Month: December 2023

Swami ji said…

If we are honest with ourselves, it might not be possible for us to deny the fact – that we take life for granted. We feel entitled to all the goodness, happiness and wonder that comes along with it. Somehow, we are certain deep down, that the package of life which is unwrapped by us, layer by layer , every day of our life – will reveal something exceptional, unexpected, something magical – that will take our breath away. If we had our way – we would expect the best from life – every single day of our lives. We would hate to see anything burst the bubble – even if it is one of make believe – in which life as visualised by us can only be rosy and comfortable – minus the thorns and suffering. After all , it is our ‘right’ to have some expectations from life – we tell ourselves, convincingly.

So busy are we expecting the best from life – that a simple thought – that maybe life too could be expecting something from us – completely slips our mind. Here, too, we, need to be completely honest with ourselves once again. Can we actually be so impractical and so far placed away from reality that the thought that we also owe something to life doesn’t come to our mind ? Or, do we deliberately turn our eyes away from what life is trying tell us? That – it too expects something from us. Nothing much. Some simple acts of kindness towards one and all – from us. Formation of some good habits – one, in particular, of doing small, good deeds – regularly, unfailingly. Haven’t we grown up hearing our elders say – ” तुम जैसा दूसरों के साथ करोगे, वैसा ही तुम्हारे साथ होगा…अच्छा करोगे तो अच्छा…बुरा करोगे तो बुरा…”

We might not even be aware of the far reaching consequences that one good deed could reap. One noble act done by us for someone else, sometime back in the past, could come to our rescue, in a do – or – die situation. It could unknowingly help us overcome a major crisis ; assist us in tiding over days of dilemma and darkness – through that ‘someone’ else’s intervention and help in the present time. Many of us might be able to recall such instances in our life – when everything appeared to be going downhill – and all of a sudden – a saviour had appeared from nowhere and made it possible for us to see the Sun – when all we could otherwise see were dark clouds. There could be days when we end up feeling utterly helpless – as maybe our plans for the future had fallen awry – like a pack of cards , and , there is no one out there to support us – and, yet, again , some good soul emerges from the shadows and offers his shoulder as a pillar of support – and reignites the flame of self – belief, self confidence in ourselves – to begin anew, afresh. On seeing our lives take a turn for the better again, we are left wondering as to – why and from where did these particular individuals come all of a sudden ? These good samaritans are those very individuals who had been at the receiving end of our good deed in the past and have stepped forward – in the present time – to return the debt of the good ‘karma’ that they owed us.

For a minute, let us pause and reflect – Is it difficult for us to do good deeds, good acts ? Does the thought of doing good deeds – comes naturally to us – or , we do so while thinking of the possibility of being rewarded sometime later on – by that ‘someone’ – who would want to return the favour done by us, for him – either, in this lifetime or the next – that makes us do good ‘karma’? Is it some sort of a business deal that we are trying to broker here? A barter system? No. More than anyone or anything else – it is we – the doers of good ‘karma’ that benefit the most. Good deeds done by us – need nothing more than a pure heart, a clean, clear mind, good intent and a generous soul – when we don’t want good things to happen only with us – but with everyone else around us – known or unknown to us. We become magnanimous and are no longer confined by the egoistic words – ‘I’ and ‘me’ – but begin to give more importance to ‘we’ and ‘us’.

Many of us fall prey to vices; become habitual offenders. Lying without batting an eyelid; indulging in fraud – if not checked and corrected in time – can turn into ugly habits, and, yet it comes as no surprise to see millions of us take this deceitful, dishonest path. So, then, why should it take us long to get into the habit of doing good ‘karma’? After all, we don’t need to enter into a partnership or alliance with any ungainly element while doing good deeds. Is it very difficult to take care of old parents with genuine love ? Do we have to pretend to love them? Is it too big a sacrifice to forego parties and pleasure time in order to be with them; take care of them? Are we too busy to find those few seconds in the morning to offer prayers to the Sun God; thank Mother Earth for feeding us; sustaining us? Recalling and focussing on the divine instructions of one’s ‘guru’ and implementing them effectively in our everyday life will enable us to be conscious of the fact – whether what we are about to do next – is it a good deed or not …” Kya iss ‘karma’ se hum ‘jagdish’ ke aur sameep ja rahe hain ya nahi ?”

Swami ji said…

In all of mankind’s time on Earth, the times we live in today, the world as it is around us – would seem the most paradoxical to the spiritual seeker. For at one end, he has at his disposal all the knowledge of the ages – from the innumerable, wise spiritual teachers of the past and present ; religious texts and holy scrolls ; old scriptures and modern thought papers – all telling him to eagerly pursue God. To realize the Self. To give up his wants and focus on the spirit, the Soul. To chase only that which is Godly and holy, and nothing else.

And yet, at the same time, he sees that – what the world whole heartedly celebrates, ardently admires – is quite opposite to what he is told to seek. Wealth is admired and adored ; greed is seen not as a vice but as a source of strength and a guide to fortune. The senses are king and satisfying them at all times , at any cost – is made to look like the end purpose of life.

Such circumstances can cause one disappointment and disillusionment. A person can end up being bitter towards the world – on seeing the gulf , the divide between what is preached and practiced. We are taught about morality – are told that we are duty bound ; are expected to behave morally and act in an impeccable , righteous way, but , on the other hand , see the world rewarding handsomely – all those who act immorally. Life can feel unjust and God comes across as uncaring in such conditions.

More often than not, we find many a people of this temperament around us. They are good at heart but bear resentment for the doings of the world. Some of us could find ourselves in the same boat many a times. We put in everything to keep ourselves morally and spiritually sound ; while there are those who seem to be living life to the fullest – doing as they please – uncaring and unfearful of any repercussions.

What then is the solution to this ? How does one change the tide ? The answer to this, as in almost every endeavour to make change, lies in us. We must first bring about change in ourselves. It is important for us to understand that self-realization, spiritual enlightenment ; these are not personal endeavours that one opts for just like that – as one opts to exercise or learn an art. These are simply God’s divine plans for us. Tasks set by Him for us to achieve. And , any spiritual seeker who sets out on the spiritual path must understand , that he is finally doing what he was sent to do on Earth. He is now simply doing what he must do ; is supposed to do – as he is doing the best that he can do for himself. To rein in the mind, cleanse the soul and realize who he is and to achieve all this – is the true purpose of his being here.

Everything else that is enjoyed by us – family, society, job, money – is a result of our past ‘karma’. We wrongly feel that we are defined by these. It is only when we stop identifying ourselves with these things ; it is only when we see ourselves as distinct from these – can we stop caring about them. For the spiritual seeker to be successful, detachment is not an option, but, a necessity – as one who is still seeing through the lens of ‘माया’ will never see the fruits of his spiritual labour.

Without detachment, the spiritual seeker’s motivation and aspirations will remain at the materialistic plane, although his actions could be on a spiritual plane. As seen today, many a times people take up meditation, yoga and other spiritual practices seeking to ‘better’ their lives. Unfortunately, what they think as ‘better’ for them – is materialistic in nature. They are unaware that ‘peace of mind’ is possibly the greatest gift of all in today’s day and age; but , instead they hope silently , that their spiritual practices will bring them a ‘better career’ or ‘make them wealthier’.

Is this not akin to the farmer who lays mango seeds, hoping to grow an apple orchard ? Will such a situation not lead to depression and resentment ?

To avoid this, the spiritual seeker must instead take pride in doing God’s work. He must sacrifice fulfilling his senses, and instead love God and live for others. Yes, this is indeed easier said than done. But , little by little, one can begin to look at life through such a lens.

Once we do this, we will also begin to appreciate those who live like this. Our goalposts in life will shift. We will look up to the self-realised. We will celebrate ‘sacrifice’ and ‘control’. We will be inspired by these and implement them in our lives. Gradually, we will not be concerned with what people think of us, or , what they can do for us. We will only look to assist those who God wishes us to assist. The future will not be in our thoughts and the past will have no use for us. Such is the freedom and strength that we will be rewarded with on our journey.

It is only then that the light within us, God’s light, will shine through. It is only then that others will begin to see why they must seek God. It is only then that they too will follow the steps of the spiritual path. And , perhaps , then we too can feel rewarded for right actions in this life.

Swami ji said…

Do we take cognisance of the number of times we complain, crib or grumble in a day? At times, it seems that we are in a state of preparedness; ever ready to lament, express our dissatisfaction with just about everything that life lays out in front of us. Life has plans for each one of us – be it in the form of a surprise or a shock – a bolt from the blue; all of which could bring either a smile or a tear – but , life , inevitably does bring something for us everyday. At times, even the best of surprises might fail to make us happy, as we have become adept at finding some shortcoming in them ; and, sudden, shocking, unexpected developments in life are conveniently attributed to God’s unfair manner of treating us. During such moments we act as though the theory of ‘karma’ does not apply to us. The blame rests squarely on God’s shoulders according to us.” भगवान मेरे साथ हमेशा ऐसा ही करते हैं…” – we rue accusingly.

Discontentment rules so strong in us – that we seem to completely forget to express gratitude for all that God has been doing for us and gifting us with. Constant comparison with others, on any front, makes us feel insignificant and small and we bemoan that life has never treated us fairly. We appear to be extremely certain that we deserve much more than what has come our way, and , it doesn’t take us any time at all to get into a critical mode and say that we are victims of our cruel destiny. No one is spared by us once we begin our litany of complaints. On our list of complaints could be everyone else – but us.

Do we draw some sort of comfort in complaining ?Do we do so to conceal our weaknesses ; our frailties behind the thick curtain of complaints? We smartly avoid talking about the lack of initiative, effort , concentration and sincerity – that could otherwise have put in from our end, in order to achieve anything substantial in life – but , instead, we complain about the financial crunch, lack of parental support , difficult living conditions – that have led us to the miserable condition in which we find ourselves.Till when will we continue to complain incessantly?

We cannot seek shelter by parroting over and over again – ” If only this had happened?” “If only that had not happened?”
“ऐसा क्यूँ हुआ ?” “ऐसा क्यूँ नहीं
हुआ ?” It is the weak who complain. Rather, we must try in all earnestness to ensure that these never – ending complaints vacate our heart at the earliest – and instead fill the now vacant heart with love , gratitude and thankfulness to God for blessing us with this precious life.

What did the Kaurav prince, Duryodhan, achieve by complaining all the time? Rather than gaining anything ; he lost everything. He was never at peace with himself. He wasted his entire life in conniving , conspiring and scheming against the Pandavs – and to what avail. God and ‘guru’ both derive immense pleasure in seeing His children and devotees live life with a sense of acceptance and surrender to their divine will.

Swami ji said…

Any promise made by us ; any commitment given by us to someoneone else – must be honoured and must be fulfilled. The moment we utter words that convey an assurance of any kind , we are bound by them and it becomes on us – to act on them – as it becomes our ‘dharm’. Making a promise to someone ; to give someone an assurance of doing something for him ; to stand by him – should not be taken lightly. Someone’s hopes could be pinned on the promise made to him by us.
Not keeping a promise – is nothing short of ‘adharma’.

But , in today’s world, promises are rarely kept. We see it happen everywhere – with us, around us and also often by us. Why do we do this? Why does it happen? The truth is that commitments are often made while in a sense of stupor or grandiose – without much regard to the implications of the words uttered by us. Or else promises are used as a means to impress or deceive. But very rarely are they made with the intent of being acted upon.

Somewhere in our minds, we have come to terms with the thought – that it is alright to not keep promises. Society as such has made not keeping promises acceptable. Even the person who is given an assurance nowadays – is often sure that the promise that has been made to him will not materialise.

But, an unkept promise is nothing but a lie. And that is why we all unwillingly commit…कुकर्म – bad ‘karma’ – when we say things we don’t mean to adhere to.

And , while most of us might think of how others have not kept their promises to us and cheated us , a little introspection will show us how many times we cheat ourselves too.
Yes, many times, people who take money from us fail to give it back as promised , but , this financial loss does not hurt us as much as the loss our soul feels , when we fail to meet the promises we make to ourselves.

“I will not smoke from tomorrow…”, “I will not drink today…”, “I will pray daily…”, “I will call him tomorrow…” – all these are promises too. Promises we make to ourselves. Unfortunately, we unfailingly fail to keep them most of the time.
Initially, we ignore these failures on our part. But , gradually, as time passes, and we keep deceiving ourselves, lying to ourselves – the spirit within us is weakened. It understands that the words we tell ourselves are devoid of any truth or resolve. We gradually lose confidence in ourselves. We are defeated not by anyone else, not by life, but by ourselves. Since we fail to meet even the smallest of expectations from ourselves, we are unable to gather the courage and confidence to seek any bigger challenge. Life gradually becomes devoid of any sort of fulfilment.

What can thus be done to avoid this crisis? We cannot simply stop making promises. Such an escapist attitude would serve us no good. But , what we can do is to be careful about what we commit. Whether in personal or professional relationships, we must promise only that which we are sure of fulfilling. Our assurances must be honest and measured. They must not be made to only please or comfort someone, but , must also convey that which is realistic and can be truly achieved in the future.

Even the spiritual seeker makes many promises to himself or to God. Although these promises are made with good intent and meaning , they are often too challenging or difficult to keep.Thus, even promises made with a good intention for our spiritual upliftment too – can become the untruth – if they are not kept. For example, not everyone can meditate for an hour daily. This requires practice, discipline and immense effort. However, one can commit to meditating for an hour every weekend or one can definitely take out ten minutes to devote to meditation every day. It is only when we are successful in keeping these promises to ourselves – that we will start making further progress in – ” दूसरों मे यह विश्वास जगा ने के लिये कि वह अपने दिये हुए वादे को हमेशा पूरा करता हैं …” Only then can one begin to set goals for oneself – with a sense of commitment and purpose and start achieving them. Remind yourself that promises are meant to be kept – not to be broken.

If we make it a point to keep a promise ; if we put into effect the words that were said to someone that have ignited hope and belief in him ; if we make a resolve to never break a promise – we will not really be surprised to find ourselves gradually meeting people with this rare habit.This is because the ability of committing oneself to one’s word requires discipline, mental strength and honesty. And those who have such qualities are bound to find each other. Nurturing such qualities makes us excel in life and fulfills us with a sense of achievement. We need to remember that – “अगर हम ‘ईश्वर’ और ‘गुरू’ को अपने चित – मन से वादा करते हैं तो हमें उसे जरूर पूरा करना चाहिए…”

Swami ji said…

Whenever we go for job interviews, attend a social gathering or prepare for a meeting with someone of significance – we unfailingly put our best foot forward. We make it a point to be punctual ; are well turned out ; revisit everything that we need to take with us. All in all – a picture of near perfection is projected by us to others.We feel that doing so is imperative for us to be successful.

Such occasions, of course, do not come every day in life , and , we begin to ease off from the strict regulations that we had imposed on ourselves for those important days. Some of us could skip baths ; some may oversleep ; some might not adhere to any schedule on any other normal day. All in all, when not under any seeming obligation, we seem to be rather happy in taking a short cut.This is the way we approach life most of the time. In fact, for many of us, life seems to be passing by – just this way. We do only that – which is just enough for us to ‘get by’. Our mind directs us towards a path that is ‘comfortable’ – well drawn out ; plain and smooth. The path of least resistance. Comfort becomes our priority. Everything else – dreams, ambitions, principles – take a back seat.

But, over a period of time, many of us begin to feel dissatisfied in living life in such a way.The heart longs for a sense of purpose ; a sense of achievement. When there is such a disconnect between the heart and one’s actions, one is bound to feel dejected and frustrated…’हम निराश होने लगते हैं… ‘After all, we need to have an ambition in life.

But , even at such a stage in life, one must not get disheartened. Instead of simply giving up and drowning in self – loathing, one must begin the challenging, but, not impossible task of self-improvement. For the spiritual seeker, this is often the first step towards God. It is only when one starts becoming aware of one’s ‘self’ ; it is only when we start reflecting and asking whether we are living life the ‘correct’ way, the ‘right’ way – can we even consider making changes in our actions and the way we live.

The biggest challenge one comes across in this process – is that of changing oneself immediately. After all, old habits die hard. It is not easy to let go of old habits , and , time and time again, we will find ourselves doing exactly what should not be done by us ; should be avoided by us at all cost. The promise made to ourselves – to meditate everyday ; to make it a regular habit – seems to fade away in the face of other distractions – and we might invariably – sometimes quite inexplicably – postpone or cut down on our meditation time – by over a week. Such failures and realisations can be very disappointing and can raise doubts in our mind about our own ability to change. But , one must remember that this is the struggle we have to go through and overcome them ourselves. In the process of self-change, we realise how strong and powerful the mind is, and , how we need to stay vigilant and not give in to its ability of taking us down the path of ‘comfort’ again.

We may often question -‘Why should I choose a life of discipline, of ‘tyaag’ – when I can live a life of comfort ?’ We can barely ‘see’ how could this kind of a life be of any use to us ? But our entire perspective changes once we see an unprecedented ‘change’ happen, take place in us. It is possible that a person – who till recently found pleasure only in partying hard – is able to turn into a new leaf – on experiencing true bliss in chanting His name ; on waking up early in the morning to make an effort to connect with God – as he finally begins to understand that it is He alone who can liberate him from the never – ending cycle of birth and death ; that all other relationships are temporary – except for the permanent relationship that he shares with God. The attachment that he earlier had with every possible thing on Earth – is replaced by detachment – and he begins to regret the precious time that he has wasted on only accumulating material possessions – rather than concentrating on his spiritual growth and upliftment – which would make him truly wealthy – on receiving God’s Grace , love and blessings. We can change ourselves, if , we are determined to do so.