“I am not the doer, Hari(God)is the doer, only Hari(God) is the doer!”

It means that all that is being done is not by me but by Hari(God). This revelation is not for transferring or abdicating responsibility unto God but instead this is meant to inspire us to dissolve our ego and seek divinity beyond ego within ourselves…

What or who is God is a matter of personal discovery. From a Samkhya point of view, reality is perceived as having two aspects, nashwara and ishwara. Nashwara is the decaying principle, whatever is created is bound to decay, and ishwara is the non-decaying principle. Nashwara can be described as appearance, what appears to be externally, and ishwara can be described as reality. We can also say that nashwara relates to the manifest dimension of existence and ishwara to the unmanifest. Nashwara is “becoming” and ishwara is “being”.

We somehow get attached only to Nashwara and forget Ishwara which is the cause of our suffering. Ishwara Pranidhana (surrendering to Ishwara) is a way to Self Realisation as per Patanjali Yoga Sutra.

Yesterday, as we cremated the mortal remains of my dear Aunt, it reminded me of the lyrics of the famous Qawwali 

“Maut sabko aani hain kaun isse chuta hain, Tu fana nahi hoga yeh khayal jhutha hain
Saans tutate hi sab rishtey tut jaayenge, Baap.. Maa.. Behan.. Biwi.. Bachhe choot jayenge….Chadta Sooraj Dheere Dheere Dhalta Hai Dhal Jayega”

and also another song “…Kahe Kisko tu mera, Musafir Jayega Kahan…”

Meanwhile, I noticed these words written on a wall at the crematorium which when translated mean “After dying the human realises that 1) I was never this body 2) I never died.” 

Then Who am I?

Ramana Maharshi said just reflect on “Who am I” and let go(detach) of everything you are not…

Happiness is knowing that you have ​already received much​, being grateful for it​ and sharing it with others…

Sadness is craving for something you don’t have​, ignoring what you already have and hoarding it…

All of us will die, that’s for sure. 

Whether we die happy or sad, well that’s a choice. 

I came across this interesting practice – Dostadning – Swedish term for a method of decluttering and organizing one’s belongings in preparation for death.​ 

Purpose: To make it easier for family members to deal with things after the death of a loved one​.

Benefits: Helps people take stock of what’s important in their lives and celebrate their life by detaching memories from material things​. 

How it works: Involves throwing out items that don’t bring joy.

It is usually ​practiced by senior citizens but in my view, should be practiced by everyone regardless of age. 

We keep accumulating things and are then reluctant to let go of them even when all of us ​know and agree that we have more than what we need​ and that we will have to leave everything back when we pass on. 

Saucha(purity​/cleanliness of body, mind, environment) and Santosa (satisfaction with what​ever you have) are two critical observances on the path of Yoga. 

​Cultivate a declutter attitude today and remember​, the best way to declutter is not to create clutter in the first place.

What you fear indicates your attachments/dependencies.​ What holds you or what are you holding on to? In an impermanent world we try to chase permanence and that is the cause of suffering. Every day we hear about loss, death and yet believe that it will never knock on our doors. People displaced by wars or natural calamities have no other option but to learn this the hard way, which we need to learn consciously.

Letting go is the way, not of effort but of the attachment to specific results. Keep making efforts for the best but be prepared that it may not happen as you hoped for. The problem is expectations, let go of all expectations and yet make best efforts – that is Karma Yoga – “Karmanye Vadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana”….

“I have nothing.”
“I am nothing.”
Both are/have nothing,
however – the former is bound whilst the latter is liberated

It is difficult for the bound to let go and it’s difficult for the liberated to be bound.

These binds are of relations, possessions, ideas, thoughts, emotions, memories, senses… When you realise that you are the one holding on to them, is the beginning of the spiritual journey of letting go which finally culminates in Self Realisation/Being/ Nirvana/ “I am that”

Last event I felt like having a paan post dinner and walked over to the corner Paanwala who was beaming like a 100 Watt Bulb. I told him it’s good to meet people who are genuinely joyful, some of it rubs on to others around them. He said “Char din ki zindagi hai, has ke jee lo” and kept spreading his cheer to all that came to his shop. 

It’s not that all his problems had magically disappeared, he just chose to focus on being joyful in the moment… Not only did he cheer himself but also everyone who met him and the paan also had an element of joy in it and tasted great.

You don’t have to do something fantastic, just being cheerful and joyful in every moment is a choice that you exercise to make the world a better place for yourself and all others around you….

There are 195 countries in the world, some of them offer greater freedom to its citizens than others(the worst being Dictatorships). Human rights have a different definition in different countries depending on how democratic the country is or how crazy its citizens are. For instance, in the US it is still allowed to freely possess a gun despite there being constant shoot outs by mad men at innocent, unsuspecting people…Do we really have true freedom in any country? The only freedom we have is how we choose to respond to the situation that we are in since we are born in a Mad World.

Our shortcomings(greed, anger, lust, jealousy….) as individuals attain geometric proportions when they are at a collective level. The solution lies in overcoming your own shortcomings and performing your duties as a human (Without colouring it with religion, caste, colour, etc) towards self, family, society, environment and only then perhaps can you hope for a better world.

Don’t try to change the world, change yourself and you would have done your bit in changing the world…