Category: Swamiji’s message

Swamiji says…

“Instructions! Directions! Advice! Counsel! At times, I wonder whether it would have been possible for us to have done anything on our own, if it weren’t for the words of caution and wisdom that were directed at us, in the form of advice by our elders ! ‘Nasihat’…Advice before the commencement of our actions – and, compliments or criticism that came our way – at the conclusion of an endeavour. A thumbs-up sign would indicate their appreciation of our successful attempt, or an open discussion would ensue about how we could have gone about a particular thing properly and done it correctly, if our performance had not been satisfactory. And we learnt a lot from their advice ! We would constantly look at them for further guidance; made it a habit to follow their instructions and had obeyed every command given to us by our loved ones during our early childhood ; but, might have, foolishly, disobeyed a few instructions during our rebellious adolescence. We learnt from our mistakes quick and fast, and as we stepped into adulthood, we valued real advice, especially that which was timely and profound, and looked forward to receiving it from those whose advice had always counted and mattered! ”

“However, it is interesting to see that there are many, beyond the realm of family and friends, who consider that giving advice to anyone – any place and any time – is their birth-right and they are willing to advise us on everything possible under the Sun ; impervious to the fact, whether we had asked for it or not! Advice – take it from me – is their attitude ! Such people seem to have seen all shades of life and speak with such authority and conviction about leading our lives – ‘ If I were you , I would do that !’ ‘ No, no, no ! That approach wouldn’t be right ! You should go about it this way ! ‘ – that we feel like ticking them off for what now begins to look like interference. Since we are taught to be polite, we find it very difficult to tell them that we can do without their advice and it would be best if they could mind their own business and leave us to do things the way we wanted to.”

“One is filled with curiosity and left to wonder as to what is it that gives the other person that confidence, that air of certainty with which – ‘woh nasihat deta hai!’ It appears that he is talking about a terrain that has been traversed by him many times, and that too with such ease, that he has now taken upon himself the onus of making the lives of others simpler by sharing the skills that are needed to overcome day to day life situations.
When such a person shares his unwanted insight with us, on how he would have attended to a particular issue and gone about setting things right – we are convinced that this certainly must be a classic case of ‘practice what you preach‘ and this person would surely listen with patience to whoever tries to give him some advice, similar to the manner in which others had been listening to his advice in the past, as they feel it is warranted,now, for him to listen to them. But things are not as simple as they appear to be!”

” Astonishingly, when such a person comes in the line of fire – and perforce, has to listen to some advice that is given to him for a change by someone else, he or she changes colours and refuses to pay any heed to the smallest of suggestions and challenges the premise of any and all legitimate advice that is given to him. ‘Doosron ko ‘nasihat’ dena bahut aasaan hota hai …par ‘nasihat’ sun na aur uss par khud amal karna bahut mushkil hota hai !”

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 says …

‘Desires … ambitions … goals are an inseparable part of Man. He is tempted and tantalized by the visions of a glorious life that he sees in his dreams. A life, which he is certain, is resplendent with happiness and one, that will be experienced by him, once he realizes his dreams, and achieves his goal – and this is what exhilarates him, keeps him going. Despite the gauntlet of challenges that these dreams and aspirations throw at him, calling out to him mockingly – ‘catch me if you can’ – he faces them readily, knowing that it is best to tackle them immediately, and realise them at the earliest, otherwise, they will unfailingly have an unsettling effect on his sense of inner peace. But he continues unabashed, and dares to dream. ‘Dream I must!’ – he says to himself.”

“It is essential to set goals and achievable targets for ourselves, as they make our lives purpose-filled, and we chase our aspirations with focus and single minded determination … ‘aur hum apne aap, apne sapno ko poora karne ka prayaas karte hain … apni mehnat se apni pehchaan banana chahte hain … aur aisa hi hona chahiye! Apne bal se apna naam banana chahiye ! ”

“We are thus motivated to dream the impossible – to reach for the stars, test our limits and are encouraged to make that one more attempt before accepting defeat. And as we strive to work diligently to realize our dreams, we must maintain the core values of life; keep life simple and straight and see for ourselves how enjoyable and rewarding it is then. The satisfaction of creating our own identity with perseverance and diligence is the most valuable possession that we can ever own, and we owe it to ourselves to ensure that nothing ever scars it. God has bestowed a lot on us, given us what is best for us and we should be grateful for His Grace. But then, are we thankful enough to Him or do the overpowering wants and needs of our bucket list make us buckle under the pressure of ‘I need some more?”

“Our downfall, however, begins when we aspire for something that we are incapable of achieving. Each one of us has a choice of making our lives either pleasurable or miserable. Dissatisfaction with one’s lifestyle and too many expectations from life make him look hither-tither, and in no time he begins enjoying what he sees on the other side of the fence. Shortly, he starts taking take great interest in other people’s accumulations and acquisitions – ‘aur tab woh ashaant rehne lagta hai !’ This restless attitude in us brings about a negative change in us- of being inquisitive in the other person’s personal wealth and possessions.”

“Our vision which could otherwise be blurred to this imperfection in us – of yearning for what belongs to others – acquires perfect clarity while looking at the other person’s platter, and we are tormented on seeing it overflow with exotica – everything imaginable and unimaginable – and more than what is needed for his plate and palate. And before we know it – ‘humari niyat doosron ke paise par lag jaati hai, aur humey doosron ki thaali mein zyaada ghee nazar aata hai…’ and from here begin our days of doom and gloom.”

“Time and energy that was earlier spent fruitfully in productive work, in earning money in an honest manner, is now ill – spent on hankering for the impossible, and planning and scheming evil designs by which one could get a hold and control on the other person’s wealth and property… ‘Kuch log doosron ki property ya paise ko hadapne ki koshish karte hain! Yeh aadat theek nahi hai! ‘ It doesn’t matter then as to whose material possessions or bank statements could be on the hit list! Parents, siblings, friends or acquaintances – everyone could be a target.”

“ In some cases relationships – the meaning and value of family ties – take a backseat once the mind is obsessed with the ‘excessive’ possessions of others – and then the worst possible thoughts begin to form in their mind… ‘ aur woh doosron ka anishtha chahane lagtey hai !’ They wish that their kith and kin meet their end soon, thus, making it viable for them to lay their hands on ‘their’ possessions as quickly as possible. ‘The earlier, the better!’ is the refrain echoed by them, at times, as they think of illegal ways and means by which they can stake ‘their’ claim on the assets of others, at the required time. Why should we allow such horrible thoughts to raise their ugly heads within us? Are we incapable of fending for ourselves and for our loved ones? Rather than wasting time by …’ parivaar ke doosre sadasyon ki dhan-sampatti par nazar rakhne ke bajaye’ – can’t we fulfil our wishes by working hard ? Is wishing ill for others the only way out ? Could anything else cause God greater sorrow than to see His creation sink to the lowest depths of inhumanity by thinking on such lines?”

“The large sums of money that one had whimsically taken from his near and dear ones in the form of a loan, to present a deceptively false image of himself to the world, which he needs to return to the creditors later – is conveniently forgotten by him, and he pockets it without any qualms. Promises of returning the money within a specific time period are broken repeatedly, and one lie leads to another. Greed, jealousy and craving for more lead us, at times, to a point of no return…’ Apni aadaton ko sudhaaro ! – before  you become slaves to a habit as obnoxious as this, and become repeat offenders.”