Author: Ajit Bam

Explorer, Philanthropist, Mentor: Exploring and researching on practices of Self Realisation Philanthropist: engaged in projects with social and environmental impact Mentor: guiding people crystallise and achieve their material and spiritual goals Background: Former CEO of Mahindra Integrated Business Solutions- an Advisory and Business Process Management Arm of the Diversified US$ 17 Billion Mahindra Group. Ajit was responsible for transforming a Shared Services Centre of the Mahindra Group into a full-fledged Advisory and Business Process Management Company with products/services spanning Strategy & Enterprise Risk Management Advisory to Digitization and Transactional Outsourcing. He has over 23 years of experience in the industry as an Entrepreneur. He has built businesses in Music Publishing, Media (Compact Discs/DVD’s) Manufacturing, Logistics and Financial Services and is currently nurturing his own initiative called FREE (Forests, Renewable Energy and Environment) & associated with NPO Trusts/ Organizations and mentoring select people and a few start-ups in his personal capacity. A Chartered Accountant by Qualification with extensive continuing education in Executive Management Programs @ Harvard Business School, Michigan- Ross Business School, IIM-A He has pursued spiritual interests since an early age exploring inner facets of self through Vipassana, Isha Yoga, Kriya Yoga, other yogic approaches / meditation techniques An Avid Marathoner, trekker/mountaineer, scuba diver, writer and motorbike traveller, is passionate about exploring the outer world as much as the inner.

Fear and Faith

Perhaps it’s fear that makes the world go round, imagine what it would be if it were faith… Faith is when you act on your belief despite your fears. 

Fear and faith are two sides of the same coin, it is when you turn from the material to the spiritual that the former doesn’t hold any influence over you.

Traditionally, humans were spiritual beings who, for prudence’s sake, took care of their material needs; nowadays more and more of us are material beings who, for the sake of prudence, attend to our spiritual needs.

The switch, my friend, from material to spiritual is in your hands, choose wisely….

But who knows

Many people, goals, desires come into our lives and go away,

what was/is the purpose of life that binds you? 

It is possibly to know that you were/are always free…

But who knows?

Where do you go after you die? 

The same place before you were born? 

But who knows? 

You have to make peace with inevitability,

What has been born will surely die,

The elements will fold into their own and that which was born will return home…

But who knows? 

What will happen, no one can tell, 

But the body will die, that everyone knows and yet we live in the hope that today is not the last…

But who knows?

Will there be someone with me when I pass?

Holding my hand and saying it’s OK,

For those who love you are on both sides….

But who knows? 

Om Namah Shivaya

It is from the Source/Unmanifest (Shiva) that Creation/Manifest(Shakti) arises and unto it folds, hence Shiva is called Mahadev (Super God). That is also the reason why Shivaling is depicted in the shape of an elliptical/cylindrical shape (form) emerging from the Unmanifest (substance).

All creation has this Unmanifest Mahadev at its core. Hence the saying “Har Har Mahadev”(Everything is Mahadev) to remind us that all forms are Shiva and Shakti of which the Shakti keeps changing and is impermanent and Shiva is unchanging, eternal.

We experience Shakti every moment but it is to experience Shiva that we practice Dhyana till we experience the permanence in the impermanent which is Advaita(there is no second) and is also Mrityunjaya(Transcending Duality, since duality is only an illusion/Maya)

Om Namah Shivaya 🙏

Happy Mahashivratri ❤️

Value of priceless?

Just witnessed a spectacular sunrise, a sight that never fails to bring that wow feeling, accompanied with a feeling of humility that we are just a small speck of dust in this marvellous creation.

And yet we live in societies that measure the worth of wo/men with the scale of power/success/fame and somehow start evaluating self worth on this scale. How do you put a price on love, discipline, integrity….? Not everything that has value has a price…

Reminds me of Amitabh Bachchan dialogue in Trishul -“Duniya mein daulat hi sab kuch nahin hoti… par yeh baat kuch log nahin jaante”

Greed, Fear, Stupidity

It is senseless t​rying to make sense of the crumbling world order(if there was one to begin with). When what a madman in another part of the world does, begins to affect your life realtime it is a matter of concern. There are many unanswered questions besides the most significant philosophical inquiry “Who am I?” For instance –  How does my grocery bill increase because of sanctions imposed by some nations on another nation?  Why in the age of AI are Gold and Silver(Old age currencies) prices skyrocketing instead of the new age Bitcoin? How is de-dollarisation going to affect me? What if there is a third world war? and many more…There are​ simply so many ​ununderstandable, uncontrollable factors affecting your life that it is impossible to stay away or insulate yourself from it.

To understand the answer, entails not only knowing how the diverse systems work but also how they contradict each other and if you are somehow able to get the knowledge of everything and try to make sense of it, it doesn’t.  

In my view, whether it be politics, economics, social issues, etc, it all boils down to the same old human weaknesses: greed and fear that results in stupidity and we haven’t been able to overcome it till date…

Who knows what is enough and to share what is more than enough? Who accepts that there is enough and more offered by nature, if only we live harmoniously? And so the circus continues…letting go​ is no longer a lifestyle choice but a psychological necessity for maintaining your​ sanity…

Peace of mind

It’s easy to sit back and criticize the situation, other people, destiny​, etc. If it’s done in a funny way it becomes a stand up comedy and in a serious way it becomes a debate but the underlying issue possibly remains the same.  

The AQI is worsening, corruption is increasing, polarization is deepening,….Yes there are millions of things wrong with the world but unless you do something about it, it is just a statistic. Who will make things right? On the day of elections this seems to be a relevant question​ to ask ourselves. The answer is – The Wo/Man in the mirror. Once you take ownership of yourself and your actions you would be contributing in whatever little manner in bringing about a world that you would like to live in.

Despite that, a million things would still be wrong which you would have to accept for your own peace of mind since that is the nature of human civilization – it will perpetuate itself till the time it either matures completely or destroys itself completely. It seems like the latter is winning but who knows? So “Some ​days we make compromises, some days we have gin​”

​

What is the point?

​If only Self Realisation could be attained by reading holy books/accounts of Masters, then there would be millions of Enlightened Souls. But simply knowing it from books or other Masters is not enough till you don’t walk the path yourself and experientially understand what they are saying, so knowing is just the beginning of the journey at the intellectual level, to convert the knowledge to daily experience is the path and the understanding/acceptance/maturity that comes out of this process is Self Realisation which is also a journey not a destination.

If you remain enamored with the sensual/egoic delights that the mind is attached to, then there is no inspiration for moving away from them and you remain in the attached state of duality. Only when you transcend these attachments can you experience Advaita. Bhakti, Jnana, Karma, Kriya, Raja Yoga are the paths to transcend them – just knowing them is not enough, you have to walk them as sincerely as you can and Self Realisation would unfold itself and reflect as wisdom in you. 

Reminds me of Swami Vivekananda who was once asked, “What do you gain by Prayer and Meditation?”
To which he answered, “I gained Nothing, in fact I lost Anger, Depression, Jealousy, Irritation & Insecurity.”