Month: May 2024

Swamiji said …

The world today believes in moving fast and moving ahead. And , whatever gets trampled, broken or left behind is not to be given a second thought ; as doing so would only slow one down and hinder progress.Such is the prevalent thought of modern society. And, thinking on such lines is what is making society harsher, colder and increasingly impersonal by the day.

Mistakes made by one are not meant to be taken too seriously – we feel. After all , he’s made this mistake just once – we say.
Wrongdoings committed by us or are loved ones are increasingly being met with indifference and leniency. Repentance and regret are signs of weakness. What has replaced these – is complacency and smugness.
Lying, stealing, spreading falsehood – have become common practice to us. Easy to resort to as they seem to be the only way to save one’s skin and satisfy one’s dark desires. And, on not being caught and remaining undetected – even after acquiring a taste for these sinful habits – a sense of false confidence develops in us to walk on this treacherous path with a swagger.

But, things can take a dangerous turn when we are motivated to stay on the sinful course without feeling any remorse or regret…“बिना किसी तरह का पछतावा महसूस करना , अपनी पिछली गलतियों के लिए…” It is a paradox that while man often finds other people’s mistakes unacceptable and reproachable, he treats his own with kid gloves – shrugging them off as if they were ever of any consequence. While even a single misstep by others is met with great disapproval – mistakes as colossal as the pyramids, made by oneself, are made to appear like minor errors.

Yes, there is no point in just feeling guilty for our mistakes for long durations of time without making any effort to change ourselves. But , we must not block out , or , try to numb the guilt of the mistakes made by us. It is very easy to sin – but to seek repentance for our sins – turns out to be a very difficult task for many of us.
How many of us are willing to acknowledge the fact that we have sinned ? What wrong have we done that we need to own up – we question ourselves? Once we’ve gone adrift from the safe haven of honesty and righteousness – the thin line between sin and morality seems to blur. The addiction to sinning could make us impervious to the urgent calls made by the ‘soul’ – prompting us to drop our ego ; to feel genuinely sorry for having sinned ; for having done something terrible in the past and wish with all our heart that we had not done it.
It uplifts us with words of encouragement – ‘पश्चाताप’ कर के अपने आप को समझाओ , सुधारो , बदलो औऱ बेहतर बनाओ …”

Many a times, simply as a defensive mechanism, we resolutely prefuse to acknowledge our mistakes in front of others, in the fear that we will appear weak. But, it is in such times that one’s true character is shown. There is no wrong time or place to acknowledge one’s mistake. Doing so is the first step towards becoming a better version of ourselves – as this makes our mind very aware to not repeating such misdeeds a second time. Repent, we must.

Mistakes will be made by us. We will make blunders. In our professional and personal lives both. But we must never turn a blind eye to them. Glossing over and ignoring what we have done wrong makes us insensitive. We harm not just ourselves, but , even those around us by being oblivious to the mistakes we make.

The spiritual seeker too must learn to repent. In fact, he must even repent over what others might think to be trivial, but , which nonetheless are sins. A bad or harsh word for someone else; an undeserved remark ; a bad thought – these too are sins, and, must be regretted and repented immediately. It is only by doing this that the mind can be brought to exercise control and improve the quality of one’s ‘karma’.

Swami ji said…

Since pre-historic times, man has always preferred to live in groups. Initially, he found strength in numbers.
This strength was useful in hunting, gathering and safe – keeping. It also led to the development of relationships between people, giving rise to social structures of family, communities – as we see around the world today.

As a result, today, man is always, in some way or another, always ‘connected’ with someone else. If it is not in one’s physical presence, there is always the digital world of messages, video calls – that keeps him connected with
others. And, he, mistakenly, feels very secure with that tangible connection.

In fact, the assurance of constant accessibility to others ; of
‘someone being around’ us ; the availability of immediate family, relatives and friends has made us almost alien to the idea of being alone. In fact, the idea of living alone, of spending time without someone with us – is almost daunting and scary…” मैं अकेला कैसे रहूँगा ?” मैं अकेला रहने के बारे मैं सोच भी नही सकता !” – we say with a tinge of worry. Many a times, seeing someone live alone makes us pity them, or , wonder how lonely they would be. We are convinced that someone who is alone cannot be happy or lead a life of contentment. This repeated narrative has created a negative and fearful perspective on being alone. On seeing a ‘sanyaasi’ , a monk – aren’t we left wondering – ‘How does he live alone?’ ‘How does he manage all by himself ?’

Yet, in full honesty, can anyone really say that they know what it feels like to be alone? How many have even ventured to try and experience it? What is it about being alone that is so scary? Is it simply being alone with our thoughts? Or, is it, that we have to then live only with ‘our selves’ – something we possibly do not find very pleasing? We need to define the meaning of being ‘alone’ – individually – to understand what it means to us and follow it up.

We have to ask ourselves whether we avoid being alone – to avoid self-reflection – aware that we might not appreciate when we see what we truly are ! Many a times, we feel overwhelmed, when we take stock of ourselves and simply want to avoid ‘thinking’ about the unanswered questions that could ring out about us – in the quietness of loneliness.

Yes, of course, there are situations when we certainly need other people to be around us. But , we must reflect on why we do not try to enjoy the bliss of solitude. To understand the divine significance of those precious moments when we find ourselves alone – we just need to remind ourselves that God has sent everyone else away – so that we can spend time with Him.

The spiritual seeker must always strive to spend some quality time with himself ; question himself as to what is it that he seeks in this lifetime ? Is he aware of the significance of this lifetime of his ? What does he intend to do with it ? Does he want to be a conqueror of material goods or overcome the lure of all the trappings and win over God with his devotion and faith ? This is what would make him aware of how the mind operates ; its nature to wander and worry ; to procrastinate on doing what is essential – yet difficult. It is when we are alone that we can truly begin to work on ourselves.When we make an earnest attempt to cut ourselves away from the distractions of engaging with others – only then, can we truly begin to engage with the ‘self’. We begin to understand what our character truly is – as then there is no one to ‘act’ in front of us. We gain an opportunity to get a true measure of ourselves in black and white, and, who we are as a person.

Loneliness becomes solitude as the process of self-reflection and self-improvement begins. As we take steps to improve ourselves, we begin to enjoy the warmth of the ‘soul’ ; we begin to ‘feel’ a live connection with God ; oneness with nature. Our process of self-discovery, also begins to tell us a lot about the world around us. More importantly, we begin to realise how fruitless a lot of social interaction is – as it does not necessarily make us happy. In solitude, we begin to appreciate the value of our own time, our thoughts ; to preserve the sanctity of the mind – and make constructive changes to our lives to improve everything about ourselves. It is only when we are alone, that we begin to understand – what it is that we truly need. We realise the importance of keeping company of those people – who contribute further to our spiritual and mental development and try to move away from those who unfortunately seem to hinder conversations related to the awakening of our ‘soul’.

Swami ji said…

Man can be a paradoxical creature. God has given him sight to enjoy the world around him. Yet, man very rarely sees and enjoys things as they are, and, more often than not, points at what is missing or could or should have been.

In our everyday lives, this manifests in the form of complaining – a constant drone about how something is missing or not up to our expectation or mis – timed. More often than not these complaints are rarely actual grievances, but , more of weak reasons and excuses to explain why something seems unachievable and cannot be done.

It is this habit that we have ; a weakness – to conjure up and see what is ‘wrong’ or ‘missing’ in any and every situation – that makes us masterful complainants. But true masters, in the physical or spiritual realms of the world, rarely ever complain. They work hard. And no, they do not just make do with what they have – they excel with it. And they do it without feeling sorry for themselves.

Lord Ram, despite having a full-fledged army at his service back in Ayodhya, had to rely on the abilities of the ‘vanar-sena’ – an army that was under the control of Sugriv and not his own – to fight with the ever powerful Ravan. Have we ever heard that Shri Ram had made excuses – “ If only I had my own army…” , “Ravan is lucky to have such powers….”, “If only I had these weapons…” No ! He showed us how the seemingly impossible could be achieved with almost negligible resources by simply wielding one’s effort, patience and faith.

Why then must we lament on that which we have no control over? Why waste time complaining when we can use the same time to make some progress towards one goals?

We must never forget that it is God who provides. And when He is satisfied with our effort and dedication, He provides in abundance, even when it would seem otherwise.Thus, we must never waste time complaining. We must focus on ‘karma’, and ‘karma’ alone.”

And as the saying goes –
” कोशिश करने वाले को ईश्वर हमेशा सहारा देते हैं …”
He , who has gifted this life to us – would undeniably feel let down on seeing us put down our defences ; give up – without making the smallest effort to regain , conquer that what was lost by us – by maybe failing to achieve what we had set our mind to – in the first attempt and give up after that in abject despair. And instead of trying again – just complain by finding fault in our stars. In a way we accept defeat – when we complain in any given situation. Our ‘mantra’ should be to overcome the situation – by putting in double the effort – instead of complaining.

The spiritual seeker’s development is also prone to such hurdles. He is liable to complain about many things that seem to restrain him from pursuing spiritual practices. And, yes, while family, friends, work etc. will always tug the mind and demand more focus and attention ; we must always remember that no amount of time spent on God, spent on knowing oneself – can ever be a waste of time.

Swami ji said…

How happy are we when we are complimented on our looks, our height, our hair, our glowing skin, our lean frame? We check ourselves gleefully, time and time again, in the mirror to re-affirm the compliment that has been paid to us. And are happy on seeing the stunning vision reflected in the mirror validating this well-deserved praise. A few among us – blessed with beauty – might not even need any kind of confirmation from anyone else – so well aware are we of the beauty we are endowed with. And, thus we take upon ourselves – dutifully – what otherwise could be laborious to many – the everyday routine of maintaining a perfect external appearance. Because that is what we feel matters the most to us – and , woefully , to others too.

Of course ! It is essential for each one of us to take care of our physical health ; to develop immunity and to stay strong and fit. But, to be obsessed with one’s desire to only ‘look’ good all the time, can in no way contribute to our spiritual growth and will only keep us away from the ‘Truth’ – which should be known to us from early on – that we are not the ‘body’ but a ‘जीव – आत्मा’ ! We must never forget – ‘हम ‘देह’ नही, देही हैँ …’

How meaningless would our life be, if, we were to focus – only on our ‘body’ all the time ? “हमें
सारा समय , अपना ध्यान अपने देह , अपने शारीर, पर केंद्रित नहीं करना चाहिए…” Is there any point in just ‘looking’ good and not pay any attention to how we ‘feel’- within – which is most important ? Are ‘we’ determined to use the ‘body’ in the right manner and steer it onto the path of ‘satya’, ‘nek karma’, ‘ ‘achchi soch’ – thereby purifying ‘ourselves’ – our ‘soul’ further – or waste this lifetime by just remaining fixated on the ‘body’?

The body, with which we form an unbreakable bond ; are so much in love with and deeply attached to – as we feel we will live forever – has to inevitably break one day – as the ‘soul’ will shed it off.The cause or reason could be any.The most natural one being old age. Rather than giving undue importance to the body and pampering it all the time, we need to remind ourselves that – we are the ‘soul’, we are ‘permanent’, that we have always been here and will always be here. The ‘soul’ is indestructible – because of which the wise say – ‘ We never die.’ The body, on the other hand is like a cloth – worn for some time – before being discarded for another – as embodied by the cycle of life and death – of the ‘body’.

And, just like we wash the stains from our clothes to keep them – and thereby ourselves clean – we must also ask ourselves – whether we do the same for our mind and thoughts ? How much care and concern do we show for the kind of thoughts that go through our mind ? Do we try to nourish our mind the same we way we nourish the body ? Do we maintain a strict vigil over what goes on and into our mind ? Do we try to enrich it with knowledge and create every opportunity possible to purify the ‘soul’ ? A popular saying – ‘ We are what we eat ‘ – is applicable to the body. In the same way – it is what is fed to the mind ; the diet that we provide to the mind – is what matters the most – to the soul.

We must make a habit of relating with the ‘soul’, in the same way, in which, we associate ourselves with the ‘body’.Slight scratches and bruises on the body are nursed with great care , tenderly and are checked to see whether they are healing well – but , we are not even aware of the hundreds and thousands of wounds and lacerations that are inflicted by us on the ‘soul’ – again and again – in our lifetime. We lie blatantly ; deceive others without blinking ; embrace corruption – without a care in the world – scarring the ‘soul’ for ever.

The moment we start thinking of ‘ourselves’ as distinct from the ‘body’ – we will begin to live life in a more apt and balanced manner. The body, like a tool, is a means to an end. And, in our case, it is to carry out good actions , do good ‘karma’ and free ourselves from this world. It is this perspective that can free many of us from the frivolous concerns of our physical appearance – and rather focus on feeling good – in mind and heart.

We should not forget that it is the body that ages ; feels
and knows pain when it suffers. It is not the ‘soul’ that falls ill , hurts or ages.The body is the means through which we are made to pay for our bad ‘karma’. Why then should we be so attached to it ? Instead, we must ensure that it is healthy – so that we can make good of it – for a task most important ; for our liberation from this world. That should in all – be its main purpose to us and no other – and a spiritual seeker must use his body in the most effective manner to reach the highest goal.