Lightning of reality

Her eyes shone bright

With the love that came from the heart,

Which was a pool of trust and faith.

When the lightning of reality struck,

She was blinded,

And the connections from the heart

Were burned.

How many births will it take,

To regenerate those connections,

And make those eyes,

Deep pools of love again?

Expectation

While walking through the maze of time,

I left you in pursuit of new experiences

Expecting to find you

Exactly where you stood,

Little realizing that not even a rock

Is static over a period of time!

Listen to the silence

With the rising Sun comes

The messages for each day

But we are lost in the world –

Of language, to get those messages

Go beyond the land of words,

Listen to the silence and..

Live in tune with the Divine Laws

To enjoy the peaceful Bliss!

Business, unlimited

Our ancestors made the caste system based on the occupation. Business community was supposed to earn a living by doing trades and owning shops.

Entry of multilevel marketing has changed all that. Anyone can become a businessperson now. People trying to rope in others into multilevel marketing have become the greatest threat to peaceful living these days. ‘You have been a loyal customer to the shop for long, what has he given you? ,‘they ask. It shows that ‘What is in it for me?’ syndrome has taken firm roots in our minds.

‘This is a good business opportunity. You don’t need infrastructure, no office hours, no great investment when compared to the return you will be getting’

Sounds great. What am I to do to get the returns in five or six digit figures? ‘You just have to spend half an hour everyday. That too, in the initial stages, we will come to help you, till you gain confidence.’

The illusion vanished when they took away thrice that much of time period from my busy schedule.’ You have all the time in the world to spend with your near and dear ones. This NASA scientist, after five years of his profession, realized he wasn’t getting enough time with his wife. Then he joined this venture, and finally he left his job at NASA. He is now totally into this business.’

I was horrified to hear that. ‘What about his professional satisfaction?’ And spending time with family is a mind set. Those who want to do that will find time in spite of their busy schedule.

‘Don’t you like to have all the good things in life? Toiling from morning to evening, how much can you earn? Just by spending half an hour daily, doesn’t this figure look attractive to you?’

I remembered my good old uncle’s advice years ago. He had asked my plans after finishing post graduation. ‘I’ll go abroad and earn a lot of money.’

‘Always remember one thing. Whatever comes too fast, will vanish also in no time. When a tree grows its roots deep down, taking its own time, it can withstand the storms. Take time grow in your profession. Returns will come by themselves.’

But that dictum is outdated for today’s generation, who want all goodies in life at the blink of an eye. When everybody is out there to get rich overnight, why should I be left behind?

‘From where will the money come to me?’ A bit of analysis showed me that the business venture means, when a customer buys the soap solution or any other product, I get my cut. Once the returns start coming, I’ll taste blood and will start netting more and more people in to keep on getting more and more cuts. I will have to forget about my Sundays because that is when I can go and convince my professional friends to get into the ‘business venture’. Because it will be easier to convince one’s friends than a total stranger.

And to make sure they won’t escape from my business talk, I will have to barge in without prior appointments. If I want to avoid that, I can just hand over their addresses. My partners in the business will go and meet them. But would I like to subject them to the torture, for just being my friends?

The calling bell is ringing…. I open to see a close friend, seeing after a long time. My face lights up in joy, when I hear,’ I have come to announce a great business opportunity. The investment is…..’

Oh God! Not again….

Tissue culture

The title has got nothing to do with the laboratory tissue culture, but it concerns the use of toilet tissues. While visiting the Heidelberg castle in Germany, the guide explained that in olden days when toilet paper was not available, poor people used straw to do the work while the elite class used soft ferns.

Coming from a country where we use water to clean after answering the nature’s calls, I was finding reasons why water was not used there. May be in cold season it was difficult, or may be there was water shortage. But what about the habit being continued in the temperature controlled modern apartments, with adequate water supply? It is even more interesting to see NRIs in America taking to this habit.

Being a dentist, I was fascinated to see the importance given to a project work by an American school girl on tooth brushes. She established that simply washing and drying the tooth brushes don’t clean them thoroughly and recommended disinfecting them by other means. I was fascinated to think that for one end of the alimentary canal they are advocating disinfection of tooth brushes, without having any idea how many millions of bacteria may be teeming at the other end, in their undergarments because the cleaning has been done only by a tissue wipe!

When I saw a toddler wincing while being wiped with a toilet tissue and again wrapped up in a diaper (diaper is on 24 hours a day), I really felt sorry for the tiny tot. But then he was being dabbed with all sorts of creams to keep the skin smooth and fragrant. Curiosity got over me to think what all creams ladies may be applying to keep off the smell of blood during their menstrual cycle. Also, I couldn’t help musing; do they use water to clean at least before their most intimate moments, especially before the auxiliary methods?

Finally, we can’t ignore the ecological aspect. Thousands of trees are felled every year to manufacture those tons of toilet papers. The garbage generated is also in gigantic proportions. Usage of water involves neither of these problems.

Newton’s Law

It was the medical jargon behind me that attracted my attention during my wait at the air port. After a while I looked back, to see a man instructing a group. When he finished and went off, I struck a conversation with one of them. Yes, they were a group of medical doctors, being taken for a tour of Singapore and Malaysia. What was interesting was that they were all medical practitioners from different remote villages.

Were they going for some medical conference? No, it was a pleasure trip. How did they all come together? And how come this sudden interest in foreign pleasure trip?

The information I got shook me to the inner core. A drug company arranged free foreign trip for doctors who completed a certain quota of medical prescriptions. In their eagerness to finish the quota, these doctors prescribed the medicines left and right.

If the patient is having an infection, at least two strong antibiotics are prescribed, with a justification that ‘at least one of them will act and bring immediate relief’.

When the patient’s condition is such that he doesn’t require medication, a minimum of two vitamins and a tonic are prescribed, ’to increase the immunity’. Am I justified in complaining when I know the psychology of many a patient? They want immediate relief from any sort of problem. They don’t want to listen to the fact that strong medications have strong side effects and that the body itself is capable of correcting many a disorder, given a little rest and time.

This patient psychology is conducive to the over prescription by doctors. Apart from financing foreign trips, there are many lucrative offers to the doctors who can push the medicines ruthlessly. They arrange for interior decorations of the doctor’s cabin, provide plush sofa sets for the waiting room, and pay for the conferences.

Until recently, doctors were considered no less than Gods by the patients who approached them. My heart grieved over the fact that they have surely fallen down from that pedestal. But then, how can doctors be different from the society? Their behavior can be explained by Newton’s law, ‘Every action has an equal and opposite reaction’.

We may feel angry on hearing about an unnecessary appendicectomy of a five year old kid of an income tax officer, by a junior doctor, just to gain surgical experience. But we may be forced to believe that it is just a manifestation of Newton’s law when the fact is known that this officer had harassed another doctor, by passing unjust orders against him because the officer was in a hurry to finish his work and didn’t study the case properly.

Word Power

The unique feature that is the legacy of man is his ability to communicate through words. Majority of our waking time is spent in using words for communication. But you can bet that very few recognize the tremendous power that a spoken word carries.

In this age of growing technology, even a child knows that when you type a word into the computer, it can perform a variety of functions. But he is totally ignorant that when he utters those quite often heard words these days 'Oh! Shit', what an effect he is creating in the aura around him!

Our culture has given a lot of importance to the way we communicate. We don't believe in calling everybody by name. Importance is given to relationships. When we call 'Beta', 'Papaji', or 'Bhabhiji', those words carry the love, respect and affection associated with them. If you are not convinced of the power of words, just think of the chain of reactions starting in your body when somebody hurls two simple words 'You fool' at you. Just four words from Draupadi could lead to the great Mahabharata war.

When you call a thief a thief, half of his sin is supposed to be transferred to you. But if you call an honest man a thief, you will acquire two times the sin of a thief. The current tendency is to achieve success in life fast. Nobody is willing to spend years of toil. Everything has to be acquired here, and now. In that pursuit, it is very common to reduce competition by hurling baseless accusations at others.

According to our scriptures, abusing others is equivalent to murdering them. Think of the term 'Character assassination'. There is a story that once Arjuna was about to kill Yudhishtira when the latter swore upon Arjuna's bow, which was very sacred to him. Arjuna had vowed that he would kill anybody who did that.

Lord Krishna intervened and told, 'There is no need to spill blood. Hurl abusive words at Yudhishitra . It is equivalent to killing him.' Arjuna did that. Again he took his weapon. To Krishna's question, he answered that since he had committed the crime of killing his elder brother, he had to face the punishment by taking away his own life.

Again Lord Krishna had the solution. He asked Arjuna to do self-praise, which was equivalent to suicide. In this context, if we look around, it is interesting to see how many people are committing murders and suicides each moment. According to our scriptures, for every sin, there is atonement, except one sin, and that is self -praise.

Self -praise has now become second nature to man. When a tree is laden with fruits, its branches droop down. Man is supposed to take hint from this, that when he acquires knowledge, he should become more humble. But usually it is the opposite. We are surrounded by people who project their self-image in a highly blown up manner through their own words.

When one is determined to attain the ultimate goal, the 'moksha', he has to start his journey by controlling his lower senses. Controlling his taste buds and words are the first exercises. A word that comes out of your mouth is like an arrow that is shot. You cannot take it back and it will do its job. First, you learn the control of stopping those words that are detrimental to your progress in life from being uttered. Remember that at times, 'Silence is golden'. Only when you attain this control can you go to the next step of controlling your thoughts.

Falling ill needs struggle

Those who know swimming are aware how easy and effortless it is to float on the water. You need not do anything at all. Just relax the body and lo! you are floating on the water surface. When you stiffen your body and struggle, it is a prelude to drowning. 

Staying healthy is akin to floating. We have to just relax mentally, whatever the situation outside and the body takes care of its health. When there's a cut, immediately the blood is rushed to the area to bring the white blood cells and other cells to heal the wound. If we fill our mind with negative thoughts at this time. the blood flow will be sluggish, the immune system will not work satisfactorily and the wound may not heal.

To become a diabetic or develop a high blood pressure, it requires years of negative thoughts. Yes, we really struggle so much for so many years to develop the chronic diseases. Which means, if we struggle as much or a little less, these diseases can vanish too!! Eat healthy, remain active, and be happy always. Then health and wellness are yours to enjoy!

Destiny believers

A major part of my life has gone in the confusion whether man is a puppet in the hands of destiny or he is in control of his future. Believers of destiny claim that not even our thoughts are in our control. So, are we, the humans also completely programmed like plants and animals?

Keenly observing my own life and the lives of others around me, at last I have reached a conclusion. That as humans, we do have the power of discrimination. At every turn of life, we are given at least two paths to choose from.

Those who are at peace within themselves and are rooted in the self, choose the right path.

When one takes a wrong path and is made to suffer later, it is so much easier to blame the destiny than to own that it was due to a wrong decision making. For particularly those whose actions don't have the back up of thoughtful decisions, blaming the destiny is a very convenient short cut

Learn the basics

It is a heartening trend seen these days that many youngsters are turning to spirituality. But many of them don't seem to know the basic requirements to advance in the spiritual field. For example, the moment they get interested in spirituality, they want a live guru.

This is like asking to be taught quantum theory of physics without learning the alphabets. Discipline in life is the very basic requirement for spiritual progress. Then one should have control over the tongue, both in relation to the taste and in talking. When too much food is consumed too frequently, the body is always busy digesting and assimilating the food. The blood circulation is always more around the digestive system.Talking too much and unnecessarily drains a lot of mental energy and keeps the mind in a wound up stage.

In a person eating only enough food to sustain life, there will be ample blood circulation to his brain, he can have a clear thinking and he can think of linking his heart to the brain and experience the higher truths of life. Then he has to seek company of spiritually oriented people, read spiritual books and when he is ready, a live guru will manifest.

Gurus are always seeking disciples. But they can't impart the highest truths of life to those who are not ready or capable of receiving it.

Destiny versus Karma

            Before we start debating on this issue, consider the fact that we belong to the solar system. Sun is heading this system and all the planets and satellites revolve around it. For the system to sustain, it is very important the basic rules have to be strictly adhered to. Suddenly if the earth stops, it can create havoc. Along with revolving around the Sun, the earth rotates around its axis too.

            Let us presume that the revolution of the earth around the Sun is destiny and its rotation is karma. But the earth doesn’t have any control over the rotation too. So is the case with all other beings except humans. Plants have no control over their growth, flowering etc., similarly animals don’t have control over their actions. If they are hungry and there is food in front of them, they will eat.

            Human beings, the highest of all creations, have been endowed with the power of discrimination. He can decide to observe a complete fast in spite of the fact that he may be hungry and food may be available to him. He has control over the karma (earth’s rotation) whereas the destiny (earth’s revolution) is fixed. It is because of the destiny that he takes birth in a particular country to certain parents.

            Those who are believers of destiny will argue that a decision to observe  fast is also fixed by destiny. This group consists of great escapists. They don’t want to shoulder any responsibility for their actions and so this argument suits very well. Our Vedas teach us to take responsibility of our actions and to not expect any fruits thereof. This attitude is sure to bestow mental peace and inner contentment.

            Do your actions with the faith that everything depends on your actions, but believe that the results are decided by the destiny. This would seem a balanced approach to follow.

Let yourself loose

While plucking jasmine flowers today morning, I was really captivated by the beauty of the small plant laden with white flowers spreading the heavenly scent all around. It got me into a pensive mood. The plant with brown stem and green leaves has snow white flowers at the tip if its branches. My head bowed in reverence to the great creator who has spread such beauty around me. How blessed I felt at the moment!

            I have been watering the plant with great love, but I couldn’t have induced the plant to produce the flowers. Patient waiting only brought this result. If I had become impatient and stopped watering the plant, it would have simply died. Many of the life’s situations are also like this. We have to just keep on doing what is needed to realize our dreams and when the suitable time comes, the wonderful results have to just materialize!

            Getting impatient or stopping our efforts will only lead to disappointment and frustration. We should learn to let ourselves loose and just enjoy doing the task at any given moment. The secret of remaining rooted in happiness while living in this world of strife and chaos is that- letting yourself loose! Just as you can float in water by just leaving the body loose, you can float in happiness during your daily activities, and each day will be a day to celebrate!

           

Kalyug is in microcosm, not macrocosm

According to the Hindu scriptures, it is interpreted that the most corrupted of the four ages, the Kalyug has started and it will prevail for many more years. Thousands of Hindus thinking in this fashion day in and day out will add power to the corrupt parties and make the living environment difficult.

It is quite possible that there may be a flaw in the interpretation. It may be in the context of the microcosm, and not in relation to the macrocosm that the present age may be laden with corruption and cheating.

It is for the benefit of all that we have to concentrate on all the good elements and open hearted individuals and give them the power through our collective positive thinking, to overcome the evil forces. Kalyug is the easiest period to attain mental peace, it just needs japa, whereas in the earlier yugas, many years of penance was needed. So let’s make use of this and start sending positive waves right from this moment!

Your life’s puzzle

Each and every creation of nature is beautiful. It fills a place in this vast universe that is unique for itself. Human beings are no exception. Whatever we think of ourselves, we occupy a unique position in this Universe, each one of us.

The problem is, when we are born, nature doesn’t reveal this picture. It is made into a jigsaw puzzle and the task is ours to complete the picture. We can very well put the pieces together and complete it during our life time.

The trouble starts when we look at others’ lives and lament,’ If only my pieces were like that, it would have been so nice’. Comparing our life with that of others and getting depressed, we lose time and by the time our life is over, we are nowhere near completion of this unique picture. Come on, let’s work with the pieces we have got, to compete it and admire its beauty!!

Eternal emptiness?

You touched my heartstrings

With the love rays from your eyes,

The melody that followed

Filled my heart, my lips trembled,

And my body quivered.

Those intense feelings of mine,

Solidified into ice, with your love gaze,

Forming a block of love.

It preserved my happiness, cooled my passion

And sustained my life.

Then the gaze wandered,

And my love block melted.

I felt the emptiness creeping in,

As the melting feelings dripped down,

Though my fingers were tightly closed.

When the alien vibrations encircled them

My hands cracked, and exposed

The emptiness as I opened them.

I stand with my open palms,

Is this emptiness eternal?

And the loneliness fixed

By those alien ripples?

Alone, yet not alone

In this fast paced life, everything around you is out to distance you from the actual and real journey that you have undertaken at the time of birth. We spend a precious life time amassing perishable goods and toiling hard to build up relationships that are mortal.

There is a brilliant truth residing inside you, in all its splendor, which can get you in touch with the ultimate bliss. Removing the innumerable veils that are masking this truth is a strictly personal exercise. If anybody thinks that there may be a companion to the path to salvation, it is a big mirage.

No two human beings can be on the same spiritual level and this makes communication between them an impossible task. It is only that the tolerant ones can listen to other view points, but aggressive persons will snub and ridicule. They just broadcast their view points, not even giving the other a chance to air their thoughts.

Companionship is valuable only to the extent of performing the worldly duties, bringing up family and fulfilling the social obligations. In the journey towards the inner truth, no mortal being can be your companion. At the same time one is not alone in the abstract sense. The ultimate truth, of which you are a part, is waiting eagerly to guide you in each step that you willingly take towards it. Search your inner core with complete devotion and you will be instantly in touch with this greatest companion of all!

The great jigsaw puzzle

We as humans are the only species that plan the future for the whole life. We have explicit ideas as to what we want to eat, what type of house and vehicle we should own and how others should be behaving with us (!). We can’t be happy if our expectations don’t materialize. Strangely enough, we can’t be happy even when they materialize, because by then new expectations have arisen.

There is nothing wrong in striving to achieve things in life. But majority of us fail to see our aspirations in relation to the whole picture of life. In this huge picture, we are just jigsaw pieces. So then, there is a limitation to what we can aspire and materialize.

It is when we overlook this aspect that we try to harm and overstep others for our selfish motives. This may go on for some sometime, but ultimately such attempts will backfire because they are not in tune with the master plan of Nature. Deceptions, lies and treachery have to get exposed with time and the concerned persons will get their due ‘rewards’ without any doubt.

Have an anchor

When you are going through your day today life, once in a while just stop and ponder whether you have an anchor in your life. When you experience the ups and downs of life it is this anchor that keeps you sane.

The anchor may be anything that one chooses for his life. Religion is one that serves millions of people around the world. Whichever anchor you choose, it helps you to grasp the underlying truth of life, that there is a power greater than you. It is this power that controls the movement of the planets, the heat of the sun, movement of the wind etc,
It is also the power that provides food for the umpteenth living organisms.
The moment we grasp the truth that there is a limitation to what we can do, we experience humility and this brings a different dimension to our lives. The world will go on even if we don’t do anything. Whatever we do, it is for our own sake, our own enrichment and experience. We will put in our best efforts and at the same time be thankful to that greater power for having given the opportunity to do. Give five minutes everyday to think about your anchor and see the life spreading a heavenly fragrance.

Independence Day

Millions fought for our sake
For us to get the much coveted Independence
Thousands died without even blinking,
For they were sure that we will take
Our Motherland to new heights.

On this sacred day that we got our country
Back into our own hands,
Let us muse what we have done
To make our fore fathers proud.

The Father of our nation taught
The role of simplicity and dedication
Through his life, have we emulated
Even a part of what he envisaged?

We no longer have external enemies to fight,
Our sages have given us the ultimate knowledge
Even if we follow a fraction of the legacy that they left,
We will experience Heaven, here, right now.

Let’s make a pledge today,
That we will work for the good
Of others and our country, without ever forgetting that
The rewards come from Heaven, not from those we do good to.

Let’s make a pledge
Of removing the veil of ignorance,
Layer by layer, for the light
Of knowledge to shine through.

Let’s use our intelligence
To tame our minds, to do deeds divine,
To realize our true selves,
And make our Motherland a Heaven on earth!

****************************

Keep your organs fit

There is a saying,’ When you have teeth, you don’t have food to eat, and when you get food to eat, you don’t have the teeth’. But nature has not designed it that way. Everything is designed for man to enjoy his life to the fullest. But man through his negligence, and sometimes ignorance, doesn’t take care of his assets that were supposed to last a life time.

Just look around and you will see examples all around you. See what strong and shapely bodies people have in their youth. But due to excessive and improper eating, they convert this beautiful creation into a barrel. Body is like a machine after all. For the health to remain for a life time, proper care needs to be taken.

People may spend hours at the gym developing muscles. It is definitely good to develop muscles. But one has to also think what runs this body efficiently. It is the internal organs that keep the body working. These organs need stimulation, exercise and oxygen to remain in health. These are provided by doing pranayama and yoga.

If one wants to enjoy the fruits of his labor in the later years of life, he has to start thinking about it right during his youth and spend some time daily for the proper care of his body.