People spend their live’s brooding about what they couldn’t / can’t do and create a habit of it, thereby not only screwing up their own lives but also the lives of others around them. Life is a gift and everyday needs to be lived as such. Either you can do something about it, then do it and if you can’t then simply let it go – no point wasting your precious time & energy regretting it…

This doesn’t mean that you don’t have wishes/expectations – it simply means that you don’t live your life from the lens of the unfulfilled ones. Certainly try to fulfil every wish/expectation that you have but for whatever reason if you can’t, don’t regret it. If the wish or expectation requires participation of other people then make sure that they have the same wish or expectation, if not then either you have to pursue the wish by yourself or let it go. 

A peace filled life is a choice that you have to exercise daily, 24*7. The moment you see yourself going down the regret lane or the fear lane, stop yourself and remind yourself that your freedom from regret/fear is in your own hands. Its you who is clutching on to regrets which is nothing but a memory of an unfulfilled desire and you are wasting your precious life bringing the regret in your present. Same is the case with fear – which is of the future, whilst all you can do is do what you need to in this moment. 

It’s your memories(of regret) and imagination(of a terrible future) that you are suffering, let go of them by being in the present and freedom is yours…

I was watching this video shared on WhatsApp wherein the speaker claimed that “Aadmi apni aukad tak hi paise kama sakta hai” (people can earn money only upto their value – capability/capacity) and if you want to improve your finances then you have to improve your Value – capability / capacity. What is true for finances is equally true of everything else in life. Only humans have the capacity to overcome their biases, prejudices, habits and transform their personality, no other creature even attempts to do it. 

Unlike potatoes & eggs that don’t have a choice to soften or harden upon boiling, humans actually have a choice of what they wish to be within – an egg or a potato. If we allow the situation to take control of us then when the situation boils, we become soft as potatoes and lose the plot, but if we take ownership of our response to the situation and respond as appropriate(instead of cursing destiny/  blaming others/ procrastinating/ etc) then we become hard as a boiled egg and eventually emerge rich in experience even if, and more so if the situation doesn’t go in our favour. 

The possibility of changing our response to any aspect of our lives is available every moment. It doesn’t matter whether you haven’t done it before or that you have always been a soft potato, the choice of turning into a hard boiled egg still exists at this very moment. Whether you choose to take up the challenge and ownership of your response to the situation is up to you.

The two most important days of your life are – the first when you were born and the second is when you choose to take ownership of your response to life…

Buddha’s saying “Aapo Deepo Bhava” – Be your own light, is the essence of spirituality, rest is just a process of living harmoniously with all sentient beings. 

The spiritual path is about dissolving your misconceptions about yourself – what you consider “I/Me/Mine” which is when you will experience Bliss or Unconditional Love. You would then be a guiding light for yourself and others.

Dissolution happens when your awareness deepens to a level wherein you realise that even your own “will/choice” is not yours but till you reach this stage you are still in the realm of “ego – I/Me/Mine” and think that you are making the choices that guide your life. If so then why not choose love for all as your intent behind each choice and make your own life and the life of others lovely?

We choose out of the multiple choices available to us every moment and the choice depends on ​our tendencies which are the product of our conditioning/habits. We are slaves to our habits, whether good or bad. We fancy that choice is in our hands but we relinquish control of it to our conditioning and put our buddhi on a “power save” mode, even though it doesn’t need power saving and consequently we are the products of our own habits that we keep repeating over the years and say to ourselves “well this is what I am”…

It is possible to change our destiny by changing our habits but the process requires effort and strength of mind which is where we falter and take the path of least resistance and allow our habits to take control. It is when we take ownership of our own conduct with ourselves and with others that our habits start changing. Of course this is a slow process but an essential one. This requires activation of “Buddhi” which is what introspection and reflection is all about. Aligning your misaligned habits with the concept of Sattva (Balance, Clarity, Goodness) is what Yoga is all about. If you simply reflect before taking any action whether you are headed in the direction of sattva and choose rightly, then your habits get aligned over a period of time with sattva.

The past is gone and you will not be able to change it but the future is what you make of it at this moment by aligning with Sattva. So no point blaming anyone or anything, your destiny is in your hands. As they say the weakest part in the car is the nut at the steering wheel, ask yourself who is the nut controlling the steering wheel of your life?

​There is a concept of “Ishwara Pranidhana” in Maharshi Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga which is one of the Niyama(Observance) and also an option by itself towards Samadhi/Liberation for seekers at all levels. Who is this “Ishvara”​ and how do we do “pranidhana” (surrender)?

Ishwara is the eternal being within you which is the substance from which this entire world is created. The form is the objects we see or for that matter even those that we don’t (air/space, etc). It’s like building figures out of clay/sand – the substance(Clay/Sand) is the same in all and yet we identify with the form.  

We are like these clay/sand figures and somehow live our lives identifying ourselves with the form, instead of the substance. This identification with form is “Ego” which is an acquired concept and we get so used to living through this form identification(ego) that we forget that in essence or substance we are the same. 

Dissolving this form or “ego” is the surrender or pranidhana. We then transcend form and realise the true substance. For this you have to simply let go of what you are not and see what remains…

All of us want our lives to be satisfying and that we try to achieve through pursuing a mix of duties and desires. By fulfilling what we consider “duties” and enjoying what we term as “desires” we feel that we can reach a level of “satisfaction”. However, if you observe, such satisfaction is but momentary and lasts for a very brief period of time post completion of “duty” or achievement of “desire” and then the mind craves for “what’s next?” and so goes on with our life in search of satisfaction again… We spend 99% of our time and energy to get that 1% moment of satisfaction.

The problem is our outlook to life and the thought that satisfaction is incumbent upon fulfilment of duties/desires. This is unfortunately how the entire society views life and that is the reason why we are unable to see otherwise. Now we have been in lockdown for a considerable number of days/months and this looks like a new normal till everyone is vaccinated or COVID finally decides to spare us by weakening itself. During these days of lockdown you are unable to pursue your “duties” and “desires” due to the restrictions imposed on movement/meeting/etc. Resultantly most people are frustrated/dissatisfied/angry that they are unable to get their dose of 1% satisfaction because of restrictions on being able to devote 99% time and energy to fulfil them.

The truth, my friends, is that satisfaction never left us. Our core being that we call soul is eternal and ever satisfied or always in bliss, the problem is we are living on the surface wherein we are viewing the world from our duties and desires. We are like the wave that thinks it is separate from the ocean. Enlightenment is when the wave realises that it is the ocean – that is bliss…Find it within you, devote 99% time and energy to doing so and be 100% in bliss forever…

Who is to blame that we are all under House Arrest?

COVID? The Government? Lack of discipline in people???

Is it any use blaming at all? 

We are all the unintended victims of the situation. Someone known is succumbing almost weekly, so many unknown daily…

What do we do? Stay locked in?At least for those who can afford to,  house arrest seems to be the only solution.

That you’re locked in with people you love, enough money to meet your needs and more. Many would call that a blessing and yet we view it as a curse…

Who is to blame? Is it any use blaming?And I hear that the lockdown is going to be extended post June 1st… 

Who is to blame? Is it any use blaming?

There is an opportunity hidden in every calamity and the opportunity here is to find yourself and the accompanying peace within…

No point blaming, no use either…

We experience life through our intellect and memories but rarely do we ask ourselves who is experiencing all this? I am sure you must have also had this feeling that though time has passed and you are completely different from what you were at various stages of your life, yet something within remains the same and has not aged with time…

We get identified with various things like name, title, status, ideas, desires, etc but stop for a moment and observe that you can’t be any of it. You are that which never changes – the soul which is pure awareness and hence it is said in the Bhagvad Gita – 
nainaṃ chindanti śastrāṇi nainaṃ dahati pāvakaḥna cainaṃ kledayantyāpo na śoṣayati mārutaḥ
English translation:
No weapon can cut the soul into pieces, nor can it be burned by fire,
nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.

On the auspicious occasion of Buddha Pournima may we be enlightened to the eternal nature of the soul which is pure awareness.

Buddham Sharanam Gacchami;

Dhamam Sharanam Gacchami;

Sangham Sharanam Gacchami…

There is grief everywhere, loved ones are succumbing to the dreaded “C” and amidst the grief of losing a loved one is also a fear of being next. This is where how and what we perceive life to be makes a world of difference. Sharing some perspectives that may help.

Ram Mama – my maternal uncle, mentioned to me that as time passes, more and more people that he loves are waiting on the other side for him but their memories are fresh in his mind “Ya to khud aajao ya hame bula lo”. I thought that it was an uncomfortable truth expressed in such a lovely way and the words of a soul prepared to cross over with love and affection which he is practicing every living moment… 

Death and impermanence are two fundamental facts that Buddhists keep reminding themselves and yet every action that is performed in life is as gentle and loving as can be. The preparation for the onward journey is ingrained from a very young age as a part of the culture and to live by a code of loving, sharing is upheld. That’s possibly the reason why Bhutan is the only country in the world that has “Gross National Happiness” as a metric of progress and not GDP… 

Spirituality is not a matter of faith, it is truth that has to be accepted as Osho has beautifully put it 
“I have left myself in the hands of existence. If it can manage millions of stars, millions of planets, millions of solar systems.. l am just an ordinary man, it can manage life for me too.”

Finally, if you understand the significance behind Sant Dyaneshwars words “Ata karne nahi Hone” – “Now no more doing, being” you have understood the essence of living and of course dying which is but a stage in existence…

In Hindu Mythology, we have two apparently contradictory forms of the same God – Vishnu – One named Rama(Whose birthday we are celebrating yesterday on Rama Navami) and the other named Krishna. Both followed diametrically opposite methods to uphold Dharma in their own way. Paradoxically even Buddha is considered to be an Avatar of Vishnu and the path he followed is one of complete non-violence. How can the same power manifest so differently is a question that has flummoxed most people for ages now, and the debate still continues. 

Per me, the common thread running through all avatars is the sense of duty (Dharma) – Rama/Krishna achieved what they considered to be their duty even by resorting to violence whilst Buddha achieved his goal of Self Realisation through non – violent methods. The goals, situation and context for each one was different but if you notice, each one had a sense of purpose and duty (Dharma) that they held higher than themselves and that is the take away that we should have from these role models.

They should inspire us to accept (Dharma) purposes that are higher than ourselves and to devote ourselves to achieving them without fear or favour. Let the force be with such a purpose and such individuals.
Who you pray to doesn’t matter so long as you uphold your dharma…

Jai Shri Ram

Jai Shri Krishna

Buddham Sharanam Gacchami…..