Moments so Far ...

Can you ask the mind? Do you mind if I take a dig at you? When you want somebody’s attention you will do all gymnastics to draw their attention. You will jump, crack joke, act funny, push yourself through to be noticed for a while. When you look inside. Do you find somebody sending thoughts to allure you, grab your attention, a bait to hook you? If you are attracted to the thought then the thought stays and links up another and then another and … a thought leading onto another — courtesy Indrayani the elephant at Art of Living international ashram If you let the thought go then it goes away just like the cloud. Have you wondered to explore who is that that sends the thoughts. First randomly and then sequentially, logically… Or thoughts just come for you and there is no force behind it. What’s your take? No matter if there is a single thought or flood of them, why do humans aspire to be free of thoughts? Is our real nature t...

The last question of the session was Who decides when I get enlightened? < Nakul's Answer came spontaneously as > You. Its YOU.  Ok, its time to wrap up. Next session is on sunday 31st July at 9PM. Jai Gurudev. Baffled. Confused. Broken. I was lost. All my definitions were flying in the sky, scattered clouds. Mind was unsettled. How can it be? How can I decide when I want to be enlighten? Is it so straightforward? Is it so easy? What about karmas? What about grace? Mind was flooded with queries. . . . The best type of answers don't have questions. The deepest questions have no answers. . . Who is this YOU that Nakul was referring to? Was it me in my current disposition? Will it be me in some future evolved disposition? Where will I be and what will I be in order to be THE YOU that Nakul was referring to? . . story time . . Gadhi was a pious brahmana who once lived in Kosala. He went to the forest and meditated for 8 months. When...

The subtle combo of mind+intellect+memory+ego runs in self-feeding cycle. Ego brings forth the I-ness. Ego nudges the memory to bring into focus an incident/situation in which it triumphs or suffers. Memory nudges the intellect to argue on the situation. Intellect creates the argument and prepares the mind to have the argument. The mind comes into existence with the thoughts germinated in the intellect. The thoughts hail or destruct the ego. And the journey of life begins. You are born. Why are you born? A little story. Once Vishnu was in BrahmaLok and everyone came forth to welcome him except Sanath Kumar. When you get "don't care" in dispassion then its arrogance. Vishnu sensed this and cursed SanathKumar to spent one lifetime on Earth as punishment, as a journey to dissipate this arrogance/egoness. At that moment SanathKumar also cursed Vishnu to spent a lifetime on Earth while he was there and so Shree Ram was born. So tell me why were you born? hmm.. Even...

The purpose of life is to be liberated. Your life is designed for liberation. The life is a progression towards liberation. Q> What is liberation from? A> It is from your ego. Q> Who is the guardian of ego? A> The mind. Q> Can you compare this progression of life to something? A> Its like the river cleaning the impurity thrown into it and making it spotless, clean. It is the nature of the river to clean. After some travel the impurity becomes pure, loses its identity, loses its ego. You just merge. Q> Need another example, not so clear? A> Imagine a fire in the forest. Wood burning and smoke rising. The smoke can rise only to certain height, the smoke will travel certain distance. After some rise, some travel, it disappears into the space. It simply merges, loses its identity. Our life is also like that. Its an opportunity for us to paint on an empty canvas. It's upto you to make this progression enjoyable or full of hassles. We may drag l...

The fundamental fear is of death. Let us prove it. Death by definition is dying of human body. When this body becomes lifeless, it is called as death. It is fearful because what you witness as lively human being is suddenly motionless and cold. Sometimes it's painful and other times its unnoticeable. If you want to know what happens, before, during and after death then find time to listen to Katopanishad - a commentary by HH  +Sri Sri Ravi Shankar  ji. Here we will work on the premise and try to prove it. Yes, the first sentence in this blog. For proving, I will borrow a term "mini death" from the commentary. It will  differentiate death from the one that signifies loss of human body. "mini death" is not the loss of human body, clear. Ok, lets continue. If I want Masala Dosa, the restaurant does not have it. What happens? If I want promotion, the manager ignores me completely? What happens? You are offered fruit after you had heavy break...

I have been running for a long time. I ran under wooden planks, with simmer of lights bursting on my head. I lied down besides railway tracks on green grass with speeding trains going past. I have been a turtle protecting my thick skin from onslaught of an hunter. I have been a bird with white bottom and huge dark wings running away from fire and settling on a huge rock gulping a spider. I have been a king marching on gold carpet laden steps and body with huge spear in one hand watching the moon sink into the dark sky. Slowly walking through the walls of huge palace and into it. A huge dark man sitting on a huge rock, bold and majestic, beside a lake. Thick jungle all around. Serpents flying. A king riding a huge chariot killing huge animals around. A hen beside a dark and huge farm of black soil. A child playing happily with his friends below a big banyan tree, until being marauded by a huge bully boy. An old sadhu with big white beard floating over blade sharp gr...

How many times do you judge yourself? How many times do you judge people around you? How many times do you form opinions on situations that affect you? How many times do you form opinions on situations that do not affect you? You are not this. You are not that. She is like this. She is like that. I wish she could behave better. I wish my situation improves. Why is she shouting at me? Why is she doing this when I stopped her from doing so? How many times do I have to remind you not to do that again? I want you to improve. That is why I shout at you. I cannot tolerate you doing mistakes. How dare the auto whisked past me? How dare the auto driver is asking me for extra 10 rupees? How dare the auto driver refusing to go where I want to go? Doesn't the bus conductor have minimum courtesy? See, the cop stopped me to take a bribe. See, the clerk across the counter is smiling and talking about everything else except my file. Smells like bribe. STOP Just be in th...

She made special efforts to walk and she did succeed. She managed to come to the table close to the cash counter of Augusta Club. She was just catching on breath when she gestured for water. The cashier named Raghu instantly went to the water container to fill a glass of plastic glass for her. She accepted it full of gratitude and placed her order. I would have brought the water if Raghu delayed. Yes. I looked at her and smiled after a while. Generally I am private person. A simple direct smile and she asked me questions. I asked the same questions in return. Generally I am not so creative in asking questions so I mostly get into deadly and fearful silence. Then she poured out and I listened. Nothing sentimental but general topics. She lost her husband some twenty years back. Her eyes still missed him. Life moves on but some memories stay. They defy the movement. She blessed me as I collected my pack of brown bread. She enquired about color and when I said brown acknowledged it and w...

Aloo's village is on a plain table land on top of a hill belonging to western ghats. The mumbai local can take you to within 4-5 Kms from his residence. He was inducted into services when in Nineteen Seventees there was labor shortage and then scouts would be sent to nearby Adivasi villages asking if anyone was interested in job. His wife passed away sometimes back and now his complete salary goes for the welfare of his two sons. The eldest with his wife just came back from jungle after cutting wood for their fuel needs. The son only had a blue short and a muscular body drenced in sweat. The wife had skirt like saree and a blouse. That is the standard dress for a normal adivasi. Only thing that distinguished them from us was their instant happiness. They were glad and unihibited in interacting with us. The smile baring all teeth while talking was a glowing tribute that man can be happy in most isolated of places even if he was just returning from cutting wood. Most of elders go to ...

It is dark and lives in a glass bowl of water, flapping its gills and tails as it waits for two granules of food twice a day. She is alone and restless and the only activity is vigorous movement. Some of her brethren live in wells, some in ponds, some in rivers and rest in seas and oceans. I am dark and live in a 1400 square foot apartment of concrete in a structure that’s 14 floors, facing another of 14 floor. My waking hours are mostly spent in commute and in office campus except for few in morning and evening which I either have for me or family/friends. I am restless as my limbs move, my mind and the muscles and the simulation it creates generates excitement during the passage of time. Some of my brethren live on street, on the ground and under the blue sky, some in villages and some in cities, divided by boundaries of nation and mind. Some skies are polluted and some are clear and star studded on a chilly wintry night.