतेको बेला
चतुर्याँई थाकेको बेला
आफूँसित एक्लै हुँदा म विस्तारै सुसेल्छु-
हेल्लो पृय!

तर उ आफ्नो सुरमा हुन्छ,
कहिले एकोहोरो सुफी धूनमा मस्त
त कहिले विद्रोहको फुँकार
कहिले प्रणयको गीत
त कहिले टोहोलाइरहन्छ सुन्सान।
कहिले विस्तारै पुर्लुक्क हेर्छ
अनि सुस्तरी फुस्फुसाउछ-जाने हो?
सोध्छु- कहाँ?

रहस्यमय उसका ओठ फुस्कनछन्-
जहाँ गन्तव्य पुग्न हतार छैन,
जहाँ विछोडमा पिडित हुनु पर्दैन,
जहाँ अरुलाइ हराएर खुशी हुनु पर्दैन,
जहाँ जिन्दगी दोहोर्याएर बाँच्न लोभ् लाग्दैन,

उ बर्सदै जान्छ मानौँ साउने झरी हो-
जहाँ तिमि आफुँ भएर बाँच्न पाउछौ,
जहाँ गल्ती गर्दा दू:ख मान्नु पर्दैन, न त अपराधबोध,
जहाँ हुरीझैँ उन्मुक्त वहन पाइन्छ,
जहाँ नदी झैँ वग्न पाइन्छ,
जहाँ विजुली झँ गड्कन पाइन्छ,
जहाँ वर्षा भै मनभरी रुन पाइन्छ ,
र, जहाँ मृत्यु सहर्ष स्विकार हुन्छ्।

तर म किंकर्तव्यविमुढ!
डरले भन्छ-पागल हुने मन छ र!
आश्चर्य अचम्भित-त्यस्तो पनि हुन्छ र!
अविश्वास शन्का गर्छ-धत वहियात कुरा!
बुद्धि थकित-म त हार खाइसकें!

म एक्लै छु, सुनसान सडकमा
न त दिशा पत्तो,
न त प्रकाश बोध,
उभिएको छु अवाक्।

कहाँ जाने थाह छैन-हिड्दै छु
पीडित छु-थाह छैन पीडा के हो?
घायल् छु-पत्तो छैन कहाँ छ घाउ?
रित्तो छु-होश छैन मागुँ के?
अहो यस्तो रहस्य!!

My Beloved

2008-10-22T22:07:00.003+09:00

There were my days restless and night longing
You made me cried and awaken many nights
I was alone and helpless
Like a sheep who missed the folks.

One day you come to me as idyllic breeze
I, too, let myself to ramble with you
I told my love story
you taught me of loving.

You showered me by bliss
I offered few tears in return
I promised to be with you always and forget
you promised not but found with me always.

I begged always as my earnest need
you offered them as loving gifts
I used to hear love happens in two similars
Ah, what a wonderful exception! it happens in us.

Today I offer you everything
my delightful gift to you.

I offer,
a hymn not uttered by other songs
my secret theme that my heart chants
not intellectual and premeditated one
but the untutored strains of my heart

For you,
no hot house flower watered by the careful emotion
but rare blossoms decor on the highest faith
and the wild lily grown on the deepest tracts of my soul.

Happy birthday to you
...who never born nor died!

Contact Me

2008-09-15T15:05:00.008+09:00

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