Twelve Jyotirlingas (sacred shrines of Lord Shiva)


Every Jyotirlingam has a different story behind how it came to be. There is a Sthala Purana (local folklore or legends) attached to each. For example, Lord Rama went to Rameshwaram and established the Jyotirlingam there by worshipping Lord Shiva. The aim was to unite all the people of India by one single thread of devotion. 
Different people in India speak different languages. In Kashi (now Varanasi) there is a different language, in Rameshwaram there is a different language. In ancient times, people were told to visit Rameshwaram, and then from there they were told to go on a pilgrimage to Kashi and bathe in the holy Ganges. After that they were told to bring back with them the holy water of the Ganges from Kashi to Rameshwaram and offer it to the Jyotirlingam there. And after that, they were told to take the offering back to the Kashi Vishwanath temple. 
The intention behind doing this in the olden times was to bring a sense of national unity (by visiting these holy shrines situated in different parts of the country). Taking holy water of the Ganges from Kashi to Rameshwaram has no meaning or importance to Lord Shiva. But there is a certain significance in it for the country.
When people undertake pilgrimages together to different parts to the country, they establish bonds of friendship with one another. And whenever we do anything with a sense of sacredness and purity, our entire consciousness starts blossoming. That is why all the twelve Jyotirlingas were never kept in one place or one state. Some were in the north, some in the south, some in the west – they were distributed all over. 
And in those days, all those places were very difficult places to travel to. It used to be so difficult to reach there. One had to go through dense forests, dangerous valleys, city ruins; or on the top of high snow capped mountains, etc., to reach the shrines. For example, Kedarnath shrine is situated deep in the Himalayan range.
In this way, by establishing Lord Shiva through His sacred shrines in different parts of the country, the holy sages and saints of those days built a unified nation. Wherever a holy saint sits, that place itself becomes a holy place of pilgrimage.
So many saints have visited these holy places, meditated there and have done Tapasya (penance). That is how the sanctity and glory of these places have grown over time.

Eight astonishing tendencies of the mind


When the mind dies, love dawns. 
Whenever there is love, the mind dies and this is painful. That is why love always brings pain with it. Something in you is dissolving – the ego, the mind – and this dissolving is painful. The mind does not want to dissolve. It wants to emphasize its existence. It doesn’t want to bear the pain of dissolution, the pain is unbearable. You often find people who love each other fighting, and you really don’t understand why they should fight when there is so much love. These are the mechanics. The love is so strong and so powerful, the mind cannot hold it. It wants to hold. It cannot stay. It cannot exist. It dissolves and this brings pain, unbearable pain. So, in order to get rid of the pain, it rebels. And that rebellion is the fight. When you surrender to somebody, this is more evident. It is clearer.
The mind wants something impossible!
The mind has a peculiar nature. It desires something, and when it acquires or achieves it, it no longer finds it interesting. It drops it, and moves away from it, because it can’t stand being totally in the present. It dissolves. And if it doesn’t achieve what it wants, it gets frustrated. Then too, there is a rejection, a rebellion in the mind. Have you observed this? You want something and crave for it. And if you can achieve it, if you have it, the mind is not into it. It drops it very easily, very quickly. It doesn’t find joy in it.
It wants something that is not around. It wants something impossible. The moment it becomes possible, it moves away from there and goes further. It’s not anybody’s fault. It is the nature. It is used to living on craving; so it gets frustrated anyway. Fulfilled or unfulfilled it leads to frustration.
Wherever you go, you carry your own mind!
If you are peaceful, your surroundings become peaceful; your situation becomes peaceful and people around you become peaceful. You are the center of this universe. Why are you looking for peace anywhere else, with anybody else and with any other set up? Wherever you go, you carry your own mind. And wherever you go, you create the same problems. It may appear to be calm and quiet for some time in some place but then it will be the same again there too. Unless you see this, realize it and look into it, nothing will help in the long term. There is no other permanent solution.
The limited mind always does business everywhere!
The limited mind is trying to do business in the name of love. In every relationship you will find that people are demanding more. And even if they give, they give thinking they should receive much more than what they have given! One feels that he has given enough! In any relationship, everybody feels that they had done everything for their relatives, their family and so they must love them. Everything that we do is in order to get love, attention, recognition or something. This is business. Doing something in order to get something is business.
All the desires arise when your mind is not fully conscious!
A semiconscious mind is the mother of desires. If it is unconscious, no desire comes, for instance, in sleep there is no desire. And when the mind is fully awake, then also there is no desire because everything is already acquired. What does desire mean? It means a lack of joy or fulfilment, and a requirement for fulfilment and joy. It is not that if desires arise, they should be stopped. When they are there, they are there. When desires arise, you should become more conscious and be aware of your nature.
The mind swings between extremes!
Suppose a delicate piece of cloth, silk, is caught up in a thorny bush. It needs a skill to remove it. It is the same with the mind. It is very easy for the mind to either like or dislike something, or swing between these two extremes. The mind exists by doing this. It cannot exist without these opposites; without the duality, without the swing. Either the mind will like or dislike something. The mind hates something, and then, again it loves something else. The mind goes towards whatever one understands is bad or not right (what we should not do). It does it more often. The mind is attached to some ideals and resolutions. ‘I must do this, I want to be like that,’ and then one finds it very difficult to follow those ideals. You have all experienced this over and over again.
There is one golden point by which the mind can be lifted up, and that is wonder. 
Wonder is where there is no concept, no mind. One slips very easily from wonder to concepts. It is such a balancing line! Wonder about the concepts of likes or dislikes. How it should or should not be. What I want and what I don’t want. In wonder, there is no wanting or not wanting. Wonder is a wonder! In wonder there are no likes or dislikes. It is what ‘is’, is wonder.
Your mind is not clear and focused when there is an obsession or a burning desire
See how calm, collected, cool and aware your mind is when these desires drop. See how clear and focused you are. Many people have never experienced such focus, such clarity at all in their lives! This is their misfortune. I can only wonder at how those who have experienced even a little bit, get into desires and lust. Knowing it, you still get into it. I am not saying this is bad and you shouldn’t do it, because then the mind will say, ‘No, I shouldn’t do it’ and then the whole trip begins. Look and wonder about these samskāras (impressions) in you. At that very moment they dissolve and you rise above them.

The One Truth - Realise it and nothing can shake you


The divine consciousness is present everywhere, expressing itself in various different forms. It is just like the light that projects at the cinema, where one light passes through different films, and different imprinted characters are being projected onto the screen from it. Without the light, there is no film. There is no hero, no heroine, no villain, nothing! They are all just figures projected on a film  with a single light. The same light is the hero and heroine, and many different characters on the screen.The same light can be a mouse and a lion. Behind all these characters is only one beam of white light. The brave one is one who can see, that if this person is that way, and that person is that way, it is all just play and display of one consciousness.
Recognize, that the one consciousness which appears to be perfect somewhere is really not perfect, and that which appears imperfect somewhere is not really imperfect. It is all made up of one being, one field of energy. One who focuses on this and understands this deep within, crosses over this world of death to immortality. Nothing whatsoever can shake him or her. The ephemeral happenings do not touch the one who is connected with the universal energy.
So, from you projecting your mind onto everybody, you see everybody as the projection of that one consciousness. This is the journey of life, from ignorance to enlightenment. In ignorance you project your emotions on others, you are angry at everyone, you say and you think everyone is angry at you. You have an ego, you think everyone else has an ego too. You are negative, you think others are negative.You do not respect people, and you think that others do not respect you. You do not love others, and you think others do not love you. You are projecting your mind on to others, and this is ignorance.
See the whole universe as the projection of consciousness. It is not an individual who is doing this or that. It is all a play and display of a universal phenomenon, everyone is like a rag doll. Knowing this, is enlightenment. This is something to be done right here.
When you die, you will carry all your memory, cravings, aversions and hatred with you. This is a great loss to you, as the mind is meant to experience infinity. Instead of ingraining infinity in the finite mind, you drag the mind through the mud. You criticize and complain, and this is not worth carrying. Let others form their own ideas, let them seem imperfect. But you should not carry that and spoil yourself.

Finding success in Love


Love is not a business. Love is not a career. love is not even an act. So there is no success or failure in love. Love is your very nature!
Whether you express it or not, it is there. If you realize that love is your very nature, you will not think of it as success or failure.
Some people may understand you and some may not. When someone loves you, you cannot say that they will be in love with you forever. People who have lived together for 20 years, and had said at one point of time that they were made for each other, suddenly find that they were never compatible, and that they never got along. Suddenly people feel suffocated and want to go their own ways.
Love is not an act, love is not even a situation, it is our very nature. If you are in love with somebody don’t think that it will be forever, unless and until there is knowledge or wisdom in it.
Love with wisdom is eternal bliss. Love with selfishness or love for individual pleasure, sooner or later will bring misery and heart break. If your love is there to help others, nobody can destroy it, but if your love is to get something from the other, sooner or later, it will be broken into pieces.
Find out what you think love is. Is love only a name for getting pleasure from others? If yes, then it is going to bring you pain.
But if your love is there only to care and you cannot be without it, then that is your true nature. That is what is true love.
You should always feel that you are not worthy of the love that you receive. Think that the love you receive is much more than what you deserve. If you come from this space of humility, then you will behave with magnanimity and dignity in all your dealings. You won’t chew on the past, you will live in the present moment, you will honor the other’s opinions, you will understand the other’s predicaments; that magnanimity will come from within.
If you keep this in mind, that I don’t deserve this love, you will not demand love. And when you don’t demand love in your life, it keeps on increasing.

How does one overcome suffering?


If you know that your pain is just momentary, you don’t mind the pain. 
You go to doctor and he gives you a prick. You don’t mind the pain. You are doing exercise with dumbbells and it pains. You enjoy that pain.
Why you don’t like suffering is because in suffering you feel, "Oh, this is death!" You associate death with suffering. That is why there is fear. Just simple pain doesn’t give you suffering. You willingly undergo many pains.
By understanding this, layer by layer, going scientifically into it you can observe that you pay more attention to your mind than to the senses, to your intellect more than the mind and to the ego more than your mind. 
For example someone saying some words to somebody else doesn’t bother you. But if they said that to you then you get upset. If you go beyond that and see, it is just their opinion. If someone passes a derogatory remark on you, how do you see it beyond the ego? With compassion, “Ok, they are saying something because they are upset.” Then you don’t get hurt. When someone calls the person next to you stupid, you see it as a witness but when he does the same to you, there is a difference.
Do you see the difference? If you can see that also from the same angle, as though they are fighting with somebody else, then you see it beyond ego. Then you say, “He must be tired, stressed out”; instead of taking it as a personal attack on you, you will see the state of mind, intention or consciousness behind the action.
Suffering has a purpose, which is to connect you to your self. Suffering indicates that you got too involved and carried away by all the relative and transient things around you. That is what suffering is all about.
Once you know that suffering is transient your eyes get lifted to something that is eternal. That is when real joy dawns in life.

Birthday thoughts


In temples, deities are covered with so many garlands (that people offer), but all that the divine really wants is a smile from you; that should be the flower you offer.
Today (May 13), you are celebrating my birthday. So, as the birthday boy, I have the right to ask for a gift from you. I can ask, right? (Everyone is the audience cheers and says ‘Yes’)
If you don’t give me a gift, then there is no point in you celebrating my birthday. Celebrations have to go with gifts. So, will you all give me a gift?
If you hate anybody, drop that today. Do not hate anybody. Even if you have the slightest hatred against anybody in your mind, or any type of prejudice, you should leave it today. Don’t think bad about anyone or for anyone.
All this (events and situations) is the play of one consciousness. We will be able to have a broad vision only when there is no feeling of bitterness for anyone. Just throw away all the bitterness. This is the gift you need to give me. You don't have to bring me sweets. I just want you to have sweetness in your mind for everyone.
In my 61 years, I have not spoken a bad word, nor do I have bitterness against anyone on the planet. If you have any bitterness in your heart or mind for anybody, you have to give it to me as a gift. And once you give it you cannot take it back! This is what is most needed.
This doesn’t mean you have to be goody-goody to people. When you have to be firm, you be firm. When you have to say something, say it but don’t use abusive language, bad words or be bitter. Unpleasant truth is okay, but it should be said without the feeling of bitterness. Your heart should be pure and have the freshness of a flower, and your words have to be sweet.
It is important to say the truth. Sweetness doesn’t imply falsehood and bitterness doesn’t imply being truthful. That’s why our ancestors have said, ‘Satyam bruyat priyam bruyat’, you should say the truth, but in a proper manner.
Just be happy! There is no dearth of anything. You experience this fullness when you go deep in meditation. Just like there is space inside and outside a vessel, similarly our body is like a balloon where the space inside and outside is the same. When this truth comes into one’s experience then you don’t feel separation with anyone, nor will you have any problems.
In life, difficulties come to everyone, but there is something inside you that remains untouched.
This is the truth and this is what consciousness is. When you realize this then you feel complete. This is the biggest strength in life and is also what is called wisdom. The highest realization is ‘I am this!’ and this truth becomes a reality when our hearts are free from bitterness. Keep this thought in your heart that you are complete and you are full!
When you're working in society there are chances of you getting sour and bitter, but when you remember this knowledge, that I am pure, you’ll see that in no time the stress vanishes and those clouds of ignorance wither away leaving you complete. I understand how situations can cause emotional turbulence in you, and for that there is meditation. So, meditate every day and not just once in a while. All the best and blessings!

Multiple layers of meaning


You know, the Upanishads on one level is just a story. On another level it has a very deep meaning. Gau doesn’t just means cow. Gau in Sanskrit means that which moves. Cows of course move, but it is knowledge that moves you to your goal, that nurtures you, and which is also called Gau.
In those days, they used to use cows for transportation. The bullock carts nurture you, and the cow gives you milk and nurtures you, and so cow is also called Gau and knowledge is also called GauOur mind is like a forest, it has so many thoughts, so many things. But when knowledge comes in there, then a transformation happens. So the Guru said, “Satyakama, You take this knowledge and go into the forest”. That means, sit and contemplate and remove the cobwebs from your head. It is only wisdom that can remove the doubts, the cobwebs and the uncertainties.
Like this, the story has multiple layers of meaning; this is one such — “I have given you these many cows (this much knowledge), take it into the forest (of your mind and contemplate and multiply your wisdom)”.
Hearing is one thing, but when it becomes your experience, that same wisdom is multiplied, it has become solid. In The Art of Living you hear, ‘Accept people and situations as they are’, or ‘The present moment is inevitable’, but then in life when you are in a situations then this knowledge arrives and it helps you to assimilate.

What are you unhappy for?


What are you unhappy for? What is it that you are unhappy about? You are unhappy about the situations and circumstances around you. You are unhappy about the people around you. Are they going to be there permanently or forever? They are moving and changing. It is all like a flowing river! Wake up and see the person you saw yesterday night is not the same person this morning, this evening or tomorrow. Why are you unhappy about other people? Know they are all like bubbles on the surface of water. They are fleeting; they are moving.
You are unhappy about situations and circumstances. How long are they going to be there, not forever? They all move and change. What else are you unhappy about? The health of your body? How long you can hold onto your body even if it is very healthy? Can you hold on to it forever? One day it is going to drop. If a body gets sick, attend to it, that is all. Getting mentally agitated makes it even worse. It is the nature of the body to be sick and healthy.
In your true nature, you are free the moment you see it’s not in you. If you have a pain, observe it’s happening in the body. If there is tightness or joy in your mind, observe that it is tight, sad, unhappy or happy. Just observe that you are not enjoying, and it is happening elsewhere, as though it is happening elsewhere.
Now trust my words: ‘you are not the doer’. Life is ‘happening’ on this planet. Everything is moving. Your mind is going through ups and downs, sorrows and joys. It has its own ways, its own time.
There’s only one way you can be happy seeing that you are not the doer; that everything is just happening. 
Let it happen. Thinking you are the doer agitates you further, and you become much more restless. Not to do, to undo, is another doing. The desire to do something to get out of it is another ‘doing.’ It’s something like a pond being muddy. You know this, but then start stirring it more. And if you keep stirring, it is bound to become muddier. There is no way it can settle down. When you can feel ‘I am not the doer,’ when this confidence, this faith dawns on you, that is nectar. With that, you will become happy.
Let this fire of awareness, this fire of knowledge burn all that ignorance and destroy your sorrow. Do not be unhappy. There is no need to be unhappy or sad about your body, and the things happening in your mind, about people, situations, events and circumstances around you. Then, what can you be unhappy about? Can you be? Is there any other thing to be unhappy about? Is it? Sukhī bhava ! It is an order as well as a blessing.

Contradictions in the Bhagvad Gita


Truth is contradictory; if it is not contradictory, then it is not truth! The Bhagavad Gita is full of contradictions. You can understand it only if you see it in totality.
At one point, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that action is the most important thing. But after that, He tells him that action is all right but knowledge is better! Then Krishna says, ‘‘You must become a yogi and drop everything around you.’’
Krishna tells Arjuna in Chapter Six that since he is confused, there is no use talking. He asks him to meditate. Finally, He says, ‘‘He is the greatest amongst yogis who keeps me in his heart whether he meditates or not. He is the real yogi, because I am with him in whatever he is doing.’’
At one juncture, Krishna says, ‘‘Arjuna, there is nobody dear to me, nobody whom I love.’’ And then gives a whole list of qualifications for those He really loves!
In another instance, Krishna tells Arjuna to act without looking for the fruit of action. Later, He asks Arjuna to act properly, according to natural law. Then he tells him that he ought to fight if he wants to win the war. So, at this point he is bringing Arjuna’s attention to the fruit of action, but then he also tells him not to worry about the fruit of action.
Krishna was like a dear friend to Arjuna. In the Bhagavatam, except for Vidura and Udhava, nobody even thought he was enlightened; they all thought that he was just very smart. The Pandavas and the gopis knew who Krishna was and how complete He was from all angles. But many of them, including Arjuna, did not see him that way. Krishna, however, shows him that he is infinite.
Krishna tells Arjuna, ‘‘I will give you a special eye of knowledge, which I haven’t given anybody in ages. I am giving it to you now because it is time.’’ With that, He gives him a vision. For that one moment the universe appears as a manifestation of Krishna to Arjuna.
Arjuna sees all of creation, everything – the mountains and the rivers, the past, the present and the future – dissolving in Krishna. For an instant, the whole of life, the universe, all memories play out like a movie and it frightens Arjuna. Then Arjuna pleads, ‘‘Oh! Please show me your simple,  natural and friendly face. I like your simple smile and I want to see my friend. I don’t want to see anything beyond. It is too much for me.’’
This is called Vishva Roopa Darshana – the vision of the universal. Thereafter, Krishna tells Arjuna about the yagyas, principles and laws of the universe. Then He talks about sanyasa and how to be centred. Arjuna tells Krishna that what he says is not easy to follow. Krishna says, ‘‘I agree… It is difficult but not impossible. With practice, dispassion and by getting to the centre again, you will succeed.’’  Krishna tried everything. Finally, it was the display of the universal vision that worked on Arjuna. When Arjuna says, ‘‘I give up,’’ Krishna says, ‘‘Think and do whatever is best for you after pondering over what I have said.” And then Arjuna says his mind is clear now. Krishna had to speak through 18 chapters to get him to that point. He could have done it at the very first chapter. But the way this knowledge flows is really beautiful. Everything may appear to be all contradictory from all angles. But that is reality!

Managing time

Don’t let time manage you. First of all, you must see to it that you go with the feeling that you have time. When you put this thought in your mind that you don’t have time, then that itself becomes a block.

Everybody has only 24 hours, whether it is the Prime Minister or a clerk working in the bank. You have to hold on to this aphorism ‘I can do it’ because the pressure of time is more when you do not feel confident of accomplishing your work. Even when it appears to be impossible, even then you should have confidence; probably give miracles a chance. This very confidence in yourself that ‘I will be able to manage’ will take you through. And once something sets into your routine, then you have no problem.

Everyone takes out time to brush their teeth. This is dental hygiene, isn’t it? However busy you are, you don’t say, “I have to rush to the office” and jump out of your bed, wear your shoes and run. No! You take the time to brush your teeth, that’s dental hygiene. Similarly, I would say, take a few minutes of mental hygiene (meditation). When it fits into your routine, you’ll not find it as something you have to do extra. For 10-20 minutes, relax and do some yoga, exercise, and then you go with a fresh mind.

5 Tips to Get Past the Blame Game



When you get angry or you blame somebody, you feel a heavy load on your head. You feel uncomfortable inside, and you spread unpleasant feelings all around you too. Blaming does not give you anything positive in return. Instead, owning responsibility for all your experiences in life makes you powerful and will put an end to grumbling, planning counter attacks, explanations, and all those host of negative tendencies. Owning full responsibility, you become free.
Here are 5 tips to walk yourself out of the tendency to blame and move towards higher levels of awareness and a more positive way of life.

#1 Blaming is not going to give you anything positive in return

What is the use of blame? See, you blame someone and if that person is really a culprit, for the first time it will provoke him or her, but if you keep blaming, he becomes numb to it; he doesn’t care. Suppose someone is a real thief, and you keep telling him, ‘You are a thief’, you are wasting your time blaming him, because every time you say it, it doesn’t matter to him. It doesn’t touch him at all.
So, a true culprit doesn’t get affected by your blaming him or her. Instead of blaming them, take this opportunity as an exercise for you to maintain your equanimity and your inner balance.
If everything is okay, if everybody is praising you and you say that I am a very balanced person, it doesn’t mean much.

#2 Before blaming someone, analyze your purpose of blaming

You want to correct the person, is that why you are blaming them? Or are you blaming because you want to vent out your emotions? What is your attitude? Why do you want to do it?
If you are just venting out your emotions then that is reflect on your own immaturity and lack of control over your own mind, that all. So, analyze your purpose of blaming someone before putting the blame on them.

#3 Blame reflects lack of communication
 

If your intention is to correct a person, you cannot correct them by blaming them. You can only correct them with love, compassion and communication. Blame means no communication.
If someone is a real culprit and you want to correct them, you can only do it through communication. And if he or she is not a real culprit, then your whole exercise is futile.

#4 Switch from blame to constructive criticism

Blaming is out of anger, jealousy, hatred and does not work. It does not yield any result. Instead give constructive criticism with compassion. A criticism should go with compassion and care, then it works.

#5 Above all, be patient

If you have patience then you can turn any situation, event or place into heaven. If you lack patience you will make heaven into hell. It’s impatience that destroys situations and the environment. Learn to accept other people’s point of view, and above all, be patient, as no endeavor will be successful without patience.

Happy Buddha Purnima


Buddha Purnima is the day Buddha was born. He got enlightened, he attained nirvana and he died also on this same day. Today the moon seems 20% bigger than other times; it is a very big moon. It is a good occasion to watch the moon rise.
Buddha has left such a permanent mark on the planet for centuries to come, for people to remember the glory of the divinity.

Wake up the little Buddha inside you!

There is a little Buddha in everybody, and that Buddha is in the form of Siddhartha. Do you know who is Siddhartha? Before Buddha became Buddha, he was Siddhartha. He was wandering and lost but he had the spirit of enquiry in his heart.
Siddhartha, at a very young age understood that everything is sorrow. He said, “The world is all sorrow and I want to get rid of sorrow”, but he did not know the way. Everybody has this little Buddha inside of them, the burning spirit of enquiry; one only has to wake up to it.

Buddha’s first words after he got enlightened.

I’d like to tell you a little bit about Lord Buddha’s life.
When Lord Buddha saw the suffering in the world, he said, “Life has no meaning. If you have to become old, and you have to die, then what is the point in living!”
When he encountered a sick man, a dead man and an ascetic. He left his palace and sat in meditation for many years. After he attained enlightenment, for seven days he didn’t say a word. The angels and gods of the subtle world got worried. They said that after a long time a Buddha has come on the planet, why isn’t he speaking anything?
Buddha said, “The people who know, they know, and those who do not know, even by my speaking, will not understand. They are so busy making money, making relationships work, fighting, eating and sleeping that with my telling, nothing will get into their minds”.
All the Gods and angels argued with Buddha saying that there are some people who are on the borderline. If you just tell them, they will get it! There are people who have some idea, and who really want to know, for them you must speak. Then Lord Buddha stated speaking from that day; the seventh day.
On the seventh day, after the full moon, Lord Buddha started speaking and all he said was, “Everything is nothing!”
I want you to immediately experience one thing. Wake up and see till this moment, whatever has happened in your life for the last 30 to 50 years, is it not like a dream? Take your mind forward and backward. Now fast forward it. You’re sitting here, you will go back home, have your dinner and sleep. Tomorrow you will wake up, brush your teeth, get on with your work. The next day will roll, the third day will roll and June will come. Then July, August, September, and the New Year party will happen. It’s all gone! All the days will be gone.
Is it not like a dream? Could this be a dream, you reading these words? How do you know it is reality? It could be a dream! The present could be a dream, question the present. The future is like a dream. If you can manage to shift your attention and see this reality, you will see something above this. There is something above and beyond this, which remains, which is so beautiful. And if you see this, you gain such incredible strength, energy, love and beauty in your life out of it that nothing whatsoever can shake it.
What do you need to do? You need to simply wake up! Turn one switch off (mind), and turn the other one on (intuition). For a moment, wake up and see, this is all a dream, and discard everything. Immediately you get connected to the universal power, to the truth that you are made up of!
When you have to work with people, don’t use this philosophy, i.e., everything is nothing. You will not be able to do your business! However, keep this in mind – everything is nothing. This gives you inner strength, intuitive ability, happiness, contentment, love and compassion.
Happy Buddha Purnima!

What can i do when am unable to forgive or forget?


Then just think about your death, that you are going to die.
Even if you hold on (to the situation), still you will be finished; you will go away from this world. Now, do you want to carry that impression? Come on, wake up!
Life is so short and everybody is like a rag doll. They don’t have a mind of their own. Everyone is like a rag doll, and there is a particular force and energy that is working through everybody. That one Paramakaranakarana is the cause of all causes. The Shiva Tattva is playing, putting different things in different people’s minds. Understand this Advaita knowledge; feel it.
We are all made up of the same substance. All these little minds are there, but the mind is also influenced by a big mind, and according to karma. So, different people act in different ways.
Have you noticed that sometimes, you haven’t done anything wrong to anyone, and still they became your enemies? How many of you have had this experience? Especially people to whom you have done a lot of good to, they become your enemies. You wonder, this person is my best friend, I did so much for him, and this person became my enemy! Isn’t it?
In the same way, there are some people to whom you have not done any special favors, yet they have become your friends, hasn’t this happened? You met someone in the train and then they came out and helped you so much.
So both, friendship and enmity happens with some strange law of karma. That is why friends or enemies are all same, because another power is working through them. Knowing this, relax.
Similarly, when you do good work, there are people who criticize you. There are people who do horrible work, and there are some people praising them as well. You find it so strange.
So, drop them all and relax.

If you had only 10 days left on this planet, what would you be doing?

We have lived today’s life. Be happy today. And tomorrow’s life will begin with the next sunrise. And the next day’s with the next sunrise...
If you only had ten days to live on this planet, what would you want to do? Sit and think what your priorities are. Are you worried about your relationship? In ten days you are going to go away, kick the bucket. Are you worried about your property? Are you worried about your friends and foes? Are you worried about what you are going to eat, your eating preferences? What are your preferences? Ten days to live of your life, and what are you going to do? We keep living as though we will live forever.
We hang onto things as though they will be there forever. We forget the sense of time and life –the flow of life. Isn’t that our only problem?
You are so concerned about your relationship. A girl didn’t smile at you or a boy went with somebody else. What are you worried about? Where will they be? People are burned down with this sense of relationship. People are burned down with things about friends, wasting precious life and time. A friend of yours behaved badly with you and hurt you.
What actually hurts you is your foolishness. Let them behave the way they want! But you want everybody to be on your railway tracks. You have set railway tracks for people, and you want everybody to walk on those tracks. The moment they give you a surprise, you say you never wanted that in your life. How can you get over it? What do you want to get over? Just wake up and look. Neither of you are going to be there long. You will both be under the earth in no time.
You won’t even be able to recognize this body. And if you continue to live like that, nobody will even take your name. Nobody will even know you existed on this planet. Anyway, even if they do, it has no meaning for you, does it? Where are you to begin? You feel that one person did this to you and another person did that. That they did not smile at you, or that they smiled at you. That they said something good. They did this… Where is your freedom? We carry such stupid things with us wherever we go! A doormat can remove the mud from your feet, but if you carry mud in your head, what can remove it?
Contentment is what you need. If people have behaved well with you and been friendly to you, thank them for what they have done for you. Don’t become a burden on them. The whole world needs to understand this; the entire world is burning out for nothing. Every moment put yourself into knowledge. Everybody should be immersed in two or three hours of sevā (service).
If we look for what we do not have, there will be no contentment.  I would like you to be contented  in your mind, in your heart. Don’t have feverishness or craving for it.