Sacredness of certain symbolism

 

In all cultures throughout the ages, certain places, times of the year, persons and symbols have been considered sacred. Native Americans and other tribal people consider the earth, sun, moon and all the directions to be sacred. In the ancient tradition of India, the rishis considered all the rivers, mountains and even animals, trees and herbs to be sacred. 

And what of people? They are definitely sacred. Various cultures honor certain people and consider them to be sacred. 

For Christians, the cross, Jerusalem, Christmas and the Pope are sacred. For Muslims, the crescent moon, Mecca and the month of Ramadan are sacred. The Hindus consider the river Ganges, the Himalayas and the Swamis to be sacred. 

When you consider a place, time, person, symbol, or act sacred, your attention is undivided and whole. When things are ordinary and the same, you tend to slip into unawareness and inertia. The moment you consider something sacred, your inertia disappears and you become more alive.

There is nothing as fulfilling as a sacred act. You put your heart and soul into a sacred act. When every action of yours becomes sacred, you have become one with the Divine. Then every minute of your life is sacred, every place you go to becomes sacred, every act of yours is sacred and every person you meet is only your reflection. 

An act when performed repeatedly loses its sacredness. This happens when your memory overpowers your consciousness and you lose your sensitivity. For example, people living in Benares do not feel that it is a sacred place. It is too familiar; that sensitivity is just not there. 

How can we preserve that feeling of sacredness in our acts? Through living in the present moment and through sadhana (spiritual practice). Your sadhana will not allow your memory to overpower consciousness. Then repetition is not a hindrance. 

It is good to feel that some places, times, people and symbols are sacred so that you can be awake and alive. But eventually you need to transcend and feel that the entire creation and your whole life are sacred. 

For the person of God, the whole world, with all its symbols, places and people are sacred at all times. Be a person of God!

On Shivaratri

 

Peace is your nature, yet you remain restless. 

Freedom is your nature, yet you remain in bondage. 

Happiness is your nature, yet you become miserable for some reason or another. 

Contentment is your nature, yet you continue to reel in desires. 

Benevolence is your nature, yet you do not reach out. 

Moving towards your nature is sadhana. 

Sadhana is becoming what you truly are! Your true nature is Shiva. And Shiva is peace, infinity, beauty and the non-dual One. Ratri means “to take refuge.” Shivaratri is taking refuge in Shiva.

Considering our past, present and future

 

When people consider past events to be the result of free will they are filled with remorse and regret. When they consider future events as destiny, lethargy and inertia set in. 

A wise person will consider the past as destiny and the future as free will. When you consider the past as destiny, no more questions are raised and the mind is at ease. 

And when you consider the future as free will, you are filled with enthusiasm and dynamism. Of course there will be some uncertainty and some anxiety when you consider the future as free will, but it can also bring alertness and creativity.

Now, how do we remove the anxiety? By having faith in the Divine and doing sadhana. Consider the past as destiny, the future as free will and the present moment as Divinity.

Don't be friendly, at times

 

Secretaries, police, judges, accountants and people in key positions should not be friendly! The disadvantages of being friendly are:

• You come under some sort of obligation. 
• You lose your freedom. 
• You become prone to picking up bad habits and negative moods. 
• Your perception cannot be free and fair. Your thoughts and actions may not be impartial. 
• Your focus, commitment, creativity and above all, your time will be wasted. 

It takes much wisdom to be free from the burden of obligation and not be influenced by your friends’ opinions and feelings. On many occasions, it is better to be unfriendly than friendly. 

Being unfriendly does not mean being aggressive and inimical. The best secretaries, personal assistants, security personnel and judges have to be unfriendly. Those who are aloof and indifferent get centered more quickly than those who are too friendly. A certain degree of aloofness in every relationship will strengthen your personality and connect you to your source. It is easy to be aloof or unfriendly. But to be friendly and aloof is sadhana. 

Whether your time is good or bad, is in your hands

 

People who are willing to do seva, service, will have good times even in the bad times. When there are problems, such as famine or war, Red Cross people are fine as they are serving. The more relief they bring, the happier they feel. And people who are selfish and who just want to enjoy themselves will be miserable even in good times.

Often the organizers of a party do not enjoy the party because some little thing is missing, they forgot to invite somebody, somebody did not come, or some little thing went wrong. 

A wise one is happy even in bad times. And the ignorant one is unhappy even in good times. You make time good or bad. People usually blame bad time and just wait for good time.

Even if an astrologer says that you are in a hopeless time, you can still make it a good time! Like weather, time has its impact on you. Your satsang and sadhana are your shield, your protection. 

So realize that you are more than time and that you can change the time by your connection to the Divine.

Is God one or many?

 

Are you testing God? God will never pass your test because He will never show up for it. If He does show up for your test, then He is not God!

The Divine has given you all the small pleasures in the world, but has kept bliss to Himself. To get the highest bliss, you have to go to Him and Him alone. Do not be too smart with the Divine and try to fool Him. Most of your prayers and rituals are just attempts to trick the Divine. You try to give the least and get the most out of the Divine, and He knows this. God is an astute businessman, he will trick you even more. If you sweep something underneath the carpet to find Him, He will sweep something underneath the floor. Be sincere, do not try to outsmart the Divine. 

Once you receive bliss, then everything else is joyful. Without bliss, any joy in the world is will not stay. 

You have always thought of God as a father up in the heavens somewhere. With that concept in mind, you want to demand and take from God. But can you see God as a child? When you see God as a child, you have no demands. God is the very core of your existence. 

You are pregnant with God, you must take care of your pregnancy and deliver the child into the world. Most people do not even deliver. God is your child. God clings to the devotee. He clings to you like a baby until you grow old and die. God keeps crying for nourishment. He needs you to nourish Him in the world. Sadhana, satsang and seva are God’s nourishment.

Why do you think God is only one? Why cannot God also be many? If God made man in His own image, then what image is He? African, Mongolian, Caucasian, Japanese, Filipino? 

Why are there so many types of man and so many varieties of things? There is not just one type of tree, not just one type of snake, cloud, mosquito or vegetable. There is not just one type of anything, so why should God be only one? How could this consciousness that manifested this whole creation and which loves variety, be monotonous? 

God loves variety, so He must be of infinite variety Himself. God manifests in many names, forms and varieties.

Act stupid & celebrate boredom

 

Different organs of your body are governed by different devas. The solar plexus is connected with the sun – which is why it is called “solar” plexus. When the first rays of the sun fall on the solar plexus, it is very good for your body. This is why it is good to do Surya Namaskar (sun salutation yoga asana) in the early morning. The solar plexus has a profound impact on the central nervous system, the optic nerves, the stomach and what we usually call our ‘gut feeling’. It is the second brain in your body.

Usually, the solar plexus is slightly bigger than an almond. But with the practice of yoga, meditation and Sudarshan Kriya, the solar plexus can become as large as an apricot. Then it performs better and balances the bodily functions. When the solar plexus expands, the intuitive mind awakens and the mind becomes clear and focused. When the solar plexus contracts, you feel miserable, sad, depressed, and all sorts of negative feelings come. Doing Surya Namaskar yoga asana, sun salutation in the early morning is an excellent way to expand the solar plexus.

Krishna was called Padmanabha, which means “whose navel is the size of a lotus flower”. If you become Padmanabha, you become absolutely creative. Brahma, the Creator, said to be born out of a blossomed solar plexus. These days, the solar plexus remains small, but the tummy keeps getting bigger. 

If you are unable to meditate, if your mind is chattering too much and nothing works, just feel that you are a little stupid. Then you will be able to sink deep in. Your intellect is a small portion of your total consciousness. If you are stuck in the intellect, you miss a lot. Happiness is when you transcend the intellect. In awe or in feeling stupid, you transcend the intellect. Have you noticed how mentally retarded people are more happy? 

How do you go beyond the intellect? By acting stupid. Everyone avoids being stupid, no one wants to look dumb. That is really stupid. Stupidity should be followed by meditation, otherwise depression may follow.

What is boredom? Just a repetition without interest or love that causes a monotonous state of mind and overshadows the self. 

Spiritual practices are again a repetition whose purpose is to destroy the boredom and reunite you with the self. A practice itself creates boredom but as you continue, you penetrate the boredom and destroy it once and for all. Whether the practice gives you joy or boredom, it must be continued. Only your practice of your sadhana can overcome the mind. 

The self is love and love is always repetitive. Love letters are simply repetitive but there is no boredom there. If you are bored with yourself just imagine how much more boring you are for others. Root out boredom in you through deep and continued meditation. Wake up and walk upwards. 

Only a conscious, alert and dynamic person can get bored, a dull and inert person does not. If you get bored, it indicates you are more alive and human. It is a sign that you are growing, that you are evolving. An animal, for example, keeps doing the same thing. It never gets bored. Cows, horses, birds do the same things over and over all their lives. People eat, watch television, change jobs, change partners to escape boredom. They become frustrated and this frustration takes them back to inertia and unconsciousness. 

Only in two states does boredom not occur - in a state of total inertia or in a state of divine consciousness. If you are bored, it indicates you are evolving. Boredom moves you. Be proud of your boredom and celebrate. Dissolving the name is awareness. Dissolving the form is meditation. The world is name and form.

Awareness comes with sadhana

 

Yagnas are the ancient methods of enriching the subtle, to purify the individual as well as the collective consciousness. 

Yagna has 3 aspects -

1. Deva puja - honouring the Divine in all forms. 

2. Sangatikarana - hastening the process of evolution by unifying all the elements and people in creation. 

3. Dana - sharing with others, giving freely what one has been blessed with.

Yagna creates energy and energy creates consciousness, awareness. Heightened awareness brings you close to reality and reality is a witness. To realise that everything is happening you need heightened awareness. And to bring about heightened awareness you have to increase prana.

Prana can be increased through -

1. Fasting and fresh food.

2. Cold water baths. 

3. Total exhaustion, not letting sleep take over

4. Emotional peaks. 

5. Singing and chanting.

6. Pranayam, Sudarshan Kriya and meditation.

7. Giving without giver-ship, serving without doer-ship. 

8. The presence of the master. 

9. Silence. 

All these together are yagnas. To the degree that you are awake, everything around you brings knowledge. If you are not awake, even the most precious knowledge does not make sense. 

Awareness depends upon your ability to open and shut your windows. When there is a storm, you need to shut your windows, otherwise you will get wet. When it is hot and suffocating inside, you need to open your windows. Your senses are like windows.

When you are awake, you have the ability to open and shut your windows at will, then you are free. If your windows cannot be shut or opened at will, you are bound. Attending to this is sadhana or spiritual practice. 

Sadhana is the conditioning needed to attain perfection

 

All the problems that you face in life are because you attach too much importance to events. The events grow bigger while you remain smaller. Imagine you are riding a motorcycle on a busy road and in front of you there is a vehicle emitting exhaust fumes. You have 3 options. 

1. You can remain behind the vehicle, complain and somehow bear with it. 

2. You can slow down or wait, allowing the vehicle to move far ahead. 

3. you can use your skill, overtake the vehicle and forget about it.

As in the first option, most of you stick on the events and are miserable, inhaling fumes throughout your journey. In the second option, you do not get permanent relief, as another bigger vehicle might move in front of you. Running away from events is not a permanent solution. 

Wise people use their skill to surmount the event. If your vehicle is in perfect condition, skill is effective. Conditioning the vehicle is sadhana, practice, and skill is the grace of the master. The mistakes you have made in the past have made you humble; you need not make mistakes in the future to become humble. If you pour water into a half-baked pot, the pot is ruined, and the water is also wasted. If the pot is well baked and strong, it will hold up whether you put water into the pot or put the pot into water. 

Focus sharpens the mind and relaxation expands the mind. Just an expanded mind without sharpness cannot bring holistic development. At the same time, just a sharp mind without expansion causes tension, anger and frustration. The balance of a focused mind and an expanded consciousness brings perfection. Sudarshan Kriya and the advanced course techniques aim at developing consciousness that is sharp and unbounded. Seva and commitment play a major role in this, as do the food you eat and your attitude in daily life. 

Expanded consciousness is peace and joy. Focused consciousness is love and creativity. A point of focused consciousness is individual self. When every atom of the expanded consciousness becomes sharp and focused, that is the awakening of Divinity. 

Finding comfort in conflict

 

When you are in a harmonious environment your mind picks up any excuse to be in conflict. Often, small things are enough to create a big turmoil. When your survival is at stake, you do not complain that nobody loves you. But when you are safe and feel secure, you start demanding attention. Many people create conflict in order to get attention. 

Ask yourself this question. Do you seek harmony in every situation or do you seek to widen the differences and prove your righteousness? 

The seed of negativity and the tendency for conflict in you can only be annihilated by sadhana, i.e. spiritual practices. Only speak knowledge. Do not repeat anything bad that someone tells you about someone else. When someone comes to tell you negative things, discourage them. Do not believe it. If someone blames you directly, do not believe it. Just know that they are taking away your bad karma and let it go. 

If you are one of the master’s close ones, you will take all the blame of the world with a smile. When you blame someone, you take on their bad karma, when you praise someone, you take on their good karma. Surrender both good and bad karma to the Divine – and be free. Conflict is the nature of the world, comfort is the nature of the Self. 

Amidst conflict, find the comfort. When you are tired of conflicts and the games of the world, get into the comforts of the Self. When you are bored with comfort, get into the games of the world. If you are one of the Master’s close ones, you do both simultaneously. People who love peace do not want to fight, and those who fight do not have peace. What is needed is to be peaceful within and then fight. 

Just trying to end a conflict only prolongs it. Instead, face the conflict while seeking the comfort of the Self. This is the whole message of the Bhagvad Gita. Krishna tells Arjuna to be centered in peace and to fight at the same time. 

God is alive in the world and has been putting up with all conflicts throughout the ages. If God can put up with all these conflicts, you can too. And the moment you agree to be with a conflict, it no longer appears as a conflict to you. The nature of this world is that once you resolve one conflict, another arises. For example, Russia is solved and then Bosnia is in trouble. Or you get a cold, then you get better, then your back hurts, then it gets better. And when your body is fine, then the mind goes. Things in this world run this way, don’t they? 

Without any intention, misunderstandings simply happen and conflicts arise. It’s not up to you to resolve them. Just be with them and be alive.

Going beyond attachments

 

Krishna means the most attractive. He is the divinity, the energy that attracts everything to it. Krishna is the formless centre that is everywhere. All attractions from anywhere come only from Krishna. Often people fail to see the spirit behind the attraction, and merely hold onto the outer shell. And the moment you try to possess the shell, you will see Krishna has played a trick, you will be left with an empty shell in your hands and tears in your eyes.

Do not be tricked by Krishna - be clever like Radha. Krishna could not escape from Radha because her whole world was filled with Krishna. If you can see that wherever there is an attraction there is Krishna, then you are Radha, you are in your centre. The mind moves towards beauty, joy and truth. Krishna tells Arjuna, “I am the beauty in the Beautiful, the strength in the Strong, the wisdom in the Wise.” 

In this way he arrests the mind from moving away from him. Attachments cause feverish breath. Feverish breath takes away your peace of mind. Then you are in pieces and fall prey to misery. Unfortunately, most people do not notice this until it is too late. Before you get scattered too much, gather yourself together and rid your breath of feverishness through surrender and sadhana - spiritual practices. When you are drowning in the ocean of attachments, surrender is a life jacket you can put on and wait for the rescue team. 

Without fighting attachments, observe your feverish breath and go to the cool place of silence within. Your first step in this direction is directing your attachment to knowledge, to the Divine. Your non-attachment to the mundane is your charm. Your attachment to the Divine is your beauty. Craving comes from encouraging thoughts of pleasure. Yet the actual experience of pleasure may not be as pleasurable as the memory of it.

Whether you encourage a worldly thought or a Divine thought, they both bring you pleasure. Worldly thoughts lead to indulgence, which brings you down from pleasure to some disappointment and dejection. Divine thoughts take you up from pleasure to bliss, intelligence and progress in life. Worldly thoughts bring pleasure only as memory, while Divine thoughts materialize as reality.

What is a Divine thought?

 - That, I’m not the body, I am bliss, satchitananda, I’m unbounded space, I’m love, I’m peace and light.

What is a worldly thought?

 - Worldly thoughts are about money, sex, food, power, status and self-image. Truth is hidden by the golden veil of the mundane. Pierce through this thin glittering sheath and know you are the sun. 

In the world, everybody is after GOLD, some are after GOOD, only a few are after GOD. Transcend GOLD, transcend the GOOD and reach GOD.

Meditation, pranayama and prayer eliminates doubts

 

When a child starts becoming aware of its own body, it starts asking more and more questions. And when the body matures into adolescent stage, there are ever so many questions that reel in the mind. Doubt is that state of mind where it’s not fully alive. Answers cannot satisfy doubt. Hearing and seeing cannot eliminate doubt. 

Only prana can eliminate doubt. When a doubt arises in your mind, know that your prana has gone down. The life in you is dull. The wick in the lamp is going down. On the day you do pranayama or deep breathing, you feel so alive. Every cell in your body is alive, and then there is no doubt in the mind. You feel so wonderful because of this. There is no split in your consciousness. 

Doubt is the split. A portion is awake and another major portion is asleep – the unfulfilled. And when the prana is high, you are so fulfilled. So when you have doubts, do more sadhana or practice of deep breathing. This is called shraddha or faith, the opposite of doubt. It starts with self-doubt doubting the self, doubting everything in the world and doubting the Divine. 

Moments of doubt are like clouds. The clouds do come, but they come and disappear. If you do not cooperate or engage with them, they will simply come and go. If you shake hands with them and flow with them, then it will take a longer time to overcome them. Truth will always stand out and win in the end. Doubts may come, and this is quite possible because of the company that we keep.

There are three types of faith in the world (being Hindu, Muslim or Christian, is not types of faith). There are only three types of people who have faith, i.e. there are three types of faith – in the divine, in the universe and in the world.  

There are people who just believe or have faith in the material world. You have to believe in the world. You do not know everything about this world and you believe in what you do not know. There is no need to believe what you know. You have to believe what you do not know. You do not know about anybody. You do not know about yourself, your wife, children, husband, your parents, or anybody. Do you think you know anything about them? If you think you do, you are mistaken. You know something about them, partially. 

Faith in your Self, faith in the world and faith in something we do not know, the Divine. You can start from anywhere. Any one point will lead to all three; all three come together. When doubts arise in you, keep a fast, meditate, do pranayama and prayers, and see the shift that happens and the doubts vanish. There’s a shift in your consciousness.

True prayer happens with devotion and faith

 

Prayer is a vital tool to improve your life. When you feel the obstacle is too much to handle, deep prayer can work miracles. Whatever you do, know that the higher power has the final say and you can tap that power through your prayers because prayer is the cry of a soul. It happens when you feel utterly helpless or when you feel totally grateful. Both are authentic and always get fulfilled.

Praying doesn’t mean just sitting and chanting some words. It is about being in that serene, calm, meditative state. Whereas religion puts words to prayer, and adds symbols and rituals to it, prayer itself transcends them. It happens in the subtle level of feelings and the feelings transcend words and religion. This silence is one step beyond the barriers of language. It is that which the whole universe can understand. That is why, in the Vedic tradition, before and after prayers, there is meditation.

When the mind is focused, prayer becomes far more powerful. You have to connect to yourself because all powers are hidden within the Self. Then everything will manifest. It is like using the cell phone. If you keep on pressing numbers but there is no SIM card inside, will it work? Similarly, some of our prayers are not getting connected. You haven’t put in the SIM card. Now if you have the SIM card and no range, will it work? Or, if the range and SIM card are there, but battery is not charged, will it work? You need a SIM card, charge and range and only then you can call anyone, anywhere.

So, sadhana is the SIM card, satsang is the charge and your faith is the range, because true prayer can’t happen without devotion and faith. The act of praying itself has the power to bring transformation. Realise that God’s protection is there for you. And if at all you have to pray for something, pray for the happiness of all the people in the world.

Life Lessons from the Bhagvad Gita

 

The Bhagvad Gita caters to the entire range of human evolution. It stands for poise and equanimity and for performing one’s designated duty. There are seven important lessons Lord Krishna has given in the Bhagvad Gita that we should all remember.

Honour Existence: The Bhagvad Gita says that the Universe is made up of eight elements: earth, water, fire, air, ether (space), mind, intellect, and consciousness. The five sheaths to human existence are the environment, physical body, prana or energy, mind and consciousness. So, the whole universe is an individual part, and we are part and parcel of the universe.

Peaceful Fight: Krishna tells Arjuna to fight but be in peace at the same time. He says, “First, go inside and cleanse yourself. Do not fight with hatred, but fight for justice; fight with equanimity.”

Mind your Mind: The Gita says, “Your own mind is responsible for your bondage and for your liberation.” Your mind keeps changing all the time. If your mind is trained well through sadhana (spiritual practices), it befriends and helps you. Otherwise, your own mind behaves like an enemy.

Karma Yoga: Liberation is acquired by nishkama-karma - action done without any feverishness or attachment to the fruits of the action. Karma yoga is doing work with total responsibility.

Stop the hurt: Lord Krishna first hurts Arjuna by saying, “What a coward you are to want to run from the battlefield?” But Arjuna doesn’t argue. When you feel hurt, don’t shut down. Look into the situation. If a wise person’s actions, or someone you have a lot of regard for, hurts you, then know that it is for some good reason. If a friend is hurting you, know that some karma is getting released. If the hurt is coming from an ignorant person, then have compassion. These three attitudes can make your whole personality shine.

You are sukha: Remember that that which is temporary is sorrowful. Sukha (happiness) is inside you. Don’t look for happiness in that which is temporary, fleeting and changing. Joy and happiness are only in that which does not change.

Witness the Flow of Time: The relevance of Gita is in observing the flow of events in your life. That is ‘sakshi’! Look at your past — Is it not a dream? Similarly, another 20 years will pass. Remembering that, “Whether unpleasant or pleasant things are happening, I am a witness to it. My mind getting caught up in it is also part of the happening; I am witness to that too.” This is how you rise above any situation.

Just like how the air comes and blows everything away, in the same way, all of life’s events come and go. But what is essential is that you should not get stuck anywhere, move ahead and put in your efforts. Whatever is yours will come to you for sure.

Limited effect of astrology

 

The planetary positions only give indications. You cannot say that what is predicted will happen 100%. They only give an indication because there is always an element of "grace" that can change anything, anywhere, anytime. 

This is the reason spirituality or sadhana (spiritual practices) are a step higher than the knowledge of astrology. Astrology is knowledge - it is necessary to know it. However, there is something more remedial. Sadhana, satsang (company of truth), devotion, are all remedial measures that help.

Astrological predictions are like weather forecasts. There is always a probability factor. The remedy for malefic effects is devotion and seva (service).

Why do good people suffer?

 

Sometimes you feel that you have not harmed anyone in your present life, or even thought ill of anyone, yet you are suffering and going through misery. This question is very common. We often have a very limited understanding of our own life, and think that life is just this short time span of 50-60 years.

You should always remember that people’s ideas, emotions and opinions keep on changing. Everything changes. Many friends become enemies and enemies become friends. You are friends with somebody and suddenly for no obvious reason they become your enemy. You have not done anything wrong to anyone, yet they turn out to be unfriendly towards you. Sometimes people who you do not even know will come to your help. You have not done them any great favour, yet they help you. This friendship and animosity works on a deeper principle called karma. 

If your time is good, your worst enemies also start behaving like your friends. And if your time is not good, then your closest friends too will misunderstand you and start behaving like your enemies. If you look back, you will realise that somewhere you have sown the seeds for a tree of thorns. So today, or sometime later, you will surely have to reap the thorns of that tree. 

There are two types of karma: one that immediately gives fruit and second, one that yields fruit sometime later. For example, if you place your hand in a fire, you will immediately get burnt, right now, not tomorrow or any time later. But if you sow a mango seed today, it will take a few years for it to grow into a tree. In the same way, some karma yields their fruits almost instantly, while some take time to bear fruit. 

Look back at your own life and see how many challenges you have had and how you have sailed through them and come out. This will give you confidence. The other option is to realise that you have to pay some debt, and so you are undergoing what you are undergoing. But do not think that every problem or suffering that you go through is only because of your actions from past lifetimes. Some of it also comes because of the foolishness and ignorance from the present lifetime also. 

You cannot simply say that the people who are good keep suffering, or keep going through difficult times. People also suffer because of their own foolishness, and because of their ignorance. If someone says, ‘I am very good and noble’, and then goes and puts his hand in fire, then he is bound to get burnt. You should also have a presence of mind and use your intelligence before you act. To free yourself from the results of past actions, you should be regular with sadhana (spiritual practices).When you see this from a bigger perspective, great inner strength dawns within you and you are able to smile through any situation.

Power of Sankalpa

 

Strength lies in the power of your sankalpa (intention). The mind is full of sankalpa and vikalpa (imagination, fancy). Each work gets done through sankalpa. Even the act of moving one’s arm is preceded by the sankalpa in the mind. The sankalpa of a weak mind is ineffective. We can make our mind strong by sadhana (spiritual practices) and knowledge. Then the sankalpa will also be strong.

We don’t use the mind power that has been bestowed upon us by nature. It is the greatest gift we have been given. There are two schools of thought. One says you visualise your dream and work for it. The other tells you to surrender everything to God; whatever the lord gives you is the best, and He will take care of everything. They appear to be incompatible but I would say they are very much compatible. It is good to have an intention or a goal. You don’t keep on visualising your goal 24×7, but continuing to work for that, you leave it to God. Only the combination of two will work.

There is a difference between intention and desire. Desire is that which gives you anger and upsets you. Sankalpa is having an intention. It means taking your consciousness to the universe, to the infinite; then bringing the mind to the present moment, and making a wish for something that you long for in your mind. Desire means it has to happen now. In sankalpa you say, “let it happen whenever it has to.” When we have an intention and focus our attention on that, it will start manifesting. 

Suppose you want to go to Mumbai from Bangalore. You buy a ticket and travel for around three hours and go there. But you don’t keep chanting all this time that you want to go to Mumbai and you are going to Mumbai. You may even land up in a mental hospital! Desire is the feverishness that clogs an intention. An intention is a desire free from feverishness. And then working towards your intention, you have to keep the faith that whatever nature brings back is for your growth.

Obstacle to Intention

There is a limitation in the field of action (karma kshetra). But it is necessary to make a little bit of effort. This is the essence of the Bhagavad Gita: “Be involved in action and have unswerving faith in the power of intention (sankalpa).” Have the faith and know the best will happen. And even if momentarily it appears not to be the best thing for you, in the long run whatever is best will happen to you. This belief will carry you through. It can also strengthen your sankalpa. If you doubt, “Oh maybe I have this problem,” or “I don’t know if this will happen,” or “Maybe I will not succeed,” — it can act like a brake when driving the car. Your hand brake is on and you’re driving the car. So no more self-doubt. Know that the best will happen to you in your life.

What we should know that we already have what we want in life. You start with this intention, “I already have what I want”, then what you want will fructify easily. Thinking, “I have it”, is like sowing a seed. Once you sow it, you put water and manure and it will sprout and grow. So you know mentally that the seed is there. Same way, whatever you want to achieve in life, know that you are that and you have it. If you think, you don’t have it in you, then you will never grow. So, if you want to be a businessman, tell yourself, “I am a businessman”, and then work towards becoming one. It may appear absurd. Usually people think, “I don’t have it in me to achieve it”, but seldom are they able to chase goals.

Money should be in your wallet, not in your mind or head. One whose mind is feverish about money can think of nothing else. He cannot think of his relationships, his friends and family, not even his own health and well-being. Such a person ends up losing everything because he is focussed on materialistic pursuits. Your mind tells you that with more money one could have more freedom, could travel anywhere, do whatever one wanted. And when this idea takes hold of the mind, it binds you. When you feel bound, you feel stiff and there is no freedom. That is the reason why people who have money keep getting more money and those who do not, keep on regretting. So that negative consciousness should go and you should feel the abundance.

Positive intention

When sankalpa arises in your heart, then it helps expand your consciousness in the universe. In this huge universe, I want this little sankalpa to happen. Suppose you are asking a question to someone and you have a doubt whether this question will be answered or not, you will hesitate to ask it or you will make errors even in the process of asking. So the right way of asking is, first, having that confidence in the divine and knowing that “I have this request and it will be granted to me.” One should apply effort, work and also relax. Before going to bed, meditate for 10 minutes and surrender whatever you desire, and sleep happily. The main things to follow are sadhana (spiritual practices and self effort), awareness, and then abandoning of feverishness. If we change the way we look at things, we discover that everything starts from within. If they are better inside, they get better outside. You become the agent for change.

When your needs are many and you focus only on your needs, you remain unhappy. When you take responsibility and your needs are lesser, everything comes to you — enthusiasm, happiness, creativity, and so on. Meditation will generate your thought power, your intention. So if you meditate for a few minutes, your thoughts will become powerful and with little effort, the task will be accomplished.

Wisdom for a peaceful life

We are on this planet for a unique and big purpose. With that in mind, take a challenge: “Come what may, I am going to smile today and be happy.” For this, you need to follow the rules of Yamas and Niyamas — the first two steps of Yoga (inner union).

Yamas: Five rules to live peacefully:

Ahimsa (non-violence) — It unites you with the whole creation. Yoga, a practice of realising that everything is here and everything is part of you is ahimsa. When everything belongs to you, how can you harm something? 

Satyam (truthfulness): You can’t lie to yourself. If you are weaving beads, you don’t say, “I am not weaving beads.” 

Asteya: (not regretting): not missing what you don’t have at this moment, nor wishing things were different from what they are, not comparing yourself with others, and wishing for what they have.

Brahmacharya: Moving beyond small identifications like “I am a man, I am a good/bad person”. Brahma means big. Being not interested in shapes and forms of the body and seeing the infinite is brahmacharya.

Aparigraha: Not taking what people give you. What really bother us are the insults, the hurt, and all the negative words that we take from people. 

Niyamas: Five rules for inner development: 

Shaucha (Cleanliness) — keeping yourself clean and wearing clean clothes. What is more important is being clean from inside. 

Santosha (Contentment): Be happy. If you don’t take a step towards being happy, nothing in this world can make you happy.

Tapas (forbearance):The rule is that change whatever you can, but when you cannot change, accept it. 

Swadhyaya (Self-study): Observe your mind and see what is going on in your mind. If you are feeling bad, just observe and you will start feeling good again.

Ishwara Pranidhaana (Love of the Divine): Surrender to the Divine when you feel you are totally helpless. 

These rules make you strong, whole and complete. To be established in this, do some meditation, sadhana (spiritual practices), service and keep your smile!

During sadhana, do we connect with the soul or with God?

Are they separate or one? Are waves and the ocean separate or one? The wave is soul and the ocean is God. When there is ‘I’consciousness, it is the soul, and when the ‘I’ness is at rest, it is God. So no one has ever gone or can go outside of God.

Now look, can you live without oxygen? But sometimes, when it is extremely hot, you feel suffocated even though air is there. When you sit under the fan you can feel the air.

Similarly, satsang and meditation are like the fan. If you sit with the fan, you will feel the breeze. This is known as being in the ‘presence’ (sanidhya). It is not that the ‘presence’ is not there, it is there but we begin to experience it, as we feel the breeze when we sit near the fan. Similarly in sadhana, we begin to experience what is God. We experience Love.

What does a seeker do when he sees no meaning in sadhana or seva?

When you feel at a stage there is no point in doing any seva, mind is not even interested in doing sadhana and a sense of dryness has come in life, that’s when you pray, ‘Please take me out of this dryness.’ You know, pray to the divine, ‘Please, I want my life to be juicy, not so dry, depressing and boring. I surrender; I drop my whole being to you.’ This inner cry, an intense cry to the divine will make all the difference.

Everybody wants some juicy thing in their life. Just imagine when you have a beloved, how you act. There is so much enthusiasm; there is a feeling of belovedness. That love is what is missing when you feel so dry and completely uninterested; life is uninteresting. At this time have faith and with courage just move on. It is just a passing phase.

Usually you call it, ‘The dark night of the soul’. The soul goes through such a turbulent time sometimes. Not necessary that everybody needs to. At such times continue doing what you are doing.