Chintana

August 2010

He who believes that change is antecedent to rise will never give way to despair. – Chinmaya

One who has determined to rise will not be discouraged by the occasional falls en route. They are unavoidable in every path. How many times the child has to fall and injure itself before it learns to stand up and walk!

Whether it is an invention in the field of science and technology, a discovery of some unknown laws of Mother Nature, or a breakthrough in the field of medicine – countless are the losses and tragedies encountered before the final flag of triumph flutters over those unsuccessful attempts and renewed efforts. One always has to pass through the steps of failures before reaching the terrace of success.

Though falls and failures are most unwelcome everywhere, the fact is that the failures teach us some of the greatest lessons in life which any other means cannot. The failures make us more alert, contemplative and inspire us to further intensify our efforts. It also cultivates humility, compassion and the ability to forgive others. Failures expose us to our inborn imperfections, thus forcing us to seek the All Perfect Lord wholeheartedly.

But it is also true that many times, failures discourage us in moving further. At such times let us also remind ourselves that an expert is the one who has made all possible mistakes in one’s chosen profession. According to George Bernard Shaw, a life spent in making mistakes is not only honourable but also useful than a life spent in doing nothing!

There is not even a single instance in the history where a sincere and consistent effort for success has not been rewarded.

After getting defeated twice at the hands of Brahmarishi Vasishta, King Vishwamitra did intense tapas for one thousand years to attain the status of Brahmarishi. Pleased with the penance, Lord Brahma appeared and blessed him with the status of Rajarishi. With total discontentment, Vishwamitra intensified his tapas. But very soon, he cursed the son of Vasishta. Caught up in an ego clash with sage Vasishta, he bodily lifted a king named Trishanku to swarga. When Trishanku was thrown out from heaven, Vishwamitra went on to create another swarga in the mid-space. The end result of all these happenings was that he lost a major part of his tapas shakti.

To regain his lost power, Vishwamitra resumed his tapas for another one thousand years. This time, the distraction came in the form of a celestial beauty called Menaka. Greatly repenting on the fall, the rishi went on to perform tapas with greater intensity for another one thousand years. Lord Brahma again appeared before him but rejected his plea for the Brahmarishi post due to his lack of perfect self-control.

Undeterred, Vishwamitra intensified his tapas for another one thousand years, this time with arms raised, sustaining merely on air, and exposing himself to all extreme weather conditions. Once again, the devatas sent another apsara called Rambha to distract him but of no avail. Vishwamitra cursed her to become a rock for 10,000 years. Repenting deeply for his outburst of unchecked anger, he took a vow not to get angry or even to speak with anyone,  that he would not eat or even breathe!

Despite Indra’s unceasing attempts to tease Vishwamitra, the great rishi remained undisturbed and continued his tapas for yet another 2,000 years. In that unbearable heat of tapas, the three worlds started trembling. Immensely pleased with Vishwamitra, Lord Brahma had no other choice but to bless him with the highest status of Brahmarishi.

No effort of anyone has gone as a waste ever. Abraham Lincoln was once quoted saying,

“My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure!”

There is no failure except no longer trying. Real success is not all about winning trophies, but it is our attitude of mind to move on from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.

In this sense, may we ever remain successful in all our undertakings.

O   M         T   A   T         S   A   T

July 2010

Thought by thought and action by action, we are sculpting our future. – Chinmaya

‘Fate’, ‘destiny’, ‘luck’, ‘praarabdha’, ‘karma’,‘providence’…- these are some of the oft-repeated terms used by thousands amongst us to hide our inefficiencies, to justify the cause of our sufferings and to escape from the responsibilities of failures. The above quote from Pujya Gurudev puts to rest all our doubts and confusions in this matter in no unclear terms i.e. it is we who make our future and then we call it ‘fate’!

The above quote points out to us that we are today where our past thoughts have brought us; and we will be tomorrow where our present thoughts take us.

There was a young architect, greedy by nature, who married the only daughter of a wealthy and powerful man. Soon after the marriage, the wealthy man acquired a large plot of land atop a green hill, a dream location overlooking a magnificent view of a river. On this site he wanted his son-in-law to design and construct a beautiful bungalow for him.

The unscrupulous architect saw the assignment only as an opportunity to make money. He used substandard material and took all possible short cuts. He made a fortune out of the assignment and built the bungalow, beautiful to look at from outside, but with hundred unseen structural flaws.

The father-in-law, who had gone abroad during the construction period, returned at the end of the year. Meeting him at the airport, the son-in-law said, “Sir, your bungalow is ready for inspection.”

The next day, father, daughter and her husband drove up the hill to see the bungalow.

The car stopped outside the gates. The rich man looked at the bungalow and smiled with satisfaction. Handing over the keys of the house to his son-in-law, he said, “This is my surprise gift to your wife, my precious daughter!” The architect was stunned to silence!

Indeed, like that architect, thought by thought and action by action, with every passing moment, we are also shaping our future.

It is not the situation, as we may often misunderstand, that decides our future, but our response to it. For instance, in a certain house, two children grow up seeing their father, always drunk and misbehaving in the family. Whereas one child sees the calamity brought about by alcoholic addiction and grows up to be a complete teetotaler, the other one follows the footsteps of his dipsomaniac father. The situation being the same, one emerged better while the other remained bitter.

It is so well said – Watch your thoughts, for they become words; watch your words, for they become actions; watch your actions, for they become habits; watch your habits, for they become the character; watch your character, for they become your destiny.

In short, we choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them!

Someone has equated bad habits with a comfortable bed – easy to get in but hard to get out! Our habits are either the best of our servants or the worst of our masters. When noble thoughts are entertained, the purified mind gradually comes under our control. But the same mind, when allowed to drown in sensuality, tortures us with its unending temptations.

Happiness is then, not a chance but a choice. This choice is given to each one of us at every moment. It is in those moments of decision that our character is made and the destiny gets shaped.

The above quote hence reminds us of the preciousness of time, for, when we fail to prepare, we are only preparing to fail.

O   M         T   A   T         S   A   T

June 2010

“To dissipate our energies through the sense organs is the vulgar hobby of the thoughtless mortal.” – Chinmaya

Just as a stone effortlessly falls down the mountain, so too the mind and the senses are drawn towards the sense pleasures by their very nature.

For a thoughtless mortal, the pleasures derived from such indulgences alone are the real happiness and he or she sees no other meaning in life. But the fact remains that no lasting happiness can be gained through such sensual excesses as they only serve to drain away our vital energies, intensifying our slavery to the sense objects in the process. Hence the Lord says in Bhagawad Gita that the wise do not revel in such worldly pleasures.

When Nachiketa was offered all the luxuries of the world for countless years by Yamaraj,  the intelligent little one replied, “Sir, you may keep with yourself all these dance and music; please give me that which is Real and Eternal.”

Such earnest seekers of Truth are rare indeed. Majority of us have no such noble goal or aspiration. We are like the anchorless boat carried away by any passing wind, getting tossed up and down in the boundless ocean. If we observe how we spend every minute in a day, we will be shocked to realize that unnecessary and unimportant chores eat up most of our time. Newspapers, movies, cricket, gossips, chats, TV, internet etc. are increasingly becoming the pastimes of the masses. No one seems to be bothered about one’s own spiritual evolution. There is no time allocated for meditation, Satsang or any spiritual sadhana. The body is fed indiscriminately with tasty but junk foods and the mind is constantly fed with base, ignoble and vulgar thoughts. Thus, sick both in body and mind, the modern man drags on his life, totally unmindful of the very purpose for which he has come to this world.

It is the discipline that makes life easier, not licentiousness.

Someone put it very well- “Seek freedom and become captive of your desires; seek discipline and find your liberty.”

For us, another word for discipline is ‘pain’! But let us remember that there are no shortcuts to any place worth going and any gain worth achieving. ‘Must’ is a hard nut to crack but it has a sweet kernel!

A party of young men and women made merry in a grove near Uruvela. They were in a holiday mood, dancing, playing and making fun with each other. Tired, they lay down to sleep. When they woke up, all their items of baggage were gone!

They set out in search of the thief. They ran hither and thither but in vain. From a distance they saw a tree underneath which sat Buddha in lonely majesty, His face radiating with supreme peace. Prostrating themselves in reverence, they asked Buddha, “Sir, we are in search of the thief who has robbed us of our goods. Can you give us some clue?”

Buddha looked long into their eyes and gazed into the depths of their aspiring hearts and said, “In search of the thief have you set out my children! Were it not better that you went in search of yourselves?”

As they listened to these words, soaked in compassion, they forgot the thief, they forgot their goods, and they forgot the whole world! Buddha continued, “Subdue your passion for the pleasure of this world and the next. Conquer lust and be free from the shackles of pride. May you grow in the knowledge – the knowledge that will remove the veil and you will behold yourselves as you truly are!”

In Vivekachoodamani, Bhagawan Sri Adi Shankaracharya says that one who, even after getting a noble human birth does not strive for the realization of the Self verily commits suicide. It is said that we all must undergo either of the two pains – the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The only difference is that discipline weighs in ounces while regret weighs in tons!

May we make the best use of this precious life that God has given us and strive to be the worthy children of the Divine.

O   M         T   A   T         S   A   T

May 2010

The real men of achievement are the people who have the heroism to fuel more and more enthusiasm in their work when they face more and more difficulties. – Chinmaya

Difficulties, failures and problems etc. in a way are the greatest teachers in life. It is only during difficulties that we stretch ourselves out to the maximum our God-given talents to overcome various challenges. Difficulties strengthen the muscles of will-power, determination and perseverance. Our weaknesses and limitations are exposed only during difficulties and hence they reveal the scope for growth and improvement.

Many times, difficulties force us to turn within and tune in to God, thus helping us realize the fact that He alone is our true friend and the best guide. Difficulties enrich us with the noble values of humility and gratefulness. It also makes us aware of the bitter facts of life, thus urging us to strive for discrimination, dispassion and liberation. Difficulties are indeed the only available bitter pills unavoidable to get rid of the disease of worldliness.

When so many unseen blessings come along with difficulties, it is but natural that the truly wise welcome them with an open heart, knowing well that difficulties come only to stimulate and not to discourage.

In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling put forth the suggestion to build a bridge connecting New York and Long Island. Strong oppositions and criticisms poured from all over, stating how the whole plan was impossible to implement. But John knew in the depth of his heart that it could be done. He could convince only his son, Washington, an upcoming engineer, and both of them started working together to build their dream bridge.

The project started off well, but within a few months, a tragic accident took the life of John. Washington was seriously injured. With a part of his brain fully damaged, he could not walk, talk or even move.

As Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built, sharp criticisms again raised its hood and everyone felt that the project should be scrapped. But Washington still had the burning desire to go ahead. He tried to inspire and pass on the enthusiasm to some of his friends, but all in vain.

As he was lying on his bed, totally exhausted, something in him said not to give up. And very soon an idea struck him. All he could do was move one finger; he decided to make the best use of it. He developed a code of communication with his wife by tapping her arm; his wife would then tell the engineers what to do next! This went on for 13 long years and finally, the bridge was completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man’s indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances.

Let us not stop trying. The greatest mistake one can make is to be afraid of making one!

Swami Vivekananda says, “Never mind the struggles and the mistakes. Hold on to the ideal a thousand times and if you fail a thousand times, make the attempt once more. Be bold. Be strong. Stand up and fight! Not a step back!!”

Let us remember – the whole ocean is at the back of each wave. So too an Infinite Power is at the back of each and every one. This is the message of the Vedas and the Upanishads.

Once this knowledge is gained, one has then connected to the perennial source of strength, courage and wisdom within, thus transforming oneself from the state of a mere mortal to a real man of achievement.

O   M         T   A   T         S   A   T

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