NEW CD RELEASE: "Meditation IS For You (Part 2): Surya Dhyana (Sun Meditation)"
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Series:
Life Bliss Galleria
Q. Why do love and pain always go hand in hand? I try to give a lot of freedom to my partner in my relationships, but just end up getting used.
In the first place, isn’t your idea of ‘giving freedom’ to your beloved a very wrong one? Love itself implies giving the other total freedom, unconditional freedom. To say that you are giving a certain amount of freedom to the other (whatever you consider necessary!) itself shows that you are holding back something in your giving.
It is natural to want to possess your beloved - that is the play of the ego. It is difficult to imagine that your beloved may need space and time away from you, isn’t it? You try to do the right thing - by ‘giving freedom’ to your lover. But when she actually uses that freedom, you end up feeling exploited. Honestly, you never expected that she would ever use that freedom to do her own thing, or to be with someone else, did you?
So understand what I am saying and don’t make the mistake of generalizing: every time I give freedom in my relationships, I get used. Are you sure the fault is not yours as well? The reason that love usually brings with it so much pain is that lovers unknowingly force each other into the golden cage of their own expectations. But true love can never blossom in captivity. You try and imprison your lover, and she does the same, time after time, until you end up feeling that love is so much misery that perhaps it is better not to love at all. But once you close yourself to love, what is left? Nothing!
Love can be a door to joy and freedom, or it can become a living hell. To experience love as pain is to miss the whole point of love. There is a saying, ‘If you love someone, set her free. If she is yours, she will come back to you; if she doesn’t come back, it means she never was yours anyway.’ Try following this, not just in your romantic attachments, but in all your relationships.
______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: Uncommon Answers to Common Questions
Series:
Ask The Master
A man was a lion-tamer and his wife hated him coming back home late in the night. The man was terrified of listening to her endless chiding. One night after working late at the circus, he was terrified at the thought of going back home late. He got into the lions’ cage and slept with them. The next day morning he woke up to find his wife standing outside the cage. She glared at him and snarled, “You coward!”
Human beings become more fearsome than wild animals when they lose their compassion for people. The danger is, they don’t even realize it!
Series:
Joke Of The Day
NEW CD RELEASE: "Meditation IS For You (Part 2): Shakti Stambha (Whirl to Bliss)"
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Series:
Life Bliss Galleria
It’s true that truth hurts
A western philosopher wrote beautifully: Please don’t take lies away. Let man live on them, live with them.
Truth is too much for us to bear. Our lies become deep-seated in life. Lies turn out to be the base on which we live and further lie.
We cannot handle too much truth. If truth is say up to 30 to 40%, we can take it well. Beyond that, the truth starts transforming us. We feel that the ground upon which we are standing is giving way.
To be honest, none of us really want to know the truth. If truth and nothing but truth is given, no one would listen, except, perhaps, a few teachers.
When truth is spoken people get frightened. Truth frightens both the speaker and the listener.
In our life, we don’t want to see the truth. Why else would we wear make up, dye the hair, or dress up? We cannot accept the truth of our aging. We pretend, fantasize, and lie. We dress up colorfully to hide from the true self within ourselves. We know that we are not what we show ourselves to be.
There are many other ways in which we try to hide the truth. Why do you think we have so many formal, social courtesies? We respect each other. We are taught, from childhood, to say please and thank you, irrespective of whether we mean it or not, and whether the situation demands it or not. We say it because social etiquette demands so.
Whenever we meet someone, we say ‘Nice to meet you’, even though we may not like that person.
When we really feel nice, our whole body, our being will show it. We don’t need to say ‘nice to meet you’ for the other person to understand that you are happy to meet him or her. Our body language, smile, and our sheer pleasure of meeting that person will be obvious.
We dare not face the truth in any language. We know that the truth is usually something else. Neither verbally nor in the body language do we feel comfortable being truthful.
But, the moment we imbibe a single point or any single dimension of truth in any way, if we catch an idea and imbibe it honestly, truthfully, it can do wonders. Truth gives us enlightenment; it transforms us.
When we meditate we rise in truth. We become aware of our true Self.
______________________
This article was earlier published in the Economic Times, an Indian newspaper.
Series:
Words From The Master
Two girls were seen crossing the road. The former was leading the latter who had her eyes closed. One woman on the road asked one of the girls if her sister was blind. She replied, “No! this is a routine for us. She keeps her eyes closed till we reach the movie theater and when we reach the theater, she opens her eyes in the dark and finds the seats for us!”
Man finds such arduous methods of training his mind and body to gel with the surroundings. All he needs to do is to drop the idea that he needs to gel; he will automatically gel!
Series:
Joke Of The Day
NEW CD RELEASE: "Meditation IS For You (Part 2): Shakti Dharana (Connect with the Existence)"
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Life Bliss Galleria
Hero or Zero, choice is ours!
If we think ourselves as heroes, we are heroes. If we take ourselves for mediocre persons, we are mediocre. If we condemn ourselves for being a failure, we are failures.
Hero or Zero, the choice is ours.
Thinking of ourselves as heroes, taking responsibility for our own selves, is what we call as liberation. Whatever level we take responsibility at; we are liberated to such extent. Taking responsibility cuts the mental path of going continuously towards suffering.
In whatever position we may be, strongly be conscious of the fact that only we are responsible for our position.
People often complain of lack of time to meditate. It is not lack of time. It is lack of responsibility. If we strongly feel that we are responsible for our present position and consciously be aware that meditation will change our life for the better, then we will find sufficient time to meditate.
You may ask: How can I be responsible for accidents in my life?
Be sure, every effect has a cause. If we are unable to have a logical cause, we name it as an accident. At some point in time we may have attracted these accidents with our unconscious thoughts of fear for accidents or with some other negative thoughts. As hard as it is to believe it is the truth. What you sow, you reap. So be sure, only we are responsible for the accidents occurring to us.
By feeling responsible, we will start enjoying the happening. Without waiting for the result, the happening itself will be enjoyable. We will start bubbling with joy. We will start radiating bliss.
Once we feel responsible, we will stop thinking about the external factors as being responsible for our suffering. We will slowly move towards realizing that only our own actions are responsible for our suffering. We will start yearning for a way to come out of it. This way we are liberated; liberated from the vicious cycle of mithya, unreality, untruth and illusion.
Then the cognitive shift happens, and we turn towards nithya, understanding of Truth, reality.
Just for the next 24 hours let us feel responsible for each and everything. Let this be our meditation. Let us feel responsible for our existence, for the boons we enjoy and for the accidents that happen to us. Let this ‘responsibility feeling’ solidify in us. May the cognitive shift happen in us and may we be liberated.
______________________
This article was earlier published in the Economic Times, an Indian newspaper.
Series:
Words From The Master
A man came to the theater with two tickets. The guy at the door looked up and asked, “Where is the other one?” The man replied rather embarrassed, “Well actually, I find it difficult to manage with one seat and so I bought two tickets. They are both for me.” The guy looked at the tickets and said, “OK Sir, but you’re going to have a problem. The tickets are numbered fourteen and eighteen.”
A task that is well planned but poorly executed will not bring the desired the results. Execution is as important as planning.
Series:
Joke Of The Day
NEW CD RELEASE: "Meditation IS For You (Part 2): Prana Stambhana (Still the Breath)"
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Life Bliss Galleria
Q. I get easily angry and hurt when someone insults me. How can I avoid this?
Why do you try to avoid it? To suppress pain, anger and humiliation will only cause it to stay in your system in a repressed form. Suppressed emotions can be dangerous - a little anger, a small feeling of hurt, can fester over time into a deep and lasting hatred.
Try accepting your emotions without judging yourself. Are you feeling hurt? Right, now enter completely into the feeling of hurt. Don’t avoid it, don’t reject it. Don’t sympathize with yourself either, and don’t direct it against the person who hurt you - simply watch the emotion as it plays in your system. This may take a while - may be a few hours, even a few days. And then you will see a transformation you never imagined. After all, emotion is energy, tremendous energy. Just how long can so much raw energy circulate in your system?
The moment you accept your pain with no rejection, welcoming its role in your life, the whole quality of pain changes. The same energy that was pain, anger or suffering, is transformed into the blessed emotions of love and bliss. This is compassion, the silent force that moves in each of us, the force that transforms the ugly into the beautiful. And compassion brings its own reward. Just give yourself a chance and you can experience what I am saying! I don’t speak philosophy; I speak out of experience.
Pain is simply the response you have chosen to a particular situation.
______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: Uncommon Answers to Common Questions
Series:
Ask The Master
A man instructed his new secretary, “My family keeps calling up and disturbing me at office. They will tell you that their call is very important. Just tell them that that’s what they all say.” His wife called one day and said, “I need to urgently talk to him, I am his wife.” The secretary promptly replied, “That’s what they all say.”
It is not enough if we blindly apply what we hear. We need to apply it with some intelligence to make it work for us.
Series:
Joke Of The Day
NEW CD RELEASE: "Meditation IS For You (Part 2): Krishnavenu (Divine Flute)"
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Life Bliss Galleria
Q. Is enlightenment the only way out of this world of pain and misery?
There is one thing you need to understand first: enlightenment is NOT an escape from pain! On the contrary, it is born of a deep insight into the nature of pain, a profound and total understanding of ‘Why am I unhappy? What is it in me that is causing this pain?’
Just to see with intense inner clarity the nature and cause of pain, will cause pain to evaporate of its own accord - because it no longer has a reason to exist in you. And this realization brings with it a state of absolute bliss, which is the state of enlightenment.
Enlightenment allows you to see, for the first time, that what you called happiness and contentment earlier were not true happiness and true contentment. Enlightenment showers upon you real bliss, real ecstasy. It gives you a taste of the real. But remember, none of this can happen till you have crossed the ‘pain barrier’ - a total understanding of the whole spectrum of pain. Enlightenment is certainly not an ‘easy way out’ of pain! Understand that.
And in a way, you need to be thankful for the pain and suffering you experience, because they are the catalysts that set you upon your quest for truth and transcendence.
______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: Uncommon Answers to Common Questions
Series:
Ask The Master
A man went to a doctor for psychiatric treatment. The doctor asked him, “Do you ever hear just voices without anyone in the vicinity?” The man nodded. The doctor asked, “When does this happen?” The man replied, “When I answer the telephone.”
In some situations, in order to get the right answer to a question, the question needs to be reviewed. Most often, the answer is reviewed!
Series:
Joke Of The Day
NEW CD RELEASE: "Meditation IS For You (Part 2): Jyoti Stamba (Raising Consciousness)"
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Life Bliss Galleria
Q. What do we learn from our pains?
Pain can be a valuable lesson!
A small story:
Two men, one a gnani (a wise man), and the other an ordinary person, were traveling through a forest on a dark, moonless night.
Suddenly, a shaft of lightning flashed in the sky.
The ordinary man began to tremble in fear. A storm! His mind was immediately given over to confusion. Should he continue to walk? Or should he find a safe place to stop till the storm was spent? He began wishing that he had never decided to undertake the journey. He cursed himself as foolish and unlucky. In other words, he fell headlong into suffering with just a few strokes of lightning!
The gnani, on the other hand, simply used the moments of lightning flashes to take a better look at the road ahead and kept moving.
He ensured that he was traveling in the right direction, thanked the lightning for its help, and moved onward.
Series:
Ask The Master
A lady took her little son to the eye doctor as he was complaining that he couldn’t see well in class. The doctor examined him and gave him the prescription. It read, “Haircut!”
The exact solution to a problem can be perceived by very few. You are lucky if you go to them first before you go to anyone else!
Series:
Joke Of The Day
NEW CD RELEASE: "Meditation IS For You (Part 2): Chidakaasha Dhyana (Be The Sky)"
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Q. What is the cure for our emotional pains?
If pain is perceived as the absence of your attention, then the remedy must be your presence. There is a simple and beautiful self-healing meditation technique that channels your ‘presence’ into the diseased limb. You can try it out the next time you experience pain. It is definitely a better option than painkillers, whose side-effects sometimes prove worse than the original complaint!
Let us now come to the meditation.
Let us say that you have limb pain.
Lie down in a dark room. Make a conscious effort to forget about your whole body, focusing only on the limb/spot which is causing you pain. As you experience your painful limb, deliberately drop the word ‘pain’ from your mind. Your mental chatter will continue to tell you that you feel pain. Switch it off. Feel deeply; experience with an open mind. Look into what is happening inside your mind. You will soon see that your mind was just exaggerating the pain. Put all your awareness on the center of the pain, and it will soon shrink to become just a tiny pinpoint of pain. Concentrate completely on this point, and you will discover in a sudden moment that the pain has disappeared, and in its place is pleasure, bliss.
The root of pain and pleasure are the same; it is the same sensation with two names. If you have ever received a good massage from a friend or a professional, you will realize that the same massage would seem like sheer physical violence if you received it at the hands of a stranger!
If you try to understand the truth of your experience, it will be that ‘pain’ does not exist at all. Pain has only a negative existence. Like darkness, it is only an absence - the absence of awareness. As darkness disappears of its own accord when light is brought into a room, pain dissolves automatically when the energy of your awareness is focused upon it.
Any kind of pain can be transcended by this meditation. I invite you to experience it
for yourself, to channel your pain into meditation and use it as a tool to enter your being. You will find that pain itself can become a door to ananda - bliss.
______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: Uncommon Answers to Common Questions
Series:
Ask The Master
A student got his examination answer paper in class. The teacher wanted to know if anybody had any doubts in the corrections. This student went up to the teacher with his paper and asked her, “Ma’am, what is this that you have written at the end of my paper?” She replied sternly, “I’ve written that you should write more clearly.”
We need to remove the speck in our own eye before we see the speck in the other’s. Once we start practicing this, we will all be engaged in correcting ourselves and the whole world will simply transform!
Series:
Joke Of The Day
NEW CD RELEASE: "Meditation IS For You (Part 2): Antara Dhyana (Look in)"
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Q. Why do we invite (emotional) pain?
We invite pain and disease upon ourselves with our immoderate habits and stressful lifestyles, and then forget all about it and complain later when disease takes its toll. And sometimes we do enjoy the disease too, though no one ever admits to that! Just as an organ asking for your attention develops a disease, you yourself fall ill in order to get the attention of others.
This is no wonder, for in the hectic pace of today’s life, who has the time to pay attention to anyone else, unless they fall ill? Attention is such a basic need! Psychology proves that normally a man can stay alive without food for up to 90 days, but without the attention of others he will lose his sanity in just 14 days. Because attention is energy, it is a life-force.
Though we are unaware of it, the craving for attention is so great, that to gain it, we create our own low-energy pool, and gladly suffer from everything from cold to cancer.
Through our lack of awareness, we first invite pain upon ourselves, and then complain about it and resort to painkillers. And the truly shameful thing is, we don’t even mind getting afflicted by the same disease again and again, because we don’t identify ourselves as the root cause of the problem. We throw the responsibility for the pain on others, never on ourselves.
______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: Uncommon Answers to Common Questions
Series:
Ask The Master
Once a man went to the store to buy the latest and most sought after invisible hair nets for his wife. The girl at the store handed him a packet of them. He asked, “Are you sure these are invisible?” The girl replied, “Of course Sir! We’ve been selling them all day and we’ve been out of stock for the past one week.”
Advertisements and media are dream-sellers to people, who buy these dreams and get fooled without even realizing it!
Series:
Joke Of The Day
NEW CD RELEASE: "Meditation IS For You (Part 2): Aham Brahmasmi (I am That!)"
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Series:
Life Bliss Galleria
Q. Why do we have emotional pains?
A true story:
The other day, a handsome young man belonging to an orthodox family was brought to our healing center. His complaint was sudden blindness.
His parents started weeping and told me that the boy was in excellent health, and had turned blind just a week earlier. All medical tests revealed perfect vision, but he couldn’t see!
After scanning his energy, I asked to spend a few moments alone with him. As soon as he was allowed to talk to me in private, the boy poured out his troubles to me. He said that he was deeply in love with a girl, but had been forced by his parents to stop seeing her.
I immediately figured out the root cause of the problem. I asked the boy to procure a photograph of the girl, and spend the next three days meditating upon it continuously. His parents were taken aback at this unconventional solution, that too from a spiritual man! But you will be amazed: the technique worked a wonder. In 3 days, the boy regained his vision perfectly.
Series:
Ask The Master
A man was with his two friends at a party. They made a wealthy trio and spent most of their time boasting about their wealth. Suddenly they spotted a diamond stone on the floor. One of them said, “Oh, its not mine.” The second said, “It’s not mine either.” This man said, “It must be mine. I am missing a cufflink!”
It’s good fun to be able to flaunt professionally, but only when it is done like a lotus in a pond - untouched by the waters although neck deep in it!
Series:
Joke Of The Day
NEW CD RELEASE: "Meditation IS For You (Part 2): Ananda Natana (Dance to Bliss)"
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Series:
Life Bliss Galleria
Q. Please explain more on emotional pains.
Research reveals that emotional imbalance can deeply disturb the physical body. For example, sexual repression can result in back pain, or the sense of shouldering too much responsibility can cause pain in the shoulder.
In a crowded bus, you may be packed in together with people of all kinds. Your being will not be touching them; your mind, your consciousness will not allow that. So your being will shrink deeper into yourself.
A small story:
In Calcutta there were two small ashrams whose presidents were not on good terms with each other.
One day a person of some authority arrived in one ashram and invited the president to join him in visiting the other ashram. The president was in distress. He could not refuse, but he didn’t want to go either.
Suddenly the president developed a high fever which prevented him from leaving the place!
I saw this with my own eyes. As soon as the other person left, the temperature came back to normal again.
Series:
Ask The Master
A man visited the doctor and told him, “My wife does funny things in her sleep like talking, walking and arguing!” The doctor said, “Don’t worry Sir, there are appropriate medicines to cure these things.” The man exclaimed, “Oh no doctor! She is so interesting in that state, I want you to prescribe something for me to keep me awake!”
Patiently hear out a person completely before suggesting the right solution. Else you will be wasting time in giving the wrong solutions!
Series:
Joke Of The Day
NEW CD RELEASE: "Meditation IS For You (Part 2): Introduction"
| CD CONTENTS | |
| 1. Introduction | Introduction |
| 2. Atma Spurana (Flowering of the Soul) | Be aware of your self. Experience the deep silence that results. And expand it to be come all the time meditation. Just be. |
| 3. Hridaya Kamala (Lotus of the Heart) | Sense and do everything through your heart. You will see the heart center blossoming and experience boundless love. |
| 4. Stop that action | Shift your focus from doing and having to Being and Transform. We are continually doing something to end up having some possessions. If we could stop suddenly and introspect, we could fall into being the essence. |
| 5. Stop that impulse | The unconscious impulse drives you into reaction. As you are about to act, just stop. Once you are thrown in to the silent center, never lose your self in activity again. |
| 6. Kama Harana (Just drop it) | When driven by desire, don’t suppress, just witness. Then clearly consider the action and experience and then just drop. |
| 7. Sukshma Sharera Dhyana (Strengthen Your Aura) | Beware of your physical form and reclaim strength your Etheric body, the Aura. This will instill a deep silence and sense of peace in you. |
| 8. Ananda Dhyana; Hakuna Matata (Be Happy) | Happiness is a matter of choice. You are the master of your destiny. And you can decide everyday when you wake up. |
| 9. Pratyahara Dhyana (Beyond Senses) | Be in the silent center and just be witness to the uproar of the senses and not be affected. Shut out the signals from senses. In that silence you will find your center. Look from this center and you will never again get lost in the uproar from outside and just be a witness to your senses. |
| 10. Sphoorti Baana (Ray of Inspiration) | When you run, you are integrated in body and mind. Run only as fast as you can with barefoot if possible. Then rest and enjoy. Run with no purpose. Simply run and be centered. |
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Series:
Life Bliss Galleria
Nithya Dhyaan begins in B'lore.
Source: Deccan Herald
Thursday December 20, 2007.
More details of the event: About, Photos.
Series:
In the News
Q. What is pain?
Pain can be physical, mental or emotional. Physical pain is the least of our worries! It is in a way a basic necessity for the body. Just imagine if we could feel no pain, we might start styling our faces and limbs the way we style our hair today! We certainly can’t put it past today’s youngsters! But jokes aside, pain is the symbol of bodily wisdom. Pain is what makes us integrated human beings.
On the emotional and mental level, pain is usually the result of some form of judgment. Pain is always, ALWAYS born of resistance to the present moment. Significantly, every time you experience pain, it leaves behind a residue which becomes lodged in the body. By and by, this accumulated pain creates a negative energy field around you, which we call the ‘pain body’. The ‘pain body’ is responsible for, and controls, most of our pain patterns.
Pain is always born of resistance to the present moment.
______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: Uncommon Answers to Common Questions
Series:
Ask The Master
A man was training the new boy at his store. He told him, “Remember one thing – the customer is always right!” The boy nodded and enthusiastically started the day at work. Soon, the man noticed that customers were walking in but leaving without buying anything. He asked the boy what was happening. The boy replied, “They keep telling me that the prices are high and I tell them that they are right!”
Most often, we catch the words but miss the truth in what is told to us. It is then that the misunderstanding starts. Intelligence is needed while interpreting what we hear. Only then can we progress in our path.
Series:
Joke Of The Day
NEW DVD RELEASE: Mahabharata - the Science of Enlightenment!
Mahabhata, an epic poem of dynastic struggle for the throne of Hastinapur, between cousins -- Kauravas and Pandavas, which culminating in the great battle of Dharmakshetra -- Kurukshetra.
Price:$20"Blissmas" sale! $14
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Series:
Life Bliss Galleria
Q. Dearest master, since the mind is only ‘inner chatter’, is it necessary to drop the intellect in order to approach the divine?
Before I can answer that, you need to understand the working of the mind. The mind is a composite of 4 functions: manas (the part that receives information about the outer world from your senses), chitta (the memory or record of cosmic knowledge), buddhi (intellect) and ahankaar (ego). Beyond all these is the atman (self). All information is tracked through these areas of the mind.
For instance, when you see a marigold, the nonverbal information, ‘yellow flower’, is absorbed by your manas from the eyes.
This information is sent to chitta, which matches it against all records of flowers previously seen, and determines whether this particular flower is a familiar one.
The file then passes to the buddhi, which concludes that the yellow flower is a marigold; it is large; it is not a fragrant flower, and so on.
Then comes the turn of the ahankaar, which is in charge of generating opinions based on self-interest, e.g. ‘I like this flower’, or ‘I think the neighbours’ garden has better marigolds,’ or whatever. Based on the information supplied by the ahankaar, the atman decides the plan of action: ‘pick the flower!’ or ‘water the flower!’ or ‘throw it out!’
The unfortunate thing about this arrangement is that by the time the information reaches the atman, it has already been filtered by the ahankaar - with the result that what you see and act upon is not reality, but only a subverted version of reality that the ego wants you to see. No wonder you remain in ignorance and confusion, and come to the conclusion that inner chatter is all that the mind is capable of!
When intelligence awakens, the ego dies a natural death. For the first time, the atman takes direct control of the situation. It’s like President’s Rule (when the president takes control of a region in an emergency situation)! Tremendous sources of energy open up and become available. The absorption of information no longer depends only on the five senses. Consequently, information processing and decision-making become infinitely swifter and more efficient - with the result that it appears miraculous to ordinary eyes. This is the state in which yogis fly or teleport objects and perform other such miracles. This is the magical state which is perceived as being in harmony with the divine.
So you see, to approach the divine, what you should be willing to drop is not the mind or the intellect, but only the ego. Don’t make the mistake of throwing out the baby out with the bathwater!
______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: Uncommon Answers to Common Questions
Series:
Ask The Master
A man was leaving his beautiful wife alone in the house for a week and traveling for business. Before leaving, he did all the grocery shopping, paid up all the bills and ensured that his wife would not have to leave the house for anything. He finally locked her inside the house and gave the key to his neighbor – a trusted friend. He told him, “Please do not allow anyone inside my house.” The friend took charge of the key. The man left and had traveled a few kilometers when he found the friend frantically trying to overtake him in a car. He was crying out, “You gave me the wrong key!”
There is no dearth of exploitation. But again - Trust even if you are exploited!
Series:
Joke Of The Day
NEW DVD RELEASE: Churning of the Milky Ocean
"Churning of the Milky Ocean" is a story and a metaphor on how to achieve enlightenment by understanding play of the mind.
Original Price: $20
"Blissmas" discount: 30%!!!
Discounted price: $14
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Series:
Life Bliss Galleria
Q. Beloved master, what is karma?
Let me give you an idea about karma. Whenever an action has been started, but not fulfilled, there exists a force that pulls you to fulfill it, to bring it to completion. This force is karma. Whatever you have tasted, desired but not experienced completely, will continuously draw you to repeat that very experience, until you feel fulfillment. You will keep repeating that action till you actually become that experience, because you are fulfillment. You enter the body just to fulfill these actions. In the course of fulfillment, you meet all these things, these ‘troubles’. This is the explanation which I give for karma. All the other ideas – it is because of my bad karma that I got this disease; it is because of my good karma that I met my master - all these are just things we say after the event has happened. Whatever has happened, we give it the name karma.
The word karma is much misunderstood. I am not giving you an explanation for karma as we understand it. I don’t mean karma as fate or vidhi. According to my experience, there is no such thing as fate. The future is left completely open by Existence. It is we who decide.
Ramakrishna tells a beautiful story which will give you intellectual clarity on the subject. Of course, no one can give you existential, experiential clarity on karma as it really is; that clarity comes only with enlightenment. And when you are enlightened, you cannot express it!
Coming to the story on karma:
A cow is tied to a post with a 5-meter rope. Inside that perimeter it can sit, stand, feed, do whatever it pleases. Our life is just the same. We have a limited amount of freedom; the rest is in the hands of Existence. But Ramakrishna also adds, if we use our 5-meter freedom intelligently, it is possible that Existence will extend our rope, or even free us completely. That depends on both us and the master, on jiva (ordinary mortals) and Shiva. You can choose whether to remain in bondage or work towards being set free. Someone once asked me, ‘What if the cow learns to bite and break the rope?’
First of all, do you know where the rope is? To which limb it is tied? Where it begins and ends? Where to bite? How to bite? With an ordinary cow and rope, the cow can see these things. You people don’t even know what or where your rope is! So whatever I can give you is only a glimpse, an inspiration to enter into me, to enter into the experience.
______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: Uncommon Answers to Common Questions
Series:
Ask The Master
A man pulled up the maid: “In spite of me telling you not to tell what time I came in last night, you have told your mistress.” The maid replied, “Sir, I promise I did not tell her the time. She asked me and I told her that I was too busy cooking breakfast to see the time when you entered the house.”
Some people are so simple and straight forward that they can’t even be trained to speak lies! It is better to leave them undisturbed.
Series:
Joke Of The Day
Every purchase at Life Bliss Galleria is a gift for Body, Mind and Soul.
Seva (the spirit of service) is a beautiful component of your spiritual path. When you make a gift from the Life Bliss Galleria you actually doing seva twice. Of all the gifts, the gift of knowledge of self is the ultimate.
Each CD, DVD, or Book could transform the lives of your loved ones with Nithyananda's message.
Every gift you purchase reaches out to a new soul, transforms a new being, contributes to global peace, and promotes the charitable activities of the Master's Mission.
Your selfless act counts as doubling your seva to the dharma.
Merry Blissmas!!!
On the eve of Christmas all products in Life Bliss Galleria are on sale.
Series:
Life Bliss Galleria
Q. Beloved master, in India we are brought up on rituals and idol worship. Are you for or against these?
First of all, I am neither for nor against idol worship or rituals - or anything, for that matter! But there is a reason why idol worship is so common in India, and elsewhere in the East. For a beginner on the spiritual journey, it is difficult to even conceive of the divine in the abstract. When given a form, it is crystallized into something he understands and can relate to. With an idol, he can commune with the divine in the language that he is familiar with. Our thousands of deities are nothing but expressions of the divine. And yet anyone can talk to them, pray to or play with them, seek solace or give thanks. The whole awesome, indefinable nature of the divine is scaled down to comforting proportions in the form of the deity. It has to be this way; the divine without form is simply too terrifying a concept for the ordinary mind.
At a deeper, subtler level, there is one more message being reinforced - the idol before you is cast in the same form as yours, and yet it is divine.
What does that say about you? Think about it. Even if you are an idol worshiper, there is no need to condemn yourself. As you grow spiritually, you will find yourself able to commune with the divine just as well without an idol. Just as children stop playing with dolls as they grow older, you will drop the idols of your own accord when the time comes. But right now if it gives you a sense of well-being to worship your favorite deity, do so by all means. Spirituality is a vast, shoreless ocean. When you are just learning to swim, it would certainly help your confidence to hold onto a lifebuoy, something you can be sure of, something that won’t let you down. As you grow stronger and surer, you will naturally shake off its hold and enter the deep waters, freely and fearlessly.
As for rituals, it has been scientifically proven that certain colors, sounds and actions can deeply impact your state of mind, activate desired areas of the brain, and expand your consciousness. Rituals have lost their credibility today only because their true meaning has been lost upon the masses over time. Only the shell of the ritual remains; the spirit has departed. But even if they seem irrelevant to you today, never underestimate the true potential of rituals. Rituals are the distillation of centuries of wisdom and the tapas of innumerable enlightened masters. When performed in the proper way, rituals have tremendous power to bring about unimaginable levels of awareness and change.
In the ashram, you may often find me performing pujas and yagas. The fact is, these mean nothing to me; I don’t need a channel to commune with the divine. These are for my people. I do this to draw you all into a familiar territory, a space where you feel secure and tranquil. In an atmosphere that years of worship have sanctified, bowing before your beloved deities and listening to the chanting of well-known mantras, a silent, meditative state is naturally induced in you. At this time you are completely open and surrendered, receptive to my energy.
This is the time when I can truly work upon you, without your knowledge and without your resistance. Can you understand me now?
(Of course, I have never given up being a child, and so I perfectly enjoy my play with these beautiful dolls - but that is another matter!)
______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: Uncommon Answers to Common Questions
Series:
Ask The Master
A man came home from work one day to find his wife in an awful mood. “I finally managed to train up the maid to do all the work and she has now quit!” she screamed. The man asked sympathetically, “For what reason?” She replied, “Well, you are the reason! She claims that you spoke so rudely to her over the telephone that she felt she needed to guard her self-respect and therefore quit.” The man was baffled and blurted, “But I thought I was talking to you!”
Never take anything for granted. Every single thing is a gift from Existence, which needs to enjoyed with gratitude.
Series:
Joke Of The Day
Q. Beloved master, you tell us to ‘give our all’ in love. But what if the love is not appreciated or returned?
If you are truly in love, you will ‘give your all’ naturally. Love is an unconditional outpouring. In love, you don’t stop to ask yourself whether the other person deserves your ‘all’. In fact, there is no question at all of the other person’s worth. Love is a gift. If you were to measure the other person’s worth and give an equal and exact measure of love in return, that would simply be a bargain. It would be business, not love. In true love, this question of ‘should I give my all?’ would not be raised at all!
Now the issue of the love being appreciated. Tell me, what is your reason for loving? Is love a performance for which you need to be applauded? Is it not enough that you love? What is the need to look for any further reward? To ask for a returning of love is to seek some kind of control over your beloved. You refuse the other person the freedom not to love you in return. This is a kind of possessiveness, where you cage the other in the prison of your expectations. And as I keep repeating, love can never, never blossom in captivity.
Listen carefully: there are two kinds of love - love as a quantity, and love as a quality. When love is seen as a quantity, it results in the kind of selfish little exchanges that most people make all their lives. You hold out a tightly wrapped parcel of love to your man or woman, and expect them to promptly return an equal-sized parcel to you. If your partner should choose to give her parcel to someone else, or even to just open it and spread the love around, you feel cheated and angry. You are both bound to each other by a pact of reciprocation. You have to be ‘made for each other’. Sooner or later, this kind of arrangement leaves you cramped and frustrated, and in anger you withdraw your parcel and go off to find someone else to exchange it with. Or else your partner does that.
Now the kind of love I would like you to grow towards, is love experienced as a quality of your very being. This kind of love is simply an outpouring of one’s joy and gratitude, just for being alive. It is a fragrance of joy, it spreads itself around unconditionally. It does not need an object, it does not need a return gift. This kind of love is like sunshine or rain; it gives of itself unconditionally, and whomsoever stands within its circle can experience the warmth or the freshness without question. This love always enriches; it is the only kind of love that can be enjoyed without fear or guilt.
For love to become your quality, you must be willing to surrender yourself completely. Only in an egoless state can this love arise. This is not easy, but you can make a beginning. You will discover that simply through love and gratitude, you begin to let go of the ego, just a little. And as you let go, more and more love enters into that space. Try practicing this in your relationships. There’s no need to make a fuss about loving; don’t become serious in your love - just be totally sincere!
______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: Uncommon Answers to Common Questions
Series:
Ask The Master
A girl finally decided to get married. Her cousin came along and asked her, “So, does he look good?” She replied, “You won’t take a second look at him.” The cousin continued, “Does he earn well?” She said, “Yes, but he won’t spend any of it.” The cousin asked, “Does he have any bad habits?” Madhu replied, “Oh yes! He smokes and drinks.” The cousin finally asked her, “If there’s nothing nice to say about him, why are you marrying him?” “Well,” replied the girl, “he’s always traveling and I’ll never get to see him!”
Marriage needs to be a communion between two hearts, not a convenience between two people.
Series:
Joke Of The Day
Comparison, the green eyed monster!
We always compare ourselves with others. And more often than not we feel what others have, or have achieved, is more than what we have and start feeling jealous.
When we are not able to bear others’ excellence, we get jealous. Comparison is the seed and jealousy is the fruit.
We cannot deal with jealousy directly. Even if we tell ourselves repeatedly not to compare ourselves with others and not to feel jealous, we cannot overcome it. Even if we keep telling ourselves not to feel inferior because we are less wealthy than a neighbor, less handsome than a colleague, less intelligent than an acquaintance, we still feel inferior. And the jealousy that comes out of it is a very powerful emotion.
In reality, comparison does not have positive existence; it has negative existence. It only exists in our minds.
An object that has positive existence can be moved from one place to another place.
Let’s take the example of darkness. Can darkness be moved from one room to another? No! because it does not have a positive existence. But by bringing light into the room, it can be made to disappear.
Same way, comparison that has negative existence cannot be removed. But it can be made to overcome by bringing understanding and awareness into our minds.
Comparison results in low self-esteem or high self-esteem.
With low self-esteem, we attack other persons whom we are jealous of and we suppress ourselves. With high self-esteem, we try to suppress others if they do not support our active ego. This is the way seeds of violence and misery are sown in us.
We continuously run our life based on comparison. In consequence, we pick up the attitude of violence; we pull other people down; we learn methods to stop their progress. When we start to compare, it means we are picking up desires from other people. We try to work out others’ desires instead of living our own desires and trying to fulfill them.
We need to realize that each one of us is unique. God is an artist not a machinist. He sculpts each one of us with his own hands lovingly, uniquely. Therefore each one of us is different.
If this is understood clearly, there will be no scope for comparison. We will enjoy our own uniqueness and blossom with it, unparalleled in our own way.
Be blissful!
______________________
This article was earlier published in the Economic Times, an Indian newspaper.
Series:
Words From The Master
A lady pointed to her husband at a party and told her psychiatric friend, “You know, my husband thinks he is a traffic light. He keeps shutting and opening one eye.” The friend said, “Alright, let me go and talk to him.” “Wait!” cried the lady, “the light is now against you!”
One who analyzes the expression behind a deep experience, will feel the same experience behind that expression.
Series:
Joke Of The Day
On the web, Mohan's World. Swami Nithya Medhananda's interview (Part 2) is available at Mohan's World (#00064) [Direct Link to .mp3 file]. The interview was conducted on Dec 29, when Sri Medhananda was in Dubai for LBP and NSP workshops.
00064 The Master's Mission
The more we travel towards the subtle aspect of ourselves, the more liberated we become. A true master is like a mirror who shows us our true selves.Swami Sri Sri Paramahamsa Nithyananda attained enlightenment in his 20's. True masters need nothing from us except faith and devotion.Their mission on earth is to liberate as many souls as possible. Swami Nithya Medhananda explains.
Series:
Flash News
Q. Dearest master, you say that skepticism is a big hindrance to learning. But you also urge us to voice our doubts. Why?
You can raise questions due to either skepticism or doubt. But there is a world of difference between the two. Skepticism is a state where one refuses to believe in anything at all. Just like that! The skeptic will raise arguments just for the sake of raising them. In this sense, skepticism itself is an unconscious belief; it is a foregone negative conclusion against anything and everything. The skeptic has no opinions and no ideology of his own; he only has an argument against whatever idea you place before him. He will argue against an idea for hours, and if you present another idea that is just the opposite, he will argue against it equally emphatically! Actually, he has already settled into a permanent attitude of ‘NO’ towards everything. In this sense, skepticism marks the end of the journey for the learner, because with this attitude it is impossible to get anywhere. The skeptic has closed himself to all possibility of change.
Doubt, on the other hand, is a state of openness and receptivity. Doubt is an acceptance of ‘I don’t know, but I can learn.’ This marks the beginning of the learner’s pilgrimage. Doubt is the path of the seeker; it simply seeks to eliminate all that is untrue in order to perceive the truth. A man with doubt listens with respect, not with defiance. He possesses the humility of the learner. His is the attitude of ‘YES’. He is only waiting to experience so that he can trust.
When a person of sharp intellect turns to skepticism, it is a dangerous sign - because it can be very ego-fulfilling to be able to put down all ideas in an effective manner. But ultimately, the skeptic is only burning his own bridges. Especially with a master, if you adopt the attitude of skepticism, there is just no way I can get through to you. There is no point in going to a doctor just to question the value of every pill in his prescription, is there?
So ask your questions, by all means. Just watch the attitude with which you ask them!
______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: Uncommon Answers to Common Questions
Series:
Ask The Master
A man was suddenly seen attempting to dive off a bridge. He was stopped and asked, “why are you attempting to die?” He replied, “My wife ran away with my best friend, and I miss him so much!”
A wife can be a man’s best friend if both of them look at each other with no foregone conclusions and no pre-conceived images.
Series:
Joke Of The Day
Q. Dear master, you ask us not to suppress our natural passions. But is it right to indulge these passions?
This question points in the same direction as the earlier question on sansar vs. sannyas. On this path, you will time and again come across apparent dualities: good/bad, false/true, attachment/aversion, and suppression/indulgence. In fact, raging inside your being is this constant conflict of opposites. Whenever a duality asserts itself, remember this rule of thumb: Existence is non-dual. Opposites do not exist. To cling to either suppression or indulgence is a sign of ignorance. After all, suppression is nothing but a reaction to indulgence. What is essential is the awareness of one’s own tendencies.
Recognize anger, recognize jealousy, and recognize lust and greed. Neither give in to these emotions nor try to suppress them. Simply attempt to know them for what they are. Keep your distance, and view your emotions as if they were strangers. You will be surprised to find that without your support, they cannot exist; they simply drop away! This may not make much sense to you when it is just someone else’s experience - but through constant practice you will experience the truth for yourself.
It is only this awareness that can awaken self-knowledge, and free you of these concepts of indulgence/suppression, and of all dualities!
______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: Uncommon Answers to Common Questions
Series:
Ask The Master
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