The statistics reported on the news were just numbers till recently. However they start to look real when people you know are getting infected, it just seems that it is drawing closer and closer and that gives you reason to think about what you wanted/want from life. Better late than never, this is forcing us to prioritise our lives and put that which gives us privileged ones meaning, on the top of the stack, the unprivileged still have to deal with the struggles of staying alive on a day to day basis.

Only if we know what life is all about would we be able to prioritise our goals/roles. Life, as we know it, is governed by duties and desires – what we should do in order to stay alive & peaceful in a social context is duties and what we want to indulge ourselves in are desires. There is nothing right or wrong with anything since it’s us that give meaning to our lives, there is no standard of perfection of life since all of us are wired in different ways.

The concept of “Purushartha” is of great use in prioritising your duties and desires, hence sharing it.Puruṣārtha (Sanskrit: पुरुषार्थ) literally means an “object of human pursuit”. It is a key concept in Hinduism, and refers to the four proper goals or aims of a human life. The four puruṣārthas are Dharma (righteousness, moral values), Artha (prosperity, economic values), Kama (pleasure, love, psychological values) and Moksha (liberation, spiritual values).
All four Purusarthas are important, but in cases of conflict, Dharma is considered more important than Artha or Kama. Moksha is considered the ultimate ideal of human life.

Dharma is a guidance to perform your duties to the best of your abilities, Artha is to pursue that which gives you meaning (and money) to lead your chosen lifestyle, Kama is activities of recreation or relaxation and Moksha is seeking liberation from the attachments created to various things. You have to find your balance between these four aspects depending on your age, situation, maturity, wisdom. You cannot deny your physical existence and hence have to hold on to Dharma, Artha, Kama and yet, since you are living under an illusion of attachment to body, mind, relationships, possessions, you also have to find your way to let go of that which never was yours that is moksha…

So life is a fine balance of holding on and letting go…

Like writing a computer program, we write our life script with  “if….then” statements and mortgage our peace/happiness to the “then” whereas life is happening now. We get so used to living in this fashion that even when we are experiencing “then” it is short lived and we search for new “ifs” to justify our existence. This is the paradigm of “doing” wherein we need something external to us to justify our lives and can’t live doing nothing. The mind simply craves to be engaged in something all the time, consequently people keep watching TV, talking incessantly to others, etc even when they have a great opportunity to experience just “being”. 

It is in “doing” that we identify ourselves and willingly allow ourselves to be hijacked by “if…then” conditionalities thereby getting attached to that mode of living. This is similar to saying “I think, therefore I am”. Actually it is “I am, therefore I think”. If you accept the latter proposition then you will naturally ask “Who am I?” that is the beginning of the search within, to get introduced to your true Self. Try this out in small doses through meditating, communing with nature or simply sitting silently doing nothing – introduce yourself to your Self, for in it you will find bliss. The list of “doings” is inexhaustible and you would always have duties and desires to pursue but if you do so from the paradigm of “Being” you may experience life in a completely different way. Try it, it doesn’t harm for sure…

“Mind the gap” is a repeated announcement in the London Underground Metro that reminds people to mind the gap between the platform and the train so that accidents could be avoided. Never thought that a train station announcement could also have deep spiritual import.

Align behaviour: The effort of spirituality is to provide the practitioner a space between choice and action which is critical for overcoming compulsive behaviours. Most of us live our lives as slaves to our compulsions or habits that we are not even aware of but they govern our entire waking day – from the time of waking up to going to bed, what we eat/drink, who/what are we interested in, how we walk, etc. We live through most of the day out of reflex. It is when we want to change these habits that we find challenges and we come face to face with our own habits that refuse to change. The spiritual path and practices offer a gap between the urge and action – this gap is important for choice to be made. It is the awareness of this gap, when acted upon, that brings about change. Focussing on this gap to uphold change from vice to virtue helps in personality transformation.

Experience Advaita: Deeper still, during meditation, practitioners are asked to focus their attention on the gap that comes about when we breathe in and before we breathe out and vice versa- this gap when prolonged gives the experience of what lies beyond – Advaita/Nirguna which eventually takes the practitioner towards Nirvana.  

So remember to “mind the gap” 

The gap between choice and action for a Self Transformation

The gap between breath in and out for Self Realisation

I read a newspaper article stating that lots of people are suffering from COVID Anxiety. We suffer our past(memories) and are anxious about the future, both of which are useless and a waste of time but since we are habituated to it, we can’t seem to get over it. The root cause of anxiety is clutching on to various things including the hope that you would be alive tomorrow. We clutch on to relationships, possessions, titles, etc in the hope that they would provide us with a sense of “life” tomorrow. 

You would agree with me that death is the most uncertain event in terms of its time and manner and yet is the most certain thing to happen sooner or later. In this light, if you ask yourself that if our friend(death) comes calling you today – what are you going to do? Refusing is not an option, then check what you are clutching on to again. Anxiety is a result of clutching on to something that never was/is/will be yours. It’s like grasping air in your palms, you may believe that some of it is yours but in reality it never is.

The spiritual liberation that Masters speak about is just this – it is letting go of everything that you are clutching on to. It doesn’t mean that you will not possess anything or need anything, it simply means that you won’t allow a dependency to be created by it. People try to hold on to life by creating relationships, security of power/wealth/fame, ideas, etc. All these are just crutches that you create for yourself and when these crutches are threatened you start feeling anxious. You simply need to realise that you don’t need the crutches and this moment of realisation liberates you. 

Actually it’s a good thing that people are feeling anxious, if they go to the core of the anxiety they would find that they are the creators of it and letting go of it is in their hands… 

Faith and anxiety cannot co-exist – one of them has to go…
Faith is a product of experience – it has nothing to do with belief. You build faith gradually by observing things and decide your course of action accordingly – for e.g. you will trust people who give you reason to trust them by their consistent conduct. Repeated trust develops faith. Do we have faith that we will die? Yes – sooner or later, then why do we live in denial of it? If you remind yourself daily that today could be your last day(it well could be…) then your conduct of life changes. You no longer keep grasping material things or relationships or anything that is impermanent – you realise the impermanence of everything. This is all the spirituality that you ever need to know. Trust your observation and develop your faith accordingly – you will never be anxious about anything since you will not be clutching on to anything… That is liberation

What you are, influences your choices.
What you choose, influences what you are.
You don’t like something in your life then choose differently, if a choice is available, if not then accept that for which no choice is available – for instance the pain due to the current COVID crises. It sounds very simple – choose differently and we have all been there, done that – New Year Resolutions, promises to our loved ones, etc. Some honored, most broken. Unless you understand who is choosing, this conundrum would continue to fox you in one way or another.

Here you need to meet yourself – who are you? Are you your body, prana, mind, soul or a combination of all these factors? You can observe that all of us are born with more or less the same faculties though we may look different. What is that which makes a sibling choose differently from another sibling? This is a karmic body which is a sum total of all your habits, tendencies that you have accumulated over lifetimes. This is the reason why even twins have different habit patterns. We live our lives through this karmic body and call it our “nature”. It is possible to change this “nature” provided you have the will, grit and determination to do so.

An interesting method was brought to light in the detective serial “Elementary” that is based on Sherlock Holmes. The serial is set in recent times and Sherlock Holmes is shown to be a rehabilitating heroin addict and Dr.Watson is a female who is assigned to him to be his “Sober Companion” whose role is to stay with him for a few weeks to enable him to deal with the society outside the rehabilitation centre. She then is trying to find a “Sponsor” who is a sort of a permanent sober companion who would be friends with Sherlock for a lifetime and help cope with the challenges. Interestingly, the sponsor must be him/herself a recovered addict and must be acceptable to the addict trying to recover.

Your nature is your addiction and if there are components of anger, greed, lust, etc, then you would need the same methodology to deal with bringing about that change. Whilst a good Yoga Ashram would serve as a rehabilitation centre, you will find it a challenge to find “Sober Companions” and “Sponsors” since they could possibly not be a part of your friend circle or even if they are then they were possibly ridiculed for their non-indulgence in your dramas. If you are able to find one, great, if not then simply start walking in the direction by yourself by joining a good school of Yoga near your place that teaches the philosophy, psychology and technology of Yoga, not only Asanas.

Remember, as long as the direction is right, you would eventually reach your destination. Doesn’t matter how many times you slip and fall, pick yourself up and continue walking. As Richard Bach has beautifully put it – “You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it however”

Just before the lockdown a friend, who was visiting his parents, wanted eagerly to get back to his “family(wife and kid)” lest he get stuck in the lockdown and was encouraged by his loving parents to do so. The question that arose in my mind was when did the parents stop being family? What constitutes a family as a unit has gradually fragmented over the years to today’s position wherein a couple/single parents with their children (who choose to stay with them) are considered family. Soon we would see times wherein each individual stays separately and comes together with people for specific purposes but prefers living in his/her privacy. We are like small islands/icebergs in the vast sea of humanity and are getting even smaller by reducing the size of the islands to include “I, Me, Myself” and no longer is there any space for anyone else anymore. Look around you, it’s already happened or happening.

On the other hand, people are increasingly suffering from loneliness/depression brought in due to this island approach. People in developed nations seek professional help from therapists to deal with loneliness but in India even that is considered to be a taboo, so people simply suffer their loneliness in silence & when they cant deal with it even go to the extent of suicide. The crux of the problem is that no one wants to adjust and accommodate anymore so this intolerance is reflecting in this islanded existence…It’s amazing to see that people choose to suffer their loneliness by themselves rather than being simply more accommodative and reach out to other people who could also possibly be lonely. India has 1.3 Billion people and we have people suffering from loneliness – paradoxical? I call this phenomenon “collective loneliness” an oxymoron of sorts…People try to counter this loneliness by being active on social media but having 10000 connections over social media doesn’t help, having one good friend/family member does.

Yes the problem is well defined, but who is going to bell the cat? Unfortunately (or fortunately), the answer is “I, Me, Myself”. Dissolving the self obsession(with I, Me, Myself) is the only way out by either being more social, by being more accommodative/tolerant and investing in real relationships with family/relatives/friends, and/or turning inwards to find the Source(for the more spiritually oriented) that is common in everyone/everything. 

The social path would keep you connected with people/causes and keep you away from loneliness, whilst the spiritual path would show you that you have made yourself an iceberg but in the end you are made up of the same water as the sea/icebergs around you and that you are never really alone since the Source is always in/with you. Both efforts are to dissolve the boundaries of “I, Me, Myself” to include a larger existence – the social approach includes as many people/causes as possible whereas the spiritual approach simply dissolves the boundaries & merges with the Sea…

Do you want to exist as an Iceberg (Island -Separated from everyone) or the Sea (Connected with everyone), the choice is yours…Dissolving the Icebergs(of I, Me, Myself) is the solution. On a lighter note, I wish that we could warm the globe with the warmth in our hearts instead of the rise in temperature, that would be a welcome global warming. 

We can’t see it or don’t know it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Changing forms of the same essence is what this entire world is made of. Ice Cubes are made of water which is condensed water vapour received in the form of rain, water vapour in turn is made of 2 elements of Hydrogen and 1 element of Oxygen which further are made of sub atomic particles,… We can see Ice Cubes and water but rest is invisible / subtle. We are like ice cubes denying the existence of the very Source that provides us the experience of life.

We observe the Circle of life in everything around us – humans, animals, plants, etc and yet somehow get attached to the process of life. In accounting terms, our physical body(and everything visible) is a depreciable asset subject to wear and tear and eventually unsustainable for the life that resides within us, that is when life leaves the body to take form again later in another body. The physical body that we leave back is merged into the elements and life goes on…Despite observing this on a daily basis, we somehow live in denial of it or fear it from happening to us…

The Ganesh Festival is to remind us that even the idols of Gods are consigned back to the elements so let us not get too attached to the ephemeral/impermanent world, instead live life in the awareness that we are eternal life living a limited existence and lets make that existence pleasant for not only us but everyone around us…

Ganapati Bappa Morya!!!

Recently I saw the movie “The Walk” which is the story of a French High Wire Artist who walks between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre on 7th August 1974. I was sitting on the edge of the sofa through the movie and couldn’t imagine why someone would want to do such a crazy thing at the risk of certain death. Reminded me of the famous reply by Mountaineer George Mallory when asked by a journalist “Why do you want to climb Mt.Everest?” and his reply was “Because it’s there”. I am sure there are many more stories of adventurers, artists, scientists who have not given up despite repeated failures like Edison and his invention of the light bulb despite repeated failures he said – “I haven’t failed — I’ve just found 10,000 that won’t work.”

To expand the boundaries of human possibilities, it is these crazies who have done it and are still doing it. The crazies know that time is limited and that they need to do their bit quickly in order to raise the bar for the next generation to take it to the next level. What stuff are these men made of? The same stuff as you and me except that they choose to live with an attitude of enjoying challenges and surmounting them. 

Most people say you should take only what you can handle, the crazy attitude says take up more than you can handle – increase the bar. Now more than ever we require an attitude of facing challenges and enjoying the process. You think all crazies that lived years ago did not have crazy situations? No, they did what they did regardless of craziness around them. 

God has gifted humans with an indomitable spirit of resilience we need to choose one area of our liking and put our efforts to excel in that – whatever it may be – For Buddha it was enlightenment, For Michelangelo it was painting, For Mother Teresa it was service, For Gandhi it was Freedom, For MS Dhoni it was cricket, you get the point. Choose one area of focus and lose yourself in challenging the existing limits in that area – that would be a life certainly well lived regardless of whether you achieve your goals… 

In Yoga this is called an Ekagra Chitta: focussed on one…It is possible for all of us. Why not try?

We have divided the world into 220+ countries and people want more.

We have divided humanity by caste, color, religion, gender, financial status, and various other things.

We have lost humanity in this maze of divisions and that is the only thing that matters irrespective of where we are born.

We are dependent on divisions to define us, provide us identities, why not be dependent on unity instead? It’s possible.

The dependence is in our minds, independence is in our hands… Erase the boundaries…

Happy Independence Day

Just received a message on a whatsapp group that someone lost her mother, another message followed was birthday wishes to someone celebrating her 50th birthday, the next message was a joke on the vaccine found by Russia and the next was someone died of COVID… I am sure you must also be in a similar situation wherein you are subjected to a wide range of emotions from elation to tragedy, from pain to happiness, all within moments, without even allowing you a moment to process the emotions. Welcome to the digital age which bombards you with information at the speed of thought without asking you whether you wanted it in the first place. All this is one of the contributors to the increasingly stressful lives that we all live, but coping is no longer an option, you simply don’t have a choice unless you decide to crawl under a rock, which certainly seems to be a tempting option under these bizarre circumstances.

Along with problems come solutions, along with risks come opportunities. It is when you face problems head on that you get into finding solutions, not by avoiding/side stepping them. This information overload is going to only increase and lives are going to be only more complex to understand and live peacefully. So what does one do? You would have to build your inherent capacity to deal with the new world order of chaos and confusion. As Sadhguru beautifully puts it “We are trying to set up a new normal: to be immensely capable and absolutely involved with life in every way, but untouched by the process of life” 

How? you may ask. Yoga is the way to build capabilities and capacities, be absolutely involved with everything and yet remain detached. It is our attachment to various people, roles, possessions that is the root cause of suffering. We somehow make ourselves believe that people & things(including our own body,mind) in this world belong to us and we get attached to them, it is we who nurture the emotion of attachment under the umbrella word “love”. These are Moha Moha ke dhaage. “Hate” is also just a negative attachment. The word love and hate as we understand them are our excuse of forming and maintaining attachments to various things.The problem you see is attachment.

You are attached to the process of pleasure seeking, pain avoiding. It is only when you realize that what you are attached to is your source of pleasure as well as pain, and you seek to experience detachment that your spiritual journey begins. 

Sant Kabir says:
“Sadho bhai jival hi karo asa” which is beautifully translated by Rabindranath Tagore:
O FRIEND! hope for Him whilst you live, know whilst you live, understand whilst you live: for in life deliverance abides.
If your bonds be not broken whilst living, what hope of deliverance in death? 
It is but an empty dream, that the soul shall have union with Him because it has passed from the body:
If He is found now, He is found then,
If not, we do but go to dwell in the City of Death.
If you have union now, you shall have it hereafter.
Bathe in the truth, know the true Guru, have faith in the true Name!
Kabîr says: “It is the Spirit of the quest which helps; I am the slave of this Spirit of the quest.”