To be a great human being despite being God in your game is a skill to be learnt from the humble, kind, ever smiling Roger Federer.

It is when your arch rival regrets your retirement knowing that he has lost his opportunity to learn more from you on the court and off it as well, that you know you have lived a worthy life.

He exemplified the proverb- it’s nice to be important but it’s more important to be nice.

We will miss you on the court Roger but will hold you in our hearts forever.

Similarly in criticizing others/situation, people think they are changing the world. Nothing changes unless you act.

So for a healthy body move from tongue consciousness to health consciousness.

For a healthy mind, start taking action on positive intents, don’t waste time criticizing/blaming… 🌻

We search for happiness in “achievements”. Does it by extension mean that people with no achievements are not happy? That we know is not true, in fact just the reverse is true – happiness lies in simple things – being alive for starters, being able to carry out our bodily functions, mind functions, just witnessing the nature around us – this unfortunately you realise when either you are too young(a child) or too old or incapacitated due to some unfortunate reason. In the intermediary stages we seem to collectively forget that happiness is in simple things and we create a chase for ourselves and call it “purpose”. 

There is no “purpose” to life, it is the meaning that we assign to our own otherwise meaningless existence. We seek to be important, relevant but that is not existentially needed. They say “Find purpose and means shall follow”, it is true for someone wanting to start the chase for achievement like a dog trying to catch its own tail who eventually experiences “Find Purpose and misery follows”.

Ask yourself would you like to be happy and if the answer is yes, then simplify your life, don’t mortgage your happiness to “purpose”, be in the moment and be joyful with whatever you do – achievements will come if they have to but your happiness is your own, not dependent on it. 

We(especially distressed people) give enormous importance to miracles and search for them. Why is there rush at Siddhivinayak or Lalbaugcha Raja Ganapati, etc ? It is because the deities in those places are considered to perform miracles and hordes of people wait in queues for hours to seek Divine Intervention and a sort of miracle in their own lives. How is the idol of this Deity more powerful than the one in your homes or the one in the society or the all pervading Divinity? 

If you observe, a miracle is nothing but an event outside our understanding of human possibilities. It is our own understanding that is limited, not the possibility. To explore the possibility takes the right effort but we want quick fixes and don’t want to invest our energies into transforming ourselves and hence the rush to deities/ saints who perform miracles. Further we somehow don’t seem to accept the fact that life is fair, in that it screws everyone and no one gets out alive. Everyone wants to go to heaven but no one wants to die… This is the paradox of human existence.

An idol of a God is just meant to remind you of what you truly value and give you the inspiration to make all efforts to reach there. In the instant case – Ganapati is the symbol of Buddhi (Intellect), Riddhi (Prosperity) and Siddhi (Spiritual Powers), so when you bow to a Ganapati Idol you are reminding yourself to have the strength to walk the path of Yoga that would proferr Buddhi, Riddhi and Siddhi for ultimately attaining Moksha (Liberation). You still have to walk the path. 

So don’t look for miracles, you are the miracle that you are waiting for.

Intent, thoughts, speech are a precursor to action though not necessarily so, people can act out of sheer reflex of habits built over years. Cursing or speaking ill of others or the situation is the most common negative habit developed unconsciously. This leads to a negative world view and you start seeing only the half glass empty. 

It is never too late to change this habit, break the chain of negativity by first being aware of what you are talking about & acting upon and if it doesn’t meet the “think” test, simply don’t say/do it and break the chain then and there. This is the beginning of “Ahimsa” and will definitely change your outlook and response to life making it more positive.

Love and violence cannot co-exist.​ Choose love, always and you will be living a life that ensures that you don’t need to say Micchami Dukkadam to anyone ever.

As you bring my idol home and lovingly attend to it for a few days and consign it back to the elements remember to celebrate form not cling on to it, it is impermanent and will eventually fade.

I am nothing but the love in your heart and am here again to remind you that love multiplies with sharing. 

The best Ganapati celebration is being as loving to everyone/everything as you are to me.

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi 🌻

Know that nothing you “do” can change what you “are”

Hence just “be”, don’t try to “become” 

Make plans for life but always live in the moment​, “be” the moment..

A human born in any part of the world is human whose needs conform to Maslows hierarchy of needs model and yet we manage to create divisions based on colour, caste, creed, sex, financial status, nation, etc creating a concept of superiority/ inferiority and a basis for exploitation much like Hitler and possibly as dreadful. We were all the same until race disconnected us, religion separated us, and wealth classified us. 

The frightful part is somehow divisions have become a legacy for societies across the world whether black or white, hindu or muslim, rich or poor, Indian or Chinese….Where does this division exist? In our collective minds, we perpetuate it. If you observe the root of this “need for differentiation” is a “Psychological Need” that needs to be added to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model. People assist only people who meet their similarity criteria, others can go to hell…How are we different from Hitler?

Being inclusive and not exclusive is the key – follow your own code but do not try to impose it on others. How? Change always begins with self. Difficult but not impossible…

Traffic jams are the best way to test your spiritual progress – if you remain calm, composed, cheerful during the traffic jam – whatever is your “spiritual” practice is working. I got to test mine on 11^th August 2022 as I was rushing back to Mumbai from Nasik alone in my car for some urgent work and got stuck for 6 hours to get from Nasik to Thane (which normally takes less than 3 hours). Sharing a few valuable insights from the most recent traffic jam experience.

1.     Nothing is urgent, everything can wait and even if it can’t there’s not much you can do about it

2.     You can’t run away from your fate – what will happen, will happen

3.     The best time to practice zen is when you are in a traffic jam in midst of pouring rain, with no end in sight, with a slight opening in your car wind shield bringing the rain water inside to give you a taste of your own private waterfall

4.     Always pee before you get into a car for a long drive. No guys you can’t pee in a bottle whilst sitting, don’t know about women. You need an elephants bladder and a truck drivers patience, who simply get on with their lives oblivious to the traffic jam since waiting in long queues on roads is normal life for them…

5.     Can someone lend me their left knee? Mine is numb pressing the clutch for hours…Why is my car not Automatic transmission?

6.     Count your blessings that you are not in the next rickshaw with people packed like a can of sardines with an excuse of a rain curtain not offering any protection from rain

7.     Well you need some “me” time, here it is – you’re alone in the car with no-where to go, enjoy your “me” time

8.     Have a flask of tea, snacks in the car always. You never know when you may need it.

9.     Whatever your view about God is will change – if you are a believer, you will start doubting, if not then you will start believing – it is all directly proportional to the number of hours of the traffic jam…

10.  There comes a time when you just want to leave your car and run as Munnabhai says khali pili bheja sala yunhi phadphadaye but… Hence last but not the least, travel by train – avoid cars especially during rains. Na rahega baas, na bajegi basuri…

How ready am I? is a question that came to my mind whilst reading a news item on the state of Micheal Schumacher who was the top Formula One Racer and suffered a severe brain injury in a skiing accident in 2013 and has since been in a medically induced coma. One of the fittest people with the fastest reflexes is no longer able to even get up from bed. Similar thing happened to Christopher Reeve, the actor who played the role of Superman when he was thrown from a horse and remained paralysed for the rest of his life. What happened to them could happen to any of us… A momentary twist of fate can completely overturn your life as you know it, all of a sudden…

Not so sudden is the process of aging that everyone goes through. A book that I’m presently reading “Being Mortal” by Dr.Atul Gawande deals with the challenges of the aging process and caregiving for people with diminished abilities both physical and mental. This would most probably happen to all of us, if we manage living long enough by averting accidents/diseases – which is the attempt by all of us but the critical question is are we prepared for living long with diminished physical/mental faculties?

In both cases you need an attitude of acceptance which comes in only when you accept that you are no-thing (Shi-va) and will return as such (Khali haat aye hai, khali haat jayenge), what you are clinging on to is an imagination of “I, Me, Mine” which in reality doesn’t exist. Acceptance of the fact that death is of the form/of this illusion whilst what you truly are is the eternal Source behind the form, is the way to transcending the illusion, to total surrender, to total freedom. This is true Mrityunjaya…