Longing for the Divine

 

Longing itself is divine. Longing for worldly things makes you inert. Longing for infinity fills you with life. When longing dies, inertia sets in. But longing also brings a sense of pain.

To avoid the pain, you try to push away the longing. The skill is to bear the pain of longing and move on. Do not try to find a shortcut to overcome longing. Do not make the longing short – that’s why it is called loooonging. True longing in itself brings up moments of bliss. That is why in ancient days longing was kept alive by singing and listening to kathas, or stories.

When longing transcends relationships, then judgments, jealousy and all negative feelings drop. It is only with wisdom and self-knowledge that you can transcend relationships.

People often think wisdom is devoid of longing – no! Such wisdom is dry. The longing that comes with true wisdom makes life juicier.

The Divine is certainly juicy! Longing gives you the power to bless. Bless the entire creation for the longing in you is God.

Getting frustrated while dealing with others' expectations

It is okay if people have expectations, you don’t need to get frustrated about it.

You do what is in your capacity, and sometimes stretch a little more than what you think you can do and you will be amazed to see that you have much more capabilities. Take every expectation as a challenge for you to expand and express. When you take it as a challenge, you will not get frustrated. Do your best and give your 100%.

Like in a running race, you look only at your track and do your best. If you have the fear of losing the game even before starting it, then you will never be able to win the game. When you’re playing a game, you should put your 100%. If you have done your best then nobody will hold anything against you.

One small little thought can prevent you from experiencing divinity

 

Why is it recommended to have a no-mind (thoughtless) state to experience divinity?

Let me tell you a small story. It was a full moon night and there was a poet sitting in a boathouse. He had a small lamp in front of him, a candle and he was writing poetry. And it so happened there was a gust of wind and the candle got blown out. When the candlelight was put off by the wind, at that moment the moon rays were reflecting in the home. He suddenly said, “See, this small candle was obstructing my view of the moon.”

That moment there was an ecstasy, a joy. The moonlight was so beautiful, “Ah!” He suddenly realized what he was missing. How come he couldn’t see this moonlight before? It was there all the time, but he couldn’t experience the joy of the moon, the fullness of the moon. A tiny candle was obstructing the view. See, you are looking at the sun or the space, and a small particle of dust is sufficient enough to cover your eyes, overshadow the whole view.

A small particle of dust can take away your vision of infinity. One single thought in the mind can restrict the awareness, the totality of your awareness. How big is your mind? How vast is your life? There are so many things in life. One small, little insignificant thought, insignificant thing, can clog and cloud your whole awareness. It can limit your mind. And any limitation means a distance from that pure love.

Practice being happy

 

If you are used to being unhappy, even in the best of situations you will still grumble and be unhappy. Nothing can make you happy in the world.

When you are happy, what is happening? When you are smiling, what is happening? There is so much relaxation in the muscles of your face, in the head, and everywhere. There is freedom, joy, and relaxation. But if you train your muscles and nervous system to being unhappy, then that same thing continues. You remain unhappy irrespective of the situation around you.

Santosha, contentment, is a practice. Being unconditionally happy is a practice.

“Come what may today I am going to smile. Everything is going to vanish and disappear, so what? Let me at least be happy." Smile this very moment and enjoy my very breath if not anything else.

If someone else is upset or something else is wrong, never mind, at least you can breathe happily. Nobody is going to hold your nose. You are free there.

You sell your happiness for peanuts. I tell you, it is not worth it. The entire world is not worth your smile. Even if you are made the king or emperor of the world, it is not worth giving away your smile.

Letting go of control

 

Many of us have the problem of letting go of control. This results in anxiety, restlessness and sours relationships. Wake up and see, are you really in control? What are you in control of?

You are not in control when you are sleeping or dreaming. You are not in control of thoughts and emotions coming to you. You may choose to express it or not, but they come to you without your permission!

Similarly, do you think you are in control of all the events in your life or in the world? That is a joke! When you look at things from this angle, you need not be afraid of losing control, because you have none! Whether you realise it or not, when you let go of your sense of control, that is the time you truly relax. Your identification of being somebody does not let you relax totally and it keeps your domain limited.

For any success to happen, what is it that matters? First of all, it comes as a thought. Thoughts get translated into action. First a thought gets translated into will, if it becomes a will then it gets translated into action and action in turn brings success. You want success but you are not taking those steps, not attending to the steps behind success.

We want success, we only make use of the aspect of action but not every action will lead to success. If you go to a market, one shop may be running at a loss while the adjacent one might be making a profit. What is the reason? That is what we need to see.

Similarly, one has to realise and understand the way to success — the secret of success. Before success, action is necessary and behind action intention is necessary. How to strengthen our intention? Your skill comes in.

Intention will be strong only when we learn to let go. You have to let go of the breath to enjoy fresh air. In life, it is the same.

Gaining infinity

 

When a drop gets into the ocean, the drop gains the strength of the ocean. 

If alone, it would’ve dried up. But when it gets into the ocean, it becomes immortal. It gains the strength of the ocean.

Being on the spiritual path means opening one’s self to infinity. One does not lose anything. One gains infinity.

Getting rid of addiction to pornography

 

Just look beyond the skin. Bones and muscles. What will you see? Look at it with an x-ray eye. These are so ephemeral. When you grow, you mature, you find a joy that cannot be described. That's what your spirit is, your life is.

Lust is nothing but primordial un-harnessed energy. The same when harnessed manifests as enthusiasm, sharpness of intellect and love! Keep yourself busy and take on some creative challenges when lust grips the mind.

Happy New Year

 

Wishing everyone a very happy Lunar New Year, Gudi Padwa, Ugadi, Chetichand, Navreh!

This upcoming year is called "subhakritu", which means "good work". So this year, make an intention to do something for the betterment of the world and know that it will happen.