True laughter in life

 

If you ever happen to meet God, do you know what you would tell him? “Oh, I have met you inside.” God will dance with you when the day dawns in laughter and love. True prayer is laughing in the morning. Don’t just be laughing outside but from deep inside. Laughter comes from the centre of our being, from the core of our heart. True laughter is true prayer.

When you laugh, the whole world laughs with you. It echoes and resounds and that is really the worth of life. When things go all right, everybody can laugh; but when everything falls apart, and then if you can laugh, that is evolution and growth. So, there is nothing in life that is more worthy than your laughter. Never lose it for anything, whatsoever. Events come and go. Some are a little pleasant, some are unpleasant; but there is some area deep in you that is left untouched. Hold on to that.

And anytime we don’t feel up to that untouched innocence, what do we do? You can attend to several layers of your own existence. First, the body – see if you have had good rest, proper food and some exercise. Then attend to the breath. Every mood of the mind has a definite rhythm in the breath. By attending to the rhythm in the breath, the mind and body can be elevated.

Observe the sensation and feeling in the body. Observing thoughts as thoughts, emotions as emotions, opens us to our true self, the godliness within us. The very observation changes it. When you do this, all that is negative falls away. 

The nature of positive emotions is to grow. If you observe your emotions (anger) when you are angry, anger will fall away. And if you observe if there is love, love grows.

That is the best and only way. Observe that thoughts come, and they pass. We need to be able to see things as they are, objectively or totally subjectively. That essence in life, when it blooms from within, allows true laughter in life.

Miracles are happening every moment

Nothing is permanent in this world, everything is changing. When you think you are right, often you think others are wrong and you feel angry. If you feel others are right, often you think you are wrong and you feel guilty, sad and miserable. In both cases, you lose balance. The mind vacillates between this duality. The whole purpose of life is to get out of this duality. That is moksha. So swallow these incidents as bitter pills in life. 

In Rudram (a hymn dedicated to Rudra from the Yajurveda), it is said that in this world, there are all types of people. There are people who betray, people who are not faithful, people who don’t keep to their word etc. Sometimes your own mind goes up and down. There could be a million reasons for you to feel down on the planet. Anything can pull you down, because things are not happening the way you want them to. Using knowledge, just sail over it all.

When your heart is filled with love, and compassion, you are so powerful. Never underestimate yourself. Miracles are in abundance! Everyone has had some miracle or the other in life. We don’t look for it, they just happen. Ask, and it shall be given. Ask and ask with faith. Every moment there is a miracle happening; every moment, there is grace. Even if something appears to be not so good for the moment, in the long run, something good comes out of it.

When Sri Rama was building the bridge to Sri Lanka, a lot of monkeys were helping him. The monkeys wrote “Sri Rama” on the stones and placed them in the ocean and the stones would float. When Sri Rama saw this, he wanted to try it himself. He wrote Sri Rama on a stone and put it in the water. The stone sank! Sri Rama was surprised. 

One monkey started laughing and said to Sri Rama, ‘Those who you throw away from your hands, how will they float? They will only sink!’ This has a spiritual significance. When the name of the Lord is with you, you will float through the ocean of misery; you won’t sink in the world of misery. And second, that devotees are so much more powerful than the Lord himself; devotees can do so much more than the Lord himself.

So you don’t need to get stuck in material belief only. Physical laws are there, but there is something higher than them. There is something higher than the obviously seen physical creation of names and forms. The understanding of consciousness – mind over matter, and consciousness over physical reality, is what we need to attend to. So don’t underestimate your love, your faith and your strength. All that we need to do is to keep our heart clean.

Find your faith to face the world

 

Faith is at the core of human existence. It plays a big role in shaping one’s life. It sustains life and leads one through difficult times. At the same time, it brings out hidden courage and potential in more ways than one. 

Even those who say, “I don’t believe in anything,” have to believe in their words. The issue is where you place your faith. For an atheist, his faith in objects is obvious; his faith in people is fluid and his faith in the unseen power of creation is ambiguous. 

However, for a believer, his faith in the unseen power is supreme; his faith in people is inconsequential and objects do not matter in any way. The role is even more visible in the materialistic world. It saves one from suicidal tendencies and helps one see beyond the obvious. When life is based on belief, one follows philosophy rather than getting caught up in revenge and hatred. If there is faith that everything will be fine, then things do work out.

There are three types of faith: in oneself, in the world and in the divine. And the three are connected. One must have all three to be strong. To have faith is to realise that God is protecting you. This is a necessary and a sufficient condition to move ahead in life. When the knowledge that “I am blessed” is established firmly in one’s life, it is called faith. This feeling can help one overcome any obstacle. Once you realise that you are blessed, complaints disappear, as do grumblings and insecurities. Not everything in this world is hunky-dory. However, if you are grounded in faith, then you will progress and maintain your equanimity in this world.

The essence of prayer

Faith leads to prayer and prayer is a vital tool to improve your life. Prayer nurtures values such as integrity and honesty. You don’t need any special qualifications or abilities to pray. It is something that comes from within. Prayer doesn’t mean just sitting and chanting. It’s about being in a serene, calm, meditative state. That is why, in the Vedic tradition, before prayer comes dhyana (meditation) and there is dhyana even after prayer. 

When the mind is focused, the prayer becomes far more powerful, it is the cry of a soul. To whom you pray is not important. Religion puts words to the prayer and adds symbols and rituals to it, the prayer itself transcends them. It happens at subtle levels and the feelings transcend words and religion. The act of praying itself has the power to bring about transformation.

Now, prayer happens in two situations or in a combination of situations - you pray when you feel grateful or when you feel utterly helpless. In either case, your prayers will be heard and answered. A true prayer can’t happen without devotion and faith. Having faith is to realise that God is there to protect you. Devotion is an inner flowering. Be sincere in your prayers. Do not try to outsmart the divine. Be honest with your prayer time and you will definitely be rewarded.

Root your love, faith and belief deeply. The world is a celebration. Stay happy at all times. Learn to take ups and downs in your stride. When faced with difficult times, invoke the valour in you and tackle the situation with confidence. You emerge stronger after hard times. Never forget the strengths in you — prayer and power of your sankalpa (positive intention). Don’t panic and keep your mind centred.

Expand the mind

When we panic, our immunity level goes down. Practices such as pranayam, yoga and meditation help. Remember there are others who may be going through harder times than the ones you are facing. When you realise this, your problems will appear small. Serve people who are in bigger trouble. Realise that you are not alone in these difficult times. There is always an unseen hand working for you. Don’t underestimate the power of prayer. Prayer is not a ritual as is usually perceived; it is the feeling of helplessness and asking for God’s help. It makes you very strong and powerful, because the divine belongs to the weak. This is why He is called deenabandhu — the friend, relative and redeemer of the weak, meek, powerless and helpless. Try to include this in your prayer “There is no way that I can get rid of this stress. I need help” and notice changes happen immediately.

Trust the Divine

During the harvest season, the farmer separates husk from grain with a broad sieve. He stands on an elevated platform, holds the sieve and puts all his grains into it. He then proceeds to shake the sieve. If the particle that falls through the sieve is mere husk, it flies away and is lost. Meanwhile, the grains fall to the ground and stay put. Similarly, if your faith is shaken very quickly and too often, or if you lack faith in difficult times, then you are akin to the flying husk. One whose faith shakes when faced by catastrophes cannot smile through them. If you lack faith and events frighten you, then you fly away like the husk. You become lost and anchorless. On the other hand, if you have faith that everything will be all right, you will find stability and everything will settle down.

Bad times will come and go. When you are faced with a problem, don’t generalise and internalise it by thinking about it all the time. Become a part of the solution, not the problem. The best thing is to surrender to the divine. There are two ways of looking at life. One is thinking “I’ll be happy after achieving a certain objective.” The second is saying that “I am happy come what may!” Which one do you want to live? Events come and go, they perish like flowers. Make the decision today that “whatever happens, I will remain grounded and peaceful, and have faith that God’s protection is here on me. I will never go down. God will always hold my hand.” Faith is realising that you always get what you need. Faith is giving the divine a chance to act.

Becoming hollow and empty

 

The world would be free of trouble if there were no love! All the problems in the world are caused by love! If there were no love, you can’t be jealous. Jealousy is because of love. Greed comes because you love objects too much. Anger is because you love perfection; that is why you are angry at imperfections. You love yourself too much and that’s why pride and arrogance come to you. 

Every distortion of love causes problems, yet life will have no meaning without love. Suppose you are immensely successful and have all the riches at your command and but love is missing from your life. But life will not really be worthwhile; it would appear barren. Whatever angle you look from, all we long for in life is love; a divine love. The purpose in life is to blossom in that ideal love. 

So, how do you get to that point of love where it is free from the distortions and you are at ease with yourself? You have to see that what is really obstructing you from that innocent love is your ego. What is ego?  Ego is like a dream. A dream exists until it doesn’t exist. You can’t call a dream real, but you can’t call it unreal either because you have the experience. Ego is simply being unnatural. 

The ego is not a substance; it is a non-substance like darkness. Darkness is only a lack of light. There is no substance called ego. You could say it is just a lack of maturity or the lack of pure knowledge. Knowledge is an aid to develop the innermost state of you, which is love. Love is not an act; it is a state of being rather than an act. We are all made up of love. When the mind is in the present moment, we are in a state of love. Train the mind a little to live in the present moment. 

If everything is God and all is love, then where is life heading to? Life is heading towards perfection. You look for perfection; that is why you are angry at imperfections. There are three kinds of perfection: perfection in action (kriya), perfection in speech (vachan) and perfection in feelings (bhaav). Suppose someone makes a mistake and when you see that mistake you get angry. 

Then you are no better than the person who has made the mistake. Your feelings have become imperfect because of someone’s imperfection in action. Any action will have some flaw. But when the feeling becomes imperfect, then it stays for a longer period. The innermost perfection is lost. 

Spiritual practices help you maintain your centeredness and not be shaken by small events. Every individual is bestowed with all the virtues in the world. They simply get covered by lack of understanding and stress. All that is needed is to just to uncover the virtues that are already there. 

Breathing techniques and meditation are very effective in calming the mind. Learning something about our breath is very important. Our breath has a great lesson to teach us, which we have forgotten. For every rhythm in the mind, there is a corresponding rhythm in the breath and for every rhythm in the breath there is a corresponding emotion. So, when you cannot handle your mind directly, through breath you can handle it better. 

Our mind is like a pot that is turned upside down. When we were born, the pot came first with the neck upright. The whole purpose of life is to stand up, turn the pot upside down and empty it. But the pot is filled with something very sticky; though it is standing upside down, it doesn’t get empty. No animal has its neck upright. Only human beings have the opportunity to empty their heads. Becoming hollow and empty is the whole purpose of life.

Blossoming in immortal love

 

We feel if there is love then why is life so painful? All that we want in life is love. Every human being is longing for a love that doesn’t die out, a love that doesn’t cause pain, a love that grows and stands forever. By taking a multilateral view of life, one can see life in a different way and realise that the purpose of life is to achieve this kind of love and blossom in that ideal love. 

Suppose you are immensely successful and have all the riches at your command but there is no love in your life, then life would not really be worthwhile; it would appear barren. But still, most people lead a loveless life. Have you ever thought why this happens? It is your ego that prevents you from achieving that love. As long as there is ego, there cannot be love. And when there is love, there is no sign of ego. 

What is ego? Ego is simply being unnatural. Half knowledge brings ego but when knowledge becomes complete, ego drops and simplicity dawns.  

The question arises that if ego is so unnatural then why does every human being have an ego? We have an ego because it is necessary in some way for our growth in life. That doesn’t mean it should not have been there from the very beginning. Ego is necessary, but with knowledge you can now grow out of it. 

In the Narada Bhakti Sutras one sutra says: “Knowledge is one of the aids to uncover the naturalness”. Through observing oneself and by going deep into one’s self, through meditation, one can overcome ego.  

Often, when someone shows a lot of love you do not know how to respond, you feel obliged and bound. This is because you are not natural. There is an ego coming in between. The ability to receive genuine love comes with the ability to give love. The more you are centered and natural and know by experience that love is not an emotion it is your very existence, the more you feel at home with any amount of love expressed in any manner.  A seed has a covering or shell over it, and when you soak it in water, it sprouts and then the shell peels off. Similarly, the ego is a necessary unnaturalness that develops as you grow.

When you were a child of two or three years, there was no ego; you are in a state of total, innocent, blissful love. Then the ego forms a cover. Knowledge uncovers this shell and make you a child again; natural, simple and innocent. When you are natural, simple and innocent, there is no ego. The ego is not a substance; it is a non-substance, much like darkness. Darkness is only lack of light. There is nothing called an ego that has substance. Ego is just a lack of total development, a lack of total understanding. It is just a lack of maturity or lack of knowledge.