Death

 Anything that is born is sure to die at some point in time. In fact, the moment it is born, it has already begun to die like the unwinding of a clock. It is only a question of time. In the same way, the moment of our death should be the moment of our birth also. 

What is Death really?

How does it happen?

When does it happen?

Why does it happen?

What dies really?

Where does it happen?

Who is the cause?

These questions often stare at us, generally with no answers except to take refuge in the great scriptures and the experiences of great saints.

They say that the human being is a complex of body, mind/consciousness, and soul or the spirit or the being. One is subtler than the other and the soul or being is the subtlest entity. And it is the body that dies NOT the other two - mind and soul. In Nature, anything that is subject to change dies.

The human being is said to be comprised of three bodies - Sthool Sharir (Physical body), Sukshma Sharir (Subtle body), and Karan Sharir (the Causal body). And what we call Death is nothing but the death of Shool Sharir.  

The human being is so structured that they say it comprises of 5 sheaths/layers/koshas - Annamaya kosha (the layer of Physical body), Pranamaya Kosha (The Life Force layer), Manomaya Kosha (The layer on Consciousness or Mind), Vignanamaya Kosha (The layer of Wisdom or real knowledge) and Anandamaya Kosha (The layer of Bliss). All the koshas are spread throughout the human frame, they are so intermingled that they cannot be separated. One layer s subtler than the other. At the time of death, all these layers withdraw one by one. So our Saints say, that Death happens by stages and not suddenly. 

When a human being dies, they say, "he is gone." In every language strangely we speak the same thing "Mar gaya" (Hindi); Chanipoyaadu" (Telugu); "Satthi poyitaan" (Tamil); and so on. That is as long as the human being is alive, we refer to his body but when he dies we refer to something other than the body. Though the body is very much there in front of us. But as long as we are alive each one of us identifies ourselves with this body. The body-consciousness is predominant. Therefore the fear of Death. 

Nobody precisely knows to this date, as to when, how, why, and where the death happens. That is why all have to agree that it is in the hands of the Creator (if any) or the Unknown called God.

How to know what is Death? There is only one way perhaps. And that is - one has to experience Death before the actual Death as one of the saints said. Is that possible? Yoga says, Yes. Especially the Heartfulness Sahaj Marg System says, Yes. By establishing ourselves in the soul-consciousness thoroughly detaching totally ourselves from other layers of Consciousness, perhaps that is the ONLY possibility. 

This System of Yoga teaches us how to die every day in an incremental fashion and not being aware of it. (But not to worry, every time there is death, there is also birth. So while learning how to die properly, we also learn how to live properly through this Yoga. It is both an art of living and the art of dying.)

During Death, the physical organs, the senses, the life-force, (the prana) everything is withdrawn stage by stage. Something like one achieves through Samadhi condition. In Yoga, we consciously practice this withdrawal with the help of the Guru or Master and experience Death while the body is still alive. Perhaps it can be called a sort of spiritual simulation of death. And when one experiences Death in such a way, it is said that one achieves mastery over death and life and perhaps the choice or need for being born again or to die again rests with the Soul. And the spiritual journey or Yatra continues towards Infinity.

My Favourite Bhajan - Dinan Dukh haran ... written by Surdas that invokes Bhakti/Devotion to the Lord

Dinan Dukh haran ... written by Surdasin Brij bhasha in 15th century and sung greatly by Jagjit Singh. Also it was sung by the great saint from Shahjahanpur (UP, India) Shri Ram Chandra ji Maharaj, affectionately called Babuji,  the ONLY song that was recorded lovingly by his disciple Shri Parthasarathi Rajagopalachariji Maharaj. The pangs of separation of the Seeker from his beloved expressed so beautifully! The lyrics and meanings are as follows:                                               

                                  Deenan dukh haran dev santan hitkari

ajamil geedh byadh inme kah kaun saadh

panchhi ko pad padhaat ganika si taari

deenan dukh haran dev ...

dhruva ke sar chhatra det

prahalad ko ubari det

bhakta hetu bandhyo setu

lankpuri jaayi

deenan dukh haran dev .....

gaj ko jab grah grasyo

duhshashan cheer khasyo

sabha beech krishna krishna draupati pukari

deenan dukh haran dev .....

itne hari aaye gaye

basnan aaroorh bhaye

surdas dware khado aanadhro bhikhari

deenan dukh haran dev santan hitkari

deenan dukh haran dev .....

Meaning :

 

The Lord who removes the pain of the sufferers and the humble;  well wisher of all the saints

Azamil , the vulture , the hunter , tell me who was perfect among them?

Who taught great words  to a bird and made it Ganika (a man who lives with a 

went to a prostitute -here Azamil ) who moved him  across this bhavasagar the ocean of this world ...

Who protected Dhruva's by giving him  shelter, and saved Prahalad

Who constructed the bridge to go to the city of Lanka,  for the sake of a devotee?

When the Crocodile grabbed the Gajraj (the elephant) in his jaws ...who came to save him ?

When Duhshashan unrobed Draupadi,

 "Krishna Krishna "  called Draupadi  from the midst of  the Hall ..

Who saved her with robes? 

So many times God has (descended here) come and gone...

but Surdas, a blind beggar  is still standing at Your doorsteps -

When You have showered  so much  grace upon so many,

Why don't you also be kind towards me.

Knowledge, Action, Money, Service

Knowledge, Action, Money, Service - These are the four basic energy-orientations found all across human beings everywhere. Although all orientations are found in everyone in some measure, one of these four is predominant in a very human being, in the sense that, however he/she may try to be away from one of these predominant orientations, he/she CANNOT budge from it. If one has Knowledge as his energy-orientation, the second one has Action-oriented, the third one is more oriented towards Money and the Fourth one is oriented towards Service. 

Interestingly, the fundamental and common orientation that is found in all of these is the orientation towards Love/Happiness/Fulfillment. 

It can be perhaps said that there are four categories of human beings - Knowledge-oriented, Action-oriented, Money-oriented and Service-oriented human beings. And every category of this human being has his own place and importance. This can be recognized once the human being realises the underlying common orientation that is Love/Happiness/Fulfillment orientation. 

And this Love/Happiness/Fulfillment orientation is something that has the potential of integrating all the human beings with all the differences in their approaches towards life. And that is what Yoga or Meditation offers that can develop an attitude of Tolerance, Unity, Respect, Trust, Love etc .

More so it applies to Heartfulness Way of Meditation that helps one to integrate a Yogic orientation to our material-orientation that is more Fulfilling, that gie more Happiness and makes our hearts FILLED with that Unconditional Love.

One just needs to COMMIT about an hour every day for himself or herself out of 24 hours that he has at his/her disposal. Ultimately it is the Heart that integrates all human beings. And Heartfulness teaches us how to meditate on the heart, how to clean or purify our hearts,  how to listen and follow our hearts, how to live a heart-centered life that gives utmost Fulfillment and unmatched Happiness/Bliss.

I heartily invite you to attempt this for  few days and experience yourself. Please click the Heartfulness link that is available on the blog.

Lord Ganesha - A Symbol of Human Perfection

Lord Ganesha is a great symbol of what really a man should strive to be like. He very much represents, what a perfect human being should be. In Sanskrit, the word "Ganapathi" means someone who is the chief of a group of people. In that sense, all Presidents are Ganapathis, all kings are Ganapathis and one who is the pathi of all of us, the God is also Ganapathi. This meaning changes the whole perspective of viewing Ganesha from what we have been seeing since childhood. Going by various people talking about this unique form that he has, apart from the puranic stories, the following description of His form helped me to view the same icon with a different and very inspiring, and helps us to see this rather peculiar image with a profound perspective:

Starting with vast foregead of Ganesha, it represents enormous intellect and nowledge; His big ears represent that one must give more importance to Listeniing, the highest communication skill for a human being; Small mouth represents that one should talk very less; huge stomach indiactes that He stomochs any number of inssults and moves on;his lon trunk represents that he is highly sensitive that he can pick up even a needle fallen on the ground; the mouse on which he travels represents the desires that is controlled by apparently heavy body of Ganesha; His body is so light that he can travel on a mouse; that is a man can become weightless and light when he commands the desires. His small eyes denote theat he is visionary and can see distant future very distinctly; in essence, the peculiar body structure of Ganesha represents how a Perfect human bing should aspire to be.

To sum it up, the form of Lord Ganesha should remind us always, what a human being should aspire to and let us all rest not till we achieve that. human Perfection.

Jai Ganesha!

Logic/Reasoning, Intuition, Transcendence and Reality

Logic is an intrinsic quality of human mind/intellect. Human being by default thinks logically, arrives at things rationally, what they call man is a rational being. Man studies everything in and around him with logic/reasoning and only then he accepts it as real. Logic is an instrument of perception. As we transcend logic perhaps intuition takes over to perceive the next dimension of Reality.

Intuition is an intrinsic quality of the Heart or Conscience. It is a source of direct knowledge that needs no proof or reasoning. It does not depend on the accumulated knowledge or experience unlike Logic. Being intuitive is the quality of heart. The intuition in animals is called instinct. They are not logical, but are instinctive in their behaviour. So in this material world human being utilizes both the instruments of perception to navigate through life with more and more refined understanding. But what is perceived through intuition can be  expressed with the help of logic.

Reality is what it is. Reality is beyond logic, beyond even intuition, beyond understanding. It can only be experienced or felt only through transcending everything.

Human being needs logic and intuition, both for a comprehensive experience of Reality. But they are to be transcended. Logic cannot take us to Reality. But mysteriously Reality stands to logic. Logic helps us to realize that it cannot take us beyond a point. From there one needs to take-off and transcend into a different dimension. It is with intuition that we perceive this higher dimension of Reality. And as one progresses into higher and higher dimensions of existence, the intuition appears to be getting more and more refined till it achieves the intuition of the highest order.

In the pursuit of Ultimate Truth, as Swami Vivekananda said, “we do not move from error to truth, but we move from a lower truth to a higher truth.” That is why it is called as the Ultimate Truth or Ultimate Reality. The Ultimate Reality is First and all other things (mind, heart etc) came later. Hence the need for transcending and human being has that capacity of transcending innate in him.

This is expressed as longing or restlessness inn every heart/soul to get back to the Source. One needs to yeld to this restlessness sooner or later. And Spiritual Science says, it can be hastened consciously through Meditational practices (such as Heartfulness) by which these tools of perception get progressively refined and are finally transcended to experience the Transcendental Realities. This continues till the Longing is absolutely satisfied perhaps, and that would perhaps happen only when the soul merges into the Ultimate Reality finally.

Buddhi (Intellect) follows Karma while the Heart follows the Divine

How to follow the Right path in life? Who decides it for us? How to discriminate between good and bad? Who decides it? How do we know we are in the right direction from moment to moment? Single answer to all these questions is the Heart that is within us. It is the Heart that is within us that guides our real aspects of life. Heart never misguides.

It is mentioned in our scriptures that Buddhi or Mind is something that is also in us but follows one's Karma. That explains the varieties prevailing in the human species. They say - buddhi karmaanusaarini - buddhi follows karma. But there is also something in us which follows the Divine and that is why never ever misguides us - the Heart.

So we have within us Buddhi that follows Karma and the heart that follows Divine, and are in between, to follow either Buddhi or Heart. The quality of one's life depends on where he/she pays attention. We do NOT actually have really this choice. But most of us pay attention to Buddhi than the Heart. That is how Karma becomes apparently powerful. All that we need to make Karma weak is to pay attention on the Heart consciously and we can gradually perceive the loosening of the Karma's hold on us, though the Laws of Karma cannot be escaped . That is what is spirituality is all about, especially the Heartfulness Sahaj Marg Meditation, a very simple and Natural practice. (Please visit www.heartfulness.org)

Therefore it is OUR ATTENTION that makes the Karma or the Divine in us powerful. Conscious and sustained practice or sadhana would help us to lead a life of Heartfulness. Living life according to Heart becomes natural.

How does one know whether it is the Mind or the Heart that is really guiding?

Heart immediately guides us when we are going wrong and keeps silent when we are right. And when one needs to take a decision between what is right or wrong, the answer that comes from heart will not have any choices but Mind's answer will give lot of options. Heart's decision may be challenging but that is the only right thing that should be done at the moment. When heart says something there will absolutely be no doubt. Generally we lack courage to follow the heart; to follow mind or buddhi is very easy, it needs no courage. This courage can be developed again through a sustained practice by purifying one's own heart. Because the Heart follows the Divine it is NEVER wrong. Because the heart knows the purpose of life it rightfully guides. It is onlt because of our lack of our ATTENTION that we are not able to listen to its voice. Thw whole idea of any spiritual practice is that this voice of the Heart should be audible more and more clearly so that one's life is clear and in the right direction in proportion to the clarity in the voice. There is no end for this clarity it goes on improving as we go deeper and deeper into the Heart through practice. One's evolution is proportionate to the degree of this discrimination he/she possesses. And this discrimination is proportionate to the depths that he/she has achieved in this pursuit. And so the life should go on in the only direction it should be going.

The collective evolution also depends on each heart's evolution. And so the need for every one to meditate on the heart.

May be we can say that Buddhi is karmaanusaarini and Hrudayam or Heart is Daivaanusaarini (follows the Divine Principle) and that is why it is never wrong and NEVER ever misguides and the only thing that is present in each one of us to guide from within. All that we need to do is to pay continuous ATTENTION.

Tools of Evolution - Prayer

Nobody is a stranger to the word Prayer. Nobody really need to teach anybody how to pray. Because when one is in deep distress or in a utterly helpless condition, when all the doors appear to be closed with absolutely no hope, whether one believes or has faith in the Almighty Lord or NOT, what emanates through him/her naturally is Prayer. It is an deep inner cry of the nature inside to the Nature outside. That is exactly the time that Prayer happens and not done. Prayer must happen and Not done. This is an unconscious prayer.

Prayer can also happen consciously. Prayer is more an inner Attitude than an activity. Prayer refers to a state inside the heart when one feels utterly helpless; when one feels that he /she is small and Lord is SO Great; when one's heart is completely filled with vacuum, with love, with devotion, with purity.

Thus Prayer becomes a tool of connectivity with the Unknown, Almighty, Power whoever He is or whatever It is. It is a tool with which one develops a relationship with the Creator or the Lord or the Almighty Unknown Power. And mysteriously the help comes; the answer comes.

Prayer is NOT asking.

Prayer is waiting; Prayer is placing oneself as he/she is before Him, in the most humblest attitude. And whatever has to happen will happen. And whatever is NOT to happen will NOT happen. This kind of heart is a prayerful heart that has a possibility of attracting Lord's Grace. And if the heart is always in a prayerful state one would constantly be attracting His Grace.

Prayer is done consciously on many a occasion:

when one is utterly helpless to help himself/herself;

when one expresses deep gratitude to the Lord (Thanksgiving prayer);

when one prays for others.

Prayer establishes a relationship of Love with our Creator. One should approach the Lord with Love and not with a transactional attitude for the simple reason that He knows Best what is good for us; when to give and when not to give anything. Asking amounts to reminding Him His duties towards us.

Spiritually it keeps the EGO always humble. This single attitude of Humility eliminates a sea of problems that we suffer because of our Ego. And also simultaneously open up the higher possibilities that are available for human being to evolve.

Single Sincere prayer can make a difference across not only to the self and others around him/her, not only this whole Universe but affects the higher realms of Consciousness that we are not yet aware of. Prayer has the potential of changing the course of Nature also.

As we regularly practice Prayer in the right earnest, our attitudes our way of Prayer keeps on refining that we will not know almost that we are in prayer even. Leaving absolutely everything to Him and be in His intense remembrance without being conscious of what is being asked for or being prayed for. In fact we do NOT pray 'for' something, we JUST pray.

This is so profound that can only be experienced and can never be described.

Prayer and Meditation (another tool for our Evolution)

"Prayer is talking to God and Meditation is listening to God."

Prayer Connects to God and Meditation continues the prayerful state.

Tools of Evolution - Longing

“No matter how great your longing is for God, IT WILL NEVER EVER compare to His Longing for You”

Longing, Craving, Restlessness, Yearning, spiritual hunger/thirst are all synonymous and are commonly used in spiritual life and spiritual literature. And they all point to our deep, innermost state that is hungry for something we know not what. This inner state is something every soul has as an inherent ingredient.

While some of us are conscious of it, some of us are apparently not. For those who are NOT apparently conscious, it manifests in various other ways such as drive for money, power, name, fame etc.

Those who are conscious realize it is longing for something more deep within, for something more profound, for something beyond and perhaps for something more fulfilling. It perhaps emanates from the SOUL.

But this longing is something that accelerates the evolutionary process or the growth process and helps us to grow in the real sense. Longing for anything for that matter brings the thing that one is longing for more close. It is the driving force to achieving something.

However the REAL Longing is when one does not know what he/she is longing for; it is an eternal thirst that drives us from within to traverse in unknown territories, exploring unknown inner worlds, gives the necessary push from inside to move forward; and it appears Nature also cooperates/facilitates this deep inner urge in some way and guides one where one is destined to go.

Longing I feel is associated more with the heart than anything else; and it gives a very beautiful pain worth having; it’s taste is indescribable but very fulfilling. More Longing results in more restlessness, more pain, more hunger, more thirst for something we know NOT what. This is a sure tool for our spiritual growth for highest point of consciousness that is open to human being. The deeper the longing the closer the Goal.

How to develop or deepen our longing?

If we are not having this longing, this can be triggered by exposure to great beings, great ideas, or taking to some spiritual practice such as Meditation.

If we already have this longing this can be deepened in a systematic way by practicing Meditation on a daily basis.

Some Quotes:

“Soul often speaks through longing” – Sue Monk Kidd

“No matter how great your longing is for God, IT WILL NEVER EVER compare to His Longing for You”

“The river of human life meanders along, through many a valley, leaps over many a cliff, loses itself in many a marsh, and seeks to empty itself in the Ocean of Divine Grace” – Atharva Veda

“Growth is painful. Change is painful. But nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don't belong. “ – Unknown

“God put a longing in our hearts for unfailing Love because He knew it would lead us back to Him.” – Renee Swope

Shravanam Mananam Nidhidhyaasanam Saakshatkaaram

Spiritual Education or Brahma Vidya is essentially an education that transports us from the present state (whatever it is) to the ONLY state that we need to be in (The Reality). And this process of Education involves basically three steps viz., Shravanam (Listening that is to hear with attention), Mananam (Continuous Reflection) and Nidhidhyasanam (Deeper Contemplation or Meditation)that should ultimately lead to Saakshatkaaram (Realising or Actualizing the Truth). These steps apply to any process of Education specifically to spiritual education without which Realization that every soul is craving/yearning for remains unachieved.

Shravanam means to listen with attention. Listen to whom? Listening what a Realized person has to say. Even reading or watching a video or listening to an audio of that person can also be called as Shravanam today. Their words are to be heard with absolute attention in absolute silence without missing a single pause, gesture, tone, feel or expression.

Mananam which means trying to reflect uninterruptedly on what has been heard; trying to understand not only the superficial meaning but deeper meaning and also trying to perceive what is is said without being said - reading in between the lines. As Great Beings do not say anything directly to any person that is to be corrected in him/her. It is left to us to understand and make the necessary amends. Mananam should go on for sufficient time till one is satisfied enough that he has not left off anything to understand. Mananam also involves thinking of pros and cons of what has been said, questioning in one's own self to understand all the possible aspects of what has been heard. This should result in comprehensive understanding of the subject that one has heard. Education is not yet complete. This step also involves referring to various literatures, discussions and debates if required.

Nidhidhyaasanam which means deeply meditating on the meaning of what we have heard and reflected. It does not involve thinking because all thinking is done in the previous step Mananam, now it is ONLY contemplating deeply on the essence so that it is digested thoroughly and becomes a part of our system. This in some way completes the learning but education is yet to be complete.

Saakshaatkaaram is the final phase of this spiritual education where the contemplated Truth becomes the Reality or is actualized in a very real sense and one is face to face with Reality so to say and there is no iota of doubt of what one is experiencing which amounts to acquisition of Real Knowledge - Brahma Vidya.

Real Knowledge is acquired ONLY by following these steps. This is a tested truth and it has been followed since aeons in India from Vedic times.

Following The Conscience

Every human being possesses Conscience. It is the Compass of of human life, always shows the right direction. This is the Guiding force embedded in each one of us. Human misery is directly proportional to the distance we are away from it. That is as the distance grows, our misery grows, as the distance decreases the misery reduces, happiness, Peace, Quiet, Serenity, Love, Patience, all these values increase, If the distance is zero, one is at Maximum Happiness, Bliss, the Most desirable state a human being; perhaps that is Perfection or Divine that all the saints talk about.

This Conscience is also known as Inner Voice or the Heart. It has no physical existence but it is there not leaving us for a moment. The whole drama in and around us is the manifestation of the distance that we are away from this. Though there are many voices from inside, they should be called noises to distinguish from the real inner voice which is always right. There are the voices of out thoughts, emotions, sentiments, impressions, prejudices that are often confused as the voice of Conscience. How to distinguish with clarity which one is the real inner voice? When the Voice is of the Conscience, there will be no element or trace of doubt in it; we will be damn sure with gut feeling. And when there is an option, then it is Noise and NOT Voice. One more test is generally the Voice of the Conscience is heard clearly when something is going wrong.

What is this Conscience? It is a Presence of Purity within. We can call it divine. It must be the combination of all the subtle bodies mainly comprising of Mind, Intellect, Ego and Consciousness in their purest form. Because these are the individual noises that we hear from inside that are a result of impure mind, intellect, ego and consciousness. Next comes the question how to purify these invisible entities called Mind, Intellect, Ego and Consciousness? This is where a System of Meditation can help us, that is directly involved in purification of our numerous subtle bodies. I recommend Heartfulness Sahaj Marg Meditation which I have been practicing for quiet sometime now. (Please visit www.heartfulness.org) This system will teach us ans give us the experience of purification of these subtle bodies and make us progressively experience more and more fulfilling life. Anybody who is seeking and above 16 years of age is welcome to try this and have first hand experience and explore further at his/her own pace.

We have no choice but to follow our Conscience whether we like it or not; whether we accept it or not; whether we believe it or not. This will not leave us until we are so much Centered and absolutely established in it. It will chase us several incarnations till we follow. The sooner we accept the faster our evolution. Because to evolve is to be absolutely in tune with this Conscience that guides to our destination here and also hereafter.

Thoughts on Positive Thinking I had in 1990

A few thoughts occured to me on Positive thinking during 1990

• Any thought which makes us strong physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually strong is a positive thought.
• That which contributes to our ultimate well-being is positive  irrespective of what it is to  others.
• That which emanates from heart is s positive.
• Positive thinking helps one to evolve infinitely and something which never stops.
• Thinking against one's own self is negative thinking that resists one's evolution.
• Man evolves only if he is willing to do so unlike other species where evolution is automatic.
• Positive thinking is being charitable to one's own self.
• Setting up of an ideal helps in one's self-development of positive thinking.
• One who always thinks positively has  no disappointments and no regrets.
• Positive thinking can also be termed as nothing but the commitment to the ideal that one has set for himself/herself and continuouslybeing conscious of It during all activities of daily life.
• Though thinking is of the mind, if it is guided by the light of the heart, it becomes positive.
• Positive thinking is devoid of the influence of the past, that may corrupt our present to destroy our future.
• Positive thinking should ultimately lead us to the Final Perfection or God or the Ultimate Truth.

Life Always Revolves Around The Invisible, The Intangible

The most mysterious thing about Life is Life itself. It is ONLY the Life that teaches what is Life and that too one-on-one. Even to learn from the experiences of others be it elders, Gurus, Nature or the Life around, even these things are part of Life; hence it is ONLY the Life that teaches itself how to live – in a harsh way if we do not heed; in a beautiful way if we are in tune. If one revolts to be in tune with, it adopts the harsh way. It is wisdom that we be in tune with Life (inside and outside), which is also called Nature (inside and outside). How to be in tune with Nature? It is only by tuning into one’s own heart. Heart is something that is always pulsating with Life giving us a hint that it is our own Centre/Source to be in tune with.

It is interesting to note that every life, (without exception, whether it is human life or plant life or animal life or mineral life); whether we know it or not, whether we like it or not, whether we acknowledge it or not, revolves around things that are invisible and intangible.

Let’s take the example of human life that has physical aspects; mental aspects; emotional aspects and spiritual aspects.

At the physical level: Thirst, Hunger, sensuality rule our life – all invisible. Human being just responds to these instincts or signals.

At the Mental Level: Thought; Urge to know; Intellect - again all invisible, human being just acts according to thoughts and the urge to know more and more.

At the emotional level: Feelings; Emotions; Inspirations; ego – the invisible things that rule our life; we either succumb or yield to these prompts.

At the Spiritual Level: Craving/Longing; Purity; Simplicity; Profundity; Perfection – again most invisible things, the substratum of all the invisible things mentioned above. These innermost things govern human life.

Normally the first three levels are active in every human being and the fourth level is dormant; that is not awakened or mildly awakened. If this realm is awakened somehow, the human life falls into place in scheme of things of Nature/God/Unknown/Life/Ultimate Truth.

The point is our whole Life is driven constantly by so many invisible and intangible forces; We are only yielding to or trying to gain control over these things; We are incessantly dealing with The Invisible and yet apparently we are also denying this reality. This I feel is because the fourth dimension in us not awakened still. This is awakened by yet another Invisible and Intangible Subtle Force/Principle called Guru. May every one deepen their Longing for Guru or The Guiding Principle that makes one’s life be navigated in the ONLY direction that is right!

Life is a Journey towards Infinity

Life, it is said is a journey. If it is so journey towards what? How do we realize it? As we are born and grow up as an adult and continuing to live experiencing various stations of life - childhood, teenage, adulthood, married life, oldage unconsciously we educate ourselves and get to realize many things in life, of life and may be beyond life. In our experience of life we are exposed to apart from the life experiences of one's own self, the experiences of fellow human beings and also of other creatures around us. Human being keeps learning from all this. 

Ever since life started on earth, man has been studying life and still continues to learn and evolve. He discovered many ways of living, discovered the purpose/ no-purpose of living, wrote many books and some of them became religions or ways of life. And there have been so many individuals who personally discovered the best ways of living, seemed to have realized the purpose of living and the process still continues. Some of the ways of living resulted in mystic paths or spiritual paths that seem to show a better way of living and evolution.

However each human being has to realize himself/herself, their purpose of life, what is the journey about and towards what is the journey. The entire experience that human being achieved so far helps in some way or the other for one to navigate through this life in a fulfilling way.

From my life, and my study of life and my experiences so far ceratainly realize that Life is a Journey. A Journey

From Birth to Death through Childhood, Adulthood, Old age

From Animal nature to Human nature to attaining Divine nature

From Ignorance to Knowledge

Evolving from the lowest to the highest Consciousness.

From Finite to Infinite.

From Limited to the Unlimited and so on.

The problem before every human being is how to fulfillingly complete this journey to reach the desired destination. Who can teach this? Only the Creator should be able to do it. But He is not accessible. Then who can teach? A Guru or Master who has successfully made it. Even he is NOT accessible so easily. Because it is so difficult to choose a Real Master or Guru. Then who will teach? It is Life itself. Life itself would teach how to live properly.But if it is left to Life, the lessons are very hard and much time is lost. And so the need for a Guru or a Master. 

We shall see in the next blog as to how to get access to the Real Guru or Master.

Evolution as I understand

What is really Evolution? And what is human evolution in particular? Is Evolution same as Transformation or Change? Is Evolution automatic or is there any effort involved? Is it a Conscious process or an unconscious process or both? Can Evolution be accelerated? What are the tools of Evolution if it is a Conscious process? Does one need any help  from anybody to evolve? Does Evolution have any limit or Goal? Does Evolution end? Why should one evolve? Do we have any choice? What if one does not evolve? 

These are some of the many questions that have been bombarding me constantly for several years now  and I am still trying find convincing answers about Evolution in my own way. I shall attempt to share what I have understood so far thus:

Evolution is inner growth in several dimensions - physical, mental, emotional, moral, spiritual especially when referred to a human being.  Physical evolution consumes several million years takes very long. It is said in our scriptures, it takes the soul or Being  to go through 8.4 million yonis (bithplace of any living being, the vulva of the species) to evolve into a human being. That is it takes 84,00,000 species for a single-cell organism to evolve or become into a human being and that takes several millions of years. Thus every human being according to our scriptures has travelled quiet a distance so far. This agrees with Darwin's theory also. But Darwin's theory does not talk about Evolution after the stage of human being.  So the physical body that we have can only decay or disintegrate but cannot evolve. So this is about physical evolution.

I don't think evolution and change are same though evolution involves change. Even decaying or disintegrating involves change but that cannot be called as evolution. May be Evolution can be called as Change for the better or improved situation. Changes may refer to the external s while evolution pertains to something inside, let's call it Being. The Being in every species is the one which evolves. While Change is automatic but Evolution is automatic to a certain extent. For example: according to my Spiritual Master, evolution is automatic up to the level of human being. But after the level of human being there is much more evolution yet to happen, that is called spiritual evolution. But Nature wants now only willing participants for further evolution. The choice is given to opt for evolution or not at the level of human being fortunately or unfortunately by Nature. Perhaps that is the reason why there is apparent chaos around us. Or perhaps there is order in the chaos where we need a refined a sense of perception.

So it is clear that there are always some evolutionary forces that are trying to pulls us up and also there are always anti-evolutionary forces that are always trying to pull us down. And we are in between. The fact that who we are with - evolutionary forces or anti-evolutionary forces- determines our level of evolution. And this is exactly where the Effort plays the role to be always with the evolutionary forces. And that is where the role of all spiritual practices comes. Spiritual practices can be termed as tools of Conscious effort to align with the forces of evolution or Nature. Because Nature or Creation itself is still evolving. Creation is not done and it is still continuing. And the conscious effort is possible only at the human level and NOT in other sub-human levels where the evolution is automatic. No effort is involved at sub-human levels. No effort at the human level can pull human being being to devolve into sub-human levels or continue at the human level till he naturally evolves. The conscious efforts or spiritual practices only hasten the process of evolution as they are aligned with Nature or Creation. Unconscious evolution applies to all human beings and is always there. But the conscious effort or process speeds up the process of evolution that is aligned with Nature. Thus evolution of human being can be accelerated only if one is willing. Why should man be interested to evolve? Because it is the very nature of Nature to evolve. And no living being can afford to go against the Nature as we pay the price for it, again naturally. 

Assuming that Conscious process or Effort hastens the evolution, what are the tools that we can use? All normal human beings have gross body (physical body), subtle body (that consists mainly of  mind, intellect ego and consciousness) and the causal body (the soul). Now among these bodies, the subtle body is something that evolves and that determines the overall evolution or the inner growth of the being. For most of us human beings, if not all these subtle bodies viz., mind, intellect, ego and consciousness are in a corrupt state/impure state. Unless these faculties are refined or purified there is no desired evolution. They are called subtle because they do exist but cannot be seen with the physical eye. Here there are various tools such as Meditation, Yoga and other spiritual practices suited to each one's mind-set that can contribute to refining/purifying these subtle bodies to restore to their original state when they were created. This is evolution. 

Why should we be willing to evolve? To be with the Nature or in tune with Nature. For we cannot go against Nature. What happens if we do not evolve? We either stay there where we are now or we devolve into sub-human levels as it amounts to falling down. And falling down in any context does not involve any effort at all. What happens if we evolve? Especially the human being is always enjoy peace, tranquility, stillness, Love, Bliss in spite of the challenges that the being faces. The very act of participating in the Nature's evolutionary process gives all these privileges and helps us to face the challenges boldly and effectively which in turn again contribute in our evolution/growth further. 

Is there any limit to evolution? It appears there is absolutely no limit to evolve. And it is spiritual evolution that is the fastest than other levels. And hence the need to lay the emphasis upon. In fact we do not have choice to evolve though apparently it appears that we have an option. It is only that we go down for a while only to realize that it is essential to evolve and we come back. No being can go against Nature or Creation as it is the integral part of it. And the faster the human being realizes that he does not have choice, faster is his evolution, for he would involve in the process consciously making necessary efforts. Evolution is innate in every being.

Can anybody help in the process of evolution? Yes. Like we seek an adept in any field to excel, we do have fortunately the adepts apart from the scriptures that can guide us to evolve in this process. One cannot select the adept with his limited faculties and abilities, so one should wait in a particular way for the adept to pick us up. And when he/she appears, the being will intuitively know and recognize. And that is the moment we start a new journey in this evolutionary process. Finding an adept is as if the problem is mostly solved. Most of the time gets invested in preparation only. May the Adepts find all the seekers at the earliest! And pray that All Beings evolve to the highest possible limit in this very incarnation.

How to recognize the REAL Voice inside us that Guides us

When we peep into ourselves especially when we are in a dilemma, when we need to make a decision in life, when we need to make some choice, we find several voices popping up - of your personal knowledge and experience, of your prejudices, of your complexities, of your impurities, of your negativity, of your fears, of your worries, of your emotions, of your feelings and also of your wisdom or heart,

Unfortunately the voice of your heart or wisdom lies buried deep within the layers of all other voices because we have allowed this to happen over the years of our existence. Therefore the probability of taking a wrong decision is more than the one that is right for us at that moment.

In a normal human being it is very difficult to arrive at a correct decision and that is why we err and of course we learn from errors (if at all), if one wants to progress or evolve. This is where exactly the role of Meditation comes into play. Meditation trains our inner system and allows us to wait till all this unreal voices to subside (if any) and wait for the Wisdom to surface. In that state of wisdom any decision taken would be right for the person.

There is one more way of recognizing the voice when there is a cacophony of voices inside. When we hear this voice, there would be no doubt at all, it would be unambiguous, no second thought, it comes with a great gut feeling. It may not be palatable to mind but one should have the courage to follow it. Again that is where Meditation can also help to have courage. Courage happens when complexities and impurities deep within are erased or cleaned out of the system.

But it is a great characteristic of the wisdom of the heart's voice that it pops up immediately when one is about to indulge or during the indulgence of the act that one is involved into. Again we need the courage to follow the heart in the highest interest of ourselves.

In essence, Meditation is a NEED for every human being on earth as long as he is involved taking right decisions in life to evolve which is the purpose of human life.

There is a very simple and beautiful system of Meditation that fits in our busy mechanical life available and cab practised by anybody who is 16 and above, called Heartfulness Sahaj Marg Meditation. This system facilitates in purging out all the complexities, impurities, fears, worries, negativity, stress and all other unwanted stuff present in our Consciousness that are becoming impediments for our evolution. And making our life simple and pure. This system is worth trying and requires no  belief or faith to attempt. You can even start meditating on-line.

Please visit www.heartfulness.org for further details without delay and sowly adopt the Heartfulness way of life. Also visit www.theheartfulnessway.com and read the book The Heartfulness Way by my Spiritual Guide Shri Kamlesh D Patel and Joshua Pollock.

Tools to Consciously improve the quality of our inner life - Introspection

The meaning of the word “Introspection”, as an online dictionary suggests is soul-searching, looking within, contemplating on one’s own thoughts, emotions and feelings, self-analysis or heart-searching. Introspection especially is an un-ignorable tool to improve one’s inner spiritual life.

What Introspection is NOT

Introspection is NOT meditation; it is NOT concentration; is NOT sitting quietly.

What Introspection IS

Introspection is to look within; looking at one’s own self as a third person without being judgmental; watching one’s own self “as he/she is” and finding one’s own self as it is.

Introspections helps one to accept one’s own self as he is. Acceptance being the first step to Change one’s self. It helps us to identify our strengths and weaknesses/problems. Helps us to watch one’s own thoughts, emotions and feelings as they are. Helps one to identify the areas that can be worked upon; identify the areas that are difficult to work upon; and also helps us to identify the areas where there is no possibility to work upon and accept them.

That which can be worked upon should be worked upon consciously and got rid of immediately.

To deal with the areas that are difficult to work upon, we need to invoke the help of the Divine within or with the help of the Guru can be got rid of. The areas that appear to be impossible to work upon must be accepted heartily as they are by adjusting ourselves thinking it to be a part of the Divine Scheme and think that they have a significant role in our ultimate evolution. Thus ‘introspection’ as a tool can play a very vital role in accelerating our natural evolution.

Not to have Desires is also a Desire

It is said that Desires are what that make a man miserable. Some  other saint said, that it is NOT the desire but the slavery of the desire that does not allow us to advance. But even to "not to have desires" or trying to achieve "a desireless state"  is also a desire. How to solve this problem?  This question has been troubling me for several years now and constantly working at the back of my mind.  

I attempt to share the understanding that is revealed to me. One answer that occurred to me was  to desire a desireless state is really NOT a desire but an act of restoration to our original state from where we come. And it is NOT a selfish act but an act of dharma or duty that we go back to our original state. Another answer that occurred to me was perhaps that it is the only desire that removes all other desires to get back to our Origin or the Purest State. 

In tune with this, I found a Teaching that says, desires are of two types - Needs and Wants; that Needs are fundamental and basic to our existence and Wants are creations of human beings.

And so the FIRST STEP is to reduce Wants to Needs; and the SECOND STEP is to reduce NEEDs also to as minimum as possible all in a Conscious manner. This is Spirituality. This takes us to the State of Purity that we really belong.

The level acceptance determines one's position in the Evolutionary ladder. We can see such people around us very much and so it is very much a POSSIBILITY. This is the only way and an Universal way  when adopted can give human being  progressively a refined life. This is the way to Conscious Evolution.

My prayers that every human being is blessed with such a life  so that the World becomes a better place to live in.

Karmic Law and Human Being

It is a wonder to observe that a human being is subject to so many laws starting with Divine Laws, Karmic Laws, Universal Laws/Natural Laws,  Laws of the Land, Financial Laws, Medical Laws, this Law and that Law and it goes on. Yet he thinks he is supreme in some way. Whatever we are at present, we are the Resultant of so many  forces that are acting on us. Some are evolutionary, some are pulling against the evolution, perhaps they may may be called anti-evolutionary. All his life human being struggles with all these forces to get through or escape or transcend. Some succumb to these forces; some sail through reasonably; and some make it successfully. 

Of all these laws, as far as individual human being is concerned, it is a more a struggle between the Karmic Law and the Divine pull if any. Karmic Law seems to be inexorable. It appears it does not spare the greatest of beings; even those who teach us how to go Beyond. It does not spare a just-born child or to-be-born child for that matter; it does not spare the old or the young; it does not spare educated or uneducated; it does not spare the sinner or the saint.

In fact, this Karmic Law is something that defines our existence on earth.

There is pleasure and pain and all those dualities so often mentioned by all scriptures. Human being mistakenly goes in search of pleasure forgetting that pain comes along with it. In search of pleasure he undergoes all pains. It appears as if that the influence of Karmic Law is so much on the individual that he becomes utterly helpless though he pretends that everything is in his hands. It is only a pretension. We cannot explain otherwise why Stephen Hawking is like that or Helen Keller is blind; why a promising young man should die at such an early age falling from 2 feet? ; why a small child of 5 should suffer the death of its father and a mother suffering from brain-cancer who is almost ready-to-die?; somebody wants to become a an IAS, becomes a Clerk in the Government; somebody wants to become a doctor and he ends up as a software engineer; someone is ignorant dumb but he makes a fortune; etc etc. We see so many examples around us everyday. There seems to be absolutely no logic at all the way our life goes on. Human being is so helpless before the pull of the Karmic Law or Samskaras or in the modern parlance called the baggage that we brought with us. Inspite of all this human being ultimately evolves in some way at the end.

What is the solution? We need a solution that fixes this Karmic Law and takes us forward. All these forces mentioned above can be broadly categorized mainly into two major Forces viz., the Evolutionary and the Anti-evolutionary.  The human being is here ONLY to EVOLVE. So there are evolutionary forces that are trying to pull him up and there are forces that are against Evolution pulling him down. And the human being is in between. Towards what is the human being is orienting determines the level of his present evolution. The FIRST step is to be conscious of this reality. Once we recognize this reality the human being needs to be consciously make efforts to be ALWAYS oriented towards evolutionary forces through his thoughts, words, actions and most importantly with his heart. Because Heart is where the evolution happens. Take up any spiritual practise  that makes it happen. One should feel the experience on a daily basis to believe that this is happening. Please think contemplate and meditate till you get a solution for this.

However I found that Heartfulness Meditation is one such system I have been trying since several years. You can also try it if you so wish. Please visit www.heartfulness.org 

Thought Power and Meditation

Thought is the fastest means of communication available to human being. I don't think there is anything faster than 'Thought' in this Creation. The moment you think of something whether known or unknown, it instantly connects to that which you are thinking. It may be a person, place, thing or a concept; whether it is gross, subtle or subtlest or even subtler than subtlest. God is supposed to be subtler than subtlest. So thought is the ONLY means to connect with God or The Source from where everything emanates. In the human being also, before everything is actualized, it is in the form of thought inside us.

What is there before the thought? It is an idea. Idea is the potential form of thought. Idea when developed becomes thought. If we apply the same to this Creation, all this Creation must have been a thought before it is manifested. And before that thought there would have been an IDEA, the potential form of the Creation. And what is this IDEA? It must have been a little disturbance in SPACE or GOD-CONSCIOUSNESS. In the same way in HUMAN-CONSCIOUSNESS this small disturbance is called 'idea'.

So it can be inferred everything that happens within the human being is in some way a reflection of what happened before the Creation.

That is how the Creation has started and still EVOLVING of which the human being is an integral part and he is also evolving whether he knows it or not. Evolution is unconsciously happening in most of us like it is happening in minerals, plants, animals - the living and non-living. The ONLY and the great advantage that the human being is blessed with is, that he can participate in this EVOLUTION consciously using this Thought Power.

And if the Thought Power of the human being is consciously aligned with that ORIGINAL IDEA of Evolution that started at the SOURCE, the evolution of human being is faster, the ONLY purpose of the human being. The ONLY purpose of human being is to EVOLVE. That is the only most-fulfilling way of life.

Now, for whatever reasons, this alignment of human thought instead of being oriented or resonating with the ORIGINAL THOUGHT, lost it's way down the line and became dis-oriented. Meditation by regulating this thought power restores this orientation but makes possible the evolution that every soul is interested in. It is important to understand that Evolution never ends.

Especially the Heartfulness Meditation re-establishes this lost-connection with the SOURCE and facilitates the EVOLUTION that every souls is longing. Anybody can experience this system of Meditation for a brief period and can know in their own hearts where it could take.

Please visit www.heartfulness.org

Being Disciplined

                Discipline means ‘order’. It is about bringing ‘order’ in everything about us and in us. Order in our thoughts; order in our words; and order in our actions. Especially for a seeker of spirituality, the need for ‘being disciplined’ keeps growing as he/she advances in his/her spiritual pursuit. What we are seeking being extremely subtle, the need for us also is to become the same – extremely subtle. Because according to Babuji God is subtler than the subtlest. To become one with Him, we need to become subtle like Him. There is no other way.

How to become like that? To become subtle, is to cut down our desires to needs first and then bring down the needs also to a minimum; which is nothing but making ourselves simple. This may not be easy but also not difficult as Master says. But this demands enormous discipline in us.

                In order to be disciplined like this, at least in the spiritual context, one needs uninterrupted inspiration, craving to achieve the goal that is set – complete oneness with God or Master (whatever that means). This craving or restlessness is the key to achieve this discipline in us. This can be developed as we see in the lives of great Masters, through work, study, devotion or a combination of all these.

                The biggest challenge that we face to be disciplined in the daily routine is our laziness/lethargy that results in procrastination. Laziness is nothing but to be unwilling to use the will power in us. There is apparent happiness in being lazy. How to get rid of it? Unless the desire for our Goal becomes so overpowering, it cannot be got rid of. It is not so in most cases. Therefore most of the time is consumed only in overcoming laziness. Babuji used to say that “Laziness is a cancer”.  I believe if this is overcome everything else falls into place.

                In Sahaj Marg, with our little willingness if we act, Master helps us adding His will to ours and makes things easy for us, provided we co-operate. This saves a lot of time and energy and the goal appears to be closer and closer, what seemed impossible when we began. Above all, even this can happen only by His Grace. I pray for that His grace be with all of us ALWAYS.