Friday 26 December 2014

Believe in a friendly Universe

Believe in a friendly universe
In the words of Albert Einstein, “One of the most profound decisions you can make in life is whether you believe in a friendly or a hostile universe.”
Whatever you believe in becomes your perceptual universe, because the fundamental nature of life is to create coherence between what you believe and what you experience. If you believe in a hostile universe then life becomes extremely arduous. What kind of a life would you be living, in which your best friend would be perceived as your enemy?
No matter what he did, even with the best of intent, you would be wary, always in doubt, trapped in the feelings of insecurity and hostility. You would lose out on a well-wishing precious resource that could have made your life beautiful.
Believing that the universe is friendly will put you at ease. You will feel safe and supported. When you feel at ease, you will live a simple life. There will not be any need for complex trade-offs and transactions, because you will be blessed with the ability to feel at home wherever you are, and joy will be an everyday phenomenon in your life.
Life is difficult for those who choose the complexities of their mind, live in fear, and believe in a hostile environment.
Life is easy for those who choose the simplicity of their hearts, live in love for themselves, and believe in a friendly universe.
It is always up to you to choose which route you wish to take. Whatever route you choose to take, the universe will always support you. You can either have what you want, or live with the reasons why you cannot get what you want. You cannot have both. If you choose to stay with what you want, without doubting that it will be given to you, then you will receive. But if you are more focused on why what you want cannot come to you, then that is what will come to you. Your mind will amplify all these reasons and make them your perceived reality.
In the end, you decide where your life will go. For you are the only captain of your own ship.
--- By Sanjiv Ranjan in Life Positive (Magazine)

Tuesday 16 December 2014

The Politician and the Priest

The Politician and the Priest

When you are unhappy you start thinking, 'Maybe this life is wasted, maybe I could not manage this life, but if I can manage the next one, the coming one, that is more than enough to ask.' You go to the priest. The priest promises you good in the other life. The politician promises something good in the future in this life, and the priest promises you something good in the other life beyond death. Both go on promising. Promises are needed by miserable people. If you are happy, you will not go to the politician and you will not go to the priest. For what? You are already happy, you are already in paradise. Then the whole profession of the priest and the politician disappears.

These are the exploiters. These are the people who are sitting on your heart and blocking your energies. They can remain in power only if you are miserable. Remember it. By being miserable you are helping a gang of exploiters. Be happy and you bring the greatest revolution in the world.

Priests and politicians create guilt in you. They do the harm and then they make you feel guilty. They destroy your capacity to live, to love, to delight, and then they throw the responsibility on you -- 'It is your sin, it is your wrong-doing that has made you so miserable.' 

A happy person is beyond being oppressed, exploited, because a happy person needs no promises. A happy person is already happy so he is not worried about paradise or after-life. That is all nonsense. A happy person is not worried about tomorrow; the morrow takes care of itself.

Become like a lily, a flower, unconcerned about the future, unconcerned about the past. The past is no more and the future is not yet. Only the present is there. Bloom in it, be happy in it, rejoice in it, celebrate in it, and you bring a great revolution in the world.

----Osho

Thursday 11 December 2014

Hatred


On Hatred

Reflect on this. A teacher asked students to bring few potatoes in the school bag. Next day, each student brought few potatoes in their school bag.  Teacher asked the students to give each potato the name of a person they hate. They were also told to carry the potatoes for one week wherever they went.  After few days, the potatoes started smelling, and soon the stink became unbearable.

Then teacher asked, “What is the moral of this experiment?” Each one said something, and finally the teacher said, “This is exactly the situation in life when you carry your hatred inside your mind and heart for long.” Just as, rotten potatoes spoiled your school bag and the atmosphere, your hatred will spoil your mind and heart. Learn to drop your hatred as soon as possible.

Your life, so often, is spoilt due your differences with others. Differences with others need not end up as hatred. Differences are just differences, but the moment the mind gives them a name tag of hatred mind and heart gets polluted. No one can avoid differences, but one has to be alert not to give the name tag and wrap those differences with dislike and hatred. This requires psychological alertness. But to expect one not to have differences at work and home is truly being foolish. One should drop this foolishness by wise thinking and take practical steps to overcome the negative attitude.

By Swamy Sukhbodhananda

Friday 5 December 2014

Don't be afraid of You

Don't be afraid of You

Go anywhere you want to go
Do anything you want to do
Succeed or fail, win or lose
Just don't be afraid of you

Enlist in causes, protest with masses
Take sides and follow through
Engage the enemy within
Don't be afraid of you

All you've got is who you are
Be true to what you feel
Let nothing or nobody try
To tell you what is real

Show up, stand up, shout and sing
Clap hands, stomp feet and yell
Make known your stance to everyone
Don't like it? Go to hell!

Don't be afraid of you

Go anywhere you want to go
Do anything you want to do
Succeed or fail, win or lose
Just don't be afraid of you 

Wednesday 3 December 2014

Dependence


Why do we depend? Psychologically, inwardly, we depend on a belief, on a system, on a philosophy; we ask another for a mode of conduct; we seek teachers who will give us a way of life which will lead us to some hope, some happiness. So we are always, are we not, searching for some kind of dependence, security. Is it possible for the mind ever to free itself from this sense of dependence? Which does not mean that the mind must achieve independence; that is only the reaction to dependence. We are not talking of independence, of freedom from a particular state. If we can inquire without the reaction of seeking freedom from a particular state of dependence, then we can go much more deeply into it. We accept the necessity for dependence; we say it is inevitable. We have never questioned the whole issue at all, why each one of us seeks some kind of dependence. Is it not that we really, deep down, demand security, permanency? Being in a state of confusion, we want someone to get us out of that confusion. So, we are always concerned with how to escape or avoid the state in which we are. In the process of avoiding that state, we are bound to create some kind of dependence, which becomes our authority. If we depend on another for our security, for our inward well-being, there arise out of that dependence innumerable problems, and then we try to solve those problems; the problems of attachment. But we never question, we never go into the problem of dependence itself. Perhaps if we can really intelligently, with full awareness, go into this problem, then we may find that dependence is not the issue at all; that it is only a way of escaping from a deeper fact.

- J. Krishnamurti, The Book of Life

Friday 28 November 2014


It costs nothing to put pleasant thoughts out there about other people and yet despite costing nothing we shy away from such acts of kindness especially with people we regard as enemies or people we don’t like.
Why do we behave in this manner towards other people when they are human like us, it’s certainly not healthy for them or us. Is it because we believe our thoughts will never have an impact on anyone else and it’s a fruitless task to share thoughts of well-being – or is it because we are naturally malevolent and it is easier to harbour loathing and ill-feeling rather than show compassion, empathy and accommodate love?
Rather than “putting out” negative thoughts in the direction of others shouldn’t we be trying to think positively regardless of whether we like the other person or not, if not to avoid wasting valuable time and energy, but so as not to unbalance of our own well-being. How often, and for how long do we dedicate negativity in the direction of others, how many bad thoughts do we give up, how many years are we known for harbouring a ‘grudge’ against another person, how inflexible are we when it comes to forgivenes?
No doubt some would argue forgiveness depends on what the other person did to us both mentality and physically [as if there is some kind of standard template that we can use to judge other people] whereas others would assert quite simply that there is no room for forgiveness, that to live by the sword, is to die by the sword, an eye for an eye.
However, when we hold feelings of resentment against someone else we are knowingly putting our-self into a position of imbalance, i.e. we are choosing to allow our-self to resonate in a way that keeps us in conflict with this person either directly engaged in arguments, or indirectly by engaging in ill-feelings and or thoughts that the other person is not even aware of.
This seems to happen especially when someone does something to hurt us,  depending on the severity of the action and the strength of memories, bitterness becomes entrenched and grows into a source of long-lasting resentment and in some case, revenge.
Bad memories are the link between reasonable and unreasonable behaviour that we direct towards others, indeed bad memories are powerful catalysts for some people to hold ill-feeling for years and in some cases actually harm people. But what is the cost of forgiveness – is forgiveness an option – or is it merely idealistic thinking and something that can never be given?
What we can be 100% certain of is that we can’t change anything about past events because these moments and the memories that we have collected about them are only permanent when we allow them to be. The “past” can only exist in our Mind through thoughts that manifest – therefore it is only our-self that can be blamed for surrendering to the turbulence and upset that bad memories can bring when we allow conditioned observation to continue [conditioned meaning pattern negativity]
Rather than observe bad memories from a balanced point-of-view [as in recognising them as PAST events] because there is nothing more we can do about past events other than try to understand them through logical reasoning, we allow our-self to be consumed by the emotions that represent a particular past moment – remember, past memories are simply a ‘representation’ of moments that have been lived, therefore it is not feasible, let alone reasonable to continue living in those memories as though they were qualitative aspects of the here and now.
So, what is the point in also worrying or expending too much thought or energy about things that are unknowable… the future might have ‘potential’ but it is the same as the past in that it has no realness about it. We are forever taking steps into the future as ‘present’ time passes us by, but we can never live in the future because it is always one step beyond us, just as we can no longer live in the past because that is effectively one step behind us.
The truth is quite simple – the only point in life that has any element of realness about it is the present NOW of which we are aware… but even these moments are in fact themselves fleeting glimpses of the future that become elements of the past. The window of present awareness is very brief indeed and so we can be forgiven for not always making the right decisions in life, particularly as each moment that constitutes a life event is rushing at us with extraordinary speed and being consigned to memory as we digest them.
We are bound to make mistakes when the window of real-time observation is so limited. The beauty of memory is that we are able, given enough desire, to sit back and reflect on our own behaviour and decisions in relation to previous life-interactions. Why… to learn and grow. This reflection is made possible because of memories [whatever memories are] or snap-shots [ethereal images] of life-events being produced and visualized in the Mind. We are able, whilst utilizing astonishingly powerful electrochemical processes taking place in the brain to experience momentous feelings and visually reflect on past moments, and if we are slightly bolder, to judge our-self. This ‘ability’ is available to anyone. It is what makes us human.
Instead however, it is easier to use this ability to reflect on the past or future in a negative way, it is easier to direct ill-feeling that we ourselves manifest into thoughts and emotions against other people and then reinforce the terribleness of past events in the process. Rather than acknowledging and respecting the value of the memory by accepting the emotional reaction of the body and pausing to take some time to look at the memory holistically, i.e. taking a deep breath and looking at the past event with compassion, understanding, honesty and more importantly, from a view-point of Love, we instead allow ourselves to be consumed by every emotional aspect of the memory that made it so bad in the first place – so much so that we become overwhelmed by anger and hatred.
The moment we allow the irrational aspects of our ‘self’ to govern and retain responsibility of our reactions to past memories then we have failed in our bid to understand the root ‘cause’ of the memory from an unbiased or balanced point-of-view. The natural reaction to overwhelming emotions that often accompany bad memories is enough to temporarily debilitate the owner of the memory – dreadful memories can hold people back from making sentient progression for entire life-time, they can cement rifts between people into unbreakable foundations, and they can destroy relationships as effectively as a tornado can wreak havoc on a town unprepared.
Memories can influence behaviour for generations if they are passed on as traditions – a good example of this is racism. Racism is learned from trends manifesting from appalling past events and not because of random gene expression or any other reason that causes detachment from our conscious experience of life.
Why do we as individuals harbour this potential disharmony? I say potential because without our ability to recall [either voluntarily or involuntarily] memories into our Mind for reflection, there would be no imbalance, there would be no potential for disharmony. The past exists in memory because we allow it to exist in thought, just as the future exists as potential because we allow ourselves to ponder what might become. We do this from a fleeting moment that we call the ‘now’ or the ‘presence’ and this common ground gives us an opportunity to lay memories to rest.
It costs nothing to think. Energy exchanges that take place in the body as a signature that thought or feeling has manifest is not a loss of energy because the fundamental essence of Nature is that energy can never be lost, energy transforms into different states, there is no creation per se, just as there is no total destruction of anything. So thinking for one-self and for the benefit of others doesn’t actually cost anything energy-wise, the electrochemical signatures that represent thoughts in motion will be replenished within and without naturally.
In terms of the potential cost of a thought the possibilities appear to be unlimited, the thought of a U.S. president compared to a U.S. citizen for example is global in potential impact. The thought of a police officer who suspects an individual of foul play will prove to be the foundation of the police officers future behaviour towards the suspect even though the reality of the situation might be that the suspect has actually done nothing wrong.
Compare this to the thought of a fighter-pilot who has to make a split second decision on whether or not to drop a 2000lb bomb on a village overrun by enemy soldiers and one can see the cost of the pilot’s first thought is profound in every conceivable way. If the first thought is about innocent villagers being caught in cross-fire then the cost of indecision becomes a tactical loss. If on the other hand, the pilot’s first thought is the next step of engagement then the cost of his thought is measured financially [use of bomb] and in collateral damage [civilian deaths].
When we ponder ‘thoughts’ in this manner we can see that someone somewhere is going to be affected by our thinking, it is like a ripple effect, akin to throwing a stone in a lake. This alone tells us that we need to take time to look at what we are thinking rather than allowing our thoughts to run away and guide our behaviour, particularly when we are angry and behaviour becomes even more erratic and uncontrollable.
But, for some reason we don’t check our thoughts and we allow the thought process to become automated to the point we might as well be programmed robots. This is the inner battle we all face without exception, this is the struggle we endure so that we can resonate with the nature of true Love.
(From the net)

Thursday 6 November 2014

Once Upon a Time
Once upon a time, son,
they used to laugh with their hearts
and laugh with their eyes:
but now they only laugh with their teeth,
while their ice-block-cold eyes
search behind my shadow.

There was a time indeed
they used to shake hands with their hearts:
but that’s gone, son.
Now they shake hands without hearts
while their left hands search
my empty pockets.

‘Feel at home!’ ‘Come again':
they say, and when I come
again and feel
at home, once, twice,
there will be no thricefor
then I find doors shut on me.

So I have learned many things, son.
I have learned to wear many faces
like dresses – homeface,
officeface, streetface, hostface,
cocktailface, with all their conforming smiles
like a fixed portrait smile.

And I have learned too
to laugh with only my teeth
and shake hands without my heart.
I have also learned to say,’Goodbye’,
when I mean ‘Good-riddance':
to say ‘Glad to meet you’,
without being glad; and to say ‘It’s been
nice talking to you’, after being bored.

But believe me, son.
I want to be what I used to be
when I was like you. I want
to unlearn all these muting things.

Most of all, I want to relearn
how to laugh, for my laugh in the mirror
shows only my teeth like a snake’s bare fangs!

So show me, son,
how to laugh; show me how
I used to laugh and smile
once upon a time when I was like you.

---Gabriel Okara

Sunday 2 November 2014

Human Beings

(A wonderful story, please read)
In an ancient temple, a number of pigeons were living for quite some time in the top of the Gopuram (as they normally prefer elevated or high structures). It so happened that the temple management decided to renovate the temple and do Kumba abhishegam.
The moment the works began to start, the pigeons had no other choice other than to relocate to a different place.
They found a Church nearby and decided to settle down there. As there were already some pigeons who were in the Church, the new comers, managed to find places in between, wherever they could.
It so happened that since Christmas was nearing the Church management decided to paint the church. The new ones along with the earlier ones now had to move out and look for another place.
They were fortunate to find a place in a Mosque near by and similarly managed to find places for them to live along with the existing ones there.
The Mosque also, due to Ramzan decided to carryout some repair works.
As by this time the temple works and the function was over, all of them came back to the same temple.
One day, when the pigeons were sitting on the top and relaxing, they were watching some communal clashes going on below and not far away from the temple. The baby pigeon asked the mother pigeon "Who are these people ".
The mother replied that they are "Human beings".
The baby asked "but why are they fighting with each other".
The mother said "These human beings going to temple are called 'Hindus' and the people going to Church are called 'Christians' and the people going to Mosque are called 'Muslims'.
The Baby pigeon asked " why is it so, look, when we were in the Temple we were called Pigeons, when we were in the church we were called Pigeons and when we were in the Mosque, we were called Pigeons.
Similarly they should be called just 'Human beings' wherever they go".
Look at the wonderful reply the Mother gave "You and me and our Pigeon friends have understood and thats why we are living here in a highly elevated place peacefully, these people are yet to understand
that and hence they are living below us and fighting and killing each other".

Thursday 30 October 2014

Soul....does it exists

‘SOUL’ does it really exists

The soul, in many religious, philosophical, psychological, and mythological traditions, is the incorporeal and, in many conceptions, immortal essence of a person, living thing, or object. 
As per the general explanation given by many enlightened people, At the time of death, the soul discards the body the way we discard an old  garment. At the time of rebirth it assumes a new one. Between death and rebirth it may either go to a heaven or a hell depending upon its previous deeds, but once the fruit of its previous karma is exhausted, it would definitely come back to earth. According to Hinduism, the soul exists in all beings, including plants and animals. Even the mineral world is not devoid of the Supreme Spirit. "He exists in all and all exist in Him." The whole universe is thus very sacred, pervaded by the Universal Self. The beings as well as the elements are in a continuous state of evolution and the souls that reside in them move through the cycle of births and deaths till they attain union with the Supreme Soul. This is in short the concept of soul according to Hinduism. There are more or less , similar explanations purported by different religions of the world. Since, all religions are based on beliefs and faith, why not we have a different view regarding the existing of a “soul” or its non existence. I started thinking about it , and the resultant hypothesis is as under:

Our birth starts from a single cell called zygote or fertilized egg (result of the union of human egg and sperm). Cell division begins approximately 24 to 36 hours after conception. Within just a few hours after conception, the singe-celled zygote begins making a journey down the fallopian tube to the uterus where it will begin the process of cell division and growth. The zygote first divides into two cells, then into four, eight, sixteen, and so on eventually billions of cells. Once the eight cell point has been reached, the cells begin to differentiate and take on certain characteristics that will determine the type of cells they will eventually become. As the cells multiply, they will also separate into two distinctive masses: the outer cells will eventually become the placenta while the inner cells will form the embryo. And so on and so forth the development goes on, till the baby is delivered . What , I understand , after studying all this, is , in simplified terms , a new life is born, with the mating of two cells, and those two cells which carry all the chromosomes and DNA are merged into one(cell), and then multiply many times , until it takes the shape of a baby, with the help of nutrients supplied by the uterus. Chromosomes are thread-like structures located inside the nucleus of animal and plant cells. Each chromosome is made of protein and a single molecule of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Passed from parents to offspring, DNA contains the specific instructions that make each type of living creature unique. Its all a bio-chemical process or growth. For me its just like a chemical reaction ,for eg., hydrogen mixing with oxygen ,in ideal conditions,  becoming water. Of course, in a chemical reaction, the elements can be separated/reversed , but not in a bio-chemical process like our Birth, or a seed growing into a tree, etc.,  Its  irreversible.  And the new born baby , has the genetical features of the donors/parents of sperm and egg.

Now, in all this process, where does the soul fit in, I am unable to understand. Our scriptures say that , the soul is eternal and takes birth in another after the body dies. Whereas , a new birth takes place, with the fertilization of egg and sperm, into a single cell called ‘zygote’ or fertilized egg. Then, How, the so called “SOUL” hanging around somewhere, omnipresent and omnipotent, enters the zygote, which is already a living and having a life of its own, and having its own genetic map, with all its DNA et.al.   This is same with all living organism/beings in the nature…..plants, animals, etc.,   Then the thought comes, Ok, then  what about when the being is dead or “ life” goes out  of an organism.. plant, animal or for that matter humans.?  
Our body is constantly replacing old cells with new ones at the rate of millions per second. By the time you finish reading this sentence, 50 million of your cells will have died and been replaced by others. Some are lost through 'wear and tear', some just reach the end of their life, and others deliberately self-destruct. The life cycle of every cell is carefully controlled, so we  always have just the right number of each type of cell, to be living. Death occurs, when this balance is tripped, beyond repair. Since life began with a single cell, does that mean, each cell has a ‘soul’ (The ’soul’ of the cell is its DNA!). If so, when cell dies , as seen in the above explanation, the ‘soul’ of the dead cell goes into the new cell! If,  that is correct, then we are a house for a million of ‘souls’ .  When a ‘being’  is dead, then millions of souls are ’ released ‘ so to say, in search of taking birth, in a new ‘being’.
Religious experts, say, that , these things are subtle things, and cannot be grasped by ordinary mortals. Why?  I think, Buddhist, explanation of Karma and re-birth , may be of later developments, after many years of Buddha’s Nirvana.  Their explanation is different. According to Buddhists, There is no permanent substance of the nature of Self or Soul (Atman)  that reincarnates or transmigrates. It is impossible to conceive of anything that continues without change. All is in state of flux. What we call life here is the functioning of the mind and body, which are energies or forces.. They are never the same for two consecutive moments and in a conflux of mind and body we do not see anything permanent. The grown up man is neither the child nor quite a different person; there  is only a relationship of continuity. The conflux of mind and body or mental and physical energy is not lost at death, for no force or energy is ever lost. It undergoes change. It resets, reforms in new conditions. This is called rebirth or re-becoming.
Karmic process is the energy that out of a present life conditions a future life, in unending sequence. In this process there is nothing that passes or transmigrates from one life to another. It is only a movement that continues unbroken. The ‘Being’ who passes away here and takes birth elsewhere, is neither the same person nor a totally different one.
There is the last moment of consciousness belonging to the immediately previous life; immediately next, upon the cessation of that consciousness, but conditioned by it, there arises the first moment of consciousness of the present birth, which is called a relinking or re-birth-consciousness. Similarly, the last thought-moment in this life conditions, the first thought- moment , in the next. In this way consciousness comes into being and passes away , yielding place to new consciousness. Thus , this perpetual stream of consciousness goes on until existence ceases. Existence in a way is consciousness—the will to live, to continue.

Finally, why do we want , to know , what happens to life , after death? Are we afraid of our doings or actions, that we think morally wrong? How does it matter, now, to live a  Life meaningfully and minimalistically, not destroying our environment/Nature that has given birth to us, spreading love and peace,  around you? Why fear, the after life, for that matter life after death? Does it really matter. For the present living?

 If so, Why? Why????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

जिन्दगी पल पल दलथी है

 जिंदगी पल-पल ढलती है, 
जैसे रेत मुट्टी से फिसलती है .....
शिकवें कितने भी हो हर पल, 
फिर भी हंसते रेहना.....
कियंकी ये जिंदगी जैसा भी है ,
बस एक बार मिलती है . 

हम और हमरे ईश्वर ,
दोनों एक जैसे है ,
वो हमारी गलतियों को ,
हम उसकी मेहरबानियों को .


गलथियों से जुदा 
तू भी नहीं 
मै भी नहीं ,

दोनो इंसान है,
खुदा थू भी नहीं,
मै भी नहीं......

थू मुझे , और मै तुझे,
इल्जाम देते है मगर ,
अपने अंदर झंक्ता 
तु भी नहीं ,
मै भी नहीं.......!!!

गलथ फ़ेमियों ने कर ढी
दोनों में पैदा दूरियान ,
वर्ना फितरत का बुरा 
तू भी नहीं,
मै भी नहीं......!!!

एक पत्तर सिर्फ एक बार मन्दिर जता है ,
और भगवान बन जाता है ---
इंसान हर रोज मन्दिर जाता है ,
फिर भी पत्थर ही रेहते है... !! 
(Think it is Kabir's doha)

Love

LOVE

Love is another quality frequently , we ascribed to God. This love is not to be confused with what generally passes for love in our world, which, more often than not, has its origins in the same materialist mindset that runs many other areas of our lives. We believe that if only other people would think or behave as we want them to, we would be happy. When they don’t, we may find ourselves feeling upset, angry, frustrated, or some other less-than-loving emotion. When we meet someone who we think will satisfy our deeper needs, someone who matches our image of the perfect person — our hearts are filled with warm feelings towards them. We say we love them. Such love is conditional. 

We love a person for their appearance, their manner, their intellect, their body, their talents, their smell, their dress, their habits, their beliefs and values. We love someone whom we feel is special; someone who matches our expectations, someone who will satisfy our deeper needs, someone who will make our life complete. Such love is also fragile. If the other person gains weight, develops some annoying habit, or does not care for us as we think they should, our judgements can flip from positive to negative, and the love vanish as quickly as it came. 


The love of which the mystics speak is a very different form of love. It is an unconditional love, a love that does not depend on another’s attributes or actions. It is not based on our wants, needs, hopes, fears, or any other manifestation of the ego’s thought system. Unconditional love is the love that springs forth when the mind has fallen silent, and for once we are free....
(Sourced)

Going Within

GOING Within

In every moment We have a choice as to how we see a situation. We can see it through eyes caught in the materialist mindset that worries whether or not we are  going to get what we think will make us happy. Alternatively, we can choose to see it through eyes free from this thought system.

But it is not always easy to make that choice. Once We’ve been caught by a fearful perception, We’re seldom aware there could even be another way of seeing things. We think our reality is the only reality. Sometimes, however, We recognise there could be another way of seeing things, but We don’t know what it is. We can’t make the shift on our own; We need help. But where to go for help? Other people are as likely to be caught in the same thought system as we are. 

The place to go for help is deep within, to that level of consciousness that lies beyond the materialistic mindset-to the God within or what ever.  We have to pray.

Praying means not asking for divine intervention by an external God. It is praying to the divine presence within, to our true Self. Moreover, we should not pray for the world to be different than it is. We    pray for a different perception of the world. We are asking for divine intervention where it really counts — in the mindsets that govern our thinking…. Invariably, We find our fears and judgements drop away. In their place is a sense of ease arises. Whoever or whatever was troubling us, We now see through more loving and compassionate eyes.
(Sourced from Speakingtree.timesofindia)
12 Things That Marriage Is Not:

1. Marriage is not for sissies. It's hard work.
2. Marriage is not about getting what you want all the time. It's not a dictatorship. It's  not wanting to win all the time because that would mean the other person would lose all the time. May be OK for you. Not good for the marriage.
3. Marriage is not rocket science. The principles it's based on are really pretty simple. Kindness. Respect. Loyalty. That kind of thing.
4. Marriage is not unfashionable. It stays vital. Even Brangelina must think so.
5. Marriage is not in and of itself stimulating. Since you are with the same person over a long time, the two of you can get in a rut. You have to keep things fresh.
6. Marriage is not about collecting things. The joys of marriage aren't tangible. You live them. That's what makes them so very special.
7. Marriage is not for the impatient. Some of the best stuff takes a while to develop. You have to stick around to find that out.
8. Marriage is not the place for criticism. For abuse. If it is found there, it will ruin any chance of true intimacy or trust and dissolve the hope that once might have existed.
9. Marriage is not a 24-hour repair shop. Your marital partner is not supposed to meet your every need. Some of those needs you may have to take care of yourself. Through your friendships or other activities.
10. Marriage is not self-sustaining. It does not thrive on its own. If all you focus on is the kids, you are making a mistake.
11. Marriage is not boring. Two lives woven together can be quite exciting! There's just something about watching someone very different from you, living their life in an extremely different way. Up close and personal. You learn from that.
12. Marriage is not without conflict. Knowing how to disagree and work through anger and disappointment is probably the key to lots of stuff going well. Getting to that cooperating, mentioned in #2.


12 Things That Marriage Is:
1. Marriage is the potential for an intense, deep and diverse intimacy. Sexual. Emotional. Relational.
2. Marriage is knowing someone has your back. Always. You have theirs. It's about interdependence.
3. Marriage is realizing that you have been seen in your worst times, and that you are still loved. There's an overriding sense of gratitude and security.
4. Marriage is sharing old jokes. Or some story that may be told over and over but it still makes you laugh 'til you are left gasping for breath.
5. Marriage is getting teary-eyed together.
6. Marriage is thinking about the other one not being there anymore. And not being able to think about it.
7. Marriage is getting irritated by the things that always irritate you. Have irritated you for 24 years. Will irritate you for 24 more. And tolerating it because it is way overbalanced by the good stuff.
8. Marriage is not being able to wait to get home to share some little something.
9. Marriage is wishing you were the one having the operation. Or the illness. Not him.
10. Marriage is sometimes fighting. Trying to slowly learn to fight more fairly. To apologize. To listen. To learn. To find resolution.
11. Marriage is about vulnerability. Giving someone the right to hurt or disappoint you. While simultaneously giving that someone the opportunity to bring you tremendous joy and laughter.

12. Marriage is a promise. A vow. To try the hardest you have ever tried in your life. Marriage is a place for the achievement of a personal integrity like no other.
Source : Huffington Post

Wednesday 29 October 2014

You are perfect

Why do many of us feel that something or someone exists that will make us more joyful, BETTER or complete? Why do we imagine that some knowledge, understanding or mystical experience can magically cure our 'unsatisfactory' state of being? What about our longing and 'need' to have a partner or close friend to share our life with in order not to feel alone or incomplete? 

In fact, why do we 'yearn' for anything at all… ever? 

ALL experiences, including the yearning itself, are bridges on the journey of discovery to know THYSELF. Even the physical desire we have for others is really our desire we have for ourselves, to know ourselves intimately, reflected back. 

The beauty, strength, compassion, knowledge and love we do not access within ourselves we seek out and try to experience through others/things… yet EVERYTHING is a reflection of the SELF. Smile and the mirror smiles back. The mirror doesn't smile and you follow. 

Keep that analogy in mind

ALL of our perceived shortcomings and inadequacies are nothing but a lie; a product of our EGO born out of a false belief system(s); All we think is 'wrong' with ourselves and each other is nothing more than an elaborate deception. 

More to the point, EVERYBODY is right now, always was and forever will be PERFECT. 

Now, let's begin unraveling how this is so…

We think or feel inadequate/superior when we compare and measure 'ourselves' against someone else or when we utilize a 'belief system' in order to get our identity and self worth from (always in comparison/paradigm, btw). 

This line of thinking/existing is LITERALLY delusional and only causes SUFFERING. 

Let's start with a fundamental...

We are ALL unique in our own way. We experience reality through our own personal and completely distinctive way because of, and through, our individual and totally unique history of experiences. We all utilize our individual senses/ perceptions and experience reality in the precise way we CHOOSE to experience reality. And that is the foundation of HAVING a life; so we can have our OWN personal experiences; and to learn and evolve at our own respective speed. 

So how does comparing your totally unique self and your distinct personal set of experiences against someone else's make any sense? No two snowflakes are alike and neither are any two people (and that is the point of EXPERIENCE itself). So why compare at all? And for what purpose does comparison serve?

Let's keep drilling down…

How does the comparing and measuring of 'one vs another' work, so to speak? Your EGO buys into and participates within the false belief system of MATERIALISM and its concept of 'success'. There are many layers to this false belief system (and many other false belief systems) but 'the more I have the more I am' is the foundation of Materialism. What we look like, how much money we have, our possessions and social status are all intertwined into this psychopathic belief system. And it's how many of us lead our lives, get our identity from and measure are self worth. In fact, this destructive belief system tells us that we are ONLY worthy of love if we are 'successful.'

Remember, the ego is never satisfied and will do anything to perpetuate its existence so this battle truly is the proverbial marathon and not a sprint. And that marathon can literally be tens of thousands of years within the cycle of rebirth and death. But the good news is you have to BUY INTO this delusion (or any delusion for that matter) for it have a hold of you.

Let's back up for one minute, though. 

The questions we must ask is, 'why does the false belief system of Materialism exist in the first place'? 

To introduce and perpetuate the idea that we are innately 'less' than; so we compete and take advantage of one another in pursuit of some delusional ideal of success in order to feel and be perceived as worthy (or not 'less' than). The fact that you have to do ANYTHING or achieve (within the confines of materialism) in order not to be considered 'less' than is insane… And the next step down from 'less than' is to simply be 'worthless.'

Understand that BEING is Cosmic Energy. It is present in the whole Multiverse. The moment you separate (BEING) and search for a meaning duality comes in to existence and all meaning becomes individualized (ego)… And therefore, ultimately, all 'solutions' to perceived 'problems' are not only futile but neither a solution nor a problem actually exists (we will discuss this more soon).

There is nothing 'wrong' with anyone. Ever. It's impossible. We give ourselves challenges to work with so we can experience, learn and evolve in every way possible. And that is the point; To Experience In Every Way Possible. Which is why our Creator created us; for IT to experience, learn and evolve all that IT can - through US (and other beings).

When viewed from that perspective how could anything ever be 'wrong' with you/me/us?

Our essence, our divine spark, our soul is perfection itself. This world was created for us to experience, learn and evolve…Individually and collectively, separately and together, all at once and all at our own speed, paradoxically. 

We are, always have been and forever will be PERFECT. What else could we be? It's only through erroneously adopting a (false) belief system and letting our ego lead our life could we possibly 'believe' we are anything but PERFECTION. 

Pure LOVE/COMPASSION is our identity, our true self, our divine and cosmic BEINGNESS.

All we 'experience', learn' and 'evolve' into…is what we ALREADY ARE sans our ignorance covering it up. ALL knowledge, compassion and joy ALREADY EXISTS WITHIN YOU.   

The only measure of success (and success is defined by not needing to continue the cycle of birth and rebirth) is to live your life in LOVE; to ENJOY and create JOY; to be COMPASSIONATE towards yourself and others; And to access the INDOMITABLE strength within yourself and therefore providing an example for others. 

So, how do we do live our life like that?

Simple… just free your MIND and open your HEART… let go of all belief systems, constructs and ideologies… and what remains?


YOU!  Absolute PERFECTION!

(An article from Speaking Tree, which expresses , almost my views)

Tuesday 28 October 2014

Buddha teaching


"LOOK HOW HE ABUSED ME AND BEAT ME,
HOW HE THREW ME DOWN AND ROBBED ME."
LIVE WITH SUCH THOUGHTS AND YOU LIVE IN HATE.

"LOOK HOW HE ABUSED ME AND BEAT ME,
HOW HE THREW ME DOWN AND ROBBED ME."
ABANDON SUCH THOUGHTS, AND LIVE IN LOVE.

IN THIS WORLD
HATE NEVER YET DISPELLED HATE.
ONLY LOVE DISPELS HATE.
THIS IS THE LAW,
ANCIENT AND INEXHAUSTIBLE.  --- Buddha


Hate exists with the past and the future -- love needs no past, no future. Love exists in the present. Hate has a reference in the past: somebody abused you yesterday and you are carrying it like a wound, a hangover. Or you are afraid that somebody is going to abuse you tomorrow -- a fear, a shadow of the fear. And you are already getting ready, you are getting prepared to encounter it.

Hate exists in the past and the future. You cannot hate in the present -- try, and you will be utterly impotent. Try it today: sit silently and hate somebody in the present, with no reference to the past or the future...you cannot do it. It cannot be done; in the very nature of things it is impossible. Hate can exist only if you remember the past: this man did something to you yesterday -- then hate is possible. Or this man is going to do something tomorrow -- then too hate is possible. But if you don't have any reference to the past or the future -- this man has not done anything to you and he is not going to do anything to you, this man is just sitting there -- how can you hate? But you can love.

Love needs no reference -- that's the beauty of love and the freedom of love. Hate is a bondage. Hate is imprisonment -- imposed by you upon yourself. And hate creates hate, hate provokes hate. If you hate somebody you are creating hate in that person's heart for yourself. And the whole world exists in hate, in destructiveness, in violence, in jealousy, in competitiveness. People are at each other's throats either in reality, actuality, in action, or at least in their minds, in their thoughts, everybody is murdering, killing. That's why we have created a hell out of this beautiful earth -- which could have become a paradise.