Sung by – Om Prakash Sharma
Picturised by – Shashwat
Month: June 2020
Swamiji’s Sandesh – ‘Aapa khona…’
Swamiji says …
“Strong emotions of anger, frustration, sadness and negativity rise within us at the snap of our fingers ! It takes one split second for us to erupt, get blinded by an upsurge of emotions, so despair-filled, and volatile, that one forgets to pay heed to the comforting, ticking sound of the moving needles of a clock, that desperately tries to reassure us that – ‘Time changes constantly, and so will it for you!’ But, so possessed are we by the oscillating emotions within us, that we allow that ‘something’ within us to snap, and more often than not… ‘log apna aapa kho dete hain, aur kuch bhi anarth kar baithtay hain!’
“How can man be so weak that he finds it easier to be enslaved by such hyper, mercurial emotions of despondency and alienation? But again, for a strange, peculiar reason he trusts these harbingers of tension more implicitly, than the encouraging words of family, friends, and relatives; and swims in them like a fish in water, unaware of its horrendous consequences! ‘Insaan kyun apna santulan kho deta hai aur apne dimaag se kaam nahi karta?’ When and how does he decide for himself and come to an illogical conclusion that all is lost – forever, the moment he sees his fortunes plummet and take a downward spiral at a point in time!”
“When faced with unforeseen challenges, immensely difficult circumstances and while walking a razor thin line, we can’t take the first short cut and commit an act so dastardly that – ‘Aadmi pachtaave ke laayak bhi nahi rehta hai! Aisa karna galat hai! ‘
“What we need to do immediately is to maintain our equilibrium and ensure that we do not lose our mind over issues that have been unnecessarily magnified by us – as it is the state of our mind, in such circumstances, that matters the most. Why do we take it for granted that a situation which appears to be grim at a particular moment, is irreversible, and that things can never get back to normal?”
“Destruction, disease and death, – will be witnessed by all of us at some point in our lives, but, somehow we take it for granted that ‘I’ as an individual, and ‘my’ loved ones will never be touched by any of these ‘certainties’ of life! If we think rationally for a minute, we will realise that it is impossible to evade cosmic plans that await each one of us!”
“And what about our ‘karma’? – and the fruit of our ‘karma’ that we must reap? We seem to miss out on this issue completely! ‘Karma’ – not only of our present lifetime, but also of the ‘karma’ that we have accumulated over the past births… ‘Insaan ka jeevan karmon ka khel hai!’ – but we refuse to hold any accountability for the part that had been played by us – ‘paap kartey huey…’ But we take no time at all in blaming God for every mishap and problem that is faced by us, and want to wash our hands clean from all the misdeeds and wrongdoings that have been committed by us in the past births! Doesn’t every ‘karma’ of ours play a pivotal role in deciding the pleasures and pain that we experience in the following lifetimes?”
“Every moment of our life is nothing, but a screen shot of every ‘paap’ and ‘punya’ that has been added to our karmic actions over innumerable cycles of birth and death! Are we aware of the ‘paap’ – the sins, various acts of crime that we had indulged in our preceding lifetimes. So how can we say confidently- ‘ Hum ne koi paap nahi kiya hai iss janam mein!’ and question – ‘Why has this grave misfortune befallen me?’- and rather than holding the fort like a courageous warrior- ‘apna aapa kho dete hain… Insaan ko aisa nahi karna chahiye!”
” No, we can’t give up just like that! We need to remember that our faith can move mountains, and it is this faith alone that gives us the insight to understand – that we have to learn to fight our own demons, all by ourselves, single-handedly. Unpredictable circumstances could lead us to a situation when despite the other person’s earnest attempts to help us, it might not be possible for anyone else to stand by us during an unimaginably demanding period of our life, and ‘we’ alone are left to fight the war; as it is meant to happen that way…’aur chahate huey bhi koi humari madad nahi kar sakta hai’…as our karma wills it so…’
“It is during such moments that we need to accept that it is ‘karma’ that takes over, completely; not only ours, but also the ‘karma’ of only those with whom we are yet to settle our karmic account – and we should be glad to see our combined past ‘karma’ play out in this lifetime, and rather than questioning God, we should thank Him for giving us an opportunity to work out our past ‘karma’, in the present moment- arm ourselves with resolve, fortitude and determination; fight against all odds; tackle the situation with belief and intelligence… ‘aur aapa khoney ke bajaay’- emerge strong and victorious.”
Swamiji’s Sandesh – “Bhagwan jis haal mein rakhey , usmey khush raho…”
Swamiji says …
“Pleasure and pain; happiness and grief – are two sides of the same coin – and, if we assume ourselves to be a coin, we’ll undoubtedly find ourselves wearing two completely varying visages on both surfaces – one – lively, cherubic and happy; and the other, bearing signs of worry and sadness on it. Ironically, identical is the demeanour that is worn by us; and similar are the emotions displayed by each one of us – in real life – during the constantly changing scenarios that life surprises or shocks us with ; fun times are interspersed with challenges; laughter could be interrupted abruptly by sudden sobs; a dream run period could come to a screeching halt as a nightmarish phase encloses its firm grip on us… but it is how we receive, respond and react to the minute to minute changes in life that clearly defines us, makes us what we are, and that is what matters the most, at the end of the day!”
“An urgent need to understand God’s Divine plan, His Grace and Will – ‘Jo vidhaata ne humare bhaagya mein likha hai woh hi hoga – Jo sukh hummey bhogna hai, woh hum bhogenge, aur joh dukh humare hissey aana hai woh aayega!‘ – will most certainly make us live life with a more realistic and mature approach. Do we handle the ups and downs of life with the same poise and grace, is a question that needs an immediate answer? Are days of difficulty and duress accepted with the same sense of equanimity with which days overflowing with happiness are welcomed? Each day differs and thus, do we too behave differently! Honey-sugar welcome for happiness, and a bitter-shock treatment for unhappiness!”
“Remember, life can neither be smooth and placid; nor turbulent and disturbed forever. Sharp, rough edges will scrape us for sure. But man seems to forget this, and tries to study it from the point of view best suited to him- one that is of comfort and ease. He rejoices and celebrates in moments of triumph and glory and attributes the success achieved by him to the sheer dint of hard work that had been put in by him, and gains a sense of confidence that with God’s blessings, his life could remain devoid of problems and worries. So grateful is he to God that he chants his name repeatedly in gratitude ; remembers to thank Him profusely for enabling him to achieve his dream and for blessing him in abundance with everything that he could have ever dreamt of! Nothing could give God greater happiness than to see His child worship Him with devotion regularly; and He continues to shower His blessings on him. The recipient’s faith in God’s greatness increases by leaps and bounds.”
” But the point in question is whether the same individual will look upon God with the same reverence and faith the moment there is a drop in his fortune! Will a changing tide portending hardships, transform him into a completely ‘different’ human being? Happiness and unhappiness, evoke vibes that are startlingly poles apart. In retrospection, it appears that man is engineered to behave in this way. Unforgettable moments of ‘sukh’ – that fit perfectly into our lives like a dream- where wishful thinking, develops wings of fulfilment and takes a concrete shape, reinforces his faith in God. His respectful attitude for God simply states- ‘I am God’s favourite child. Nothing can ever go wrong for me!‘ But do we show the same grace, dignity and faith when faced with challenging situations. Does the joy of experiencing God’s Grace remain intact, or is it replaced by frissons of anxiety on being wrought with worries… on being confronted with ‘dukh’? We alone can answer this question.”
” What is our reaction when the going gets tough? More often than not, we see man behave in a bewildering manner before our eyes. He becomes morose, questions God, begins the blame game, adds to his woes and agony by refusing to accept the unexpected. He then directs all his negative energies on God, holds Him accountable for his pitiable state, makes Him a target of his wrath and refuses to worship Him. Does God warrant a hostile, accusatory treatment of this kind? He fails to remember – ‘Ussey abhi aur tapna hai… Jeevan neeras ho jata hai jab usmein koi mushkil ya takleef nahi hoti hai!” He forgets the countless times when God had stood by him and saved him in the nick of time from adversities. No, he wouldn’t remember all of that, would he? After all our memory span is very short.”
“We have created this division between happiness and unhappiness as we refuse to understand that come what may, and how much we try, we cannot wish away the ever – changing facets of life. Off and on, it looks at us with hopeful eyes, accompanied with a broad smile, and, at times, sizes us up with a look of worry in its eyes; without any trace of a smile… but our duty is to accept whatever comes our way, to be in an eternal state of gratitude to God to have blessed us with life itself- and live life on the terms and conditions set and framed by Him, as they would be best suited for us … ‘Aur Ishwar ko har paristhiti mein yaad karna chahiye !”
Cover Song – Tumhi Mere Mandir Tumhi Meri Pooja
Sung by – Jyoti (Varanasi)
Picturised by – Shashwat
Om Swami Ajay Pushpanjali
by Shashwat Bhardwaj & Kalyan (USA)
Dedicated to Swamiji Ajay Jain ji 