On facing our biggest foe/enemy

 

On facing our biggest foe/enemy

We all are good at recognising and branding our enemies.  These are our ‘enemies from outside’. We are comfortable dumping our anger, frustration, fear, judgement, fear and all that on these enemies.  We are ever ready to attack them. We find the energy to fight them. Because we think it is essential for our survival. Sometimes, these enemies are larger and bigger than us. Then, they are older to us in age, position or power. We may not be in a position to show our irritation, frustration, or anger to them – may be out of respect, fear or sheer helplessness. Yet, our anger is there within. So, are its’ related feelings? We do end up showing them in various ways if not explicit. We show it to people not related to the issue sometimes. We live our entire life harbouring enmity, and hatred on people who displeased us not knowing for once that the REAL ENEMY is the CAUSE OF THESE FEELINGS OF ANGER, HATRED AND LIKE.

And where does this REAL ENEMY reside?

But what about dealing with and facing our greatest enemy?

We hide from him almost always!  We don’t even know where he is. We don’t even recognise him as our enemy. And therein lies our greatest mistake and weakness. Unless we get to accept him as our opponent, our enemy, we’ll not get to fight him. We have to realize him as our biggest enemy first. And that is the most difficult task. Because this enemy is not outside for us to see. He is within us, camouflaged as ourselves. And the only means to see him is to look within!

Aap auron ki baat karthe hai

humne apnon ko aazmaya hai...

aap kaanton se daaman bachake chalthe hai

humne fhoolon se zakhm khaye hai...

आप औरों की बात करते हैं 

हमने अपनों को आज़माया है.... 

आप काँटों से दामन बचाके हैं 

हमने फूलों से ज़ख्म खाये हैं 

you talk of others

I have tested mine..... 

you protect yourself from thorns

I have been hurt by flowers....

Contd.....

# knowing self, real enemy, basis of our pain and suffering, look within, know thyself, real and unreal, knowing the Truth,

also read: https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/2009/04/on-pain.html 

Questions posed:

• who is the enemy we are talking about?
• What to do to catch this enemy?

On facing our biggest foe/enemy

Contd.....

On facing our biggest foe/enemy

Hundreds of Gurus have come and gone. Each of them has said only one thing “Fight this enemy. That is the only purpose of our life”. And yet we keep going as per our ‘intelligence’ with our twisted logic.

Remember, the bigger your enemy, the bigger your victory. The bigger your victory, the greater the hero you end up being! Choose your enemy with care!

Because you are spending all your energy abilities emotions fighting him, what’s the purpose of losing after all this fight with your enemy?

When you fight your inner demon, you never lose even when you lose. It is always a win-win situation. How can you lose to yourself? Think about it! This is some food for thought!

 Concluded.....

# knowing self, real enemy, basis of our pain and suffering, look within, know thyself, real and unreal, knowing the Truth,

also read: https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=kasturi

Questions posed:

• Why don't we fight this inner demon?
• What is the benefit of fighting this enemy of ours?
• Is is applicable and beneficial in our day-to-day life and its situations?

On facing our biggest foe/enemy

 

Contd.....

On facing our biggest foe/enemy

Then, the next step after realizing he as our enemy is to fight him. And to do that we need to know where he stays and how he operates. And the only way to do this again is to meditate.

The majority can’t even come close to the first step. Of those who come only a few can survive or go about with the second step. Few of them are those courageous, sincere warriors to keep up this fight – year after year.

I can count such people on my one hand. People hardly can walk their path for a few months. A common reason is the weakness. The quality needed to walk this path is courage and honesty. Both are lacking in all!

Then comes the third stage after years of this fight when the sadhak gets to fight this enemy. All these years go only in getting to know. If you don’t see how he operates, how can you win over him?

When the time to fight comes, people lose out of boredom and disinterest. The deeper we go in this fight, the darker and more difficult becomes our fight. But every fight won (which may run for months or years too!) gives satisfaction, empowerment, bliss, and peace like never before. These qualities can’t be experienced otherwise. Many such jewels lay for us in this fight and yet we don’t fight! Leave alone winning we don’t even think of starting it. How sad is that!?

Contd.....

# knowing self, real enemy, basis of our pain and suffering, look within, know thyself, real and unreal, knowing the Truth,

also read: https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=bura+jo+dekhan 

Questions posed:

• What are the ways to tackle this enemy of ours?
• What is the benefit of facing this enemy of ours?

On choosing an enemy!

 

On choosing an enemy!

Each of us has an option of choosing an enemy. We can choose ‘external enemy’ to fight. They are people in our life and situations of our life. By choosing to fight them we lose either way!

You can chose to fight internal enemy and win – always! 

# enemy, win win situation, perspective, on choices, fights of life, life and its opportunities 

On this post : Happy 304th post - The highest in the year till date in our blog....

The number of posts written and posted every year since year 2009 has been varied and interesting going from as low as 59 in 2012 to 303 in 2016. As rightly pointed out by you today we have created new high (in terms of number of posts per year) is 304. Yes, today's post would be the 304th. 

As I  have said many times, every milestone can be celebrated and cheered by us. We can look back at the milestones with happiness, sense of joy and achievement. We can take pride in our work and the amount of work too! Not because we have outlived, out done someone else. No! That path of comparison would take us towards our hell and all our work is to be aware of all the paths that take us down that road and avoid it by all costs!

Is this my achievement? Yes and no! Yes, because I worked on it and no because it wouldn't have been possible if you didn't read it all along. So, this milestone had been created because of you and me - both doing our part of job joyously and regularly.

Your part was to be participative as a reader - by way of asking questions, sharing opinions, comments and experiences. That was the impetus that drove me to write more. More you said, more I saw where I had to explain better. I used various methods of explaining - some story way, some as examples, some by way of taunt, some even pointing out words and actions that were holding us back - stopping us from making the journey forwards towards our 'own heavens' instead of hell..........

Our fight is not with each other - it is with the Vedic philosophy of the Greatness of Atman versus the 'attitudes' and our mind which are playing their games to the best of their abilities. My job is simply to tell, point and remind you of the way our mind is holding us prisoners of our 'karma' and limiting us to suffering and the life of low lives....

I sit and walk all through the day thinking of ways to present 'The Truth' so that it can be seen, understood, assimilated and then become part of your lives effortlessly......

felt glad when it went down well with you and worked again when it was not received  - once more........

Participation from your end doesn't mean 'praises' only - it is sharing your observations, doubts, experiences, understandings, insights, applications of the techniques, perspectives and way of living and thinking and how they effected you and your lives......these and more are the participation that i look forward to and they keep me motivated and drive me to work more....

may your journey within be as beautiful, joyful, interesting, unburdening, beneficial, heartening and fulfilling as it is for me in writing for that journey ........

 

On treating an enemy!

On treating an enemy!



చంపదగిన ఎట్టి శత్రువు చేత చిక్కేనేనని 
కీడు సేయ రాదు 
నొసఁగఁ మేలు చేసీ పొమ్మనుటే చాలు 
విశ్వదాభిరామ వినుర వేమా 

Enemy who deserves to be killed

if is in your captivity, do no kill him

do whatever good you can do to him and ask him to leave.....



What does these lines tell you?

Where do you think you can and have applied?

Do you think it is practically applicable?

Who all can apply it in their lives and in what situations?

# on treating an enemy, hatred, forgiveness, on attitude, on character, dharma, challenges of life, A poem -, expectations, freewill, freedom, 

Mind - enemy or friend!

 

Mind - enemy or friend!

Our mind should be our slave. It was designed to be so. (This is already told and written so many times previously too!)

We associate our 'ego' with our mind. And yet are not cautious enough to 'mind' our mind correctly. 

We are not aware of the games our mind plays.

Unless we know the strengths and weakness of our opponent (enemy) how can we even imagine to win against it?

We should know the rules the mind follows to beat it in its own game.

Logic is the 'weapon' mind uses to confuse us and keep us off the track. Beware of it! (Care to give some examples?)

One simple trick to help you use mind's weakness to your advantage is this - when you have some work that is boring, irritating simply tell yourself that you'll treat yourself to something that you desire after it is done. 

Like for eg. you like talking to your mom/friend daily. Don't do that unless you complete the task of dusting or washing your dishes. Do this and tell your experience. Simple but very effective.

Instead of talking to your mom it can be reading a book/watching TV/ going or checking the social media/ listening to music etc.....

and

instead of dusting or washing it can be any work - household routine/office work or even sadhan....

hope it is clear..........

#mind, how to befriend your mind

suggested readings : https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=on+mind 

anger and desire

….contd….

Secondly, in future even after the acceptance of the proposal, the bitterness stays for years to come and that means I have gained my approval at the cost of the relationship which was part of my growing years or a relationship that I need to live with for the rest of my life!

Though, I am explaining all this with a case study of ‘marriage proposal not going right’ I request you to apply it to every situation where your desire is not approved by the people in your life….explaination is same for all!

Desire for the possession of an agreeable object which is lacking and for the destruction of that which is disagreeable when manifest takes the form of ‘wish’ or ‘Ichcha’.  This represents the fully developed form of desire.

Hiranyakashyap (from Bhagavatam) is a classic example of this form of desire.  His ‘Ichcha’ was that no one should worship Lord Vishnu and that everyone should give him the place of the God and worship him and him alone!  When his one and only son Prahlada didn’t obey his rule and sang praises of Lord Vishnu, his ‘Ichcha’ blinded him and ordered Prahlada to be killed…..and what dangerous and inhuman way of killing one’s own son….and for the supposed sin that he had committed….any father would feel proud of such a son – but not Hiranyakashyap! He considered Prahlada as his enemy and also as a curse from above for being a devotee of Lord Vishnu! Prahlada never for once was afraid, angry or even scornful of his unjust, mean and vengeful father. Hiranyakashyap considered him as his enemy but to Prahlada no one was enemy – not even the soldiers who executed his father’s orders of killing him! He saw Lord in each and every person and hence loved all and was fearless and without anger towards them. Just the fact that he did not accept Hiranyakashyap as his God, he was ordered to be killed and that too at an young age of seven! See how our desire can blind us and to what extent we go to do away with people whom we consider as stumbling block in the fulfillment of our desires!

…contd…….

Me, my Guru – on heaven and hell

Contd......

Me, my Guru – on  heaven and hell

Alexander froze in his place. He looked at the Master realized his folly fell at his feet and sought his forgiveness. His soldiers and ministers were surprised to see this. They never saw Alexander bowing down to anyone, seeking forgiveness and being ashamed of his actions. They were moved seeing tears of regret in his face.

With love in his eyes Master looked at him and said “And this is where heaven is. And this is how you travel from hell to heaven”.

Alexander understood. He fell at his feet and confessed his sin of misbehavior. Maser smiled, lifted him and let him sit beside him. They talked for quite some time. Alexander looked very peaceful and relaxed when he came back to his men. They left for their camps. 

At camp as he got down his horse he declared “We’ll stay in this forest for next one month – may be more. Untie your horses and make necessary arrangements for the stay. He entered his tent.

Some soldiers were angry, agitated, disturbed, and helpless and some even cried.

Others were relieved. They were exhausted and thanked the Master for giving them much needed rest. They celebrated among themselves. They planned a talked among themselves about their way of relaxing and resting. They wanted their horses too to be fended well during these times. They slept peacefully. And they also knew for at least next one month they could sleep peacefully – for sure! They celebrated all this and more!

Soldiers who complained were in hell. They had set their mind on the travel to go in a certain pace. When that was disturbed they became disturbed. They were in hell! 


They knew they had no powers to change the decision. That helplessness angered them. That took them to hell. 

Out of anger that felt helplessness came tears. That desire to hurt someone for having foiled “their plan” found its way in tears. They lived in hell! 

Some picked up fight with others. They thought others were irritating them and fought with them. They created their own hell!

Contd......

# hell and heaven, pain and suffering, choices, realities of life, mind, mans best friend, our scariest enemy, ego, anger, expectations, conditions 

also reads on this topic: https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=Bhagavatam

Questions answered : 

• How is our anger related to what we create in life?
• What is the need to heal anger in us?
• How healing anger takes us away from hell and towards heaven?
• How anger and clarity of thought are interrelated?

Points to be understood:

• Where anger is, clarity of thought is not!
• Where clarity of thought is, anger is not!
• The basis of our anger is expectations and conditions that we have from others and events of life.
• Our mind is our biggest enemy.
• When we win over our mind, there is no greater friend than it.
• Friend or foe - each decides how and what he wants to make of his mind.
• Mind was given to us to be used by us! Don't be a fool and get used by it!
• When we are used by our mind it is called Ignorance!
• When we used our mind we are called Master!
• Master is not one who rules or controls others. Master is one who has control over his own self.

Life tips:  

Always put gas burner in 'sim' mode while cooking. As always when I am cooking and also working on blog posts I tend to forget about cooking and get lost in the blog part. I went to kitchen today to drink water and lo! I noticed that I had put dal in sim mode and it was boiling away to glory. It was just done and I got to put it off. But imagine if I had put it in high mode!?? Moreover cooking tastes best when cooked on low heat....

and fyi this is one of the reiki miracles that I get to enjoy most of my days.....reiki sending me to place where I am supposed to be (like to kitchen here....) and saving my piece of work and other things......