Life is not a subject of the mind....

All of us try to understand life with our logical thinking.  But sages have always told that life is not a subject of the mind. So then how to understand life?  But scientific/logical mind never gives up. It tries extremely hard to understand life, without understanding that higher the degree of their inquiry, the farther they go away from life.  Mind is very very small product of life. Then how it can understand Life itself. So understanding life seems to be an impossible task.

It seems Life is a subject of experiencing, not understanding.  People who never bothers about understanding life, actually live better. This can be also understood in another way, that people who think they are spiritual are not spiritual at all.  Because a person is spiritual only when he/she is not aware of it. 

For logical people, this philosophy can also be understood from a mathematical equation. The product of mind and life is equal to constant. That means; Life is inversely proportional to mind and vice versa. More the mind less the Life and more the Life less the mind. In Geometric terms, we can say that, the axis of Mind is located perpendicular or orthogonal to the axis of life. They never meet. Mind can never find life. It can also be understood from physics point of view. The function of mind involves time, but the function of life does not involve time. Life is timeless. So how time can find timeless?

Karma Yoga tells us not to bother about the outcomes/results and to worry only about the task. What this is pointing at?  It is telling us to forget the results, which actually means it is asking us to forget time. Because the results can be only based in time.  But task should be done in timelessness (full of life) for perfect results.

It is also said by many teachers that life has no purpose. This is similar to karma yoga statement mentioned above. Purpose means results and therefore time. But as soon as we involve time, we invite worry, anxiety etc. Then how the task at hand will be done properly. Therefore, people who involve purpose in life, mostly miss life. They may meet the purpose. So why we want to have purpose in life?  We want to have purpose in life, so that we can be busy. We think that we will be satisfied, if we meet the purpose. But it is general experience that all purposes end in dis-satisfaction. People look for purpose, only because they are un-satisfied at present. But someone who is un-satisfied now, how they can be satisfied later. Life can only be experienced by people who are satisfied now. They are only alive, others are mostly dead.

People who have great purposes in life, like welfare of the society etc., never acknowledges that they have initially found fault in the creation. They generally try to save creation. How?  By actually harming creation. People who have great purposes, often go to other planets and galaxies to save the earth. But they do not recognize that they may be harming earth for that.

There was a short story. One needy person went to a scientist seeking help. Scientist was apparently working on space missions and he was extremely busy person. He got angry and said to the needy person, "Don't you see, I am a very busy person. I do not have time for you". The needy person asked 'Why are you so busy?" The scientist said, "I am working on space exploration, to help everybody on the earth". The needy person could not understand and replied, "Why don't you help me directly. Why you need to go to moon to help me". He added, "You rather need help. You get upset and angry very soon. Please try to help yourself before helping others".

The above story points to an paradoxical truth. A person full of life (timeless) have plenty of time for others, while person devoid of life (full of mind) does not have time for others. Life is now. Just experience it. Please do not try to understand it. You may be mislead.

Thanks for reading. Your comments are most welcome. Learning by sharing.

Nature teaches us Life all the time, But are we listening...

It is well known that we are made of five elements (Panch Buthas).    These elements are:   Prithvi  (पृथ्वी, Earth), Apas/Jal (जल, Water), Agni (अग्नि, Fire), Vayu ( वायु, Air) and Aakash (आकाश, Aether).  These elements have one common property: these are highly adaptable, enduring, acceptable, shapeable etc, for just everything. We cannot stop them, it just follows the best minimum obstruction path.

So how should a person, who is made of these five elements, should be ? It seems obvious that, our nature & behavior should be similar to the nature of these elements. But we mostly lack all these qualities. We get angry over small things. We are un-satisfied with almost everything. We do not have much patience. We are least adaptable.  

There are many Hindi movie songs, that describes the property of nature, and advises us to inherit them in our lives. One such song is given below. Please read the translation and interpretation.  (source: http://gurmeet.net/poetry/). 

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मधुबन ख़ुशबू देता है, सागर सावन देता है,
जीना उसका जीना है, जो औरों को जीवन देता है 

Translation

A garden gives fragrance. An ocean gives rainfall. 
Only he lives who infuses life into others. 

Interpretation

We should help others selflessly, just like the oceans give us rain and air helps us breathe. Likewise, only that life is worthy which infuses life into others, without asking for anything in return.

सूरज न बन पाए तो, बन के दीपक जलता चल 
फूल मिलें या अँगारे, सच की राहों पे चलता चल 
प्यार दिलों को देता है, अश्कों को दामन देता है 
जीना उसका जीना है, जो औरों को जीवन देता है 

Translation

If you cannot become the sun, be a lamp. 
Whether you get flowers or embers, continue walking on the path of truth. 
Love expands our hearts, it offers comfort to tears. 
Only he lives who infuses life into others. 

Interpretation

If we cannot shine as brightly as the sun, we should shine gently like a lamp. In other words, we should not wait to do something big for others; even small acts of kindness are helpful.

चलती है लहरा के पवन, के साँस सभी की चलती रहे 
लोगों ने त्याग दिये जीवन, के प्रीत दिलों में पलती रहे 
दिल वो दिल है जो औरों को, अपनी धड़कन देता है 
जीना उसका जीना है, जो औरों को जीवन देता है 

Translation

The wind blows gracefully, so that everybody may continue to breathe. 
People gave up their lives so that love may continue to thrive in our hearts. 
Only that heart is worthy which shares its heartbeat with others. 
Only he lives who infuses life into others. 

Interpretation

The last stanza has two inspiring examples of selfless service. First consider the wind, the sun, the air, the earth — these are bounties of nature that seek nothing in return. Then there are martyrs who sacrificed their lives to uphold principles of peace. They died so that love may continue to thrive among those who live. With our hearts full of thankfulness for both nature and fellow humans who have done so much for us, we must serve others.

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It is not a surprise that most the yoga postures were developed viewing the postures of animals and nature. Yogi's used to view themselves in the nature, and so able to learn from nature around them.

People who had ability to learn from nature, always thank nature for all that it provides. It provides life to us. They never do anything to harm nature. They try all means to co-exist with nature. They understand that, their existence is directly related to nature. One of the synonym of 'nature' is 'existence'.

So nature tells us how to live, but are we listening!!. We exist because nature (world) exist.  But most of the people think that, world exist because of them. But it is now well understood, that when you work for others, then only you will be in peace of mind. The choice is ours. 

Thanks for reading. Your valuable comments are most welcome. Learning by sharing.

Change is imminent; Embrace Change or Perish

Change is only thing that is continuous. Because change is time and it is changing. All forms of matter are changing. Even, all the planets are changing their positions. So it best for us to adopt changes in our life. If we are changing with time, then only we are alive, otherwise we are more dead than alive.  

People who do not adopt change become stagnant. And that is exactly the reason for their suffering.  Most of the values in society that were created or developed in the past, are out of place today, with little relevance. But people who are stick to these values invite suffering, not only for themselves, but also for people around them. The example of river can be used to describe this point. The river which is flowing, generally, has fresh water. But if the flow is stopped, it becomes contaminated.  

Religion/Society and its practices were developed with the intention of peace and harmony. Religion as well as society values can be divided into two parts :- eternal (un-change-able) and change-able. Eternal values are satya (truth), ahinsa (non-voilence), Kshama (forgive-ness), simplicity, contentment etc. The changeable values, are the religious and societal practices (or rituals), that are followed. The conventional rituals are based on, facilities and limitation available at the time of history, these were developed. But these rituals are still followed as it is, without considering the facilities and limitation of the present times. Continuing irrelevant practices creates friction, and people are not able to live in peace.

Similarly, there are norms in families. There are set of expectations from a son/daughter, father/mother, husband/wife etc. Most of people are not in peace, because of these expectations. These expectation generally takes away their freedom, and make them bounded. Nobody wants to be in bondage. So there is question, whether, societal expectations leads to our freedom or make us bondage.

Flexibility or change according to circumstances seems to be the key. Religious practices as well as societal expectations need to change with time. Therefore, set of people who are value oriented & who do not wish to change, should live in isolation from general society, so that they are free to continue their values and in return do not affect the changing society. If they do not do it themselves, anyway society will do it. But this will lead to un-easiness, and we can observe that, all the conflict in family and society, are based on values & expectations, rather than anything else.

At the same time, eternal values should be embraced by people of all generation. These values gives them the necessary strength to adapt change. People who have strong faith in eternal values, generally, never obstructs change. They rather assist in bringing change, that it is not only meaningful, but also peaceful.  People who are devoid of these eternal values, are the ones who are against change. They are roots of all troubles in society.

It is better to embrace change. But change, with eternal values, will be only worthwhile. 

Thanks for reading. Your comments are welcome. Learning by sharing.

Raksha-bandhan : Needs Redefinition

Raksha-bandhan is celebrated in most parts of India as bonding of love between brother & sister. Another festival which is similar to Raksha-bandhan is Bhai-Dooj.    In spite of such a pious festival being celebrated, how can there be so many incidents of sexual harassment, rape, murders etc.  In the context of increased violence against women and violence in general, this festival needs serious redefinition.

Quoting Wikipedia: "It is an ancient Hindu festival that ritually celebrates the love and duty between brothers and their sisters. The sister performs a Rakhi ceremony, then sister prays to express her love and her wish for the well being of her brother; in return, the brother ritually pledges to protect and take care of his sister under all circumstances." 

We mostly agree with the above definition. There is one thing, we can observe in above definition, that it seems to be relationship between one brother with one sister. This seems to be bottleneck, that is why, the fragrance of the festival is not able to flourish in society.

Sister worry about them and their brother, while brother worry about them and their sister. It just does not take into account of the others. It seems individualistic. The 'society' (or 'sansar' or 'world') component is missing from the festival. One of my senior colleague mentioned, that whey you pray, you should pray for others and not for yourself. Then only, your prayer will be listened too.  It also reminds of Vivekananda Chicago speech. He began his speech with salutation, "Sisters and brothers of America!".

In the light of above discussion, this festival needs to be re-looked and redefined such that it includes all. A sister should pray for the well being of all other brothers as well, while at the same time a brother should pledges to protect all other sisters as well. In this model, one sister worries for rest (n-1) sisters as well, and will be protected by rest (n-1) brothers as well.  At the same time, one brother will get the wishes of rest (n-1) sisters as well, and need to protect rest (n-1) sisters as well.

All brothers and sisters, if they abide to this model, and insist to their sisters/brothers to do the same during the festival, then there will no scope of violence against women.    

Thanks for reading. Your comments are most welcome.

When we evaluate others or ourselves, we are actually inviting stress and pain

The statement seems strange for many.   

We continuously evaluate others, events etc.  It is strange but true, that our evaluation of anything external actually tells more of us. Putting it more bluntly, it tells, who we are?

This discussion is not about mundane practical evaluations such as exams, appointment interviews etc. These are mostly rule based with little subjectivity.  This discussion is looking into aspects of more broad evaluations, such as evaluating others and ourselves, with respect to life, possessions, colour, caste, events (such as political, personal) etc.

Societies operate by evaluation. Any evaluation needs a reference point. We can see that, the whole world seems to moving, because of one or other evaluations. A person is expected to be the best employee/businessman, best father/mother, best brother/sister, best son/daughter, best husband/wife etc.  Why there is need to the best?  When they will finally become the best, after which they can relax? This depends on with whom/what they are compared with (the reference)? And reference points are generally unreasonable, and also dynamically varying, in such a way that, they will be mostly unreachable.

Society wants you to be the best, so that you can be enslaved. Not for your personal growth.  It wants you to be unsatisfied, so that you can be put to work for the purpose laid by societies.  Most of us are unsatisfied, because there is fear of rejection by the society, which makes us do whatever we do.

A person, who is unsatisfied at the present, will always be unsatisfied. The reason is that: they are choosing to be unsatisfied now. Similarly, the person who chooses to be contented now will always find a reason to be contented. Generally, the choice is ours. The tendency or the mind-set generally remains the same.  Also, the person who is contented will not fear their evaluation, as it does not bother them. Also they will try their level best not to be in the business of evaluation. On the other hand, we have seen that unsatisfied persons always fear evaluation, when they are below par. But they wish to be evaluated, when they are above par. They will be mostly seen involved in the business of evaluation.

An unsatisfied person is suffering from dis-ease, while the contented person is at ease.  An unsatisfied person suffers from stress that will surface up in the form of various medical ailments. That is why, it is said that, never be in the company of ambitious people. They generally go to any extent to fulfill their ambitions. Why they are so ambitious at first place? Because they are so unsatisfied. Their ambitions lead to stress and their concentration in everything is weakened, and hence their outcome will be of lower quality.  On the other hand, a satisfied person will generally do the best in everything they do. It is simply because; they are not carried away by the outcome, while doing anything. They work with more concentration, and they generally produce best quality in almost everything they do.

Best dad, generally means, someone who had all the money of the world. Why so much money is required? So that all the wishes of family can be addressed. What are the wishes of the family? Big home, bank balance, good health, good family time etc. Big home & bank balance requires slogging for earning money. The side effect will be sacrifice of health and quality time. So it seems that the some goals defeat other goals. Balance might be the key.

If we are in the habit of evaluating others, it implicitly means we are actually evaluating ourselves also on those parameters. Unknowingly, we are sowing the seeds of stress for ourselves. So we should try to abstain from unnecessary evaluation. Life has already given everyone almost infinite reasons to be contented.  But we always find few reasons to be unsatisfied. The choice is mostly ours.

Thanks for reading. Your comments are most welcome.

Whatever happens is the best that can be.....

This is a profound statement. It is the secret of the sages.

Just imagine, if this statement is true, then we will be in bliss. The statement meant that, 'whatever happened in the past is perfect and whatever that will happen in future will be perfect'.  Many of us will not agree with this.

A scientific or logical mind will ask, What is the proof?  The proof is extremely simple. So simple, that it will be unbelievable, initially.

The proof is, 'since it has happened, it should be the best'. 'If it is not the best, how it can happen'. 'The happening itself is the proof'. In science, we believe in happening, and take that as truth. Most of the times, we may not know the reason. That is why, science continuously explores, the reasons of the happenings.

If everything is best, there is no reason to go away from peace of mind.  

With birth, death is certain. What about life? Life is not certain. Life is a probability. No of probabilities is infinite.  It is like a game of dice. One output will come. If we start evaluating the output, we are unnecessary troubling ourself.  What it means: if we think whether it is favorable or un-favorable? It simply means, we are playing a game of poker. If we are taking life as poker, we will surely be the loser.

Sages always talk about death. Most people complain, why they always talk of death. We came with a hope that they will talk about life, and probably they are trying to frighten us with death. Sages always talk of certain things, they do not talk of probable things. But had we ever thought: why do we avoid discussing death? It is simply because we fear death. We are living a fearful life. But sages talk of death, so that we can become fearless. If we become fearless, then only we can live. Otherwise, we are more dead than alive.

One question that will arise, if 'everything that happens is the best', then how it can applied to someone who has just lost a near and dear one. It will be difficult for him to accept that this the best that could have happened.  The answer cannot be given in isolation. It just poses one more question, why such a doubt do not arise, when the same near & dear one takes birth. That moment we take the event for granted. Why we do not complain that why unknown person has come to our life. The problem is we have taken life to be so granted. We never thank life, that such a person was our companion for some time. If we start thanking life, we will stop complaining.

Some people will immediately try to argue that, so we can do anything whatever we like, since it will be the best. Everyone is free to do anything, but he/she should not complain what life brings to him/her in the later moment. Why we do or don't do something ? We mostly do everything out of fear.

Thanks for reading. Your comments are most welcome.

We are already blessed with the infinite....

We have everything that can be given to anyone. It may seem, like a joke, if someone feels limited. Then why we feel limited and what can be done about this?  Let us try to understand.

Let us start with mind-body level.  Most of us consider our self to be mind-body. So let us see, how many aspects of mind-body is in our control. Consider the body first. Breathing with nose, cleaning of blood by kidney, pumping of blood throughout the body by heart, functions of liver & pancreas, digestion of food by intestine and many more. How many of these functions are we controlling?. Laughter!!. None. They are happening on their own, thanks to unknown.  It is amazing that, all this body functions, happens on their own, including breathing, even when we sleep.  If one of the functions go little haywire, our life will come to stop.  The fact that body is bound to weaken and diminish over time, is known to all of us.  Anyway, we are not controlling it, even if it diminishes, we should not complain. We should be rather be thankful, that it has sustained us for so long.

Then why we consider our self limited.  This job is done by our mind.  Mind will create insecurity, fear, anxiety etc., of the future, guilt etc., from the past and make us believe we are limited. It make stories, and make us believe that there is something more to be achieved, so that fear/guilt etc will be satisfied. But since these things cannot be mentioned in numbers, and that is why it will never be satisfied.  We will discuss more on this in future blogs.

So it seems neither our mind or body are in our control. So what we are actually doing here.  Laughter !!

We find most of the people look for peace of mind. That means, the unwanted chattering of mind needs to be stopped. But one will find it very difficult to achieve. This is the reason, why everyone needs awareness, just to achieve peace of mind.  

What is this awareness? The awareness that we are not this mind-body. That we are actually infinite consciousness.  We will discuss on this in future blogs.

Thanks for reading.  Your valuable comments will be helpful.