Just "be", but don't be lazy

 

Just Be. 

Joy is dissolving... losing your identity.

Rest is dissolving... losing your identity. 

Love is dissolving... losing your identity. 

Relax and just be. 

That does not mean be lazy... No! Be very busy... and just be. 

Events come and go, they perish like flowers. But every event and every person contains some honey. Like a bee, just take the honey out of every event and every moment and move on. Be like a busy bee and be in the Being. 

If you ask me, what is the nectar of life, the answer is, the Infinity...the Divinity.

Connection between love and authority - II

 

Usually, where there is aishwarya – lordship – there is no madhurya – sweetness – and where there is madhurya, there is no aishwarya. Where life has blossomed fully, there is both. Aishwarya means ishwaratva – lordship of that which “Is.” Wealth is also referred to as aishwarya, because wealth commands a certain amount of authority. 

Can love and authority co-exist? Only in a fully blossomed Being is there both lordship and sweetness. There was aishwarya in Sri Rama, but only glimpses of madhurya. In Parshuram’s life there was only lordship, but no madhurya. Buddha manifested more madhurya – the sweetness – and less authority. 

But Krishna manifested both and so did Jesus. There was lordship when they said, “I am the way,” and there was sweetness in their expressions of prayer and love. I am the valentine of the whole world and I reside in every heart. If you are my valentine, you will see me everywhere. Have the same love for everyone, but with different flavors. You cannot behave the same way with everyone, but you can love all of them the same. Love transcends behavior and etiquette. 

In a congregation, when asked, “How many of you feel strong?”, many people raised their hands. When asked, “Why?” they responded “Because you are with us.” Only those who feel weak can surrender. All those who were feeling strong were taken aback; suddenly they felt weak! If you are in love, you feel weak because love makes you weak. Yet there is no power stronger than love. Love is strength. Love is the greatest power on earth. You feel absolutely powerful when you are with the Divine.

Yet we keep alternating between strength and weakness. That is the fluctuation in life. When you feel weak – surrender. When you feel strong – do seva.

Connection between love and authority - I

 

Love and authority are totally opposite values, yet they coexist. 

The grosser the consciousness, the more pronounced must be authority. The more refined and subtle the consciousness, the less need to exercise authority. When you are unrefined, you demand authority and when you demand authority, love recedes. 

Asserting authority indicates a lack of confidence and love. The more evident one’s authority, the less sensitive and effective it will be. A sensible person will not demand authority at all but will assume it. The most effective business leaders will not impose their authority, will not make you feel it, for authority can never bring inspiration. 

Your sincere servant has more authority over you than your boss. A baby has full authority over his mother. Similarly, a devotee has complete authority over the Divine, though he never exercises it. Remember that:

• The less love you have, the more pronounced will be your authority. 
• The greater your love, the subtler will be your authority. 
• The subtler you become, the more authority you gain. 

Transcending karma

 

Action comes out of conscious decision. Reaction comes out of impulsiveness. Impulsiveness creates a chain of karma. 

Reaction and non-action both create karma, but conscious action transcends karma. Although conscious action does not create new karma, non-action can. A soldier shooting in war and a policeman using tear gas do not create karma, but a doctor who fails to give medicine to a patient in need incurs karma. 

Through knowledge and devotion, transcend all karma and be free.

Be authentic, skillfully

 

Authenticity and skillfulness appear to be contradictory but in fact they are complementary. Your intentions need to be authentic and your actions need to be skillful. The more authentic the intention, the more skillful the action will be. Authentic intention and skillful action make you unshakable.

Skill is required only when authenticity cannot have its way. Yet skill without authenticity makes you shallow. You cannot have an authentic action and a skillful intention. If you try to be authentic in your action but manipulative in your mind, then that is when mistakes happen.

Now is it possible to have a powerful intention, like greed, that is authentic? If your intention is colored by such emotions as greed or overambition, then your intention is not authentic. Whenever your intentions are impure, it pricks your consciousness, so it cannot be authentic. Authentic intentions are free from negative emotions. An action that is not skillful leads to negative emotions and an intention that is not authentic harbors negative emotions.

The best way to deal with intentions, is tonot keep any sankalpas, or intentions, to yourself. Offer them to the Divine.

Actions can never be perfect, but our intentions can be perfect. Actions always have room for improvement. Action implies growth and movement, and that needs space. The depth in you and the freedom in you bring out all the skillfulness in you. Krishna was the most skillful because his silence was so deep.

What gratitude means, for one on the spiritual path

 

When you are on a spiritual path, you are not thankful or obliged to anyone. In the Bhagvad Gita, Krishna says, “na abhinandati na dveshthi” – he is dear to Me who neither goes on thanking people nor hates anyone. Thanking and feeling obliged indicate that you believe in someone else’s existence rather than in the Divine who rules everything. When you feel obliged, then you are not honoring the principles of karma or the Divine plan. 

Appreciate people for what they are; do not thank them for what they do. Otherwise your thankfulness is centered around ego. Be grateful, but do not be grateful for an act. Be grateful for what is. 

As every individual is nothing but a puppet of the One, thanking and feeling obliged simply demonstrates ignorance. Everything is ruled, controlled and managed by one Divinity. That consciousness has to shine forth in every act of yours; you do not need to make a mood of it. 

So, what should you do when you are grateful to the master? When you have a total sense of belonging, then gratitude does not become an obligation. Such gratitude is for the Divine only and this gratitude enhances your strength.

When you praise, make it count

 

Praising the fool benefits society! 

A fool who is pleased might stop doing harm and start doing useful work. In this sense it is wise to praise a fool; it helps to motivate him. So, your praise is meaningful when it is directed towards a fool. 

A wise man by his nature will continue doing good work because his attitude does not depend on someone’s praise or blame. So, it serves no purpose to praise a wise man because your praise will have no impact on him. 

There are three types of people – the wise, the crooked and the immature. 

The wise man continues doing good work whether he is scolded or praised. 

Crooked people need to be praised to get them to do good work. 

And from time-to-time immature people need to be both praised and scolded for them to do something good.

What does it really mean, to worship?

 

Divinity is unmanifest, but man has an innate desire to perceive the Divine in the manifest creation around him. He creates idols, breathes faith into them and requests Divinity to be present in the idols for awhile so that he can worship, express his love and play with the Divine. At the end of his worship he requests Divinity to go back into his heart from where it manifested. This is in all puja practices. 

People do not actually worship the idols but instead worship the unmanifest Divinity which has all the Divine qualities. So, the idol worshippers of the East are not the same as those described in the Bible, because they are not just worshipping different gods and different idols, they are worshipping the one Divinity in many different forms. 

Paganism, Satanism and animal worship, without the knowledge of the one Divinity, is very different from seeing the Divine in every form of the manifest universe. In the Eastern tradition, gods and goddesses are part of the one Divinity like the different colors of white sunlight, while in the Greek tradition, gods and goddesses are in themselves different and unique entities. 

Worshipping Satan and different entities is completely unlike worshipping Divinity in its various forms. Every form belongs to the Divine. When you adore the form, you adore the Divinity behind the form. With this knowledge, the very act of worship, which is more an inner phenomenon, assumes a more colorful and vibrant expression indicating that both the form and the formless are all Divine.

Why we worship

 

For a flame to rise up, you need space above it. In the same way, for a man to rise up in his life, he needs an ideal, something to adore and worship. In worship, love, honor, respect and a sense of belongingness all come together. However, without a sense of belongingness, worship or idealism can lead to low self-esteem. Ancient people knew this so they insisted that people should feel a part of what they worship. They encouraged people to worship the sun, moon, mountains, rivers, plants, animals and other people. 

Worship is the culmination of love and appreciation. Worship prevents love from turning into hatred or jealousy, and prevents appreciation from becoming low self-esteem. In life, if you do not adore or appreciate anything, you will be filled with negativity; a person who has nothing to worship or adore is sure to fall into depression. 

Lack of adoration has led to many emotional, psychological and social problems in society. If you have nothing to hold high in life, selfishness, arrogance and violence are sure to follow. Adoring and honoring each other in society eliminates stress and fosters compassion and love. 

In the previous century, it was thought that worshipping was an uncivilized and unintelligent thing to do. Worship was thought to rise from a slavish mentality. In fact, it is just the contrary. Worship can only happen through gratefulness and not through subservience. Worship in a true sense is a sign of maturity and not of weakness. 

So, if worship is the culmination of love, does worship also have a culmination? The culmination of worship is self-knowledge, samadhi.