All of us are broken in many ways, how we handle the broken elements is what is important. The Japanese have a very interesting method for mending broken ceramics, its called Kintsugi (or kintsukuroi) which is a Japanese method for repairing broken ceramics with a special lacquer mixed with gold, silver, or platinum. The philosophy behind the technique is to recognise the history of the object and to visibly incorporate the repair into the new piece instead of disguising it. 

Life breaks us in multiple ways-  losses of our near and dear ones, financial setbacks, health issues, etc. In that it is fair, it screws everyone. It’s how we deal with the screw ups that matters. Do we make our lives and the lives of others around us miserable or do we take it in our stride and do our best to resolve the setbacks in a positive way? The lacquer to mend our broken lives is the attitude of acceptance and positive response to all situations, no matter how much life has broken us.

There are some games designed for children that do not allow the players to win so that the children realise that it’s not about winning or losing but about how much they enjoy playing the game. Who is going to teach this to Adults who are busy nursing their wounds (losses) and only want wins in their lives? Who would inform them that life is also such a game which is designed not to allow the players to win so there are actually no winners or losers, you just have a choice of enjoying the game or suffering it.  

So let’s choose to enjoy whatever life brings our way like a game. Try our best to make it as lovely as possible but wherever not possible, also cherish the scars life brings our way and like the Japanese Kintsukorai, honour the scars with Gold(our positive attitude) instead of being frustrated with them

A man sells earthen pots of different sizes for Rs.10 each. He then starts varying the price according to size, people accept . He then adds a layer of colour on some and charges double the price, people accept. He then says that there are special ones with an autograph of Amitabh Bachchan on them and charges 10 times the price of the coloured ones, people accept. Then a God Man endorses the product linking it to Mythology and that our ancestors used to eat and drink in earthen pots which is healthy and suddenly the price quadrupled… You get the gist – price is what we pay, value is what we get. 

The value in each case for intrinsically the same product varies depending on the perception of value.  The truth of the matter discovered by Advertising and Marketing firms long back is you control perception and you control reality. Perception is reality in today’s world be it what you see in the stock markets(Why are they moving up when the world is in doldrums?) or in Politics (Politicians winning elections despite reality being completely different…), or Sugared water being sold as energy drinks for 100 times the actual cost… What we are experiencing as life is through our perceptions that are controlled and varied by various factors and people interested in promoting their products, so much so that we have lost connection with reality..

We also have many “truths” being handed over to us by the University of Whatsapp. Just because it was practiced thousands of years back, it is packaged to make it look like it is the right thing. Do you mean to say that our ancestors had everything figured out? No. We would also be ancestors to people that live thousands of years from now and we know how far our lives are from the Truth.

Perception seldom is reality. The Mother of all perceptions is that we are somehow different from others around us and we try to reinforce this difference throughout our lives. We keep perceiving that we are our body and mind and that we have a soul, its actually the other way around – we are a soul that has a body/mind. We however continue living through our perceptions of body/mind, the choices and desires of our body/mind and forget the underlying reality. It’s only in moments of tragedy like the death of a near one, or the traumas due to the pandemic that we are experiencing that we start thinking of what this is all about…But how to get to Reality?

In accounting there is a process called zero base budgeting, in which you simply go back to point zero to build your budget. For life – this zero base budgeting process is called Meditation or Dhyana in which you simply let go of all assumptions/perceptions/choices you have accumulated through experience and just observe your true nature ASIS. J Krishnamurti beautifully described the meditation process and the result as “choiceless awareness”. Deeper your meditation, sooner you would drop perceptions and experience reality… 

Prana shakti is the life force that everything and everyone is made of. Many people consider certain breathing exercises to be Pranayama. Whilst breathing air is one of the major sources of prana, it isn’t the only. We draw and give prana from everyone and everything, whether animate or inanimate. Whatever you focus on energises you and is also energised by you. For instance an inanimate piece of stone is converted to an idol by an artist, there is certain energy now in the idol due to this focus, the idol is consecrated in a temple, there is even more energy in it since so many people are focused on it and furthermore if a miracle takes place in the said temple then it becomes even more focused upon and energised. It’s the same piece of stone but getting energy due to our collective focus. This energy is drawn by us in turn when we visit a temple.

If you take a walk in the forest, you will feel energised by it, in fact they have forest walks as recommended therapy in Japan. The CO2 that we breathe out is taken in by the trees and Oxygen is released by them. It’s actually a symbiotic and interdependent relationship. This is so with everyone and everything we come in contact with.

So Pranayama is actually an energy exchange. Fresh fruits, vegetables, salads, grains are also sources of prana, as are healthy and positive thoughts, emotions. If you notice, some people bring positivity wherever they go whilst some negativity. This positivity or negativity also affects your prana, remember prana is a two way street. You cannot control the prana of others, but you can certainly control your own prana. What you input(air, water, food, thoughts, emotions, etc) should be healthy and positive, what you give out should be healthy and positive, then you are practicing Pranayama.

So you see, practicing certain breathing exercises is not the only pranayama. You entire lifestyle, the way you conduct yourself, your choices of input – output and how you choose to respond to life, everything is Pranayama. In order to get good prana you must be prepared to give good prana first. This healthy and positive exchange of prana is pranayama.

“Satya” is one Yama(Observance) prescribed by Maharshi Patanjali in the Yoga Sutra’s. Mahatma Gandhi started his Satyagraha movement based on this concept. Satya doesn’t only mean – speaking the truth, that is a very limiting definition. Satya actually means being the same inside and outside – meaning reflecting whatever is within, in your behaviour without. We actually play multiple roles in our lives and change our behaviour to suit the role we are playing and we do it so seamlessly that it seems perfectly natural for us to hold a different intent than our actions.  

“Integrity” (out of Self awareness) is the closest english word to Satya. Satya is actually knowing that we are all the same within and acting out of that knowledge. Then you cannot be different inside and outside. So the practice of Satya is actually considering everyone to have the same essence as you and then deciding your course of action. 

On Guru Pournima, Sadhguru offered an excellent Sadhana that would cultivate the quality of Satya in you. He said that just imagine that every person or thing you deal with is your Guru – then automatically your behaviour towards everyone/everything would be the same. This sadhana has a transformative quality since you will only behave your best when in front of your Guru and would have to restrain yourself from negative behaviours.

The consistent practice of this Sadhana could also lead you to the Truth that everything is Advaita. That is Satya.  

Your actions reflect your state of mind within. If you are frustrated, angry, sad, depressed or joyful, happy, equanimous, remember it only reflects your current state of mind. If you observe, you feel very light when you are happy and very heavy when you are frustrated. If more often than not, you are harbouring negative feelings and emotions then your choices would automatically be inclined towards giving expression to the negativity. It is the garbage in – garbage out principle.

Hell and heaven are actually only states of mind. Living in a negative state of mind is hell, whereas living in a positive state of mind is heaven. If you are stuck with a negative state of mind and want to change it then there is a way. Like you exercise the body and feed it good food in order to be healthy, you have to do the same with your mind which will, over a period of time, change negativity to positivity.

There is a concept in Yoga called “Pratipaksha Bhavana” and it is used to transform the behaviour of the mind. Whenever an undesirable emotion, thought or idea emerges, you quickly transform it to its opposite. If anger emerges, transform it to joy. If frustration emerges, transform it to acceptance. By doing so you are choosing a positive response to any situation/stimulus and over a period of time, the positive response becomes a habit and your character. Then you have converted your life to a living heaven. When Swami Vivekananda was asked, what did he get by practicing Yoga, he replied that he didn’t get anything, he only lost anger, frustration and all negativity. What more can you ask for?

Your mind is your garden – you have to choose what you grow in it – nourish it with positivity and constantly remove the weeds of negativity. Initially, it may take time and effort to deweed your garden but over time you would have a lovely garden.

 Choose Heaven, not Hell…

A Guru points you in the right direction, which is more than sufficient. Once you know which direction you need to head whether you race there or go gradually at your own pace or keep wandering off the path, is up to you. The intensity and the sincerity of your efforts would determine your progress. Remember, only when the student is ready, the Master appears. The Guru could be in flesh and blood for a fortunate few, for others the Omnipresent Grace of the Guru always guides you in the form of a wise counsel from a friend, family or colleague or even a stranger, an event that changes your perception, or anything else that happens in your life. You should be aware enough to pick it up. So don’t look at where the guidance is coming from, be humble enough to accept it and learn from it. 

For those on the spiritual path, efforts are essential and yet efforts don’t get you there. To understand this paradox Sri M offered some guidance in the form of an anecdote- just imagine that you are in love with someone, you know that you love the person but don’t know whether your love is reciprocated. So one day you turn up at your best to impress this person and wait on one knee with a rose in hand to offer to the person. At that stage, you hope that your love is reciprocated but even if isn’t, it’s ok. At least you have done your job of expressing it. So 50% of the job is done. This effort of being at your best and waiting with a rose in hand is the effort that you should make on a daily basis to the Divine within – hope for reciprocation but accept it even if it doesn’t happen that day, wait patiently for it to happen, happen it will…

A secret that I am sharing with you on this auspicious day of Guru Pournima is that it is actually the Divine waiting for you on one knee with a rose in hand, hoping for reciprocation from you. So 50% of the job is already done by the Divine, it is now your turn of bringing your 50% to the deal. However you are not yet ready to reciprocate and in order to be able to do so, you need to raise yourself to the level of Divine by cleansing yourself of all the negativities, doubts, fears that you have accumulated over lifetimes. As Sadhguru puts it – it is a journey from wine to divine or from Bhoga to Yoga. Yoga is the way to cleanse it and access the omnipresent Grace of Gurus & the love of the Divine.  In is the only way out!

Today let us commit to cleanse ourselves by practicing Yoga till the edge of our efforts, whereby we are able to reciprocate this Divine Love and experience it.

The highest respect you can accord to the Guru’s is to uphold their guidance and imbibe it in your life. The Guru doesn’t need anything from you except 100% commitment to the path, methods and guidance, that is the best Guru Dakshina that you can give.

Happy Guru Pournima

The journey of experiencing the Oneness with the Creator and all the Creation is Bhakti Yoga which dissolves your sense of separateness, your attachments to various identities and roles. You merely let go of everything that is preventing you from experiencing this Oneness.The end of this journey is total dissolution of all likes/dislikes, pleasures/pains – whereby you transcend the cycle of duality. The path of Bhakti Yoga is as exemplified by Meerabai, Sant Kabir, the Warkari sect amongst others.The destination of this journey is a state of being as quoted so beautifully by Sant Kabir: 

Kabira Khada Bazar Mein, Mange Sabki Khair
Na Kahu Se Dosti, Na Kahu Se Bair!

Meaning: Kabir seeks the well being of all, having dissolved all identities of friendship (likes/pleasures) or enemity(dislikes/pains)

Such is a devotee for whom even the Lord would happily wait on 2 bricks till he finishes his work as Lord Vitthal did for his devotee Pundalik who was so engrossed in the service of his parents that he asked the Lord to wait until he finished serving. On the eve of Ashadi Ekadashi, I sincerely pray that such Bhakti kindles in your heart and gives you the courage to cultivate the virtues and humility required to draw the Lord to you as a magnet…

Apne Aap ko kar tu itna bulandki takdeer banane wala bhi tujhse pucche ki bol bande teri raza kya hai…(meaning raise yourself to such a level(by cultivating virtues & humility) that the Almighty himself asks you what is your wish, my son?)
​Pray to be such a Bhakt – nothing less!​
​​

Happy Ashadi Ekadashi​

Stop to smell the roses, have faith that all that happens, happens for the best.God is in his heaven and all’s right with the world.

Difficult, you would say during this time of strife and suffering.But ask yourself, was there a time in recorded history when mankind was free of suffering?

They say that life repeats the challenges that you don’t learn from, till you learn your lesson from them.We simply are refusing to learn the lesson that life is trying to teach us.

A bit of a conundrum we are for our creator – we are like the puppies who want to simply roam free without a care, knowing that the mother is there to protect them. There is a saying in marathi for this “Dharla tar chawta, sodla tar palta” meaning if you try to catch it, it bites. If you let it go, it runs…

Without learning our lesson, we can’t go to the next stage of evolution and the lesson that life is trying to teach is that we are not using the faculties that essentially make us human, instead we are still relying on our animal instincts. We have a capacity for compassion, for love, for large scale co-operation but instead of using these faculties, we are still in the mindset of each one fending for oneself…

C19 is just another test sent our way to check our readiness for the next level of evolution or the test simply repeats after some time…

Don’t worry this too shall pass but would we have learnt our lesson? this, even God doesn’t know…

All of us spend our time and energies trying to fulfil the needs as defined by Abraham Maslow depicted in his “Hierarchy of needs” and we feel that fulfilling these needs is the “purpose of life”.

Truth be told, “purpose of life” is highly subjective and only a few people get beyond the daily rigmarole of life to give a thought to what is truly of value to them to pursue as a purpose of life.
Even fewer realize that there is not one overriding purpose for everyone and that depending on the situation & maturity of the person concerned, one could choose suitable goal/s. However, before you get to goals, it does stand to reason that knowing yourself better is a good start and then check whether the goals being pursued are aligned with your thoughts & aspirations.

Aspirations are personal ambitions and could be limited in their scope, whilst inspirations go beyond oneself and have a much wider scope. If you choose that which inspires you then you go beyond the need-fulfilment hierarchy and experience something beyond aspirational living.

Given the limited time at hand in one lifetime, there are only so many things that you can do. If you choose an inspirational goal then everything else becomes secondary in comparison.

Inspirational goals are not limited by ability, scale or even the possibility of finishing in one lifetime. Inspirational goals are those that you work on without needing a reason, just make sure that the goals are for everyone’s well being or at least don’t harm others (Hitler, Alexander were also inspired people but the inspiration was in the wrong direction)

Conventional wisdom says: Don’t start what you cannot finish. Inspirational wisdom says: You must start that which you cannot finish.

So have you found what inspires you?

That all rivers eventually meet the sea, is the fate of the river,

How much time and what route it takes is its destiny,

To see the river in the sea and the sea in the river is a higher consciousness(of a Master)who experiences everything as the manifestation of the Advaita(One)

This is the company(of the Master) that one should seek that can liberate you in one glance.
Swami Chinmayananda who had the great fortune of such a glance of Ramana Maharshi

Reminds of another story that emphasizes the same point:

Saint Kabir was invited by the king when all the kings attempts of experiencing liberation had failed,The Kings High Priest had tried many rituals, performed poojas but none of them had given the King the experience of liberation.

Kabir put a condition that the king had to agree to everything that Kabir says, the king acceptedUpon hearing this Kabir asked the priest to tie the king to one pole and thereafter he tied the priest to another pole

Then Kabir asked the priest to free the king, the priest said how could he when he was himself tied downKabir asked the king to free the priest, the king said he couldn’t since he was himself tied down

Kabir then said
“Bandhe ko bandha mile choote kaun upaya. Seva kar nirbandh ki, jo pal me let chudhaye”
Meaning: An attached (bound) person cannot free another attached person. It takes the Grace of a liberated Master to liberate a Bound person in a moment…