Just a thought

All the pain in the world is because of 'lack of ability to see!'

THERE ARE NO UNANSWERED PRAYERS! SOMETIMES THE ANSWER ITSELF IS 'NO'!

On Relationships

My Guru says "Do you know the definition of hell? It is Proximity without Intimacy."

Just give it a thought!

Me, My Guru

…contd….

How simple was her answer when I asked her the other day “How do I learn from things around me?”! she simply had said “Look at the leaf”. That day I thought she wasn’t answering my question.  Today, I know she had given me the solution to my query – it took me so long to understand that answer. 

Yes, I had to ‘do’ what she asked me to, to actually experience what I wanted to.  And that ‘doing’ was not a one-time thing.  It had to be done repeatedly to actually get the benefit from it.  Now, I understood why she said “if you want to understand something then read it not once but 30-40 times”.  I now knew why.  Only when we repeatedly did that did we actually understand it layer by layer.  Understanding has different facets and layers to it.  It has to be got by patience and practice.  Hence, whenever I asked her “have I understood it correctly?” she never answered with “yes”.  Instead she would ask me to look further.  I thanked her for not being pushy in teaching and helping me to learn at my pace.  I thanked her for helping me to experience having these insights on my own.  Unless I had these insights on my own, I would simply be parroting it and not saying it as my understanding.  She knew it and hence never gave ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers……

I think I should thank myself for giving myself such a Guru…..i smiled at this thought!

Me, My Guru

…contd….

How long I had been looking at that leaf I didn’t know? But, now my eye fell on its petiole – the stem that held it to its branch.  It was so thin.  My god! I couldn’t believe that a chord so thin could hold the leaf against wind and rain.  Yet the leaf seemed to have no fear.  Where did it get its confidence from I wondered? Then, it stuck me that trust is not based on the facts and figures.  It doesn’t need proofs. It just is!  Now I understood, what my Guru used to talk about Trust… it doesn’t need proofs.  It is beyond facts. A shiver went down my spine.  A tear rolled down my cheek and a smile rested on my lips when this understanding hit me…..i felt peaceful. I was still!

I left her place even without meeting her.  This feeling was so awesome that I didn’t want to lose it by talking even to her.  I knew she would understand….

Few days passed.  I was sitting in a garden and children were playing some games there.  I was watching them my eyes fell on a tree and then it rested on the leaf. Even without my effort I started  looking at it and after sometime I felt gratitude for the Creator who’s created such a wonderful thing for me! Yes me! For me to breathe fresh air! Such a simple method of cleaning the atmosphere of my breathe and yet so beautiful to look at.  More I looked at it; more I fell in love with HIM.  I thanked the Nature and God for all they were doing for me!

…contd….

Me, My Guru

…contd….

One day I was sitting on a bench under a tree. A leaf came and fell on my lap.  I took it and smiled.  I touched it to feel it and then as if an insight transpired from the leaf into me.  I felt as if it was telling me “as long as I was attached to the tree I lived full of life and happiness.  I never thought of this day when I would fall off.  And when today came, I fell without the pain of having to fall off.  I did not fear falling and losing myself into dust.  I LIVED completely then, now and ever! Can you?”  that set me thinking. Can I? I had to do lots of thinking before answering that question and I got up thinking about the answers….

It’s been long since I met her.  Today as luck would have it she was on her terrace looking at the Banyan Tree.  I went and stood beside her.  I didn’t disturb her today.  I knew what to do.  I joined her.  How long we both were on the terrace I don’t remember – but I remember not having any thoughts that day.  No words to express that joy.  A nothingness that filled me completely and tears of joy rolled down my cheeks.  I didn’t feel anything.  I just was!

Many days later as I was driving I recollected the feeling. I realized it was a state of existence that can’t be reproduced at will and it can’t be worded or expressed in any form.  I thanked my Guru for that feeling. 

…contd….

Me, My Guru

…contd….

Without even turning her head she just said, “Look at the leaf on that Banyan tree”.  I did.  There was nothing to ‘look at it’. I searched for something to be there on or underneath it.  Nothing.  I found it odd.  I looked at it.  She had a faint smile on her lips and she was looking at that leaf.  I looked again at the leaf.  Again nothing!

I found it irritating but I had to follow her instructions and so I stood beside her and started looking at the leaf. Sometime passed.  I looked at her. She was still looking at the leaf.  I sat down. But having nothing much to do, I started looking at the leaf again.

Some time passed.  A breeze passed through me.  I closed my eyes and enjoyed it.  And with a smile that spread on my lips and that which had reached my eyes I opened my eyes.  There was ‘the leaf’.  It looked beautiful.  A tremor of joy spread all over my body. “It’s beautiful” I said aloud. “Shh! Don’t talk. Just see!” my Guru said…

“Why can’t I share this beautiful joy with her?” I thought.  I felt sad the very next moment.  But, it didn’t seem to affect her.  Now the leaf didn’t hold that beauty to me.  With a frown on my face, I kept looking at it without any interest.  It swaved in the wind.  It’s swaying seemed rhythmic.  It sort of looked cute.  I smiled.  And then I realized when it swayed it didn’t bother or fear of falling down.  It just did.  My God! What confidence.  It just lived in the moment.  I should learn this from this leaf. I wanted to share this insight with my Guru but she didn’t seem to know of my existence, so I continued looking at the leaf again.

…contd….

(you can Related posts of this topic dated: July 30 2010, 

October 4, 2012, December 14, 2010, Friday, January 21, 2011)

The Leaf - Me, My Guru

The Leaf

She had completed explaining something when I went to her place.  “I didn’t know, we can learn from this incense stick too!” said Srinivas cheerfully.  “Now, the way I look at this incense stick every time I light it is going to change for ever.  Thanks Guruji” he concluded and took her leave.

“Now, how can that be?” I thought.  I tried to reason it and couldn’t get a satisfactory answer and so sought her.  She was looking at the Tree standing on her terrace.  “Oh! So, she’s free! She’s doing NOTHING!” I thought and stood beside her.  “How can I learn to learn from things that are around me?” I asked her.

She didn’t turn around.  She didn’t utter a word. She just kept looking at the tree.  “May be, she’s lost in some thoughts” I presumed and repeated the question once again – a bit loudly.  She still didn’t turn her head.

I waited for couple of minutes which seemed like ages to me and then repeated the question with a bit of irritation in my voice this time.

…contd….

(Related Posts dated: Aug 28th 2013, june 25th 2010)

On Love

On Love

love never seeks, it never wants.

love never forgives for it never remembers in the first place.

love gives and feels fulfilled thus.

it never keeps account for it lives in the moment.

it completes itself while giving.

love makes one a better person and never can be the reason for a person to become a bitter person.

It is not an act though it can be seen in an act.

it cannot be worded nor can it be expressed though it tries ways to express itself.

It just IS!

It’s better to be a hand that works than be a tongue that complains!

Me, My Guru

The Truth

“But, till the Ultimate Truth is realized which is Absolute, Truth is always relative” I heard her say as I entered her premises.

Even without bothering to understand what was being discussed, I questioned her “But, how can Truth be relative? It means, my Truth is different from yours - Which is nonsense.  Truth should be same for both. Right?”

She smiled and continued “Yesterday, my aunt who hadn’t met me for the past 10 years came to meet me and the moment she saw me she said “Why have you put on so much weight? Is your health fine?”

In the evening my friend who’s gone to USA for 6 months came to meet me and the moment she saw me she said “wow! What did you do to lose weight?”

Inspite of stating the opposites, both were right.  How come? Because, they were making the statement from the mental picture they already have of me and I was fat/thin with relation to that image that they carried of me. So you see, both of them made a statement which was Truthful yet varied from each other because it was relative. Get it!”

I nodded my head in affirmative yet my mind was not able to totally digest this fact.  I understood this yet didn’t completely like most of her statements.  I had to sit on this.  She continued talking to others as I lost myself to this statement. ……

Two birds

Two Birds

Two birds that I named as Peter and Pam built their nest on the windowsill.  Each would get a twig, a thread, a grass et like to build that nest.  It took quite some time for them to build that nest. 

Few days later, I saw few eggs in that nest.  Pam would sit on them when Peter would go to get some worms to eat for both Peter and Pam.  Come rain or wind, this was their routine.

Few days passed and out come the chicks. Either Peter or Pam would be on guard and the other would go alternatively to get some food and feed the chicks.  Chicks grew into birds. And, one day they just flew away.

Not one chick stayed back.  All flew away.

Peter and Pam continued with their routine of flying, feeding and sleeping.  Few weeks passed and then Pam layed eggs again. Chicks were fed and they flew away once they became strong. 

I never saw them wait for their chicks.  I never saw them brood. I never felt a vacuum or bitterness in them.  I never saw them change for worst.

They were as they were always!

Notice

Tip to use this blog better and to benefit from this the day there is no post 

you can type a word in the "search" option at the top of the blog and get post with relation to that word.  for example you may want to know something on 'character', then type 'character' in the search column and press enter and you'll have all the posts with that word in them.

On traditions and rituals

…contd…

But, the question is

a)  by bending the rule are we actually doing it right?  The purpose of the ritual itself is lost.  So, even after following it, we don’t see the benefits and complain that inspite of being traditional why am I suffering?  I hope all such people who asked/ and have this question have got their answer.

b)  If not, then what is the purpose of following the tradition where the purpose and the benefit is totally lost?

So, ultimately whether it is about the old ritual/tradition being followed or new one being included/ to be followed look into it’s purpose, procedure and the benefit and then take the call accordingly. 

Taking up a new ritual is a big ‘NO’ when the reasons is one of the following:

1.  Just to go against the family or it’s members

2.  When it is an outcry of my rebellion nature only

3. When I am doing it blindly and to please a certain set of people

4.  To be in the good books of some or to be called a ‘good person’.  Understand following a ritual/tradition will not automatically make you a ‘good person’.  This is a common misbelief that people have. (also refer blog post march 20^th 2009)

5. when it is detrimental to one’s physical/emotional/psychological/financial or spiritual benefit.  For eg: aping the west when we accepted social drinking and smoking into our culture or when we became materialistic looking at west, we lost our ‘national character’ and that is the reason for our downfall as a society and nation. (see blog post of Oct 6^th 2009 for details) and blog post (Apr 6^th 2011)

Pradyumna, I hope your doubt is cleared now.

On traditions and rituals

….contd…..

Today, I’ll explain the benefits of ‘moggu’ - a traditional drawing made with rice flour in front of the house early in the morning.

What are the reasons and benefits for following this tradition?

1.  Physical benefit : We have to squat or kneel down to draw ‘moggu’ (as in telugu) or ‘kollam’ (as it is called in tamil).  This is the ‘asana’ recommended by ‘yoga’ to cleanse our system and this is automatically done while doing this ‘ritual’.

But, this benefit is lost when a servant does this job or we paste a plastic one in front of our house. (And we take pride saying we follow the tradition even when a servant does it or we paste a plastic sheet! Funny!)

2.  Psychological benefit: It’s proven fact that the entire day’s mental state depends on the state of our mind in the first half-an-hour to an hour.  So, what you do then decides your day’s quality.  Now, when we draw this ‘moggu’ we need to concentrate.  That’s the first benefit.  We automatically are meditating and silencing the mind or training the mind to be peaceful and are giving it a start of ‘being in the moment’ for the day.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever.  Once, we complete drawing ‘kollam’ when we look at it, it’s beauty and the fact that ‘we’ have done it gives us a emotional satisfaction and happiness and that state of mind is very good way of starting a day.

Again this benefit is lost when we assign it to a servant maid.

3.  Social benefit: Now, we have come to realize that ‘no man is an island’.  That means man can’t survive on this planet on his own.  Even his survival is dependent on the relation he has with the ecology.  ‘green corps’, ‘friends of snakes’, ‘blue cross’ and such organizations were started with this motto.  But, ecological balance rests on the small insects too! And the ‘moggu’ that we draw is with the ‘rice flour’, which becomes the food for the ants and such insects in the mud and thereby their survival in turn sees to it that the balance is maintained. 

It also means we understand that we owe them our ‘survival’ and hence out of gratitude are repaying them their due.  It’s a classic way of living a ‘symbiotic’ relationship. 

4.  Spiritual benefit : We are starting our day with gratitude to the insects and other micro-organisms which are useful in maintaining the ecological balance.  What can better this start?

We are happy emotionally and physically fit with this simple act. Can we ask for more?

It reminds us of the social responsibility and makes us more responsible towards our society and environment automatically.  Do we need a ‘hole in ozone layer’ and ‘green house effect’ to wake up to this call?

There are few more benefits which I must have left out for sure!

…contd…

On traditions and rituals

…contd….

Next part of the question  : Can you want to take up a new ritual?

The answer is ‘yes’ and ‘no.

Yes because every tradition was started by someone sometime for a specific reason.

For eg:

1.              our grandmothers and even most of our mothers wear only sarees.  But are we not wearing ‘shalwar kameez’ and such outfits?  Did we not start a tradition that didn’t exist in our families?

2.              Women cut their hair only to denote a fact that something inauspicious has happened in their lives. But now it’s become a norm.

3.              Use of modern gadgets in kitchen, dress code, food habits everything has undergone a change.

Now, the question is not whether we can take up a new ritual. The question should be why do we need to take up a new ritual?  In the examples that I have given, our daily wear and gadgets that we use in kitchen are to ease our lives and to make our life comfortable.  So, we included all these in our lives. 

Most of our traditional rituals had reasons because of which they were to become part of our daily routine.  Our seers saw to it that every ritual should have benefit that betters our physical well-being, emotional and psychological well-being, social and inter-personal benefits, financial benefit and not to forget the spiritual benefit.  Go to post dated Nov 6^th 2012 where I have already given these explanations with regards to the ‘Dassera’ / ‘Golu’.

….contd…..

On traditions

On Rituals and traditions

See comment on “ Nov 24th 2013" Can we take up new rituals not followed by our families?

The answer is look around you and look within.

How many rituals are we following that have been handed out to us? Very few.

Why? Because, we can’t incorporate them in our life -styles.

Then, why do we follow those that we do?

Often because it’s become our habit and secondly because we are comfortable with them. 

As they say in Telugu “Nachchinnavanni achaaralu nachcannivanni anacharalu”. It means if I like or am comfortable with some ritual it becomes tradition and if not it becomes ‘not good’ for my family.

So, in the first place let us just look into our frame of mind with regards to the traditions that we follow….

…contd….

On Mahabharata

...contd....

One who doesn’t is always restless, agitated, hateful.

He is on the roller coaster ride of joy, pain, fear and like emotions.

He is ever finding fault with others and hates the sinner and can’t distinguish between the sin and the sinner.

He thinks he is the role he plays and feels he has to win it at any cost.

With these simple give aways one can easily know the person who’s become the character and the other who is playing the character…right?

look closely at the characters of Krishna and others and also look at the way they deal with the situations ( i mean the state of mind).  That will answer the question as to who knew and who didn't....

on Mahabharata

On 15th Nov we have a question posed "did the characters in Mahabharata know that they were just the characters in the great epic....?"

Krishna in Bhagavatgita says Arjuna “You and I are souls eternal and have been together on this journey since Janmas (births).  Only difference between you and me is that you don’t remember and I do”.  This clearly explains that even Arjuna doesn’t remember his past lives nor does he remember Krishna to be the Divine incarnate.  So, others knowing and playing the part is totally out of question.  

How to distinguish between the person who knows and the person who doesn’t know?

One who knows is balanced.

He is peaceful for he knows this to be a role that needs to be played.

He receives both the news of death and birth alike.

Doesn’t treat the person based on what he is but treats him based on what he can be.

His likes and dislikes don’t decide his actions, words or feel.

He hates the sin and not the sinner.

He works to correct the wrong and help the person who commits wrong in seeing what is wrong.

Notice

Many call me to ask this question "can we give this blog address to our family/friends who are not reiki channels?"

This blog becomes public the moment it is on air. so, where is the question of not letting non-reiki channels read it? If you have followed the blog regularly, then you will notice that the questions/issues addressed are the day-to-day issues of everyone's life.  It applies to one and all!  This is mainly written so that more number of people can see where actually the problem is and address it - that's all! Yes, it is easy to give a way out of that issue if they are reiki channels to me. But, that doesn't mean others don't need to know these eternal Truths.

So, please go ahead and share this blog's content/ info with as many as you wish......

in this family of self-healers, it's always 'more the merrier'.....

and yes, the day I don't 'post'  please go through the older posts instead of complaining 'can't take silence from your end maam'.

bye the way, which is your favourite 'post'  and how many times have you read it?

Situation is neither good or bad

…contd….

When the situation is based on ‘Dharma’ then it is absolute.  For eg: rain in rainy season and weather being hot in summer is as per ‘Dharma’ of the Nature.  It is right as per the ‘Rule of the Seasons’.  So, having good rains in rainy season is ‘good’ ONLY even if it causes displeasure to me or inconvenience to me.  It is ‘good for ALL’.  It is ‘not relative’ here.

Earning money to run the family is the ‘Dharma’ of any person who is married.  It is ‘right’ to earn money – be it anyone.  But, if the means is not right, then as per ‘Dharma’ it is not right for anyone.  For eg: if I am a trader and I sell items with a margin, it is right as per Dharma.  But, if I create a fear of shortage or practice such dubious ways of making money in my trade, then as per business sense it may be called ‘good strategy’ but as per ‘Dharma’ it is ‘wrong’ for one and all.

I have given only two examples, but I am sure you can recollect lot from our classes.  I hope it is clear!

 

Situation is neither good or bad

Madhumita asked a doubt (see comments section for details)

Situation is neither ‘good’ or ‘bad’.  It is assigned a value based on it’s effect on us.  Therefore, it is always relative.

But, the ‘right’ and the ‘wrong’ and likewise ‘good’ or ‘bad’ is absolute when ‘Dharma’ is followed.  Then it is not relative.  When ‘Dharma’ is the basis of assessment, then if it is right, it is right for one and all.  Likewise, if it is wrong, then it is wrong for one and all!

Situation is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ based on it’s effect on us.  Therefore, it is relative.  For eg: if it rains when I am planning a picnic, then ‘that rain’ is ‘bad’ for ME.  But, to a farmer who has to sow seeds the same rain on that very same day is ‘good’. The rain on that particular day is ‘neither’ ‘good’ or ‘bad’.  It is only relative.

Likewise, apply it to various situations and then the situation is neither ‘good’ nor ‘bad’.  It is only relative.

Apply for married/divorced, getting something/not getting something (like an object of our desire) etc.

(if you haven’t understood this sentence please let me know, I’ll explain)

…contd….

Scriptures - their purpose

…contd….

Other stories also can have such morals then what is the difference between Mahabharata and such novels? Mainly because in this epic, it chalks out the journey of the soul through its various janmas. It talks about the reason which has caused the birth of a person – be it shikhandi, Krishna,Draupadi or for that matter anyone and everyone in that epic has a previous life that continues into present and their journey after their death is also continued in Mahabharata.  So, one gets to see clearly the reason behind every event, act or person’s nature. 

It just doesn’t stop here – because that can be seen in so many TV shows that talk about past life regression.  Mahabharata is a simple to-do list if you want results in any field of your interest – be it professional or spiritual.  Bhagavat Gita which is part of Mahabhara goes bang on to the cause of the problem and also deals with how to handle it, overcome it and finally see that you never come across it ever!

It’s the ultimate in ‘Inner Management’ techniques which when applied by any person in the world will always give the same result without an exception.  It’s the Ultimate Management Book!  It’s simple, applicable, complete and not to forget - latest than the future and hence timeless!

If you want clarification or detailed explanation on any of the above statements, then please post those questions in the comments section and I’ll try to do my best in clarifying your doubts….

Scriptures - their purpose

…contd….

Here, each character is an epitome of one nature and the pros and cons of that nature is clearly shown by that character’s life’s journey. 

Pandavas stand for the people with vices but still ones walking on the right path – following the Dharma.  But, that doesn’t mean, that they enjoy supremacy over Kauravas or that they get to enjoy good and comfortable life.  Does it mean, it is senseless and worthless to lead a life which is based on Dharma? Is it useless to be forgiving and walking on the path of righteousness? 

Peace, satisfaction were experienced by Pandavas even in the forests because they were bound by mutual love and respect for each other…inspite of being in the palaces of Hasthinapur, Kauravas could never sleep peacefully for they were ever bothered about the return of Pandavas and always planning as to how to usurp their rights…

Anyone, who is hurting others or who snatches others rights can never be peaceful for his conscience will never let him go to sleep…..we are always punished the most by our soul….

…contd….

Scriptures -their purpose

Note : The question asked on 30^th Oct 13 was “What is the essence of Mahabharata? ….” Refer comment of 30^th Oct 13 for full understanding of this question and answer.

Mahabharata or any other scripture doesn’t ‘tell’ us how to lead a life.  That is the best part of Hindu Dharma.  It respects our right of ‘free will’ (already explained in one of the previous blogs- please check) and so gives us picture of the effects of a certain act in our life. 

For eg., Dhritarashtra stands for the ultimate of ‘moham’ or ‘attachment’ – more precisely ‘putra moham’ i.e., attachment for his son.  By looking at Dhritarashtra and understanding his character we can see how he ended up taking steps which ultimately brought about downfall of not only his son but of the entire dynasty and the entire Bharata Khanda eventually.  One person’s blind attachment can be the cause of the end of this world.  All the dynasties of that era were wiped out completely because of ‘kurukshetra war’. 

Here Dhritarashtra doesn’t stand for a physically blind person.  He is shown as blind to explain that if one sense is blinded by our greed, ego, lust or anger, then imagine what our plight would be when we are blinded by all our senses?

…contd….

Just a thought

Situation is neither ‘good’ or ‘bad’.  It is assigned a value based on it’s effect on us.  Therefore, it is always relative.

But, the ‘right’ and the ‘wrong’ and likewise ‘good’ or ‘bad’ is absolute when ‘Dharma’ is followed.  Then it is not relative.  When ‘Dharma’ is the basis of assessment, then if it is right, it is right for one and all.  Likewise, if it is wrong, then it is wrong for one and all!

 

 

Dasera

…contd….

Think about it! Is ignorance a bliss in such cases?

Remember the difference between learning some lessons (in school) without understanding it and then on a later day how you related with the same when you understood it?

Or

Remember the way you relate to the subject that you understood and so liked and the subject that you didn’t understand and yet had to learn (majority with relate with mathematics this way – poor maths)?

That was a simple subject – but do you want to go on living your life this way? If not, seeks answers! Ask questions about the rituals that we follow? Think if they truly are useful in this age……

Seek and it shall be shown!

Ask and it shall be answered!

That is the way the universe works – so, wake up to awareness and knowledge and bid goodbye to blind faiths!

All the best in your endeavour!

Dasera

……contd….

Just by following the traditions or rituals blindly do I get the benefit? 

How can you if you don’t know why and what you are doing?  The main difference between a materialistic and a spiritual person is the operating center from which they operate.

A person who follows the ritual blindly becomes arrogant, fanatic, blind with faith, rigid with his beliefs, thinks less of people who don’t follow the same ritual….. these will further take him away from the lord and bind him to his karma.  So, by following the tradition blindly we harm ourselves more than benefit out of it in most of the cases. 

Where is bhakthi if purpose of this ritual is not understood?  Without bhakthi, how can you bring humility, love and happiness in this entire ritual? These lacking how can you assume to score marks called ‘punya’ by blindly following a ritual?

…contd….

Dasera

…contd….

‘Punarapi jananam punarapi maranam, iha samsare bahu dukhkhare’ it means again and again we are born to die and experience the pain of undergoing through the ups and downs of this life?  Once we understand the fact behind this, we long to get out of this cycle of life and death and that is shown by the top most step.

To be liberated from this cycle of life and death, we need the grace and guidance of Guru who will unchain us from our karmas and help us to surrender to the Lord.

Just as Lord gave moksha to the Elephant (represented by the doll) we also can get liberated if we surrender to him.  Guru is represented by Swami Dattatreya and Lord Dakshinamurthy.  Then the jivatma – the soul will merge with the Shakti – the energy - life force energy represented by the Mother Goddess here.

Thus the ritual which is more social for many has a purpose and acts as a remainder of our journey and purpose of life. 

……contd….

Notice

For all those who had complaints that they were finding it difficult to understand the blog in English, please find 'Translate' Option available from now on.Please use it. it's for your convenience.  pass this message to your friends and family who wanted this blog in hindi and telugu and other languages...

hope this helps you all........

hoping that this would benefit you.....

Dasera

contd….

Only a person who can surrender to the will of the Lord and live according to his dictate will understand the meaning of detachment and love and raise to a level of an enlightened Master like Buddha.  This is represented by next step. 

Buddhahood also brings total detachment. Vairagya or total detachment brings with it a perception and an understanding of a situation where nothing can be bettered any more.  It has to be totally annihilated. Then comes the Avatar of Kalki – the Lord of Destruction and the Apocalypse sets in in the form of the great deluge or pralaya – the great flood.  Then Lord absorbs everyone into Himself.  This is an act of Love, of Karunya of compassion. It is not an act of punishment.  He feels for all those who have been going through this cycle of life and death – innumerable times and suffers with them and when he knows they can no more make progress to reach Him He reaches out to them in the form of Pralaya.

Even, at such time he saves the handful like the Rishis and animals represented by the boat – a la Noah’s Ark.  For this he takes Matsya Avatar and then the cycle of Avatar continues.

The question is how long do we want to be part of this cycle of life and death?

…contd….

Note

There are lots of people who have joined the blog recently and they call me up to ask so many questions.  All these questions - most of them have been addressed clearly in the previous blogs. So, i request the new readers to go through the blog's old /previous posts dating back to 2009.  Even the regulars, i find have forgotten what they have read long back...please go through the old blogs once again. Read atleast one of the old blogs from the beginning per day.  It will refresh your memories and help you to be in Sadhan and also work on yourselves on the regular basis....

all the best....

and yes, you can ask questions from the old blog posts too! (in the comments section) - will answer as when the time permits for sure!

….contd…..

Super-human is a stage of mankind which is visualized by saints like Aurobindo, Rabindranath Tagore and others and here it is represented by Lord Krishna.  Lord Krishna with his super powers lived a normal life like you and me.  The difference being the way he lived them.  The center through which he operated were totally different from ours.  His life and incidents of life are depicted by various dolls like lifting govardhan hill, rasleela , love of radha-krishna.  He acted out of detachment and complete love.  There was no selfish motive at all in any of his acts.  We act as per our desires and likes and dislikes.  But his every action was an expression of the will of the Divine.  Therein came all the difference.

…contd….

Dasera

…contd….

The spiritual growth of a human life is clearly shown here where all through his life he lives for the sake of others and lives by the principle – forsake self for the sake of the family, and a family for the country and a country for the welfare of the world. 

If each individual lives by this dictum then we will have a Rama rajyam –represented by the Rama’s pattabhishekam doll. Rama rajyam is not religious in any way.  It represents a country where there is abundance of prosperity, happiness, safety, contentment for ALL in that country.  Everyone follows Dharma on their accord so there is no evil and no need for any punishment.  Everyone’s energies is totally diverted for the sake of development in their respective fields and therefore we find excellence in every field – be it literature, art, spirituality, science – you name it, it’s there.  It is a complete Utopian Dream we are talking about and it had been a possibility once – then why can’t we recreate it once more?

The day it happens, it shows we are ready to evolve into next stage of growth that is of super-human.

….contd…..

Dasera

…contd….

The spiritual growth of a human life is clearly shown here where all through his life he lives for the sake of others and lives by the principle – forsake self for the sake of the family, and a family for the country and a country for the welfare of the world. 

If each individual lives by this dictum then we will have a Rama rajyam –represented by the Rama’s pattabhishekam doll. Rama rajyam is not religious in any way.  It represents a country where there is abundance of prosperity, happiness, safety, contentment for ALL in that country.  Everyone follows Dharma on their accord so there is no evil and no need for any punishment.  Everyone’s energies is totally diverted for the sake of development in their respective fields and therefore we find excellence in every field – be it literature, art, spirituality, science – you name it, it’s there.  It is a complete Utopian Dream we are talking about and it had been a possibility once – then why can’t we recreate it once more?

The day it happens, it shows we are ready to evolve into next stage of growth that is of super-human.

….contd…..

Dasera

………….contd…….

The third step takes us to the next level of spiritual growth of a human being and so, comes the Avatar of Parasuram – a man who has extreme strength but still is totally governed by his passions and believes that others are responsible for his suffering and pain and his kills kshatriyas holding them responsible for the pain that he suffers when his father dies. A king is kept to represent that.

But, he has one good quality that he didn’t have till now in him i.e., he is a devotee of Lord Shiva.  Inspite of his flaws his bhakthi (devotion) helps him to move towards his next level of spiritual growth – i.e., represented by the Avatar of Lord Rama.  He is Dharma personified.  A man who lives by Dharma.  Who doesn’t let his desires and emotions decide for him but lets Dharma the basis for all his decisions.  He is ready to let go off his comforts to please or fulfill his father’s wishes.  He goes on vanavasam –represented by the Rama going away in a boat.

…contd….

Dasera

…….contd………

Varaha Avatar is the next step in evolution which is a form of beast.  Here man has become adept in his new avatar but still is unrefined and his lower nature is predominant in him. So, he evolves into Narasimha Avatar which is half-human and half-man form.

This can be related to our cave men type of personalities which is totally barbaric and uncivilized way of living.  People in this level of spiritual growth are ONLY bothered about their fulfillment of desires and passions and don’t bother about the MEANS to fulfill them.

The next step in evolution has to be complete man but he is of stunted growth and that is Vamana Avatar.  Here man has outgrown his animal nature but still hasn’t taped his potential totally.

………….contd…….

Dasera

………..contd……..

From the next step our spiritual journey is explained via ‘Dasavatara’ which also can be seen as ‘Darwin’s theory of evolution’.

The second step stands to explain the following:

The Matsya Avatar : Life started as the aquatic form even as per science – why even in womb our existence is in the water! But, a fish dies if taken out of water.  Just the same, a man who lives in a very conditioned way of living without any scope for change and dies – here it can mean he becomes irritating, non-accepting, loses his liviliness et like with regards to the situations in life. He is very rigid with regards to change. He lives this state of being – spiritually.

Next is the Kurma Avatar which is represented by a tortoise which is amphibian by nature.  Here man starts adjusting to both type of existence.  For eg: a woman who gets married gets adjusted to her in-laws way of living though she has been born and brought up in a totally different way of living.  We can understand her mothers’ place as water and in-laws as land.  At the same time, she has to go on and off to water to maintain her sanity like a tortoise goes to water though living on land. 

It talks about life situations which are contrasting to each other at every stage of our life –be it our relationships, responsibilities, rights or our belief systems etc. we learn to adapt to the newer conditions and situations /people in our life yet go back to our old habits/beliefs/ tastes on and off.

…….contd………

Dassera

Dassera

Please refer to blog dated : Nov 6^th 2012 to understand the custom of ‘bommala koluvu’ or ‘golu’ as it is generally referred to. 

As already explained, each decoration has an innate meaning and the explanation of one such arrangement is given below.

The lowermost step represents life in all it’s forms and shapes.  Animals kept on this step represent our thousands of janmas that we take before being granted a ‘human life’.  The life that we got after so much of difficulty, how are we actually living it?  Just as animals also eat, sleep, procreate are we leading a similar life represented by the couple selling fruits – a life which is full of mundane routine. 

The same life can be used to cross the ‘bhavasagara’ – ‘ocean of life and death’ and attain moksha represented by the fisherwoman/man.  This can be attained by following three paths viz., karma yoga represented by the saint patriotic poet shri.Bharathiyaar.  you can lead such of life which is beneficial in some way to the society at large, which betters the society in some way.  As a karmayogi, we ‘become’ the change that we want to see in the society and in our life.  We put some effort to make this world a better place to live.

The next is the path of ‘gnanayoga’ represented by Swami Vivekananda.  The path that is both difficult yet totally fulfilling.

The next most suited for emotional people is the path of ‘bhakthi yoga’ represented by ‘the music trinity’ Shri.Thyagarayar, Shri. MuthuSwami Deekshithar and Shri.Shyama Shashtri.  This path asks us to surrender to the will of the Lord as we move about in the world fulfilling our responsibilities.

Once, we decide to walk the path, the journey is not all that easy nor is the result i.e., moksha immediate.  It happens at various stages.

………..contd……..

Notice

Reiki channel itself states that 'You have decided to take your responsibility in your hands' and you have decided to heal your issues by self...

Many times the sms service has been abused by channels inspite of reminding them not to.....

on regular basis if you are not doing reiki, and remember it only in times of need and even then you are lazy enough to do reiki for the fulfillment of your own desires and hence find it easy to send sms message with a sentence 'even i'll do but the problem can be solved fast if others do it too, isn't it?' i am sorry to say that this is not it....

if you are not finding time to do reiki on regular basis, then that is your karma....bear the consequences in times of need....

many say they do on regular basis but are tensed in times of crisis, - in such cases i've found the same person not doing when getting message of others to do reiki....that is also your karma so don't expect others to do for you....

remember the basis of our karma itself is 'Attitude' and 'being irresponsible and negligent towards sadhan' is also a 'attitude' a very big negative attitude.....nature doesn't give any excuse to anyone......

remember the basis of karma says 'we have to bear consequences of our actions and inactions too!' that means if i am in sadhan, i benefit out of it and i stop doing it for whatsoever be the reason, i have to bear the brunt of it too - sooner or later for sure! no, here it doesn't come as a punishment....

it's just that we have stopped healing our past karmas and they mature and come in our lives as situations or tough people which we call as problems or pain that we can't bear........us not doing reiki inspite of having experienced its benefits means only one thing 'we are fine with whatever is in store for us and are ready to face it'.  then why cry, complain when we face it?

remember every excuse is just an excuse!

remember as long as you depend on someone you can never feel complete and totally confident.....

i've received complaints that some have asked some XZY for advice and they didn't benefit from it........

as long as you ask for advice, people will give you....what's the compulsion that they should be right? you asked for it, you got it! right or wrong (in my words) it's your dash..........

since i've taken a break, i wouldn't send sms for healing henceforth.....so i hope if and when i come back, i'll find this service redundant because by then i am sure you all would be regular sadhaks who wouldn't want to be dependent on others to fulfil your dreams or to face your fears....i've confidence in each one of you...

it's time you trust and believe your potential and strength.........

there's a reason for this break and there's a reason for stopping this sms service for healing.......please benefit out of it because i know you can do it on your own........

all the best!

i am sure you'll prove me right by living up to the occasion!

Just a thought

When you come across a friend who gives without asking anything in return,

With whom you can be yourself

Who’s around when you need a friend even without asking,

Remember – never let go off that person.

Hold on to that person with both your hands – whatever is the cost.  Because, it’s rare to come across such a person.

The words

The words

Whatever I ‘ve wanted to tell

Whenever I’ve wanted to tell

I couldn’t do so

Because words failed me!

Words – they ditched me

They failed me

They weaved new meaning into themselves

When I used them.

They said all and more

They sounded good and wow too!

But- they never said

What I asked them to…..

They said what they wanted to

They said whatever they wanted to…

But…they never said

What I asked them to.

Words, I don’t trust them

Words, I can’t trust them – anymore

They mean a lot

except what I want them to mean.

And so, I’ve come to stop using them

And instead communicate in silence

Because words have failed me…..