The Bumpy Path To Lasting Success

Success is coveted by all. However, only when success is well earned, it lasts. A bumpy road to success is desirable because the same hurdles which make success a difficult process, would prevent a person from a complete fall if the person starts slipping. Consider the example of a horse pulling a cart up along a hilly track. After the horse-driven cart reaches the top, the animal is freed and the cart is allowed to fall. The cart will not come down all the way. It would get stuck in one of the bumps on the way. Had the road been smooth, the cart would have a complete fall, because there would be nothing on the way to prevent it from falling. Hence the proposition of a smooth rise has the risk of an equally 'smooth' fall.

Here's an analogy from science: When a ferro-magnetic material is magnetised by an applied magnetic field, the magnetisation rises first in a linear way and then saturates. The rise takes place because the increase in the magnetic field surmounts the obstacles on the path of magnetisation by providing extra energy to the system.

However, after reaching the maximum saturated value, if the direction of the field is reversed and brought back to zero, the magnetisation does not become zero: it has a remnant value. The obstacles - dislocations, in the language of science - which made the rise of magnetisation difficult, would prevent the magnetisation coming to zero, when the field becomes zero. Difficulties arising out of obstacles, although at first sight appear to be discouraging, make success more stable.

Another characteristic of a successful person is steadfastness. Frequent changes of mind don't lead to success. Steadfastness arises when mental fluctuations are averaged to zero. The Bhagavad Gita says sthitaprajna, characterised by steadfastness in wisdom, can alone achieve happiness and success. Rapid fluctuations, either by external impact or by a non-steady mind, would result in loss of wisdom, and bring failure. A small boy who is asked by his drill teacher to follow his to-and-fro motion can do it if the teacher changes his direction slowly and infrequently. However, if the frequency of the motion of the drill teacher increases, the boy cannot follow the teacher.

A dielectric substance is a system that gets electrically polarised when acted upon by an electric voltage. If the voltage were an AC one, the polarisation would follow the external vol-tage until the frequency of the voltage fluctuation reaches a threshold value. Beyond this threshold, the polarisation cannot follow the external voltage and consequently experiences a loss. The same thing also happens in an electric conductor, causing a loss and subsequent breakdown of the current if the frequency of the supplied voltage exceeds a threshold.

All these depend on the environment. If there is flexibility, the loss could be made less effective compared to the situation when the environment is rigid. Flexibility implies freedom of action. More the freedom, greater the achievement, provided you are reso-lute in steadfastness of purpose. If the success is externally induced, its degree depends on the steadiness of the impact of the external driving force. There is a craze among some young people to enter record books by performing superlative feats. Their over-enthusiasm would dissipate their energy at the time of need. If you look at the lives of the greats, you would hardly find anyone who showed extraordinary performance at a tender age. The writer teaches physics at Berhampur University.

Four Mudras Of Tantra: Live In The Present

Tantra talks about four seals, four mudras. To attain to the ultimate, a person passes through four doors; he has to open four locks. Those four locks are called four mudras. The first mudra is karma mudra. It is the outermost door, the periphery of your being. Karma means action, is the outermost core of your being. What you do is your periphery. You hate or kill somebody, you love or protect somebody.

Action is the outermost part of your being.

The first seal is opened through becoming total in your action. Whatso-ever you do, do totally, and there will arise great joy, not by repeating some mantra, but by doing it totally. If you are angry, be totally angry; and be fully aware of your anger, anger will disappear one day. You have understood it. It can be dropped now. Anything that is understood can be dropped easily.

Only non-understood things go on hanging around you. Remember, Tantra is scientific. It does not say: Repeat a mantra. It says: Become aware in your action.

The second seal is called gyana mudra — a little deeper and more inner than the first — that is somewhat like knowledge. Action is the outermost thing, knowledge is a little deeper. You can watch what i am doing, you cannot watch what i am knowing. Knowing is inner.

Now, start knowing what you really know, and stop believing things which you really don't know. Somebody asks you "Is there a God?" and you say "Yes, God is". Do you really know? If you don't know, please don't say that you do. Say "I don't know". If you are honest and you only say what you know, and you only believe what you know, the second lock will be broken. False knowledge is the enemy of true knowledge. And all beliefs are false knowledge; you simply believe them.

Out of a hundred things you will be unburdened of almost 98. Only a few things will remain that you really know. You will feel great freedom. Your head will not be so heavy. And with that freedom and weightlessness you enter the second mudra. The third mudra is called samaya mudra. Samaya means time. Knowledge has disappeared, you are only in the now; only the purest of time has remained. Watch, meditate over it. In the now-moment, there is no knowledge. Knowledge is always about past. Just this moment, what do you know? Nothing is known.

So samaya mudra is to be in this moment. Ordinarily you think that past, present and future are three divisions of time; that is not the Tantra understanding. Tantra says: Only present is time. Past is not, it has already gone. Future is not, it has not come yet. Only the present is. To be in the present is to be really in time. Otherwise you are either in memory or you are in dreams, both of which are delusions.

So the third seal is broken by being in the now.

The fourth seal is called mahamudra, the great gesture, the innermost, like space. Now, purest space has remained. Action, knowing, time, space — these are the four seals. Space is your innermost core, the hub of the wheel, or the centre of the cyclone. In your innermost emptiness is space, sky. These are the three layers: of time, of knowing, of action. These are the four seals to be broken.

Excerpted from The Tantra Vision Vol 2, courtesy Osho International Foundation. www.osho.com

Cosmic Treasure Hunt For The Real Universe

A fundamental question that arises in the spiritual mind is: What is absolute and what is real? It is difficult to explain the two things to a lay person. No matter how intelligent one is, the absolute and the real cannot be fathomed through the senses and earthly means.

One of the foremost conditions to delve into the depth of the real and the absolute is by detachment from earthly possessions. Once that is done some understanding of the real can be made.

However, the real is still beyond reach because there are certain things that come into the picture as one moves into higher zones from the unreal to the real. In fact, to know reality one has to move into a state of the unknown.

A black hole cannot be described in absolute terms. For no matter or light that comes near a black hole can escape. So it is truly difficult to know the real nature of black holes. The latest scientific advances so far have failed to get the real picture of the black hole.

A black hole is just a phenomenon which takes place for certainty but which cannot be described. In other words, to understand black holes one just needs to be present near the site or see the black hole sucking matter by some distant telescope, which however cannot tell the true picture.

It is clear that any theory about the real and absolute are just guidelines for the real is far removed from what it is projected to be. Only a person who has come close to observe the real can know what is real. The rest can only guess.

To know the real one needs to discard all theoretical knowledge, all academic and spiritual burdens and just be alone. Let even your own shadow, ego and other subtle things fail you. Then there is a possibility that one can come close to the real.

What is this state and what is left there? Firstly there will not be anything to see therefore one does not need any sensory organ to witness the state.

Consider that each person is Brahmn encompassing the whole universe. Isn't that what Krishna says to Arjun in the Gita and shows the whole universe dwelling in him? So if each being is considered as full and representing the universe, what is left is nothing. You, me and all others are Brahmn and hence universe. So where is the real universe? In fact, there is no such thing as the absolute universe.

The universe that we see is a projection of the mind, the display of the sensory organs. The work for a scientist to solve calculus and mathematical equations. In reality there is no universe and that's it. Each person is a copy of the universe or whatever that term means.

There are as many universes on earth as there are beings. Not only beings but as many atoms. Each being mirrors the universe and so absolute universe is infinity, which can be neither determined nor known. The best way to know reality and the absolute is to slowly dissociate from earthly, materialistic and sensory things. At the end only the absolute remains which just cannot be defined.

The writer lives in Vichy, France.

Identify your goal and follow instructions

Only a part of my mind is under my control, the rest of it is not. Tell me, how to control my mind? Now you're driving a car, the drive, drive shaft and steering wheel are in the front wheel. So all you have control over are these two wheels, the rest of the car is actually not in your control. Still, they can take the car wherever you want.

When you're driving, are you aware that there's an explosion happening in the engine? An internal combustion engine means there's an explosion happening. The pistons are moving, the crank shaft is moving, then the drive shaft is moving, then the wheels' axial is moving, the wheels are moving, the other wheel is moving, and so on. You are not aware of all this.

When you're driving, if you just take the steering wheel in your hands it goes where you want. The whole car goes. The same way, if you just take charge of your steering wheel, and steer it properly, everything else goes with it. If you try to take charge of all parts of the car, you will go crazy. If you try to take charge of all the bits and pieces of this car into your control when you're driving, if you start thinking in terms of what could be happening with this part, that part, all these different parts of the car, you will go crazy.

So, you don't have to take your whole mind into your control. You don't even know how many parts in the car exist. You're just controlling two wheels, everything else is following it. Similarly with your mind, your spiritual process, you don't have to take grasp of everything. If you try to take every cell in your body, every atom in your body in one direction, you will go crazy.

When you approach the subjective dimensions of life intellectually, this is what happens, you're trying to take charge of everything. That is not necessary. Just take the steering wheel in your hands, keep it steady and it will go where you want. It will not go anywhere else. So how much of your mind is in your control is not relevant. The right drop is in your hands, that's enough, rest of it follows anyway.

If your intention is just reaching a certain destination, go by the instruction; if you also want to create a bigger possibility, then you have to know many things. If you want to manufacture a car, you have to understand many things, know all the parts. Driving a car, and manufacturing a car, they are two very different things. Are you looking for enlightenment or do you want to become a guru?

If you are just looking for enlightenment, you don't bother about all these things. Just the way your driving instructor taught you how to drive. He may not be educated like you, he may not know anything that you know. Just take his instructions, steadily you get to drive.

Similarly, if you just want to go to a place you call as liberation, enlightenment or freedom, blissfulness, peacefulness; if you want to get there, just take a few driving lessons, that's all. You don't worry about all the complexities of creation.

Feng Shui, Kaizan And Zen Abundance

Our life has nine aspiration points and all are essential. They are: health, wealth, relationship, fame, children's growth, helpful friends, career growth, know-ledge and blessings. These are interlinked. Even if one aspiration point is missing you begin to feel uncomfortable.

According to Zen masters there are five principles of abundance. They help us achieve our life aspirations in full. The first principle of abundance is: "God does not choose to discriminate while giving". For God everyone is equal. He gives all life aspirations. It is up to us to take whatever we want. We cannot blame God if any life aspirations are missing in our life.

Then why are there differences between you, me and others? It is only due to two reasons. We create blockages in the mind and in the environment. Especially when we are young, we come across many people including teachers, friends, family members and others.

All of them wish us good. But all have their limitations according to their circumstances and beliefs. These limitations they pass on to others also. Without awareness our subconscious mind accepts these limitations and these act as blocks in our thinking and in our growth.

The second principle of abundance says, "Be a limitless person and accept the universe as it is". God has made you to get the best of everything in this world. You deserve it. There is no limit for your aspirations and dreams. If someone says, "It is not possible", it is his limitation, not yours.

The third principle of abundance says, "Whatever be your intention you will get it". If you have strong intention, your efforts get adjusted to your intention and the universe ensures you achieve the same. When you have a strong intention of owning a house you somehow arrange finance. With only Rs 10,000 in hand you start looking for a new house and you find that within a short span of time you have managed the finance and moved to a new house worth several lakhs.

According to Vaastu Shastra there are 32 directions in a house. Each direction is governed by a god or goddess. Whenever we speak something the deities say "Tathastu" — be it happen. The words that we speak also have energy.

The fourth principle of abundance states, "Negative words multiply and come back to us hundred times. Positive words multiply and come back to us hundred times". When we say, "I am becoming poor", "People cheat me", "Children are not studying" or "No one loves or cares for me" — each sentence multiplies and comes back to us. For our life to be happy it is very essential to avoid negative words and use more positive words.

Feng Shui, the Chinese science of balancing energies, and the latest Japanese management principle of Kaizan: Both have their roots in the fifth principle of abundance which believes "Clutter blocks energy".

Clutter is anything which we carry in our life, which has no value for us now. We purchase a new shirt, wear it for some time and after a few years stop using it but still carry it in our storage space. This is clutter. Clutter can be anything — books, clothes, broken clocks, old electronic items etc. With awareness when we remove the clutter from our house, prosperity fills in. So, live in abundance.

Perpetual Treadmill That Takes You Nowhere

We're shackled to what seems like a treadmill that is powered by greed. It takes us from the pursuit of one worldly acquisition to another without satisfaction. Whether the greed is for money, power or fame, we desire more of it. So our energy is spent on protecting what we have or in acquiring what we do not have yet. We become so preoccupied with trying to satisfy our greed that there is little time and energy left to strive for liberation.

A king built his empire by conquering people and places. He had accrued treasures from all over. Yet, before he died, he asked that everything that he amassed be displayed for him to see. For several hours he looked at gold coins, precious jewels and priceless objects.

Suddenly, he began to cry. He told his courtiers, "I have slain tens of thousands of people, causing thousands of women to be widowed and children orphaned for these objects. Yet not even the smallest piece of gold can go with me now that i am about to die".

He asked his courtiers that when they take his body to the burial place they should extend both his hands outside of the coffin. "I wish to let people know that with all my wealth, i left the world empty-handed. We cannot take any material thing with us", the king said.

Christ asked: "What does it profit a man to gain possession of the world, if one loses one's soul" (Mark 8.36).

Replace greed with detachment. While working hard to earn a livelihood, some amass great material wealth while others make do with meagre salaries. Whatever we receive we should accept in a spirit of detachment without becoming greedy. We can try for positions to make more money or put in more time to earn and still be detached from the results.

We can make use of whatever we earn to feed, clothe and house our family and share with others in need. But what we have should not be the object of our attachment. What we have arouses our greed. We spend all our time obsessively worrying about it, or when we hoard. If we use illegal means to gain more, or if we try to take from others what is rightfully theirs, it not only is a violation of truth, it is an expression of greed.

Analyse the cost of greed to the soul. Abou ben Adham was the king of Balkh. "What do you want?" asked Abou of a visitor who had a strange expression. "I am only stopping off at this inn", replied the stranger. "This is not an inn. This is my palace", replied the king. "Who owned this palace before you?" asked the man. "My father", said bou. "And who before him?" asked the man. "My grandfather", replied Abou. The dialogue continued in this strain. Finally, the stranger said, "To where have all these owners departed?" "They are all dead", said Abou.

"Then", concluded the stranger, "is this not an inn in which one person enters and another leaves?" This exchange led Abou to his search for God as he realised that worldly things were transitory and what was more important was finding the soul and God.

The joy of giving can surpass the happiness of receiving. In return, we can receive far more than we give. So stop being greedy; look for opportunities to give rather than take.

Happy Christmas to One and All !

A Christmas Story: Our Lady's Juggler

A medieval legend tells us that in the country we know today as Austria the Buckhard family — a man, a woman and a child — used to amuse people at Christmas parties by reciting poetry, singing ancient troubadour ballads, and juggling.

There was never any money left over to buy presents, but the man always told his son: "Do you know why Santa Claus's bag never gets empty, although there are so many children in the world? Because it may be full of toys, but sometimes there are more important things to be delivered, what we call "invisible gifts". In a broken home, he tries to bring harmony and peace on the holiest night in Christianity. Where love is lacking, he deposits a seed of faith in children's hearts. Where the future seems black and uncertain, he brings hope. In our case, the day after Father Christmas comes to visit us, we are happy to be still alive and doing our work, which is to make people happy. Never forget that".

Time passed, the boy grew up, and one day the family passed in front of the impressive Melk Abbey, which had just been built. "Father, do you remember many years ago you told me the story of Santa Claus and his invisible gifts? I think that I received one of those gifts once: the vocation to become a priest. Would you mind if now i took my first step towards what i have always dreamed of?"

Although they really needed their son's company, the family understood and respected the boy's wish. They knocked at the door of the monastery and were given a loving, generous welcome by the monks, who accepted the young Buckhard as a novice.

Christmas Eve came around. And precisely on that day, a special miracle happened in Melk: Our Lady, carrying the baby Jesus in her arms, decided to descend to Earth to visit the monastery.

All the priests lined up and each of them stood proudly before the Virgin trying to pay homage to the Madonna and her Son. One of them displayed the beautiful paintings that decorated the place, another showed a copy of a Bible that had taken a hundred years to be written and illustrated, while a third recited the names of all the saints.

At the very end of the line, young Buckhard anxiously waited his turn...

When it came his turn, the other priests wanted to put an end to all the homage that had been paid, since the ex-juggler had nothing important to add and might even mar the image of the abbey.

...before the reproachful gaze of his brothers, Buckhard took some oranges from his pocket and began to toss them in the air and catch them in his hands, creating a beautiful circle in the air just as he used to do when he and his family travelled to all the fairs in the region.

At that instant, the baby Jesus, lying in Our Lady's lap, began to clap his hands with joy. And it was to young Buckhard that the Virgin held out her arms to let him hold the smiling child for a few moments.

The legend ends by saying that on account of this miracle, every two hundred years a new Buckhard knocks on the door of Melk Abbey, is welcomed in, and for the whole time he remains there he warms the hearts of all who meet him.

Why The Rig Veda Is Common Heritage

The Rig Veda was recently declared by Unesco as part of the world heritage. A meeting of the US Senate commenced with a recitation of Vedic hymns. The truth revealed by the Vedas is universal.

In the Vedas God is said to be aproshivan, the One who never leaves us, in life, death or otherwise. Though implicitly separate, the Creature (soul), nature and Creator are inextricably and inseparably mingled in a scientific condition called relativity. In Vedic literature this relativity has been described as achhidrena, the unpierce-able and impenetrable manifestation of God. Hence, there remains no doubt or question about the existence of God.

A few attributes and characteristics of God guide us to understand the formless One clearly. God's foremost adjective is antmah, which means He is at the core of every atom, and the term for this quality of God is known as napti. He is niyantah, the one who controls, the subtlest and the largest infinite entity of the cosmos.

Soul provides life to the body it dwells in, but who gives life to the soul? Purusha is soul and Uttam Purusha or Ultimate sustains the soul. The shape of God is actually unimaginable, achintya, therefore He appears to us according to our own imagination and choice. Immutable are His attributes. None is nearer than Him and no one is farther either, anantah.

The all-powerful, reservoir of consciousness is amritam and adabhya, that is, the loner without death and irrepressible. God is paridheya, whom we can receive from all sides, at any time, at any place, within the soul. He is Truth, Knowledge, Infinite and Ultimate: satyam, gyanam, anantam, Brahm.

The only One is balancing the planets and controlling the cosmos continuously. He is explained as unparalleled divine nectar or rasanam rastamah. His name is greatest and potent of all: na tasya pratima asti, yasya naam mahadyashah. He is the basis of all creatures, One seen in many, and many in One:

Aiko Deva sarvabhuteshu, aiko bahusyam. The Vedas are the fountainhead of all knowledge.

God's primeval and foremost name is Aum, also known as Pranavah. Aum encompasses all including sound, energy, matter, space, consciousness, air and light. The chanting of Aum has been termed as Udgeetha. This chant-ing can be mansik also which means silent repetition in mind imagining overall swarupa, form of the formless God.

Describing God's vastness and greatness a Vedic hymn says: 'You are never away from us but strange it is that we cannot see you. Your divine poetry (creation) never dies'. When your heart and mind become pure you become eligible for realisation and His sacred company. He dwells in a sublime thought and unadulterated heart.

Doing righteous deeds and surrendering unconditionally before Him qualifies the seeker to the rarest exalted position of liberation, severing connection with mundane world. "O, son of God, may you become like God, the deathless (but not God, since none can be Him). God has made man in His image. Image can tally the object or subject but cannot adopt the same stature.

God belongs to the innocent (Punjabi proverb: bhole da rub) and the pure and He protects them too. God revealed Himself to sages in their meditation and they penned down Truth about Him and the universe.

The writer teaches Vedas at Hisar.

Know That You Are Free From Birth And Death

When conditions are right she manifests and when not, not. There is no coming, no going. Before she manifests we should not call her non-existing. Before manifestation you cannot call her non-being. They are a pair of opposites. Meditating on the nature of creation and being may be the best way to understand God. Theologian Paul Koenig describes God as the Ground of Being. Who then is the Ground of Non-being? This diminishes God. In Buddhism both notions of being and non-being can describe reality. Similarly, above and below, there and here.

Nirvana is the absence of all notions, birth and death, coming and going, sameness and otherness. According to Buddhism, 'to be or not to be' is not a real question. Meditation takes us beyond fearlessness. We're too busy, so we become victims of anger and fear. If we have really touched our nature of no birth or death, we know that to die is one of the root conditions to realise oneself.

We have to learn how to 'die' in every moment in order to be fully alive. We should be able to release our tensions. We are the karma we produce every day in our daily life. A disciple in Vietnam wants to build a stupa with my ashes. He wants to put a plaque with the words 'Here lies my beloved teacher'. But i want to write: 'There is nothing here'. Because if you look deeply, there is continuation.

Treasure the time you are left with, for it is more for you to practice. Generate energy of love, compassion and understanding so you can continue beautifully. Use your time wisely. Every moment produces beautiful thoughts, loving, kindness, forgiveness. Say beautiful things, inspire, forgive, act physically to protect and help. We know we are capable of producing beautiful karma for good continuations and the happiness of other people.

Buddha's disciple Sariputra Ananda and other friends went to see Anathapindika, a lay disciple, who was a businessman and dying. He had made time to come to dharma talks and weekly practice. They asked him whether the pain had diminished. He replied that it was increasing. The monks led him on a meditation on the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. After a few minutes there was no more suffering and he smiled.

When you sit close to a person who is dying, talk to him of happy experiences in his life. Touch seeds of happiness in him. The monks asked Anathapindika to look at his feelings and perceptions. "I am life without boundaries, this body is a residue".

Help the dying person not to cling to his body. If there is regret, help them to see they are not his feelings. When conditions are manifested this body manifests and when not, it goes. The nature of this body is not birth, death, coming or going - not hurt by notion of being or non-being. I am free from birth or death. That practice helps me.

Talk by the writer[THICH NHAT HANH] during a recently-held retreat in Hong Kong. Mindfulness meditation practice sessions every week, Delhi and Noida. Contact dshantum@gmail.com

The Sufi Way Is To Love, Love, Love

Mysticism is the pivotal point of Sufi poetry. The Sufi way is direct communion and absorption in the Supreme with sheer love and devotion. Sufis believe that God is present in every human being but He is hidden from us by khudi or ego, what is called aham in Sanskrit. We need to overcome khudi before we can become one with the Supreme.

The path chosen by Sufis for this purpose is Ishq Majazi to Ishq Haqqiqi. In Ishq Majazi lovers have normal earthly feelings of joy, pain, agony and ecstasy. In Ishq Haqqiqi the lover is a human being and the beloved is God. But the Sufis do not ask for worldly comforts. They neither yearn for Heaven nor live in fear of Hell. They seek only the enchanting sight of the Beloved.

This emotion is narrated by the Persian poet Rabia-Al-Basri: "If i love thee for fear of Hell/ Put me in the fires of Hell/ If i love thee for the sake of Heaven/ Deprive me of this bliss for all times/ My love for thee is thine alone/ I yearn for thy communion/ Withhold not thy everlasting beauty from me. Mira has expressed the same yearning for her Girdhar Gopal".

In the Punjab, many love lores are sung but the Sufis adopted the theme of Heer-Ranjha by Waris Shah for illustrating Ishq Majazi. Ranjha of Takht Hazara had heard a lot about the enchanting beauty of Heer of Sayals. He went to Heer's village and met her in her garden. They fell in love at first sight. There were impediments to their meetings but this only made their love more intense. In this love lore Heer is the human being and Ranjha, the beloved, is God.

Shah Hussain describes their union thus: "Yesterday I was away from my Ranjha/ Today I have become one with my Lord/ He is Heer/ He is Ranjha/ Friends do not call me Heer/ Call me Ranjha".

Bulleh Shah describes the metaphysical union between Heer (man) and Ranjha (God): "Friends come and congratulate me/ I am wedded to Ranjha/ It was the gracious day/ Which has come today/ Friends come and congratulate me".

Sultan Bahu attributes a deep and meaningful relationship between the two forms of love: The plant is the same/ Distinctive leaves are the same/ Ishq Majazi is the flower/ And Ishq Haqqiqi is its fruit". It implies that Ishq Majazi leads to Ishq Haqqiqi.

Sufis often kept the pleasure of communion to themselves but sometimes, like Bulleh Shah, when in Wajd or trance, they dressed themselves in ghagra (long skirt) and dupatta and they fell down when exhausted and sang: "O physician! come soon and feel my pulse/ I am dying/ My Lord has made me to dance to exhaustion/ Ker thayya thayya". Shah Hussain sang: "I am a devotee (gopi)/ I am a devotee from Vrindaban" and also "the dark complexioned (Krishna) is my bosom friend". At one point he says: "Get up lazy bones/ It is time to sing Rama's praise".

Sufis lived a life of renunciation. They wore a dress made from coarse wool called suf and thence their name, Sufis.

Their motto was Alfaqr Fakhri (poetry is my pride). It is believed that Sufism was brought to India by Khwaja Mohiud-din Chishti.

Over time, Sufis here got emotionally integrated with some aspects of Hindu and Sikh thought, strengthening the bond between Hindus and Muslims. Sufi poets of the Punjab wrote poetry in Punjabi dialects of the areas where they lived which was easily understood by the people.

Inter-generational Bonding With Storytelling

Working with story has endless possibilities. Personal narrative, stories from our own everyday lives, is one aspect of storywork. Often we imagine that to be a storyteller, we need to find stories only in books or other traditional sources. But stories from our own lives, telling of joys, sorrows, challenges, achievements, successes and recoveries can do so much for us as well.

Personal storytelling builds groups and communities. We often get judgmental when we do not know people well; when we know someone's story, we can't help but understand them more, if not actively like them. It doesn't matter if we are different culturally, financially or generationally. Our stories enrich our lives and that of others.

Personal storytelling creates networks of support. People who have gone through the same illnesses or problems find relief and release through the sharing of their stories. They realise they are not alone; perhaps even that others have bigger problems, and also that there could be hope through all this suffering. It can also teach us to count our blessings, to empathise and to reach out.

Personal storytelling provides us with options and solutions. Sometimes, listening to steps others have taken can show us alternative ways of behaving, or gives us options to choose from, and often gives us courage too.

Personal storytelling can help younger people to go through life. My friend Carolyn created a special book for young Lina, then 12, that wasn't only filled with information; she had a group of us women all write our own first menstruation stories that included the fears, the anticipation. Lina, now 30, still treasures this very personal gift and says she will share it with her two young daughters.

Personal storytelling can bond us inter-generationally. Alright, we have all known — or have been — adults who have told stories about our childhood and had the listeners roll back their eyes way into their sockets in disbelief (the more polite ones, anyway!). But how about a story 'exchange'? Children and adults can come together and tell and listen to each others' stories. And it needn't always be about how good or studious or kind or generous we used to be...

Personal storytelling helps us know each other better. I am not just talking of those who have just met — old friends and long-time couples too often can discover stories and events they have not talked of before — funny, sad, embarrassing, learningful — profound or just plain silly. Recently, a women's group — whose members including me have known each other for many years — shared 'new' pieces of our lives that have made us realise that we are all so multifaceted, and there is no end to getting to know each other more deeply; it just takes time and loving awareness.

Personal storytelling can help create a precious gift. A woman i know collected family recipes from her mother, grandmothers, aunts and grandaunts, adding a personal anecdote or story and a photograph from each of their lives, and had a book printed for each of the 26 young women in her extended family.

Personal storytelling is healing and releasing. There are times when having told and released our story, we are free to let go and move on. Individuals have often written their own stories as a myth or fairy tale, or created paintings and sculptures that allow them to now move on with their lives.

MARGUERITE THEOPHIL is a Mumbai-based personal growth coach and workshop leader.

Top 10 Ways To Raise Your Consciousness

1. Forgive yourself and others: Life is too short to hold on to regrets, grudges, miscommunications, or disappointments. Free yourself by forgiving and letting go of any negative energy you're holding on to about yourself or others. The process of forgiving yourself and others will result in your feeling light and free; it will raise your vibration.

2. Practise gratitude and appreciation: Whatever you focus on grows. So, when you focus on every thing in your life you feel grateful for all and the wonderful people you appreciate, the universe hands you more to feel grateful about.

3. Live each day as though it were your last: Then you will be living in a state of light, love and unconditional contribution. What would you say to the people you care about?

4. Meditate or pray: You open up a direct link between yourself and the spiritual realm when you meditate or pray. You will come closer to your creator energy; raise your vibration experience, peace, clarity, joy and connection, as well as a perfectly balanced state between your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual realms.

5. Suspend judgment: One judges another to feel less guilty about one's own misgivings. Judgment energy is dense, dark and heavy. On the other hand, unconditional acceptance is light, free and accepting. Let go of judging and criticising yourself and others. Everyone is on a different path and some appear to be farther ahead on their path than others. Neither path is better nor worse than another. Raise your conscious-ness to one of acceptance.

6. View every experience as a gift: If you look back at occurrences in your life, you can easily see how even the worst situations you experienced in your life ended up teaching you invaluable lessons and therefore resulted in putting you in perfect place for your continuing development. When you view every experience — the good, the bad, and the ugly — as a gift, life flows more like a gentle, inspiring breeze.

7. Stay consciously aware of all your thoughts and feelings: It is easy to fall into negative patterns of complaining and feeling like a victim of society and your life. When you catch yourself in the negative zone, don't feel badly about it and beat yourself up. Simply choose to switch your consciousness to one of gratitude and positive thinking.

8. Treat your physical body as your temple: Your body is the only vehicle you've been given for this ride called life. The better you care for your body by eating a healthy, balanced diet, and by implementing a regular exercise routine, and by giving your body the rest it requires, the more you will experience increased energy, vitality, joy and freedom.

9. View the world through the eyes of a child: Children are enthralled by the process of observing and experiencing the wonder and beauty in every single thing. They can't get enough. Look at every tree, sunset, cloud and human being as a child would and you'll be in a constant state of wonder, joy, surprise, acceptance and enlightenment.

10. Give love, love, love from your heart: It's all about love. Love is the highest vibration. Allow yourself to receive love unconditionally from others. Give love from your heart unconditionally to yourself and others and you will experience the highest state of consciousness possible.

From an Email forward.

Calibrate Your Life And Celebrate

Life is celebration. In order to be able to experience the joy of celebration, you need to first learn to calibrate your life in a manner appropriate for celebration.

Your life starts from a thought. The thinking process keeps generating thoughts. When you enact these thoughts you experience the fruition of your actions. Thought is the root and the outcome of action is the fruit.

Life is evolving; it is changing constantly from the root to its fruit. Between the roots and fruits lie the trunk, branches, leaves, buds and flowers. These are our various thought processes. Thoughts make the mind. As are your thoughts and thinking, so is your mind. And that is your life. The 'tree' of life.

Life also consists of feelings and emotions, called the manas or spiritual heart. Due to prana or the process of breathing, the spiritual heart is connected to the mind. In other words, feelings and emotions are linked with the process of thinking or its product, thoughts.

This connectivity generates more thinking, creating thoughts that make your life emotion and feeling-based as well. The mind is the gateway to the brain which is the seat of intellect or buddhi. So once again, life reaffirms itself and reaffixes itself to the intellect. Your whole life revolves around your mind and intellect.

Your mind and intellect together generate strong likes and dislikes — raag and dvesh — which create intense beliefs and disbeliefs. These lead us to love and hate relationships with fellow human beings and also with Divinity. When we understand this true aspect we can clearly see that our life is based on our mind, level of intelligence, strong beliefs and disbeliefs.

Seers have established that we are a part of the Supreme Spirit. This is our link with the Divine source. We need to form our life around the Supreme Spirit, who is Parama, also known as the soul or atman. Soul also means spandana or vibrations. We need to get firmly established in the Divine source.

We need to restructure our lives from being thinking-based to being vibrations-based. Just as an object vibrating at high speed does not allow even a single particle of dust to stick to it, intense vibrations of the soul blow away residual and negative thoughts, beliefs and disbeliefs.

How should we convert our lives from being thought-based to being vibrations-based? To move from thought-based to vibrations-based life, seek the company of the holy and the wise, attend satsangs, read and assimilate wisdom from the Bhagavad Gita, Vedas, Upanishads and other world scriptures and learn more about the lives of the accomplished.

Practise meditation, mantra chanting or japa, and intense sadhana. Try to follow spiritual and divine traditions.

By doing so the mind, intellect, beliefs and disbeliefs, likes and dislikes, which have prevented vibrations of the soul to be felt and experienced, recede to the background and there is a spontaneous ignition of soul energy that is released. This energy release brings out waves of bliss, where we feel immense happiness, satisfaction, joy and contentment.

The transition brings a blissful life without worries. We experience a joyful, thoughtless state of being, full of peace and contentment. Life is without anxiety and fear. We calibrate our life and celebrate forever.

By Shri Nimishananda  E-mail: shrinimishamba@hotmail.com . Website: www.shri-nimishamba.org .

Dreaming big for someone else

We all want peace: peace of mind, peace in the family and community, between countries, peace with our environment. There is scarcely anyone who does not yearn for peace. But how many of us are prepared to pay the price of peace, love? We need to love each other; have compassion and be prepared to sacrifice for one another and work for togetherness and peace.

Love and peace will see all people united by the bonds of brotherhood, moving onward, forward, Godward. Godward, I say. For God and religion cannot and ought not to be kept out of this vision, even though people tend to discredit religion these days.

For it is not religion that has failed us, it is we who have failed religion. We only speak of religion, we do not bear witness to it in deeds of daily living, to the teachings of the great prophets. It is life that is needed, not words. You may recite prayers, chant hymns and sing songs of praise; you may read from the scriptures and frequent places of worship but if you do not imbibe at least some of the wisdom, are you any better than a tape recorder?

You may write wonderful commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita or any other world scriptures, but if you do not reflect the wisdom of these scriptures in word and action, how are you any better than a desktop printer? "Blessed are the peacemakers", said Jesus.

The world today needs peacemakers. A businessman came out of his office in a high-rise commercial centre and crossed the street to get into his saloon car. His chauffeur was holding the door open for him. The man was about to get in when his saw a little boy gazing wistfully at the gleaming automobile. Moved, the man said to the boy, "Would you like to come for a drive with me?"

The child's eyes lit up with excitement and he said: "Thank you sir! I would love nothing better!" And off they went, the man and the boy, seated comfortably at the rear and the chauffeur at the wheel, unable to believe what was happening.

"How much did this car cost?" the boy blurted out, his eyes wide open with wonder. "Er... I don't know", said the man, flushed with embarrassment. "You see, it was a gift from my older brother".

"How lucky you are to have such a brother!" exclaimed the boy. "Where would you like to go?" asked the man, after a while. "I'll get dropped home", said the boy eagerly. "We live close by, in a hutment near the station". Soon they reached the station.

The car stopped in front of the sprawling slum. The boy turned to the man eagerly and said, "Sir, could you wait here for just a few minutes?" The man nodded. The boy got down from the car and vanished into the slum.

But he was back in a few minutes and in his arms he carried a severely disabled child. "Look, Chhotu, look! This is the big beautiful car that sahib's bhaiya gifted him", the boy told the child. "I wish to be like that brother! Then I could buy you such a car when you grow up!"

The boy waved goodbye and the car moved away. Inside the plush car the rich businessman sat in stupefied silence.

At long last he said to the chauffeur, "He did not want a car like this for himself. He wanted to give it to his brother!" True love is selfless. And such love can bring about lasting peace.

Non-judgment Essential For Spiritual Path

Through non-judgment, you switch focus from the negative to the positive. If you’re viewing the world as bad, ugly, problematic; or judging those around you as arrogant, selfish, sinners... then your focus is subconsciously negative. Often you don’t even realise this.

Even those on the spiritual path might go through life thinking they are focused only on God, but by engaging in subtle labelling this is where you are dwelling; this is what your energy fields are emanating and this is what you are creating in your current realities every moment.

Through a conscious practice of non-judgment you could train your subconscious mind to remain in a positive state of being.

As the journey deepens however, ‘thou shalt not judge’ becomes the gnosis that ‘there is nothing to judge outside us’ since the world and its people are but reflections of Self.

This often leads to a phase where you do not judge the outside or other, but begin to flagellate Self as the source of all that you meet as life.

This serves a vital purpose initially; because when you realise that it’s all about you, you cannot distance yourself from the qualities you’ve been projecting onto others and perhaps for the first time you make an effort to change the source that is you, rather than pass the buck outside.

Self-blame is not a healthy frame of mind. However, once Self-blame has turned your attention within, you are ready to move on by coming to terms with the fact that there is nothing like ‘bad’ or ‘evil’ to judge. Because all your facets are aspects of the One God or Self choosing to experience its different aspects for a larger purpose.

Judgment is becoming redundant indeed. You stop judging Self or the other and instead, view all as being part of a larger picture, knowing now that there is a larger purpose behind each quality or experience that you might have formerly judged as negative.

At this point comes another revelation. Thus far, non-judgment has always implied a moving away from judging anything as negative or wrong or less.

But a natural extension of not judging anything as ‘bad’ implies not judging anything as ‘good’. If you were to judge anything as good, your negative judgment is only hidden, as everything that does not fit in with your criterion of good, is actually automatically rendered bad. This is a big leap in consciousness and it takes you beyond ‘judgment’ into a state of being without labels.

Non-judgment does not mean non-observation. You will observe, there will be discrimination, even preference. You may indeed view someone as angry or arrogant or a cheat for example but without the judgment of it being good or bad; without adding the usual inner plethora of: “she should not be”, “how can she be”.

You cannot move away from the spoken language and will need to use the words, yes, but if you are truly not judging from within, then your energy signatures are not emanating judgment.

This brings us to a profound understanding that if we were to use all such words like angry, arrogant, cheat and so on without judgment, we are going to change the energy behind these words — where they do not imply an automatic negative verdict — and we will indeed develop language without labels.

We Are All Actors In A Cosmic Drama

araka Brahma wants to emancipate living beings, but only those who want liberation get liberation. When you long for liberation, the search leads you to the Sadguru. Everyone of us has a fixed role to play. You are a character in a divine drama. The composer of this drama is Taraka Brahma.

An episode in the Mahabharata is instructive in this regard: After battle, the battleground at Kurukshetra became a cremation ground. At the end of the war some people came there from the Kauravas' side. Among them were women and a few elderly men. Gandhari, mother of the Kauravas, was also there. Kunti, mother of the Pandavas, and Krishna, Pandavas' friend, were present as well, along with the visually challenged Dhritarashtra. Everyone was weeping. Gandhari had lost hundred sons in the war.

Krishna approached Gandhari and said: "Mother, why are you weeping? Death is a natural law. One who is born will die. So why cry?" Gandhari replied: "Yes Krishna, you have come here to console me, but i ask you, behind this great event whose mind was at work? Who was the author of this great plan? Was it not you?" Krishna replied: "Those who have committed injustice and sinned have been punished. What can I do about that?"

Gandhari said to Krishna: "Everything you have said up until now is quite correct. From the worldly point of view, everything that has happened until now is as it should be, because every action must have its reaction. But my point is: You yourself are Taraka Brahma; your duty is to liberate living beings. You can give liberation to whomsoever you please.

"As Taraka Brahma you can create and destroy as you wish. In this drama of yours you have created characters who are honest, ideological people. If one does virtuous deeds then one gets liberation. To teach the people you create these kinds of characters. And you also create sinful characters to show how much a person degenerates because of sinful behaviour. In this drama, you could have had my hundred sons play roles of righteousness and the Pandavas play roles of unrighteousness, if you had so wished. In that case my hundred sons would have gotten salvation. Now, after having made me cry, you come to console me!"

Taraka Brahma formulates his plan in order to create situations that lend themselves to illustrating values, to create awareness. For instance, if one engages in honest work then one moves towards eternal truth, and if one performs dishonest work then one moves towards untruth. Thereafter comes the other part of the story.

Gandhari said: "Krishna, give me permission to curse you". Krishna replied: "Okay, curse me. I give you permission". Gandhari cursed him: "Just as my entire lineage has been destroyed before my very eyes, may your Yadava lineage be destroyed before your very eyes as well". "Let it be so", Krishna replied.

Remember always that we are only actors in a universal drama. This is not our real identity. Someone may play the role of a king, but he might not even have two handfuls of rice in his house. Someone plays the role of a poor man, but in real life he may be very rich. We ought to remember that we are only playing specific roles in a cosmic drama. Act according to the role given. This is a person's duty.

When The Rain Gods Sent Showers To Cool Shiva

It was during the rainy months that Shiva is said to have swallowed the poison that emerged during the samudra manthan or churning of the ocean. So strong was its effect that the gods had to pour water, milk, curd and honey on Shiva to cool Him. That’s when the rain god Indra instructed the rains to shower Shiva.

Mondays are dedicated to Shiva, particularly those of the month of Sawan or Sravana. This is when the story of Shiva and Parvati is recounted, enriched with elements of drama, passion and love.

When Shiva’s wife Sati insisted on taking a break to be with her father, at her maternal home in the mountains, Shiva reluctantly made arrangements for her trip. When He got the news that following an argument, Sati had immolated herself in the fire kindled for a yagna, He was inconsolable. An enraged Shiva stormed the yagna and destroyed it. Picking up Sati’s body, He traversed the three worlds in tandava — the dance of wrath — and threatened to destroy everything as His beloved was no more.

To contain Shiva’s tandava, Vishnu had no option but to direct His Sudershan Chakra to cut Sati’s lifeless body into 108 pieces. Places where these pieces fell became designated as Shakti peethas, venerated as pilgrimage centres.

Sati was reborn as Parvati. She performed austerities in the Himalayas for several thousand years in order to be able to marry Shiva. Told my sages that this was indeed His beloved wife Sati, Shiva met her in the garb of an elderly Brahmin and suggested that she forget Shiva as He was so ugly with three eyes, five heads, matted hair, ash-smeared body, snake-ornaments, and no wealth, and who lived in a forest and drank poison. An angered Parvati admonished the Brahmin for daring to disturb her tapasya and that’s when Shiva revealed Himself to her, with a marriage proposal.

So great was Shiva’s love for Parvati that He incorporates her body with His, and the half-man half-woman avatar of Shiva is known as Ardhnareeshwar. When Shiva is depicted with Parvati He is shown smiling but when depicted alone He is shown in His serious yogic posture, meditating.

Shiva is known also as Bholenath for his childlike disposition. Saint Thirumular exclaimed: “Anbe Shivam!” That is, he saw Shiva as Love personified. Shiva is also known as Umapati (husband of Uma, daughter of the mountains), and Parvatipati (husband of Parvati). While His wife as Shakti is out battling demons, He stays at home to take care of the children.

And when Shakti dances — in a tandav that sends tremors around — after vanquishing the demons, Shiva lies quietly beneath her feet in the hope of calming her by making her aware that if she continued, she would end up crushing Him under her feet.

Many of these stories indicate gender equity and the importance and beauty of loving togetherness. They serve as instructive and interesting talking points during the month of Sawan. This is when many devotees fast on Mondays, remembering Shiva and offering prayers, invoking His blessings for a happy and peaceful life.

Guru Ashtavakra and King Janaka the Pupil

Many great classical texts are rich in Vedanta. One such is the Ashtavakra Samhita, a conversation between Janaka , the king-pupil and Ashtavakra, the guru-seer whose name indicates that his body had eight contortions. The subject of discussion was what constitutes bondage and liberation; the dialogue is a direct and simple articulation of the nature and joy of Self-realisation.

"Non-attachment for sense-objects is liberation: love for sense-objects is bondage...". Sage Ashtavakra says that the Self alone exists and all else, within the mind-senses vortex, is false and unreal. He draws his disciple's attention to his own restlessness, despite being a model king. This, Ashtavakra defines as the eternal yearning of the mind for its true nature, beyond all objects and desire. The seeker has only preoccupied himself in this world till now, to quench this restlessness, not fully comprehending himself what he seeks.

The seeker remains unfulfilled as a result of this preoccupation, because one can actually only feel satiated in the realisation of one's true nature. Ashtavakra continues with his exposition of the illusory nature of the world for enjoyment and learning, for "bondage consists only of desire, and the destruction of desire is liberation.." He asks Janaka to wake up to the transitory nature of all things, to cultivate dispassion, to understand that at the root of this cycle of suffering is attachment born of desire.

The Ashtavakra Samhita focuses on the nature of atmanu-bhuti or Self-realisation, predicated on understanding the bondage-liberation paradigm.

In a way, one can see in this exploration the germ of what was later formalised as the Ajata-vadaor Advaita school of thought by Gaudapada and Shankara.

Ashtavakra goes on to annihilate the false sense of identification of the Self with the mind, saying that "it is bondage when the mind desires or grieves at anything, rejects or accepts anything, feels happy or angry at anything..". In a movingly simple verse, he sums up a free and fearless soul as one who has renounced desire, for "the renunciation of desire alone is renunciation of the world".

As Bhartrihari in his Vairagya-Shatakam — A Hundred Verses on Renunciation — puts it, renunciation alone removes all fear, for "...in enjoyment there is the fear of disease, in social position fear of a fall, in honour the fear of humiliation, in beauty the fear of old age... and while old age comes on, desire alone grows younger every day".

Ashtavakra then describes the state of bliss of the Self, in which all notions of plurality fall away, in which even intellectual, aesthetic or ethical pursuits seem secondary, where "there is no heaven or hell or liberation... nothing but the Self in this expanded cosmic consciousness".

The fire of knowledge ignited by the guru burns away desires of the disciple, and the last two chapters allude to the experiential realisation of the disciple himself. Janaka describes his own state to his guru Ashtavakra in terms and language that are reminiscent of the " neti, neti ..." vocabulary of the Upanishads: "...where are the elements, where is the body, where is the mind, where is the knower, the means, the object of knowledge... where is anything, where is the world, where is the aspirant." The Self alone exists.

True Relationship And Its Meaning

A few relationships which we feel are genuine are cut short when death intervenes. These relationships are transitory. If a person dies we might remember him and cry for him only because we were dependent on that person in some way. So we miss him. But once we learn to live without that person, we might even 'forget' him.

A permanent relationship can only be developed with oneself and that is possible with self-realisation. Upon self-realisation we would have true relationship with every living orga-nism and inanimate object as we will be able to see divinity in all creation no matter what response we get from them, as there will be no expectations.

A sadhu was rescuing a scorpion that had fallen into a pond. Every time he lifted it out of water, it stung him but he would not give up until it was saved. One of his disciples asked why he was persistent in saving the scorpion that stung him. The sadhu replied: "The dharma or nature of scorpion is to sting; the nature or dharma of a sadhu is to rescue a being from distress. So long as the scorpion does not give up its dharma why should i give up mine?"

The dharma of fire is to burn, of water is to cool, of wind is to blow. So, our dharma is to be humane. One should do one's duty even if faced with obstacles. A realised soul does his karma without any attachment to it.

There are three states of consciousness: the wakeful state, the dream state and the deep-sleep state. In the wakeful state you experience the external through sense-perception. In dream, senses do not function. The impressions formed by previous experiences are shaped into the likeness of waking itself. Whatever is deep-seated in our mind appears in our dreams, as if they are realities of the waking state itself. Dreams tell us about our vasanas or innate desires and we can correct our behaviour by introspection. In deep-sleep, neither the senses function nor the mind and we are completely cut off from the external world... When you have slept well you feel relaxed. Why? Because in deep sleep you are one with atman. But it is impossible to be always in a state of deep sleep.

For the jnani who is self-realised, all three states of consciousness are equally unreal.

But the ajnani who is ignorant, who is not self-realised, is unable to comprehend this, because for him the standard of reality is the waking state, whereas for the jnani the standard of rea-lity is reality itself. This reality of pure consciousness is eternal by its nature and therefore subsists equally during what you call waking, dreaming and deep sleep.

To him who is one with reality there is neither the mind nor its three states. His is the ever-waking state, because he is awake to the eternal Self; his is the ever-dreaming state, because to him the world is no better than a repeatedly presented dream phenomenon; his is the ever-sleeping state, because he is at all times without the "body-am-i" consciousness.

The true relationship is, therefore, with the atman and this is the blissful state. This is the true relationship we need to establish with our real self; every other relationship is temporal, selfish and therefore painful.

The writer is a college principal, Delhi University.

It's A Balancing Act, Chakras And All

Looking for happiness? Balance your chakras. According to the Dalai Lama, your body is a God-given gift. By loving and appreciating your body you begin to walk the path to consciousness. Opening or balancing all your chakras is the key to that happiness.

Simply open your hands so that your chakras, the subtle whirling wheels, open out from the physical body to the aura or the ethereal, restoring balance and harmony to the body energy centres. The act clears the energy blocks and opens the meridians for free movement of life force through them. The body's energy circuit gets completed. This gentle experience provides healing - not only at the physical, mental and emotional levels - but also, gradually, it leads one to spiritual awakening.

Seven major chakras are located along the spinal column from the base to the top of the head in and around the body and dozens of minor chakras in the hands, feet and other body parts. The crown chakra - the entrance gate of life force energy - is located on the top and root chakra is at the base with the other five chakras, namely, third eye, throat, heart, solar plexus, and sacral plexus situated in between in that order.

Chakras manage your body's energy. They receive, assimilate and distribute energy to our energy centres. Malfunctioning of chakras triggered by negative thoughts and actions may restrict the movement of life force from one to the other centre and cause the energy system to go haywire. You could fall ill. So, tuning the chakras continually is vital for regular upkeep of physical, mental and emotional health.

Balancing chakras is central to our well-being. There are many ways to balance chakras. Meditation, yoga, aroma therapy, mudras, music, chanting or crystal healing are some examples. Often, individual chakras may get over or undercharged, throwing the system off balance.

The simple technique of inter-balancing chakras takes about 15 minutes to execute and all chakras - except the crown chakra - are manipulated in the process. The crown chakra gets automatically balanced. The practice is best done lying on a bed.

Lie down on your back and close your eyes. Place one hand on your forehead and the other on the root chakra. Keep your hands in this position till such time as equal vibration is felt in both palms, equal warmth observed and the energy is absorbed into the body for up to five minutes. Now move the hand from forehead to the throat and other hand from root to sacral plexus and balance the energy in this position till such time you feel the energy is absorbed or up to five minutes.

Finally, move the hand from throat to the heart chakra and the hand from sacral plexus to solar plexus. Allow the hands to rest in this position till you observe the energy is balanced or up to five minutes. Finish by bringing the hands together in a prayer position. However, in order to keep the chakras in a balanced state, it is helpful to repeat the act as frequently as convenient.

Blockages get cleared. At the physical level, balancing chakras reactivates the endocrine glands to resume secretion of hormones - so important for maintenance of good health. The immune system gets stabilised, manifestation of diseases stopped and detoxification process is accelerated. You can feel the radiance emanating from your body and mind and experience the bliss of joyful spirit.

The Dehra Dun-based writer is a Reiki Sensei.

Vedantic Life of Action, Peace and Happiness

Living is an art, a skill, a technique. Few understand it to be so; you need to learn and practise the technique as you would be playing a musical instrument or flying an aircraft.

The process of learning how to live is not taught in school or university. People go through a mechanical way of living merely following a routine of their predecessors. They lack this fundamental knowledge of living and become victims of stress and strain.

Everywhere people have lost pleasure in action. They try to find peace and happiness by abstaining from action. Hence, everyone looks forward to weekends and vacations or seek premature retirement. If you cannot find peace and happiness in action you can never find it through abstinence.

There are two distinct classes of people. One is active, productive and prosperous. The western world seems to fit this category. But by their own admission they have lost peace of mind. The other class of people is relatively peaceful and happy but without much action. Since they lack action, they are not productive and prosperous. Some eastern countries face this problem. Thus there is action without peace on one side and peace without action on the other. Is it possible to combine dynamic action with mental peace?

Vedanta provides the answer. The few who have imbibed the knowledge of Vedanta, learnt and practised the technique of living, live a dynamic life of action while enjoying perfect peace and happiness within. Vedanta helps you evolve to greater heights in your own spiritual path. It provides you with knowledge and guidance to reach the ultimate in human perfection. The goal of Self-realisation ploughs through human ignorance and delusion to discover the pristine glory of one's supreme Self.

Vedanta is systematic know-ledge that explains the meaning and purpose of your existence in the world. A knowledge that is founded on its own authority. It trains you to think for yourself. To analyse, investigate and realise the quintessence of life. Not to submit yourself to blind faith, superstitious belief or mechanical ritual. Ultimately, it leads you to spiritual enlightenment.

The knowledge of the unknown can be gained only through the use of known factors. Therefore, to unravel the mystery of God you need to use the world of objects and beings known to you. Start with the study of the world, the individual and the relationship between them.

It is not the world that bothers you but your relationship with it. You need to learn the principles of right living. Change the character of your action from selfishness to selfless service. Mend the quality of your emotion from preferential attach-ment to universal love. Raise your knowledge from the mundane to the supreme Self within. Vedanta further explains the composition of a human being. The five layers of human personality enveloping the inner Self.

The three states of conditioned-consciousness known as waking, dreaming and deep sleep. Every individual experiences the cycle of these states. None realises pure Consciousness, Core of one's being. Vedanta directs you to discover the Core, the supreme Self within. A Self-realised person is one with God. He revels in absolute peace and bliss. Becomes a beacon for the rest of the world to follow and steer their lives towards evolution.

Extract from Vedanta Treatise: The Eternities.

Culture As Magnet For Spiritual Seekers

A spiritual process can take shape in any culture only after material needs are taken care of. It is natural for people to initially believe that if their food, housing, clothing or the little luxuries they wish they had are taken care of, everything will be okay.

Once all those things are taken care of and you realise that you are still not fulfilled as a human being that is when you naturally turn inward. So if that has to happen, you need a social and cultural situation which is peaceful and well established for a long period of time.

Then people could look beyond material comfort towards inner well-being. Because of this, culture evolved such a powerful spiritual process. There are a million different ways through which you can attain to your ultimate nature.

Every aspect of life from something as simple as breathing, eating, sitting and standing was evolved as a spiritual process. The ultimate nature of a human being, the nature that is beyond the physical, has been explored so extensively.

A lot of it is unfortunately being lost; we are unable to really preserve that. But still it is a live culture; still a certain strand which is thousands of years old has been kept alive. Whether it is vibrating and resonating in people's lives or not is not certain, but as a thread it has survived and continues to exist.

Mark Twain was intrigued by Indic mysticism. He spent three months in India. While leaving he said: “Anything that can ever be done either by man or God has been done in this land”.

This is the only culture which does not have a religion as such. Religions have cropped up now only because of external influences; otherwise as a culture, there is no religion in this place. We have something called Sanatana Dharma, that means a universal religion. We're not talking about one religion for everybody. We are talking about all of us having our own religion.

Hindu is a geographical identity; anybody who is born in the land of Indus or the civilisation that came from the banks of Indus is a Hindu. So you can worship a man, woman, snake, cow, monkey or a rock and still be a Hindu. You can worship your spouse or child, you can abstain from worship of any kind and still be a Hindu.

This is not a religion; this is just a possibility. Everybody can do whatever means most to him. No other culture has given this freedom for the people in their land.

Every other culture insisted that people must believe in something, whatever was dominant in that culture. If you did not believe that, you were an outcast who needed to be dealt with. There was no persecution here simply because nobody had any particular belief system.

Even now, different members of one family can be found worshipping different objects or deities. Every individual can seek his own way. But the most important thing is, everybody ought to strive for ultimate liberation. By Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

Delightful World Of Myths And Fables

A child found that a milk tooth had come uprooted. When he asked his mother what it was, she told him the story of the tooth fairy. She asked him to place the tooth under his pillow at night. “A fairy will come and take away the tooth and replace it with a gift you wish for before you fall asleep”.

The excited child began to discuss his wish list. To his mother's consternation, expensive things were on his long list. Carefully, she explained to her son that the fairy can only grant those gifts she can afford to buy.

If gifts are very expensive and the fairy cannot afford to buy them, then she would buy a gift of her own choice instead of the one wished for.

The child did not want to lose out on the opportunity of making a wish and getting a gift. So he decided on a gift that his mother approved of as that way, he would at least get something of his choice.

Once his mother approved the gift that the fairy could afford, the child was so excited and confident that he felt a sense of achievement.

That day with excited mind he prepared to go to bed on time. Innocent and trusting, he was full of hope. He went to sleep, thinking of the wonderful 'surprise' that awaited him the next day. The thought of showing it to his friends and sharing the excitement filled him with joy.

The next morning, when the child woke up, to his great surprise and excitement he found the gift that he had wished for. He could not stop smiling. This reinforced his faith in his mother's words.

Could he now wish for more? What if he were willing to give up all his teeth, one by one, in return for all the things he dreamt of having?

He asked his mother who reminded him gently that fairies do not like greedy children. Didn't he know that fairies visit and shower with gifts only those children who are relatively good, who listen to what their parents, teachers and other elders tell them?

And also pay attention to school work, and take loving care of younger ones. Who avoid telling lies, do not fight or deface property, especially public property, and who do not litter the streets.

The child hung on to every word his mother uttered. Yes, he would try and live up to the fairy's expectations. Maybe if he were really good, he could wish and get something really big.

When the child became an adult, he had made a name for himself in his chosen field of study. He had great career opportunities that enabled him to earn high salary. In fact, he now had the means to fulfill many of his desires.

The realisation hit him that, in fact, his mother, through the fairy and other myths and fables, had played a pivotal role in motivating him as a child.

Myths and fables, fairy tales and legends- and the way they are told to us or interpreted - have played an invisible but important role in shaping our lives.

Small things can bring about big changes. Even the world of make-believe can help spread hope and cheer.

Sexual Union Born Of Cosmic Love

"Vakil Saheb, what is sex?" asked my friend, 75-year-old Harish, taking a little rest after our usual morning walk in the park.

Harish was quite an evolved person; his question took me by surprise. What does he expect me to say? The age gap and social fibre were impediments that held back any discussion on the taboo subject. In the meantime, another morning walker, commander Om Prakash, smiled mischievously at us. He was asking me to speak. Being a lawyer, did they expect me to discuss how the judicial system interpreted sex? Or sex in social life, in crime, or as a method of abuse? Maybe what they had in mind was sex in spirituality or spirituality in sex?

The question put me in a meditative mood and triggered visions of another universe where i found everything in love - not just life in the form of human beings, birds, insects, reptiles, amphibians and others, but even inanimate objects - everything seemed so much unified; there was togetherness palpable everywhere. There was nothing that was separate. Everything seemed to belong... The entire universe was busy in procreation, in cosmic expansion of itself.

There was the constant formation of universes and galaxies out of galaxies, spaces out of spaces, and all chemical reactions were actually cosmic powers that changed and turned, but there was also unanimity. Why are we so reticent to talk about something that's so natural and universal? And why such a profound phenomenon is seen with such low eyes?

What made this pious and holy word so demeaning when everything was being created out of everything? The vision reappeared: princi-ples of mathematics, physics and chemistry meeting and cohabiting. One body formed, another disintegrated, turning into a different cosmic energy, expanding, changing, evolving in a birth-death cycle, ad infinitum. Finally, everything turned into gases and those gases formed other bodies. Was this not sex? Everything wanted to extend into the other. Everything wanted to be a part of every other thing.

Behind this transformation and the theories and practicals of changing shapes and orders was that One Superpower that kept the universe going.

The formation of its principles again depended on the changing orders of cosmic energies. Everything was so deeply related and dependent on each other that if you took out one thing it caused a big fuse, an explosion, whose possibilities were most destructive, but that so-caused destruction became the spark for formation of a new world.

The end of something marks the beginning of something new. Nothing died and nothing could die, and nothing could recreate without contact and nothing could live alone and separate.

As I came back again, we talked about it in another way. The story of creation or procreation starts from the beginning, where, in the zero state of the universe, there was self-loving cosmic energy. Some call it the Big Bang theory of creation of the universe. Not a very nice name for something beautiful, when creative energies meet, evolve and multiply.

Did the creative spark get released from the holy orgasm of a supernatural power that met itself to evolve? The universe is the subsequent evolution and multiplication of that desire for evolution. It goes on. Everything is love; the entire universe is manifestation of that love. So let's not live in denial. By Bhim Singh Indora

Back To School Where God Is Principal

Life is an institution. We have a principal, God, who looks over the entire working of our life. He allots teachers, namely our parents, to guide us through this path. We learn lessons and it is up to us whether we want to pass or fail. Every morning we wake up and give a tick mark to the attendance file of our lives. The only difference in this school of life is you cannot play truant even for a day! Though from time to time one may doze off and not pay heed to the message that is being given to us.

From the start my parents taught me and my sister to be good human beings first.

Life has been kind, sometimes harsh but mostly fair. We make many mistakes, some of which we admit and others, we conceal. But now that i'm 22 years old, i can review every step taken by me.

Think positive. Yes, it's that simple. Thoughts are actions. Imagine if there are a billion good thoughts, the universe will throw back a billion good actions.

Something within tells me: "Forget the world and listen to your heart". If we all just start listening to our inner soul maybe we won't be scratching our heads while taking the final exam. I am not at all close to being perfect but I know I want to get near it... not by mastering the business world, not by buying the perfect car or the perfect house, but by being the perfect self. The perfect self according to me. is kind, compassionate, and empathetic... one who sees the good in people and shares the good within themselves.

The true test is for us to examine, and to be honest to ourselves before we give a tick mark to our answer sheets. I had a lot of questions ready, my doubts all written, point by point... since I could not get the answer from my teachers I made an appointment with God. Doubts about life, love, death, fear, sorrow... I was angry. Why can't He guide us? God was there by my side, every minute, every step. Even though I haven't gotten all the answers i know i will get there... He will take me there, in my own time, the same way He has gotten me here, where I am now.

Some say one should never pity nor envy anyone else... and i am happy to be me. The first important teaching to learn, count your blessings. We all stand to be a little more aware about what life is really trying to teach us... and for some be aware that life is trying to teach us something. Money is like our grades in school... it helps us move to the next step but after that, who remembers what we scored in maths in the third standard? People forget that when we die... money does not come along with us. It becomes like our grades, we don't remember how much we earned or how much we lost. Families fight, friendships are ruined; parent-child bonds are broken. Isn't that a waste... why would anyone choose paper over love?

Here's a plea for whoever is reading this... let us all try and be the best pupils in this school called life. Be true... love not only others but also yourself. Love God wholeheartedly because that's all He wants, and you know what they say: "Be in His good books and you will go to the head of the class".

Devotional Approach To Knowledge & Surrender

There are two processes for attaining knowledge: one is inductive and the other, deductive. The deductive method is considered to be more perfect.

How is the premise that all men are mortal arrived at? Followers of the inductive method wish to arrive at this premise through experiment and observation. We may thus study that this man died and that man died, and after seeing that so many men have died we may conclude or generalise that all men are mortal. The major defect in this method is that our experience is limited.

We may never have seen a man who is not mortal, but we are judging this on our personal experience, which is finite. Our senses have limited power, and there are so many defects in our conditioned state. The inductive process consequently is not always perfect, whereas the deductive process from a source of perfect knowledge is perfect. The Vedic process is such a process. There are successive disciples of Ramanujacharya, Madhva-charya, Nimbarka, Vishnuswami and other great sages. Vedic literature is understood through masters.

Arjuna understood the Bhagavad Gita from Krishna, and if we wish to understand it, we have to do so - so to speak - from Arjuna. We ought to tally our understanding with that of Arjuna to know that our understanding is correct. The Gita is neither an ordinary book of knowledge nor a dictionary. It is not difficult to understand the necessity of going through rigorous tutelage to understand the Gita.

If we wish to be a lawyer, engineer or doctor, we have to receive the knowledge from qualified lawyers, engineers or doctors. A new lawyer has to become an apprentice of an experienced lawyer, or a young man studying to be a doctor has to become an intern and work with those who are already licensed practitioners. Our knowledge of a subject cannot be perfected unless we receive it through authoritative sources. This has been acknowledged in the Gita.

In the Bhagavatam, Vamana said to Shukracharya, the spiritual master of demons: "Your disciple Bali Maharaj is in difficulty, it will be befitting for you to perform yajna for his bene-fit". Shukracharya smiled and replied, "My disciple has seen you and you have graced him... and he has performed 'Anusankirtana', that is, he has recapitulated your Name, Form, Attributes, Pastimes, after hearing about these from a bona fide pure devotee.

Where is the necessity of performing Karmakanda Yajna? By utterance of your Holy name and glories, all defects in the utterance of mantra and tantra (inversion of sequence) and sinister influence of place, time and articles are removed".

Anusankirtana means recapi-tulation of the glories of the Supreme Lord, heard through a bona fide preceptorial channel. Preferably, the hearing should be from a bona fide devotee, not from a professional singer. The Brihad Naradiya Purana emphasises that the way in kali-yuga is Harinama. Sage Veda Vyasa confirms the same in the Bhagavatam. There are infinite forms of devotion, of which chanting of the Holy Name is the foremost.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has given the following five principal forms of devotion: association of sadhus, chanting of the Name, hearing of the Bhagavatam, dwelling in transcendental realm of Mathura Dham, and worship of deities with firm faith. Out of these, namasankirtana is the best.

The writer is president, All India Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math and World Vaishnava Association.

Look, You'll Find A Cloud In Your Cup

In order to answer the question, What happens to us when we die?, we need to answer another question: What happens when we are alive?

What is happening now to us? In English we say 'we are' but it's proper to say 'we are becoming' because things are becoming. We're not the same person in two consecutive minutes. A picture of you as a baby looks different to you now.

You are not exactly the same as that baby and not entirely a different person either. As a five-year-old, you are not exactly the same as that child and not entirely a different person either. The form, feelings and mental formations are different.

In the middle way there is no sameness and no otherness. You may think you are still alive but fact is, you've been dying everyday, every minute. Cells die and are born.

Death is a necessary condition of birth. No death, no birth. They 'inter-are' and happen in every moment in meditation. A cloud may have died many times, getting transformed as rain, streams, water. Rain is a continuation of the cloud. With a meditation practitioner nothing can hide itself. When drinking tea, it's very pleasant to be aware that one is drinking a cloud.

When you are parents, you die; you are reborn as your children. "You are my continuation, i love you". The Buddha told us how to ensure a beautiful continuation with a compassionate thought, a beautiful thought.

Forgiveness is our continuation. If anger, separation and hate arise, then we will not ensure a beautiful continuation. When we pronounce a word that is compassionate, good and beautiful that is our continuation.

When a cloud is polluted, the rain is polluted. So purifying thoughts, word and action create a beautiful continuation. We can see the effects of our speech in our children. My disciples are my continuation, both monastic and lay. I want to transmit loving speech, action and thought. This is called karma in Buddhism.

My body will disintegrate but my karma will continue; karma means action. My karma is already in the world. My continuation is everywhere in the world. When you look at one of my disciples walking with compassion, i know he is my continuation. I don't want to transmit my negative emotions; i want to transform them before i transmit them. The dissolution of this body is not my end. Surely i will continue after the dissolution of this body. So don't worry about my death, i am not going to die.

Let us meditate on the birth of a cloud. Does it have a birth certificate? Examine the notion of birth, that nothing can come from something, from no-one to someone. Is it possible for something to come from nothing? Scientifically this is not possible.

The cloud was water in an ocean, lake, river and heat from the sun gave it birth, the moment of continuation. Before you were born you were in your mother's womb. The moment of birth is a moment of continuation. Is the moment of conception the start?

You are half from your dad and half from your mum already; this is also a moment of continuation. When you practise meditation you can see things like that.

By THICH NHAT HANH

Islam Is A Faith Like Any Other Religion

Believing in the existence of One Supreme and Omnipresent God, one tends to respect the spirituality of all religious faiths as the common heritage of mankind. If there is a God, it has to be One: there cannot be one God for Muslims and another for followers of other religions. If He is merciful and compassionate as the Qur'an says, He cannot reserve Heaven for one chosen community and commit all others to Hell.

In accordance with the Qur'anic exhortation that God sent His messengers to all parts of the globe only some of whom the Holy Book names, include among them Moses and Christ, Buddha and Mahavir, Ram and Krishna, and give them equal respect. The Holy Vedas and the Bhagavad Gita are, like the Torah and the Bible, covered by the Qur'anic concept of suhif-il-oula or earlier scriptures.

Believing in the symbolic and metaphorical nature of teachings of the Qur'an and all other holy books, i do not always take them literally and hardly adhere to any rites and rituals. I have a firm faith in the divinity of the Holy Qur'an, but find no sense in reading it ritually without understanding its meaning and message. Prophet Muhammad was a great social reformer whose revolutionary teachings were much ahead of his time. His authentic saying 'verily i am a human being so obey me in religious matters but not necessarily in worldly affairs' is the guiding principle of my life.

Whatever Prophet Muhammad did in his personal life is not Sunnat to be blindly followed by all for all times to come.

There is nothing wrong in adopting innocuous local customs. Everything Arab is not necessarily Islamic, too. No religion can claim to have a monopoly on truth. If religion has to be retained in society it has to be as a cementing force, not a dividing element. If religions create rift between people we would be happy without any.

Followers of various religions claim the existence of rudiments, or even complete formulations, of human rights in their scriptures and other holy books. Cons-picuous violations of human rights should not take place in the name of religion. Religions are not ends in themselves but means to achieve justice, fairplay and humane solutions to all our societal and individual problems. Rigid rules of religion should be ignored where this ensures a more humane behaviour.

The following is a translation of my Urdu poem: "What comes out of the core of my heart do i state, Humanity is suffering, and a cure may i suggest i may not be keeping fast on a hot summer day, To the hungry but a piece of bread i must give away, Obligatory religious tax i might be failing to pay, But a crying child i should make smile on my way, ...A helping hand to cross the road i offer to the blind, Rather than offering to a shrine a devotional cover, Offering a garment to the poorly clad do i prefer,Flowers for worship i don't pick every morning, But those thorns on the road i keep on removing, Ram's name i do not keep on ritually uttering, But a promise made to anyone i must be fulfilling, These values of humanism as my religion i cherish, Everyone else's religion too these values be, i wish".

Tahir Mahmood  is member, Law Commission of India.

Don't Be Jealous Of What Others Achieve

I am jealous of successful people. I am not able to enjoy my life. Am I miserable because I come from an unhappy home? There are certain aspects in life over which you have full control and there are others on which you have none. But you have to live wisely. What does this involve? Wise living would include accommodating both the controllable and uncontrollable variables of life.

You come from an unhappy home. You have no choice in this matter. But you have a choice not to be a victim of an unhappy home. I'll tell you a story: A father and his two sons lived in a single room. The father used to come home drunk every day and watch TV, disturbing his children at study time. The elder son concentrated on his studies while the younger son followed in father's footsteps. As adults, the older boy got an award for excellence as a citizen of the town while the younger son was imprisoned for a petty crime.

When they were interviewed, the younger son said, "I became like this because of my father, who created a bad atmosphere at home". The elder son said, "I attribute my success to my drunken father and the unhappy home atmosphere; i was determined to be different". The situation was the same, and the response, different. It is our response that determines quality of life.

Jealousy exists when one has not learnt to rejoice in the success of others. Jealousy also exists when there is unwise comparison. A man prays: "Lord, please fulfil my prayers. I will forever be grateful to you". The Lord advises, "Son, the more I fulfil your desires, the more you will be unhappy. Your being is in unhappiness. Focus on changing the state of your being and not on the fulfilling of your desires".

But the man insists and the Lord says: "I will fulfil your desires but with one condition. Whatever you get, the whole city will get double of it" .The man happily agreed. He prayed for a palatial house and next moment, he had one. But his happiness vanished when he noticed two palatial houses in his neighbourhood. This led to anger and jealousy. He felt it was his effort that pleased the Lord but others had reaped the rewards. He decided to teach them a lesson.

He prayed again, "Oh! Lord, please remove one of my eyes". Suddenly he found others had lost both their eyes. He felt very happy. The very next day he found all the people in his town had taken their lives. He was now lonely. The 'joy' of making the whole town blind was short-lived.

Tagore tells an interesting tale. A young seeker set out in search of the Lord. He met thousands of people. Many years passed. He reached the Himalayan valley. The atmosphere was inviting. He felt that could be the abode of the Lord.

He entered a beautiful cottage and found a board "God resides here". His joy knew no bounds as his search had come to an end. When he was about to knock on the door, an interesting soliloquy overpowered his mind. His mind said, "I have enjoyed my search all these years. The enjoyment derived from the search will come to an end, the moment I meet the Lord..."

If one can enjoy one's search and derive satisfaction from that itself, there is fulfillment. We have to teach ourselves to enjoy our search, our journey.

Your Soul Comes First, Before Social Service

We are told to strive to tune in to the inner self as that is the main purpose of life. But isn’t it better to go out and help the poor and needy, feed and clothe them, engage in social service? Your noble feelings are to be appreciated. But do you think that such help alone would bring colour to their lives? Would this really change the dismal state of society? How do you assure that social help offered in the form of food and clothing would be a substantial answer to their problems?You serve food once to a person. Won’t he need it again? The clothes offered by you would need to be replaced by new ones after some time. Why not then serve them in totality? Why restrict to just doing ‘something’ for the needy?’

Real ‘social service’ demands ‘soul service’ first, as the basis to understanding more. Basically, giver and receiver, both should connect with God... Only then social help extended can work wonders for both giver and taker. I am unable to understand.Let’s first talk about the neces-sity of the spiritual connection on the receiving end. It is essential so that the person in need is able to fully avail your services. Because, if he is lacking the basic zeal, the spirit to change his fate, then your help would not make any difference. What should precede social help of any kind is the basic current of liveliness! Zeal! A spirit to change oneself... to stand on one’s feet!

You’re right, but how does one do this? There’s only one-way: the receiver should tune himself to his inner Self and behold God. It means establishing a one-to-one connection with the Divine Light within, the energy keeping us alive! The permanent connection with this perennial source of energy means a 24-hour charging... with enthusiasm, zeal, bliss, and prudence.

Why is spirituality essential for social service?Suppose a man is going somewhere and he happens to see on the way a very poor man, in torn and tattered clothes... asking for alms. What do you think the man will do? He would likely give the poor man some money. Imagine his surprise when, on his return in the evening, he happens to find the same man lying dead, surrounded by people. He gets to know that the beggar drank poor quality liquor with all the money he had collected, and met his end.

Are you saying don’t give to the poor? Of course not! Because, what if the beggar was actually hungry for days, your money could give him a new lease of life. All I’m saying is use your power of discrimination and wherever possible, extend more than just material help. In this, spirituality helps because by the grace of a true guru, you re-establish your connection with God. This helps in making right decisions.

There is one more hidden aspect: Sometimes, just as a seed thrown into the fire ceases to sprout, we reap the harvest of karmic deeds of the past and so end up being happy or miserable for no apparent reason. To free your self of all these conditions and confusions, pursue the spiritual path and allow equanimity to surface, so that you are able to deal with the good and bad in an unbiased manner, helping the needy with calm, uncluttered mind. By Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan.