There are many things in life that are beyond our control – the family /caste/ creed / society we are born into, the kind of situations that we face, etc. In yogic terminology this is called as Prarabdha Karma – the portion of our entire Sanchit Karma that we have chosen to exhaust in this lifetime. In spanish its called Que Sera Sera – what will be will be. This is an observation of cultures across the world that there are things beyond our control that we have no choice but to accept.

The only thing controllable in your life is your own intent, thoughts, emotions and actions. Action is also called karma in the yogic lore – actions taken in the external world with full awareness that you are not the doer is called Karma Yoga whereas internal action – the act of going towards the Source is called Kriya Yoga. The intent of both is the same and can be a means of liberation from the cycle of creating karma and exhausting it.

So whilst you may feel that many things in life are not in your control (Que Sera Sera) but the truth is that the most important thing in your control is your own choice & faculties and how you respond to whatever situation you are put in. A Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela responded to the same situation in a different way than did their contemporaries who chose more violent means – in hindsight we know what worked. It is sad to observe that despite their being number of examples in history that have proved that violence only begets violence, we don’t seem to get the point and keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again. So like it or not – we are responsible for the world around us which reflects a collection of choices made by all humans.

Choice is a double edged sword – so be careful what you choose. That a knife can be used to cut fruits and to also murder is not a fault of the knife but the intent of the person wielding it. Keep your intent clean and encourage others to do so…

Que Sera Sera is only a partial truth, your choice completes it… choose wisely

Just to give a context. These were the thoughts that passed through my mind just before starting my Half Marathon run this morning on 19th January 2020. Whilst I had not practiced as much as I should have through out the year, I still wanted it to be my best run. This meant that I would have to stretch myself beyond what I could take given my present form and thats how the thought crossed my mind that what if I stretch a bit too much and become a newspaper item in tomorrows paper – “49 year old dies of cardiac arrest whilst running the Mumbai Marathon”. I asked myself whether I am ready to die and surprisingly the answer came back as yes! If it is my time to go, it is my time to go – nothing can prevent it…Thought I would share some of these thoughts with you.

If it is my time(to go), it is my time(to go)

I think I have had everything that life has to offer and cant think of anything that would make me cling on to this life

If it is my time, it is my time

Goods and bads, ups and downs, joys and sorrows are a part and parcel of everyones life including mine

If it is my time, it is my time

Do I regret anything in life? Not really. I guess it was to happen for a reason to teach me something I was refusing to learn.

If it is my time, it is my time

I am what I am more due to failures which taught me much more than my successes ever could

If it is my time, it is my time

Go with a smile I will, of gratitude to the Almighty for having blessed me with such a wonderful life, people and experiences

But if it isn’t my time then let me choose to be joyful, humble and sharing and enjoy life to the hilt

till when it will be my time, it will be my time…

I ran so joyfully & freely that I was amazed that I could complete the distance of 21 kms in 2hrs with so little practice and there was no muscle pain or paucity of energy. Of course today was not my time:-) but if ever it is now I am sure that I would go with a smile and pray the same goes for you as well…

Healthy, wealthy, wise represents being in balance and joyful. Most people think healthy means being physically fit, wealthy means having more money than you can ever spend and wise means being clever & intelligent. Accordingly they strive to be healthy, wealthy, wise by having a healthy body, enough money and good intelligence and yet joy somehow eludes them.  

We need to redefine and recalibrate our approach to being Healthy, Wealthy, Wise in order to be joyful. In my view, you actually need to reverse the sequence: First comes wisdom, then comes wealth and then comes health.

Wise are the people who know & have experienced the impermanence of life, and are equanimous in the ups and downs of life and live in such a manner that only a sweet fragrance of their existence is felt by everyone. 

Wealth is the code by which the wise live their lives – it is living every moment with the values of love, compassion and sharing unconditionally with everyone since they know that not even their breath is their own. The wealth thus created is actually multiplied by sharing and never reduced. 

Health is the resultant joyous state of living in wisdom & by the code(wealth)

Since its the beginning of a new year/decade, its time to recalibrate priorities: first to accept impermanence of everything/everyone and diminish/dissolve ego – false perception of who you are (wisdom) by living by the code of love, compassion & sharing unconditionally (Wealth), which in turn would result in a joyful state of being 24*7 which is the health you seek…

This would be a great way to start the new year/decade and being truly healthy, wealthy, wise…

Wish you a Happy Makarsankranti / Pongal / Lorhi

We all understand the computer lingo quite well since we are using these devices. Using the same lingo if we consider our Body to be the Hardware and the mind to be the Software then it stands to reason that we should maintain not only the Hardware but also the Software. These days there is excessive focus only on the Hardware and a belief that if the Hardware is fit then the software would also be fit. Resultantly no exercise of mind is being done. Viruses in the form of negativities have already corrupted most of our softwares but we are blissfully unaware.

In case of computers we install an anti virus software to detect and clean viruses, we don’t do the same in case of our own mind. Viruses are given free access to every thought and emotion in the mind. Every TV Channel shows news and programs that are mostly negative and we gladly feed our minds on these and then wonder why our life not “happening” the way it should. Even in social groups the topics discussed are mostly about what is wrong with the society, political situation, etc. Very few people roll up their sleeves and start working on what would bring the change. Very few people look at the blessings they have in the form of what they have and do whatever they can with it, instead of focussing on what they don’t have. These people have activated the Anti-Virus program in their minds and it can be activated in everyones mind. The Anti-Virus program is an attitude of gratitude, positivity and love. Immaterial of the input the response must be one of love. This is essential for our own sanity and survival.

I have not even touched upon who has created the hardware and software that we are (mis)using since we have all been given the capability of knowing what direction is right and yet we choose to go the other way….

When are you going to say Goodbye?

To the people you love,

To the things you aspire,

To the things you possess

Do you think you will live forever?

Time and tide waits for no one, my friend,

What stops you from accepting that you may not be there tomorrow?

It is Maya (Illusion) which is this strange attachment wherein you cling to everything/one

even when you know that nothing or no one is yours in the first place…

You need to awaken and disentangle yourself from the bonds of Maya, if you don’t, who will?

It starts with accepting & observing the impermanence of yourself and everything around you. As a popular recent rap song says “Tu nanga hi to aaya hai kya ghanta leke jayega?”

You are just a visitor in this world…remember that

And a new day has dawned, just like any other day but we find it significant since in our minds it marks a completion of a year. We plan where to party and spend the new years eve partying with a lot of fanfare. How do we suddenly feel that it is time to celebrate? What are we celebrating? Its just that it has been a custom to usher the new year in with celebration and say our good bye to the old year gone by that is continuing. Thats what life is all about – celebrating the past and welcoming the new – its that simple. Yet we choose to remain attached to the past and are anxious of our future. It is a time to reflect, correct and implement the right choices and celebrate for the right reasons. What have we done to ourselves and the world around us? What legacy are we leaving our children with?

God has gifted each one of us with the power of choice of what values we choose to uphold in our lives. “Choice” is a dangerous thing in the hands of people who seem to be keen to misuse it. A child, if given something, tries to break it, throw it, eat it – we indulgently look at it and allow it to do so but the same child when it grows & matures would be frowned upon for the same acts. Well growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional. God is still waiting for his children to grow up and mature. Age, status, position does not imply maturity and wisdom, as we can see from people in power including Business Tycoons, Prime Ministers, Presidents, etc. Maturity seems to be eluding them and us since we seem to be electing them to be in positions of leadership. Consequently, we continue to remain immature, in an immature world, ruled by immature people making immature choices and all of us including the generations to come, have to face the consequences of them. Looking at the current state of affairs, I would be tempted to use the reset button. However, luckily God is patient, but let us not tempt him any further 🙂

If each one of us looks at the wo/man in the mirror and chooses to usher in the new year with the maturity expected of “evolved” humans and choose positive values of love, compassion, harmony, etc instead of negative values of greed, lust, anger – we would be able to make a considerable contribution to the world we live in and we would be able to celebrate the new year for the right reasons.

Wishing you a happy new you for the new year.

Jesus reminded us of the Oneness in all of us, so did Buddha, Krishna, Mohammad, Mahavir, Kabir and all other prophets who walked the face of earth. The Oneness exists irrespective of our beliefs, religions, nationalities. As Shakespeare put it “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” similarly we may have different names for the power within and may give it a different form that we identify with but it really doesn’t matter what the name or form is. It is important that we are aware of its existence and be aligned with its principle of love .

Love dissolves all boundaries of religion, caste, creed, nationality etc and is urgently needed in todays world where we are tearing ourselves apart by clutching on to narrow identifications and forgetting that we are all primarily humans and are capable of the love and compassion that has been advocated by all Prophets. The implementation of the message of love is imminent upon us or we will simply destroy each other.

As the world celebrates Christmas, it is good to remember that there is Jesus in everyone of us and like Jesus, despite overwhelming odds, we can bring up love, kindness and compassion into all our actions.

Since change always begins with self, let us commit ourselves to cleaning out every negativity within us – greed, hatred, lust, etc, that is keeping us from experiencing this Oneness. Just remember what you seek is seeking you – so simply dissolve all the artificial boundaries you have created that are preventing you from experiencing this Oneness.

May the force be with you – Merry Christmas to you and all your loved ones.

The search for fulfilling yourself is always on – whether you search inside or outside is a matter of choice. If, in your view, life is about experiencing whatever the world has to offer, then you will look outside and so will your life be. If, in your view, life is about experiencing the Advaita(Oneness) in everything then you will look inside. You would choose to look outside if you think that the world is “out” there waiting to be experienced – this is living in duality. You would choose to look inside when you think that the world is “in” here – this is living in singularity or Oneness or Advaita. Whether you look inside or outside doesn’t make a difference to the Absolute / Truth, it does however make a world of a difference to you and how you lead/experience life.

If you choose to look outside then living by a moral/ethical framework is essential for your own well being and that of the society you live in – that is what religion & politics tries to achieve but fails since there are so many people who don’t want to conform to a moral/ethical code of living – its considered boring. Instead a life filled with indulgence of sensual pleasures, greed, self importance, adventure seems much more exciting but is not sustainable in the long run since the world of duality works on a simple principle of karma – you will reap what you sow. Then comes the tough choice of choosing the boring lifestyle over the interesting one. Some are able to transform, whilst some succumb to the “interesting lifestyle” and pass away in indulgence.

For those seeking Advaita – the story starts by closing your eyes which is a metaphorical way of drawing your senses inwards instead of outwards. In a society that is primarily looking outwards for fulfilment, it is difficult to turn away from the practices upheld by the society but it’s not impossible, if your will is strong enough.

We all are born with equal possibilities – which ones we choose to represent our life makes all the difference…

Given the uncertainties of life, you have to live everyday as if its your last, for all you know it could just be. This brings us to the question of what could be an ideal day? being surrounded by loved ones, having the best of everything that life has to offer, etc? Ask yourself what would you call as an ideal day. Unfortunately you may not get to do the things you list out as an ideal day daily, then what is the solution? The solution is that you should be joyful immaterial of what you do.

The key to being joyful lies in awareness that you can choose joy irrespective of the situation. You don’t have to wait to be an enlightened being to choose joy. You can do this starting now by

1. Being aware of your immortal being and expressing gratefulness to the Divine for being given the opportunity to live one more day
2. Doing all things lovingly & sincerely and
3. Having infinite patience even if the results of your actions don’t materialise.

If every day is lived by this code, you would be joyful every moment and you wouldn’t mind meeting your creator at the end of the day, if the creator so wishes…

We are closer to Divinity than we think, we are Divinity but are simply unaware of it. It is said that the whole creation is just a dream of the Creator and we are simply playing our roles in the dream. What then is the purpose of life you may ask? If everything is just a dream and imagination what use is it all? The truth is there is no answer to the question except experiencing Advaita for ourselves and when we do, all questions simply dissolve.

Mystics experience the Advaita – the Oneness in everything and everyone but words are not sufficient to express that which is inherently inexpressible. However they do try indicating it in words out of sheer compassion. They are responsible for what they say but not for what we understand. This is the problem with the current world, we’re lost in interpretation and are not diving in to experience it ourselves since that would require us facing and making uncomfortable changes to our ideas of ourselves and the world around us…

Reading or listening to Masters is just the beginning, but unless we ourselves silence all urges that make us constantly engage with the outer world, the experience of Advaita may elude us. How many of us want to feel happy knowing or reading about it and how many of us want to actually experience it? For those who want to experience it – what are you waiting for? Where there is a will there is a way.