Month: October 2021

” Man, as it is, is, God’s most incredible and innovative, creation, but , to make us more interesting, ‘He’ blessed us all with talents, flair and potential – distinct, unique and special to each one of us. Such is the level of His divine attention, that even though there are billions of us, no two individuals can have identical talents. A marginal difference is always there ; clearly evident.”

” If one sings ‘bhajans’ with a spiritual feel, then, the other sings ‘ghazals’ with great emotion. Even within the same sport, record breaking athletes have different talents. Some are skilled ; others have strength and power.”

” The challenge in life, however, is to discover those talents and hone them. Some of these talents are easily discernible ; some take a lifetime to realise that they were there all along.TV is replete with shows in which young gifted singers and dancers present their talent to the world at a young age. Very often we hear of engineers turning into artists in their 30s ; and artists, on realising that they have a knack for business in their 40s, turn into entrepreneurs.
Thus, we all are gifted in some way or the other.”

“But, society does not see us all as equal.We appreciate beauty, intelligence, money-making skills a lot more over other talents. As a result, some of us, who are wealthy, because we are good with accounts and numbers, or , are beautiful or handsome to look at, or, perhaps are successful surgeons and doctors, are placed on high pedestals.This often causes us to lose touch with reality. We begin to feel superior to the rest. Our behaviour becomes condescending. We demand servitude in place of respect. We forget that our ‘talent’ and ‘skill’ is ultimately not our creation but a gift of God. Instead of marvelling and wondering as to why should God give us such gifts, we only seek to enjoy the fruits – of fame and power – that these talents can give us.”

“A peacock’s plumage is a thing of beauty, but, the peacock does not spread its feathers all the time for the world to see. It knows that the very same feathers can be of great hindrance, if , it ever has to flee from danger.
Similarly, an obsession with our looks, our beauty, our skills is an impediment to our further growth and development. We are so greatly enamoured with ourselves that we are unable to see our shortcomings, and , do not take out time to work on our weaknesses that begin to set in our mind and character. Conceit and arrogance over our accomplishments, that we foolishly feel are attained solely by us, replace the gratitude that we must have for God.Instead of being humble and thankful to Him, we turn His gifts into ‘spokes’ on our path to ‘self-realization’ and eternal bliss.”

“Goddess Sita was so beautiful that Ravan committed the heinous crime of kidnapping her. But can we even for a minute imagine Goddess Sita obsessing over her beauty? If she had done so, would she have fearlessly decided to accompany Shri Ram into the forest? Did her beauty serve her in anyway when she was trapped in Ashok Vatika? Of course not! It was her unshakeable belief in Prabhu Shri Ram, that made her stay the course. Similarly, we, too must not let God’s special gifts to us, obscure our vision of Him in our hearts. Our talents and skills are not meant to serve us, but, are meant for a purpose that is beyond us; known only to Him. Let us strive to keep it that way…”और ‘ईश्वर’ को ‘नतमस्तक’ करें उस हुनर के लिए जिसे उन्होंने हम में पिरोया है।”

Swami ji said…

” ‘Birthdays’ are given great importance and a lot of planning and preparation goes into celebrating them with great pomp and show. The grander the celebrations, the better it is, we feel ; as the event is then talked about for a long time. This is what we tell ourselves. An inevitable question that everyone hears around the time of their birthday is – “How do you plan to celebrate your birthday?” And, the elaborate plans and well chalked out preparations for the approaching birthday are discussed, in great detail, with a lot of excitement and happiness, by us.”

” But let us, for a moment, imagine, if instead of this routine question, questions of a different nature were put to us! What if we were asked –
“So, what have you discovered about yourself this year?”
“Now that you are 50, are you closer to understanding the purpose of your life than you were when you were 20?” “What wisdom can you share about life with others after experiencing its unpredictability over the years?”

” Wouldn’t these be better questions? Wouldn’t they make us all reflect on our lives? But, perhaps, they would also make us uncomfortable, as it is possible that while chasing materialistic gains – money, fame, power, recognition – we got distracted and deviated from the main purpose of our life; our spiritual growth. While we might have the house of our dreams, the fanciest of cars, a sky rocketing career to show off; and, a great family by our side after our many ‘birthdays’ ; we could have hardly made any progress as far as spiritual awareness, self – improvement and development are concerned..”

“It is thus important to move on from purely the celebration of one’s जन्मदिन … ‘birthday’… to the most important discovery of one’s life’s purpose – ‘जन्म’ का ‘उद्देश्य’।”

” While we often refer to life as a ‘journey’, there is one major difference between the other ‘journeys’ that are undertaken by us and the ‘journey’ of our lifetime. The duration of our life is not known to us. None of us know when this journey can come to an end all of a sudden. Each ‘birthday’ is simply a milepost telling us how much distance we’ve covered in this journey in terms of our age. What ‘it’ is unable to tell us is – ‘How much of our ‘journey’ is left !’ In fact, every birthday, must be a reminder of the lesser and lesser time that we are left with, after each passing moment, and, to spend it in self-reflection and realise who we truly are !”

” Time is the only true wealth of our lives; one that starts depleting from the moment of our birth. It literally makes us ‘poor’ if we waste it by living a meaningless, selfish life, but , enriches us if we our mindful of all the things that we put into our body – emotionally, physically and spiritually. Are we watching, reading and listening to content and matter that will help us in finally reaching the spiritual goal of our life one ‘blessed’ day. Can we honestly say that we are good individuals and love all, help whenever and whoever we can and give to those who need ? We need to remember that this lifetime must not be spent only to gain temporary worldly pleasure, but, to seek permanent spiritual bliss too.”

” So involved are we in celebrating the ‘birth’ of our physical form; our perishable ‘body’ – that the purification of the imperishable ‘Atman’ appears to have taken a back seat completely! This birth should be utilised in cleansing the ‘Atman’… so that the ‘ruh’ can merge with ‘Parmatma’ in this lifetime itself.”

Swamiji said…

” In today’s world, words do not have much value, as, what is said is rarely meant by most of us. The promise of keeping one’s word is rarely upheld. Mindless chatter prevails over carefully chosen words. In such circumstances, it is important to ‘act’ rather than to ‘claim’ and ‘profess’, as, it is only action that can leave an indelible mark of our intent.”

” For those on the spiritual path, it becomes important to realise that ‘doing’ is more important than ‘speaking’. It is easy to talk about the benefits of meditation and self-reflection; but, do we practice what we preach ! We see videos highlighting the essence of spirituality on the social media, and , buy numerous books on spiritual practices. But, to what effect? There is an abundance of such enriching books and informative vidoes all around us…but, sadly, such few ‘enlightened’ souls today. Why ? The reason for this is that we do not follow ; we do not ‘act’ upon what we promise ourselves.”

” To succeed in any endeavour in life, we might not need the support of any other fellow being, as much as our own support.The echo of motivating words like commitment, courage and conviction is good to hear, but, the meaning of these words has to be implemented into ‘action’ while performing our day to day activities. And, if we cannot act on our own words, our own promises ; we cannot really trust ourselves to be able to do what is needed to succeed. It is those who ‘do’, what they promise to others, to themselves ; they are the ones who truly know what they are capable of doing and have the confidence to dream big. On the other hand, a person who repeatedly fails to implement any positive action or consistency in his life, will never be sure of himself. Such a person can only make tall claims and promises, but the words said by him lack strength, sincerity and confidence.”

” ‘Words’ come cheap; ‘actions’ need effort. That is why, it is those who ‘do’, who act on their dreams are the ones who see the fruition of their actions, who gain recognition. It is difficult to deny the importance of effort and hard work in our lives. That is why it is the ‘doers’…’woh insaan joh karmath hote hain’, rather than the glib talkers, who gain prominence in the world.”

” Similarly, for the spiritual practitioner, it is more important to ‘be’ like Ram, rather than to only ‘speak’ of Ram. It is more important to ‘meditate’ than to only discuss about its benefits with others. It is more important to act in a loving manner with others, instead of only wishing that the rest of the world would love and spread love. Remember, one can inch closer towards attainment of enlightenment, by ‘walking’ the spiritual path determinedly ;
not, by just talking about it and appreciating ‘it’.”

Swami ji said…

” That “Happiness is a ‘state of mind”, is something we all have heard many times over. A simple yet deep message that somehow does not seem to penetrate into our beliefs and behaviour.”

” Society has created numerous avenues for us to relax in ; for our entertainment. Movie theatres, restaurants, vacations, shopping malls, gyms and social media. There is a never-ending list of things for everyone to do and to ‘be happy’ it appears. Yet, there is anger, frustration, depression to be found all around us. It is tough to find a peaceful, happy soul who goes about the day, with a joyous smile to share.”

“Clearly, there is something amiss. In the pursuit of material wealth, man has forgotten that his happiness does not lie in sitting on a fancy car’s seat ; in a money laden bank account or on the admiration of other people of their beauty and life – style. We should take responsibility of our happiness and not depend on anyone or anything to make us happy. We should never make the mistake of placing our happiness in someone else’s hands.
Happiness simply lies within us and the key to it is in our hands. If we wish to be happy, we just simply have to be happy, come what may !”

” Why, then, does it seem so difficult to be happy? It is because we have ingrained in our mind that our happiness is associated with ‘acknowledgment’, ‘appreciation’ and ‘approval’ of others. And, if we do not get these, our lives seem to be empty ; and we find nothing worth celebrating and no reason to enjoy it. By simply letting these ‘external’ factors control our happiness ; we begin to find solace in the ‘darkness’ of unhappiness, which is able to extinguish the ‘light’ of happiness within us that was clearly visible to all earlier.”

” Yet, we must remember that we are the true masters of our fate. We are the captains of our mind. With reflection, meditative thought and introspection, we can learn to find happiness in all situations.
We must not be affected by what others think of us. If someone says or does something purely to annoy us, to spoil our mood, to make us react in a manner unsavoury, we must learn to simply ignore such antics and move on. We must not let our current situation , or , the results of our endeavours control our emotions, and , affect the state of our mind.We must learn to live in the moment and find a reason to laugh and appreciate life. Other people, material wealth or societal approval must not be the sole factors that have the power to determine our mood and self-worth.”

” Remember – ‘The so called ‘bad’ time, is actually the ‘good’ time, that leads us to the ‘better’ time.’ If we learn and imbibe this ‘mantra’ and make it a part of our life ; if we learn to believe that God has a plan for us and will take care of us, only then can one live life unafraid, filled with joy and wonder. Such a person will neither mope over his past nor have any tension about the future. He will simply seek to live the present day to the fullest, thereby, seeking joy and happiness in the simplest of things; appreciating the smallest of gestures, and, lighting up the mood of people around him with his infectious joyous attitude and endearing smile – as he believes that his happiness is in his own hands.”

Swami ji said…

” Nature around us is living proof of the change that keeps on taking place around us constantly, regularly and unfailingly. Not all days are sunny and not all nights are cold. A few days during the monsoon could be dry, devoid of rain, but, on some days there is a heavy downpour. Some changes take place fast, and, some happen ever so slowly, over a long period of time, that we barely register them – like the growing of a mountain – yet, a change is always happening out there. The world is never still.”

“Similarly, we , encounter change in our own lives. Some that is brought by us onto our own lives, and , some enforced upon us by the cosmos at large. And, not all change seems desirable. While some changes are perceived as good, the rest is often seen by us as irritating, tragic, adverse and unfortunate.”

” Man by nature seeks comfort – and comfort is found in that which is familiar and known to him. ‘Change’ on the other hand leads him into the unknown, and, dealing with the unknown causes doubt, stress and discomfort to the mind.”

” The loss of a loved one. The loss of a job ; a change in residence; a financial loss ; an accident – all can be painful occurrences in our lives that we have to deal with. These are changes from the ‘status quo’. Of course, such happenings do sadden the mind. Yet, even in these difficult times, one must take one step at a time, and, look to move forward in life. And, while even the smallest steps might seem heavy, gradually, one learns to adjust to one’s new conditions and begins to live life the way it is meant to be lived, without complaining.”

” But, people take the easy way out – they either lament on their ‘misfortune’ and ‘bad luck’, or, simply do not deal with the situation at hand by being rigid and stubborn. We tend to forget – ‘Nadi ka bahaav jis taraf hoga, hum ussi taraf toh jaate hain !’ Thus, we, too need to adapt to the changing mindset, lifestyle of the younger generation without resisting and constantly comparing the differences that come along with ‘change’.”

” There are various manifestations of such behaviour. Some complain about the ‘good old days’ not being there anymore. They only live in the past and mournfully live in the present. They seem resigned to the fact that only darkness lies ahead.Others, on the other hand, instead of trying to change their own actions and behaviour simply choose to ignore the change occurring around them. Instead of looking to adjust and evolve, they simply choose to get left behind in life.”

” While it could be difficult to understand in trying circumstances, we must learn to believe, that any change that we experience in our lives, is not ‘life’ trying to pull us down, but, rather is a call for action, a call for an evolution of ourselves. We must learn to welcome change in our lives instead of resisting it. ‘Change’ is often God’s way of telling us what He wants us to do. It is His method of communicating that what we are doing, the way we are behaving, is not the fulfilment of our potential.”

” The stories of all heroic figures have one thing in common – a change in their circumstances and how they emerged victorious from them. Adjusting to changing circumstances can be painful – but, we must remember that swords are forged from fire; and similarly, ‘change’ is the kiln in which we develop a strong character.”

” We are often irritated by the smallest of ‘change’ that takes place in our day to day lives. Be it a change in the time of a flight or a train ; change in a meeting venue ; the shifting of office premises etc. We rant about the inconvenience that is caused to us by these ‘changes’. Yet, we should learn to exercise restraint , and , smilingly accept these small hiccups of life. It is only then that we will be able to meet the ‘bigger changes’ in life in a calm and composed manner. Remember – ” ‘ मुस्कुराना सीखना पड़ता है…रोना तो पैदा होते ही आ जाता हैं!’ “