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April 2010

“Desire to possess” when directed towards Narayana becomes the “burning spiritual anxiety of devotion for the Lord.” – Chinmaya

All our desires, be it the desires for possession or progeny, wine or wealth, name or fame, spring forth from one common desire– the desire for happiness.

But, the amusing thing is that though unhappiness is disliked by all, we are performing actions which bring misery alone as its reaction. The Bhagawad Gita says that such actions appear to give nectarian joy in the beginning but ends up giving only poison-like misery.

In this pursuit of happiness, when one is guided by the “desire to possess”, but meets only with painful consequences, then he or she is forced to think as to what constitutes happiness. It is to such a matured seeker, ripened due to his or her alert observation amidst life’s happenings, the Sadguru instructs that happiness does not lie in possessions but in the Possessor, the Supreme Lord, who is the Self within.

This advice of the Teacher acts as a fire spark, and soon enough, this spark takes the form of “burning spiritual anxiety of devotion for the Lord” turning itself into a huge conflagration to burn down the entire stockpile of ignorance, piled up over the beginningless past. In this huge fire of knowledge, just as the ore is purified and transformed to brilliant gold, the erstwhile sinner, freed from all impurities, shines forth as an awakened saint.

Srinivasa Nayak was a pawnbroker who lived in the village Purandaragada during the Vijayanagar dynasty. Everyone called him Seenappa and knew what a miser he was. He cared for nothing except for money.

One day a poor brahmin approached Seenappa for money to perform the thread ceremony of his son. Seenappa refused to give the Brahmin any money. Days, weeks and months passed in this manner. The Brahmin kept asking and the jeweller kept refusing. Six months passed thus.

 Seenappa’s wife, Saraswathi, appalled by her husband’s behaviour, gave the brahmin the nose-stud that her parents had given her. The brahmin took the ornament straight to Seenappa’s shop to pledge an ornament and take a loan.

 Seeing the ornament, the perplexed Seenappa, asking the Brahmin to wait, put the ornament in the locker and went home. He saw his wife without her ornament and questioned her about it. Worried and unable to think of an alternative, she decided to commit suicide. She went into the kitchen and mixed a cup of poison for herself. Just as she was about to drink the poison, she heard a metallic sound.

Lo and behold! The nose ring was at the bottom of the cup, sparkling. With a heart filled with gratitude, she prostrated before the idol of Krishna and took the ornament to her husband. Astounded, Seenappa ran back to the shop to check for the nose ring only to find that it had vanished!

After deep thought, he concluded that the brahmin was none other than Lord Shri Purandara Vitthala himself. He recalled all the incidents that had transpired in the previous six months. Wonderstruck, he was ashamed of his miserliness.

Seenappa decided to renounce all material belongings and become a dasa (servant) of God. From that day onwards he became a devotee of Shri Hari. The hands which sported gold and diamond rings now played the tambura, the neck which used to be resplendent with golden chains now wore the tulasi mala. The man who had turned away countless people away, now himself went around collecting alms and living the life of a mendicant.

This Seenappa is none other than Purandaradasa who went on to become the Father of Carnatic music in India, composing more than four lakh songs praising the Lord. Even today, every student of Carnatic music begins the lessons with Purandaradasa’s compositions.

May we retain our “desire to possess” – not the world, but the Lord, Who alone is worth possessing.

O   M         T   A   T         S   A   T

March 2010

When Ram gives pain, Ram again gives us the power to suffer and provides people to look after us. Never worry – Chinmaya

God has given enough proof to show that it is He alone who is taking care of the whole cosmos.

Just observe the world around and one will be amazed to find that all great happenings of the world are devoid of human intervention! The movement of the sun, moon and the stars, the blowing wind, the burning fire, the showering rain, the changing seasons… processes of digestion, blood circulation etc., the functioning of brain, liver, kidney, heart etc. – everything is so organized and perfect.

What more evidence is needed to believe that a Higher Power is running this giant cosmic wheel of creation? Only in small pure-hearted children we find this awe and wonder about the mysteries of the universe -“Twinkle Twinkle little star, How I wonder what you are…!”

But as we grow in age, we find ourselves busy with the things petty and low. Thus getting caught up in our little-little worlds, vainly boasting of our insignificant achievements and contributions, we forget the bigger picture and the purpose of life. Helplessly then, the all-compassionate God, being our true well-wisher, has to interfere to wake us up from this deep slumber of ignorance, being our true well-wisher. In this regard, He sometimes resorts to using certain hard means – for example, loss of health, wealth, power etc., or death of near and dear ones.

True wisdom lies in our understanding that these apparent cruelties are nothing but His blessings in disguise. Just as dirty clothes need a thorough scrubbing along with the application of strong detergents to regain its cleanliness, life’s painful experiences force us to wake up and help us come back home to regain our long lost true nature – the Supreme Self.

When this divine purpose behind worldly tragedies is not understood, one either concludes that God does not exist or that He is indifferent to all these mundane happenings of the world.

Once a mahatma was giving discourses on Srimad Bhagawad Gita to a large gathering. When it came to the term ‘Yogakshemam Vahaamyaham’ the saint went on tirelessly and joyously to explain how much concerned is the Lord in ensuring the welfare and wellbeing of His devotees.

After the talk, as the crowd dispersed, a lady carrying her baby came to the mahatma and went on weeping uncontrollably as she narrated the tragic story of her husband’s death, her poverty and the indifference shown by her in-laws towards her. She concluded that the Lord whom he had praised so much in his discourse was not even worth mentioning the name. She then became silent and looked at the saint for a reply.

The mahatma, who was till then listening to her with all attention, broke his silence and put a condition to her that he would answer only if she drops her child down. Stunned, she bluntly refused to obey. But when the mahatma insisted upon dropping down the little baby, she became wild and furious unable to understand what he was up to. As she prepared to leave in utter disobedience, the saint smiled and said, “Good. So you have proved how much you love your child. Now, Amma, why do you doubt the fact that God also loves His children unconditionally in the same way as you do?”

Loving and trusting God and at the same time worrying cannot go together. It is said that one can tell the size of one’s God by looking at one’s worry list. The longer the list, the smaller one’s God!

Let us understand that peace is not the absence of affliction, but feeling the presence of God within.

God’s presence is like the stars – the darker the night, the brighter they shine! Darkness cannot put off the light. It can only make the light brighter. In the same way, it is only during the times of trial that we come to know how much He loves us and cares for us. Then these very same trials become a means to develop faith and devotion at the Lotus Feet of the Lord, which is the only purpose of human existence.

There are only two kinds of people – those who say to God “Thy will be done”, and those to whom God says, “Alright then, have it your way”.

Let us, even by mistake, not fall into the second category, for when we cannot piece together the puzzle of our lives, remember, the best view is from above! Let us allow Him to put us together as His guidance alone is ever perfect and unerring.

O   M         T   A   T         S   A   T

February 2010

The really poor man is not the one who lacks money, but who lacks the joy of the heart. – Chinmaya

Among the majority of us, it is a very deep-rooted wrong notion that money brings in happiness. Admitted, that money can buy all pleasures and comforts of the world, name and fame, power, position and recognition. But one’s experience of happiness has nothing to do with any of these external acquisitions.

If money means happiness, then the richest man must be the happiest one in this world, and the poorest man must be the most sorrowful. But what we find, in the majority of the cases, it is just the reverse. A stressed grim-faced worried executive hurrying his way to the office in his Mercedes Benz while an innocent child, shabbily dressed and malnourished, playing merrily with the street dogs in the slum, are not rare scenes to see.

Along with money comes fear, insecurity, possessiveness and the like. A saying goes thus, “If you want to know what God thinks of money, then just look at the people whom He gave it to!”

The suicidal rates are seen to be the highest in some of the most prosperous countries. Thus it is not appropriate to equate money with happiness.

The most important things in life are not things and hence cannot be purchased. Money can buy

sleeping-pills but not sleep, medicines but not health, books but not knowledge or wisdom, food but not hunger or appetite, insurance policy but not life!

The great scientist Albert Einstein puts it so well, “Not everything that can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be counted”!

Naturally, then the question comes as to what decides our happiness. Pujya Gurudev has put the equation of happiness in a very simple formula:

Happiness H=Desires fulfilled/ Desires entertained

The one who has minimum desires is most happy. To put in other words, one who has little and wants less is happier than the one who has much and wants more!

There was a learned man who for several years longed to be shown the way to God. One day, as he sat for prayer, he heard a Voice which instructed him to go to a particular village and meet a saintly man there. With great excitement, the learned man set out to that village seeking the man of wisdom. To his surprise, he could find only a poor man, humble and simple with tattered clothes.

To him, the learned man said, “Good morning to you!”

Quietly answered the poor man, “I never had a bad morning!”

“May God give you good luck!” said the learned man.

“I never had ill luck”, answered the poor man.

The learned man’s astonishment grew. “May you be happy!” to which the poor man answered, “I have never been unhappy!”

“I am unable to understand”, said the learned man. “Please explain it to me”.

“Gladly”, said the poor man. “You wished me good morning. I have never had a bad morning. I praise God, whether I get food to eat or not, whether it rains or snows, whether I am with or without company. Also, I have never had any ill luck. I know that whatever God sends to me is the very best that can ever happen to me. I cheerfully accept everything – health or sickness, prosperity or adversity, joy or sorrow, as a gift from God. Moreover, I have never been unhappy, for I have entirely yielded my will to the will of God. Hence God’s will itself is my will!”

Astonished, the learned man asked, “What if God’s will cast you to hell?”

“I would prefer to be in hell remembering the Lord than to be in heaven forgetting Him.”

When asked who he was, the poor man replied, “the King!”

Though he was a very picture of destitution and yet he felt he was a king!

The poor man taught him that in self-surrender and in utter humility laid the surest means to reach God.

Indeed he was the richest man on earth, because he possessed the greatest wealth – the joy of the heart.

O   M         T   A   T         S   A   T

January 2010

The situation can hurt us only when the mind is weak. – Chinmaya

If there is an art to be mastered in this world, then that is to keep the mind quiet and peaceful. One who has learnt this art has mastered all situations in life.

For a doubting mind, this may appear to be an exaggeration, but the fact remains that it is we who allow the situation to rule over us. To make the point clear, we will discuss a typical scenario which quite often happens in all our homes in more or less the same fashion:

You are having breakfast with your family. Your daughter knocks over a cup of coffee onto your business shirt … (you have no control over what has just happened, but what happens next will be determined by how you react)

You curse. You harshly scold your daughter for knocking the cup over. She breaks down in tears….After scolding her you turn to your wife and criticize her for placing the cup too close to the edge of the table. A short verbal battle follows… You storm upstairs and change your shirt. Back downstairs, you find your daughter too busy trying to finish her breakfast and getting ready to go to school. She misses the bus. As your spouse must leave immediately for work, you rush to the car and drive your daughter to school.

Because you are late, you drive 80kmph in a 60kmph speed limit zone. After a fifteen minutes delay and throwing away a handsome amount as traffic fine, you arrive at school. Your daughter runs into the building without even saying goodbye… After arriving at office 20minutes late you realize that you have forgotten your briefcase…

Your day started with trouble. As it continues it seems to get worse and worse… You look forward to coming home. And at last, when you arrive home, you find a small wedge in your relationship with your wife and daughter …

One wrong step in the morning and the price turned out to be so heavy!

This entire catastrophe could have been averted if only you had shown a little balance of mind. Instead of scolding your daughter for spilling the coffee, if you had responded thus: “It’s OK honey, just need to be more careful next time”, the day would have been totally different!

It is our own mind which acts as our enemy creating problems for ourselves and for all others around. As Pujya Gurudev puts it well, “The cultured give happiness wherever they go, and the uncultured, whenever they go”!

If we train our mind to see something positive even in the worst of all situations, then we can remain cheerful under all circumstances.

Roberto De Vincenzo, the great Argentine golfer, was just about to drive back home in his car after receiving a handsome cheque as the prize money for winning a major tournament when a woman dressed in shabby clothes approached him saying that her little daughter is seriously ill and the doctors have given up all hopes and that there are lots of bills pending.

Touched by her story, Vincenzo took out the cheque he had just received, endorsed it in the name of the women and handed it over to her praying for the child’s quick recovery. But after a few days, an official in the golf club informed him that the woman was a fraud and that she had no sick baby as she was unmarried.

Hearing this Vincenzo replied, “You mean to say there is no dying child? Thank God for that! This is the best news I have had this week!”

How we interpret the situation for ourselves alone determines our state of mind. There is not even a single situation in the world which can take away the peace and happiness of a person who has mastered this art of inner quietude.

Just as a cyclone derives its entire power from a calm centre, so too when the mind is rendered quiet after having tuned to the Divine, it comes out with all the creative and innovative thoughts, thus blessing the whole world.

Whereas a restless mind generates only heat, a quiet mind alone comes up with the much-needed light!

According to Swami Vivekananda, the greatest sin in this world is to consider ourselves weak. All the powers of this universe are already ours, but it is we who close our eyes and cry that it is dark!

When we look within with a mind hushed to silence, we come to realize that never were we away from Him at any point of time. Hence silence this deceptive mind and reclaim the Infinite Glory of our true Self is the urgent demand from all wise sages and saints of all times.

O   M         T   A   T         S   A   T

December 2009

Service in this world is the greatest prayer. Loving the people around is real devotion -Chinmaya

For a beginner in spirituality, it may appear that Jnana Yoga (the path of Knowledge), Bhakti Yoga (the path of Devotion or Love) and Karma Yoga (the path of Action) are independent paths leading to the Supreme. But the fact is that all these seemingly different paths of Knowledge, Love and Service are inseparably interconnected very well with each other.

For a mother unconditional love for the child emerges from the knowledge that it is her child; this love expresses in terms of untiring care for the baby. Similarly, I look after my body ceaselessly only because of the knowledge that it is my body. Again, my love for my body is unlimited and unconditional.

Hence we find that wherever there is the knowledge of oneness, love and service become spontaneous. In many films, we see that the two bitter enemies embrace each other in love when they come to know from their mother that they are but brothers born to the same parents!

In the same way, the great saints and sages of all times embrace the whole world with infinite love and compassion when they realize this oneness that the Self in them is the Self of all beings. Such Godmen live on the earth ever serving and loving others not to gain anything from the world but only as an expression of the attainment of the divine vision of their oneness with the Totality.

It was in 1970. An old woman clad in a white sari, her face wrinkled and a beatific smile playing on her lips, went and approached the sales assistant of Dunlops in Calcutta. The old lady showed the letter from the MD saying that the bearer be given 5 tyres and tubes free for the use in a jeep. The district manager recognized her as Mother Teresa and readily assured her that the materials would be delivered soon.

A cup of tea was offered to Mother for which she asked what the price of a cup was. When told that it was 10 paise, she said, “Then give that 10 paise to me. I have in my home children who have not tasted tea even once in their lives.”Hearing this all the other employees came forward for help. They collected Rs.35/-and handed it over to Mother. She accepted the amount saying, “May God bless you all.”

The shopkeeper again assured her, “Mother, you may go. We shall arrange to deliver the goods today itself at Tollygunj.”Mother smiled and asked, “How much will it cost the company to deliver them?” When the amount was told she said, “Give that money to me. It will help feed one or two patients for a day or two. I have come in a jeep and I shall take the materials in it.”

As that request was against the company rules, but at the same time, touched by Mother’s care and concern for the poor, the workers there gathered and collected Rs.70/-and handed it over to Mother. The materials were loaded into the jeep and as it left she blessed them all.

To care for anyone else enough to make their problems one’s own is the beginning of one’s spiritual development. As Mahatma Gandhiji used to say, the best way to find your Self is to lose yourself in the service of others!

Let us recollect the golden words of Shri Rabindranath Tagore where he says – I slept and dreamt that life was joy; I awoke and saw that life was service; I acted and behold, service was joy!!

And how wonderful it is that nobody needs to wait even a single moment to serve others as there is not even a single moment when one cannot serve others!

Service need not necessarily mean feeding the poor and clothing the naked. We can always serve others by our consoling words and cheering smile, by our patient listening and encouraging pat. As a great poet expresses it so well:

If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain;

If I can ease one life the aching or cool one

Or help one fainting Robin unto his nest again;

I shall not live in vain . . .

May we derive the greatest joy in the very act of service and not in the expected gain or reward.

O   M         T   A   T         S   A   T

November 2009

Let your hands and legs function but let a part of your mind steadily hold on to the Divine Essence in you. – Chinmaya

A common question asked by the devotees during the satsangs is, “Swamiji, we as householders have so many worldly responsibilities to fulfil. Hence it is impossible to sit in meditation or for puja all the time. Then what is the way out?”

The above quotation is the answer given by Pujya Gurudev.

But is it possible to do both at the same time? Definitely yes. There are so many day-to-day examples where we make use of this ability of the mind to do two things simultaneously. Haven’t we seen people driving the car talking with others and at the same operating the accelerator, gear, steering wheel, clutch etc? Or just observe a mother carrying her newborn baby. Even when she is busy with all the daily chores, a part of her mind is always on the child.

Examples are innumerous. Therefore responsibilities and work pressures etc. cannot be an excuse for forgetting the Lord.

Just watch this – the moment we get caught up in the work ignoring the Lord, all negativities in the mind like worry, anxiety excitement, fear, dejection, anger, greed, jealousy start piling up. The solution, therefore, is very simple – remember the Lord now and then. Sadhu Vaswaniji advises us that in every hour, we must at least spend one minute repeating to ourselves, “O Lord, I am not alone; You are with me”. This then is the mantra of remaining cheerful and happy.

Loving God and hence remembering Him becomes very easy when we realize that His love for us is unconditional and unlimited. He has said in Bhagavad Gita that He is the Father and Mother of this universe. Just as a mother loves her child despite all its weaknesses, inabilities and imperfections, so also we must always keep in mind that it is impossible for Him to hate us or ignore us or be indifferent towards us for He is our eternal Parent.

The great Saint Augustine says, “God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us!”

Though the Lord has got countless billion children in the form of all living beings, even then His attention on every being is a hundred per cent. His only prime concern is that all should attain His nature as early as possible. Knowing this, how can we remain indifferent or ignore that Lord who is our only well-wisher in the whole world?

God alone is our own. Remembering Him alone is our highest duty.

According to Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, do the work with one hand and let the other hand hold on to the Lord; and once the work is over hold on to the Lord with both the hands.

In this regard, He used to narrate a story. There was a cloth merchant who was a great devotee of Lord Sri Rama. While selling the cloths he would say, “By the will of Rama, the price of yarn is one rupee and the labour charge, four annas. By the will of Rama, the profit is 2 annas. Hence, the price of the cloth is one rupee six annas, by the will of Rama”. Hearing that, the customer would immediately purchase the cloth. The villagers also trusted and loved him very much.

Once, the police caught this devotee with a huge bundle of looted goods in the night. He was put in the lock-up for the whole night. When the villagers heard this, they approached the magistrate. The next day the magistrate called the devotee and enquired what exactly had happened. The devotee replied, “Your Honour, by the will of Rama, after my evening worship in the temple, as I was returning home, a group of robbers caught hold of me and put their looted goods on me to carry for them. Again, by the will of Rama, when the police arrived, those robbers ran away and thus I was caught and put in the lock-up. Now, Your Honour, I am in front of You, by the will of Rama.”

The magistrate released him immediately realizing his innocence. After coming back, the devotee, when asked by others, told them, “By the will of Rama, I am released!”

Let us always remind ourselves of our insignificance in this creation. We are only His instruments working because of His grace. The hands, legs, eyes, ears, heart, liver etc. function only because of His divine touch. Hence why hesitate to give the credit to Him for all that we have achieved in our life?

The world-renowned poet Sri Rabindranath Tagore was once quoted saying, “God waits to win back His own flowers as gifts from man’s hands!”

And that God is none other than the Pure Consciousness ever-shining in our own heart as ‘I Am’. This is the Divine Essence in us which we have to steadily hold on.

To put it short and sweet, the only lesson to be learnt in life is: No God, No Peace; Know God, Know Peace!

O   M         T   A   T         S   A   T

October 2009

A happier tomorrow is built when we live today a life divine.
– Chinmaya

One life is given to all of us by the Almighty. He has also given us the power and freedom to make or mar our life. The former is the conscious choice of the wise while the latter is the unintelligent preoccupation of the foolish.

The time utilized, thoughts entertained, words spoken, actions performed – all add up to decide our future. It is so well said that when you sow a thought, you reap an act; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap your destiny!

Destiny is not an accident, nor is it something that you wish for. Destiny is that which you design– hour by hour, day by day. Hence the contents of each moment lived becomes equally important.

A traveller, after walking a long distance through a desert in the hot sun, in the month of summer, was greatly delighted to see a lonely shady tree amidst the burning sands. Tired, exhausted and hungry, he lied down under the tree stretching his limbs with a sigh of relief. Hardly did he know that the tree was Kalpavrksha, the wish-fulfilling tree.

As he was enjoying the cool shade of that divine tree, a thought passed through his mind, “How comfortable it would be to lie down, if only I had a soft bed and a cushioning pillow. . .”

No sooner than he thought thus that he found himself on a soft luxurious bed. Completely amazed, he was unable to believe his eyes. Pushing his luck further, he thought, “If only I had a satisfyingly delicious meal to drive away my hunger.”

Within no time, a banquet was spread before him! Though wonderstruck, the traveller was quite pleased with the turn of the events. After a good sumptuous meal, fully satisfied, as he was getting ready for a nap, a passing thought escaped his mind, “What if a tiger comes and attacks me.” Out of nowhere came a ferocious tiger and tore him into pieces.

God’s perfection can be seen in and through His unerring laws. Every good, noble and pure thought entertained is rewarded immediately with a quiet and peaceful mind. The reverse is also equally true.

As Pujya Gurudev nicely put it, “We are rewarded or punished not for our actions, but by them!”

Nothing goes unobserved or unaccounted. When such is the case, adopting a simple, clean and straight forward lifestyle is the easiest way to happiness and blessedness.

But, in our present state, such a lifestyle appears difficult for us only because we were never trained to live so. No horse gets anywhere until it is harnessed; no stream of gas drives anything until it is tunnelled; no life ever grows great until it is focussed, dedicated and disciplined.

It is rightly said that success is the good fortune that comes from aspiration, desperation, perspiration, and inspiration!

Like destiny, happiness is also not an accident, nor is it something born out of circumstances. Happiness comes only to those who choose to live their life consistent with their higher values and deepest convictions.

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why we call it a Present! Let us make use of every moment that life presents to us and carve out of it a better future.

Let us cease to be mere creatures of circumstances, but instead wake up to become the creators of our circumstances.

O   M         T   A   T         S   A   T

September 2009

“Nothing worth achieving can be achieved without self-effort.”
– Chinmaya

When we flip through the pages of history, we find that every remarkable feat or achievement was preceded by great obstacles and strong resistances – physical illness, insufficient funds, uninspired men to work with, unhealthy surroundings, lack of support, sharp criticisms from all over proving why the vision is impossible to materialize…

They all appear to be rather a good justification to retreat and to quit. It is always seen that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. The truth is that every problem comes to us as a blessing in disguise. Only in the face of difficulties, we remain alert and hence learn more. As we stretch all our faculties to meet the bigger and unfamiliar challenges, we slowly come to realize that our potentials were never limited. In every field, we find people emerging stronger and wiser after going through certain dark periods. No wonder, the best steel has to pass through the hottest furnace.

Hence obstacles are unavoidable for progress.

We walk forward only because of the resistance offered by the ground. In electrical circuits, resistances are deliberately introduced for the smooth functioning of various devices. In gymnasiums, the bodybuilders develop their muscles, not by going along, but by going against the force of gravity. All successes seen in this world have come about only by overcoming the difficulties through the right efforts.

No pain, no gain is the strict law here. In the dictionaries alone we find success coming ahead of work!

As someone has nicely put –“The only thing that ever sits its way to success is a hen!!”

A wealthy businessman wanted to enrol his son in a famous university. But he was taken aback when he realized that it would take 4 years to get a degree, and that too with so many midterm tests, assignments, and exams in each of the eight semesters. Frowning, he flipped through the catalogue of the courses and asked the Dean, “Why does my son have to go through so many courses? Can’t you make the whole thing shorter? I want him to get out of it quickly.”

“Certainly he can take a shorter course,” replied the Dean politely. “It all depends on what he wants to make of himself. You see, it takes 20-30 years for an oak tree to grow, but a mushroom springs up overnight!”

Any great achievement takes its own sweet time and hard work. The ability to remain cheerful and optimistic despite all discouraging results is the greatest gift one can ever have.

Once, during a war, an army general was informed that the enemy troops have surrounded them from all directions. The general laughed aloud saying, “That’s very good news. Now we can attack them from any direction!”

Success is defined as, not in never falling, but the ability to get up and try again each time one falls!

Revealing the secret of his success, Bernard Shaw once said, “When I was young, I observed that 9 out of 10 things I did were failures. So I did10 times more work!”

Dreaming of success alone will not do; one has to wake up and work hard for it!

The glory of self-effort is such that even our destiny can be rewritten. Markandeya, who was destined to live only for sixteen years, became immortal when he held on to Shiva Linga, disobeying the order of Yamaraj to follow him. Such was his hold that Lord Shiva Himself had to intervene to protect his devotee, completely sidelining the destiny, represented by the Lord of Death.

Let us do our part – of putting forth the best of our efforts. The rest, let us allow Him to decide, as He alone knows what is ultimately good for us.

O   M         T   A   T         S   A   T

August 2009

Without I go only to come down; Within I go only to rise above.
– Chinmaya

 Giving reality and importance to things, beings and happenings, wherein one believes that the solution to all problems lie outside oneself is to go without. “I am lean/fat, unintelligent … my wife, relatives etc are the cause of my joys/ sorrows… success in that business deal would have changed my life…he/she is my inspiration… l can’t live without coffee…”

The examples can be multiplied. Our dependence on some external source for our well being only proves our slavery to them. As someone has rightly said, the key to our happiness then lies in others’ pocket! In such a case we will always find ourselves complaining and grumbling for every trivial issue and ultimately lowering ourselves in the eyes of all, including our own near and dear ones.

When we beg for the love and attention of others, we become a parasite only to be kept away by all. Everywhere beggars are kept away – be he/ she a beggar of paisa, position, pleasure, power or popularity.

Then how to face the challenges uninterruptedly thrown to us by the world? The solution lies in the scriptures. They ask us to do only one thing – go within and find out who we truly are.

All the scriptures unanimously thunder forth – “You are not this tiny, puny, miserable, mortal, wretched creature limited in strength, intelligence etc., but the Immaculate and Immortal, most Auspicious, Omniscient and All-Pervading, Existence-Consciousness-Bliss Absolute, which is the very support for this entire universe! In fact, the existence of this universe is only a borrowed existence, borrowed from Your existence! Hence none of these unreal happenings of the world has the power to affect You, the one and only Reality – just like the dream world happenings can never affect the waker! Hence WAKE UP to this Reality which is your own true nature!! …”

When we regularly meditate upon these scriptural statements, our mind gathers a new strength to face the challenges – the challenges which were earlier labelled as ‘humanly impossible’. Even by merely entertaining worldly thoughts, one attains destruction (dhyaayatovishayaan pumsaha…Bh.Geeta ch-2) whereas looking within gives us liberation itself (Satsangatwe…Jeevanmuktihi – Bhaja Govindam).

Living with the notion ‘i am so and so’ is going without; but to live as ‘I alone am’ is to go within. Living in the past, present and future, is going without; but to live in the Presence is to go within. This itself is called Living with God. It is so nicely said, “If an Egg breaks from an outside force, life ends; If an egg breaks from within, life begins!”

Going within, Ratnakara, the dacoit was transformed into a great sage Valmiki. Kaushika, the king who fought and lost several battles against sage Vasishta, lifted himself to become the great Brahmarishi Vishwamitra only by looking within. Great things always begin from within.

There was a beggar who lived in abject poverty. With the few coins, he got through begging every day he could barely fill his stomach. One day he fell ill. With no one to take care, and having no money to consult a doctor to buy medicines, he suffered untold miseries until at last, he breathed his last. Soon after the beggar died, that plot of land was sold to a rich businessman who decided to construct a huge building at that very site. When the workers started digging the land they found a mine of treasure- large urns buried under, filled to the brim with gold, diamonds, rubies and precious stones!

We are also leading the life of that beggar, ever discontent, weak and sick, chasing the paltry pleasures of the world, while the unlimited treasures lie undiscovered within. Tulsidasji says that those who seek the sense pleasures instead of God are like the foolish people throwing away the philosopher’s stone already in their hand, and picking up the ordinary glass pieces lying on the ground.

God is ever waiting… expecting that someday we would turn our attention within and seek His Kingdom, His guidance and His Protection. Let us turn within and rise above. After all, let us not keep Him waiting!!

O   M         T   A   T         S   A   T

July 2009

Character is formed from the repeated choice of thoughts and actions. Make the right choice; then we shall have noble character. – Chinmaya

In the Bhagawad Geeta, the Lord says that we are our best friend and also our worst enemy.

Every thought entertained in the mind cuts as though, a groove or a channel in the brain and repeatedly when that thought is entertained, the channel becomes deeper. Once such a deep channel has been made, the thoughts flow through the channel effortlessly, making the channel even deeper with the passage of time.

Therefore utmost care has to be taken as to what kind of thoughts are flowing through the mind – noble, ignoble or useless. Now and then attention should be withdrawn from the external world and must be directed within. When this practice of watching the contents of the mind is done regularly, over a period of time, we find a remarkable change in ourselves in terms of the peace, happiness, cheerfulness, clarity in thinking etc.

No doubt, the task is easier said than done. For innumerable births, we have left our mind unattended. To clean up such a mind filled with all sorts of garbage is not an easy task. Therefore our scriptures have suggested the path of action (Karma Yoga) before taking up the path of meditation (Dhyana Yoga). This is because directing our grosser actions in the right direction is easier than disciplining the subtler thoughts. For example, to sit for one minute not doing anything physically is easy, but not to think of anything for the same duration is very difficult!

It is an observed fact that every noble thought entertained adds to the peace of the mind. Therefore the quietude of the mind is directly related to the nobility of the thoughts. Quieter the mind, the more sensitive and subtle it becomes. With the increasing subtlety, the mind then becomes more and more alert, and thus capable of detecting even those thoughts which are in their budding stages. Such an alert and vigilant mind is the greatest possession one can ever have in this otherwise ephemeral world.

The high price to be paid for this attainment is the merciless eradication of all vices, conscious cultivation of the noble virtues, and all the time being aware of the various states of the mind.

Let us remember that every negative thought entertained 1) disturbs the mind 2) brings in undesirable reactions from the world 3)adversely affects everyone 4) leads to suffering after death in the form of various painful experiences in the lower worlds and 5) brings us back in this world to the lower wombs in the future births. Therefore, it becomes clear that the little gains or pleasures derived after compromising with our ideals are no gains at all. Knowing this the wise ever stick to the path of righteousness.

As a student the great saint Sadhu Vaswani was brilliant. He stood first in almost every examination. At one such examination, he topped the class with 73 per cent while the second rank holder had got only 65 per cent. The answer sheets were returned to the student. When Vaswani tallied his marks he found that he scored only 63 per cent and not 73. Immediately he went to the teacher and pointed out the mistake and requested the teacher to declare the second rank holder to be the first. The teacher was amazed seeing the truthfulness of the child.

May we keep the sanctum sanctorum of our heart ever pure and holy through goodness practised in thought, word and deed. This alone is the right choice to have a noble character.

O   M         T   A   T         S   A   T