“Beauty is an inner phenomenon. Beauty is not in objects, not in
people, not even in the eyes of the beholder. It lies in the heart of every
person,” says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and this beauty in the heart reflects so
naturally as radiance and a glow on the person’s face.
Beauty goes farther than being just skin deep. Yet our skin is one
of the most visible expressions of this beauty.
We are made up of both matter and spirit. This means that our
skin, beyond being the visible outer layer, is full of life and activity! It is
an organ like any other part of our body and needs to be kept healthy and
nourished. Most beauty treatments that are available today address the physical
needs but do not reveal the secrets of how you can make each cell of your skin
glow from within and pulsate with energy and radiance.
Our skin wears down with age, stress, lack of attention and often
wrinkles, dark circles, dry patches, age pores, pimples, tiredness and dullness
all show up as uninvited guests.
However, there are many natural and simple methods for cleansing
and rejuvenating the skin.
#1: Go back to your roots.
In ancient ayurveda lie the secrets of beauty. Ayurvedic scrubs
or ubtans gently
nourish the skin, and help it breathe better. What’s even better is that you
can find the ingredients in your kitchen.
Your perfect beauty pack:
1. Chickpea Flour – 2tb
2. Sandalwood Powder
3. Turmeric Powder – Half teaspoon
4. Camphor – a pinch
5. Plain water / Milk / Rose Water
Mix chickpea flour (besan), sandalwood powder, camphor and
turmeric powder in plain water, milk or rosewater to make a thick paste and
evenly apply on your face. You may leave on for 20 minutes and wash with water.
You could make it an even more rejuvenating experience by dipping two cotton
swabs in chilled rose water and place them on your eyes. Better still – switch
on some soothing instrumental music! At the end of 20 minutes, what do you
have? A glowing skin and a relaxed you!
#2: Sweat it out!
Some running, jogging and a few fast-paced rounds of surya
namaskars will give your body the necessary blood circulation. The sweating
will be good for you! Be sure to wash yourself with some cool water soon after
so that your skin is left clean.
#3: Keep your yoga mat handy
While immersed in the downward dog pose, have you observed your
breath? The beauty of yoga practice is that there is attention on the body (as
it stretches) and on the breath. Every time you exhale, you get rid of toxins
from your body. Yoga and the process of conscious breathing, accelerates the
cleansing of the entire body and leaves the skin refreshed and energized.
#4: Know who you are!
Are there some days when no matter what lotions you apply your
skin is still dry? Sometimes you and your friend could use the same product yet
the effect is not the same on both of you? You might need to acknowledge the
role of your unique body constitution. According to Ayurveda, every individual
is a combination of two or three elements: Vata, Pitta and Kapha.
Interestingly, each of these constitutions have specific qualities
that define your body and personality type as well as determine the make-up of
your skin. If you have dry skin, chances are that Vata is dominant in you. A
pitta body type tends to have normal skin while oily skin is usually attributed
to those with kapha. Knowing what body type you are will help you understand
what kind of food you should eat and avoid.
#5: What you eat is what you are!
We are made up of the food that we eat. So, obviously eating
fresh, clean, juicy foods enlivens our skin as well. A balanced diet, with
sufficient protein and vitamins, and more of fruits, leafy vegetables, eaten at
the right time in the right quantity is advisable.
#6: Indulge yourself…weekly
A gentle facial massage with oils could work wonders. Depending on
your skin type, you could choose from psiridala or Narayana taila. Oils from mustard,
coconut, almond or Kumkadi are excellent nourishing agents.
#7: Make Sudarshan Kriya your beauty mantra
Do you think breathing right could rid you of spots and pimples?
Yes, its true! When we are relaxed, outer manifestations of stress like pimples
and rashes reduce. The Sudarshan Kriya breathing technique releases accumulated
stresses from both the body and the mind making us relaxed, restoring harmony
and balance in our constitution.
#8: Meditate everyday
A candle cannot but radiate light. Meditation greatly influences
how bright your inner candle is. The more you meditate, the more you radiate. We often see artists depicting
meditators with an aura. This is not just a figment of imagination. This is
quite true. Meditators shine from within and without … often with riddance to
make-up.
#9: Silence is truly golden
How do you feel when you’ve spoken for a very long time and a lot?
Often drained? Speaking nineteen to the dozen can be fun yet can bombard our
body and mind with an overdose of frivolity. Silence conserves a lot of energy.
If you’d like to try something out – give the Art of Living Part 2 program a
shot. The effects of silence combined with deep meditations will amaze you. Not
to forget, leave you with glowing skin!
#9: Save your mind at any cost
If you are unhappy, angry, frustrated or sad, your face simply
cannot look great. So make sure that you get yourself some peace of mind and
happiness that is unshakeable. For this, meditation is the only way. It is not
a luxury anymore. It is a simple necessity!
#10: 18 till I …why not?
We have to embrace the journey of life…with all its inevitable
wrinkles and greys. Looking beautiful normally also means looking young and
having a fresh approach to things. Yet if you feel young, you look young.
Meditation slows this ageing process naturally and retains the youthfulness and
freshness in us. So go ahead, dream away and remain 18 at heart.
#11: Flex those facial muscles
You’re dressed in Dior and are wearing the most expensive baubles,
your Louis Vuitton bag is perfect … yet you need something to complete the
look. Your smile! While we spend much time, energy and money on honing our
bodies and looks, we forget to express our inner joy and happiness. And this is
from a simple stretch of the lips...reaching the eyes!
So smile more, make yourself look beautiful and add beauty to the
world as well!
We’re not lying, these tips work.
Based on inputs by Bharathy Harish, Sahaj Samadhi meditation
Course Expert and Dr. Nisha Manikanthan, Ayurvedic Expert.
I am playing the role of the speaker and you are all listeners. How nice it would be for me to know what is it that you want to know tonight.
You can think of topics.
You know, to discuss something which is very dear to our hearts, we need to be in an informal atmosphere.
A formal atmosphere is not congenial for wisdom; for authenticity.
I have a habit of doing everything in an informal way.
So let us begin by turning around and greeting the person in-front of you, next to you and behind you. Become familiar with everyone around you.
We spend half of our health in earning money, and then we spend half of our wealth to get the health back. Not so smart! We need to find where life is going? We keep working and we keep on doing things without knowing - What is the Purpose! Without even enjoying all that this nature has provided us.
I want to ask you a question.
Did you really greet the person or did you do it as a formality?
You don't have to tell that to the person next to you. You don't have to tell them, 'Hey, I just greeted you as a formality.'
I want you to ask yourself, did you really greet the person?
You know when you get off the plane, the air hostesses greet you saying, 'Have a nice day', but they don't mean it.
It is just coming from the lips.
But if the same words comes to you from your mother, or sister, or a close friend, it carries some vibration with it.
So we convey more through our vibrations.
Someone can stand and give you a talk about love for two hours, but that does not convey what a baby or dog conveys to you through vibrations.
You go into a place where people are depressed, you will see that for no reason you are also depressed. Similarly, you go to a place where people are happy and you feel the joy coming up within you.
The whole world is just vibrations; waves and waves.
Our mind is vibrations, our body is all vibrations, thoughts are vibrations and our emotions are all vibrations. But we don't do anything to improve the vibrations, the positivity in us, isn't it?!
That something, doing which, your vibrations become very joyful, positive and peaceful, is Meditation.
This happens very fast through the breathing techniques and meditation.
Usually when one says Meditation, you think, one has to leave everything and go to Machu Picchu, or somewhere in the Himalayas; no, it is not like that. You can experience it in your own home.
And what are the benefits of meditation? Why should we do it? As I said, our vibrations become positive.
Sometimes, when you meet someone, you feel some repulsion and you don't want to talk to that person. Have you experienced this?
And then, there are some people that you meet, and you feel like talking to them and engaging with them. Again, this is vibrations.
Similarly, you get some thoughts, and they are absolutely right. And at other times, you get thoughts that are completely wrong. Isn't that so?
So, we are like walking in the darkness without understanding our own consciousness. If you understand consciousness, a lot of things happen and your life becomes much happier. Our health becomes better, our relationships with people improves.
You must have heard from people, how the violent tendencies in life go down. And most important, our desires get fulfilled.
There are four kinds of people.
Some people have desires, and they desire and desire but nothing gets manifested.
There are others who desire and work so hard for it, and then after a long time, it gets manifested.
And the third one are those who desire, and immediately it gets done, without much hard work.
And the fourth one are those who don't even have to desire, even before the desire arises, things are already there.
So which category do you want to be in? Fourth one?
Yes, that is the luckiest. It is just like, you have not even felt thirst and already there is water.
There is a proverb in India which says, 'When you had teeth, you didn't get peanuts, and when you got peanuts, you didn't have teeth.'
Many people are in this situation. They work so hard all their life, make all the money, put it all in the bank and they die. And then the children fight over the money of the parents.
In the world, about 70% of the court cases are about inheritance.
Now, see nobody fights over the money they have earned. So what you have done is, you have made money, put it in the bank and then made your children fight with each other for the money. Is this an intelligent thing to do?
We spend half of our health in earning money, and then we spend half of our wealth to get the health back.
Not so smart! Not so economical.
See, when the mind is bitter, you can't find happiness anywhere in the world. When the mind is sweet, then you find sweetness everywhere. So meditation is all about finding sweetness deep inside.That something, doing which, your vibrations become very joyful, positive and peaceful, is Meditation.
We need to find where life is going?
There is a story of a wise fool!
A wise fool was sitting on a donkey, and the donkey was running. It went round and round the same streets many times. So someone asked this gentleman, 'I see you going up and down several times, where are you going?'
He says, 'I don't know, ask the donkey!'
Most of the time, our lives are that way. We keep working and we keep on doing things without knowing - What is the Purpose! Without even enjoying all that this nature has provided us.
See, when the mind is bitter you can't find happiness anywhere in the world. When the mind is sweet, then you find sweetness everywhere.
So meditation is all about finding sweetness deep inside us. And when you find it, do you know what you want to do? You want to give it to everybody.
People ask me, 'What is your motivation? What do you get? Why are you running around to all these places around the world all the time?'
I asked them one question, 'Suppose you see a very nice movie, what do you do? Do you just sit quiet in your room? Or do you pick up the phone, call your friends and tell them, 'Oh, it is a great movie, you must go and see this movie.' Now what do you get by doing that? Do the movie producers give you some commission? Or the actors give your some money? What do you get for making all those phone calls? You do it because the nature of joy is to share.'
The nature of joy is sharing.
There are two types of joy, one is the joy of grabbing. As kids we were born with this tendency. If you leave a child here, it will go and grab this flower, grab this sheet, pull that chair, turn everything around upside down, and hold on to things.
It will hold on to anything, even a knife. Without knowing it is going to hurt its hand, the child with grab a knife. But mothers are very clever, they will give the child something else to loosen the child's grip from the knife. Isn't that so?
When children catch on to something that is not good, you give them something else.
So this is one type of joy, the joy of getting, having. This is a childish joy; childish happiness. There is another type of happiness, joy, that comes from giving.
Many ladies here, when guests are coming home, or children are coming home, what do you do? You make many different types of food and decorate it and put it on the table. Your joy as a mother is in giving, isn't it!
Look at grandparents, they love to give gifts to the children, isn't it?! There is a joy in giving, and this is a mature joy.
We cannot live life by just having the joy of getting without understanding the joy in giving.
Once you have a little taste of the joy that comes from giving, you will find that life is worth living, life is fulfilling.
So, smile more!
You know a baby smiles 400 times a day, a adolescent smiles only 17 times and an adult rarely smiles. And if you become an officer or a politician, then forget about it. Your smile disappears, flies away.
A smile is not something artificial, it should come from within. That can only happen when the stress is gone, when we go deep in meditation.
If someone says, 'I am meditating', that means that they smile more; there is serenity, sensitivity and sensibility, and this is spirituality.
Spirituality means sensibility, sensitivity, sweetness, smile; all these put together.
Usually when one says Meditation, you think, one has to leave everything and go to Machu Picchu, or somewhere in the Himalayas; no, it is not like that. You can experience it in your own home. And what are the benefits of meditation? As I said, our vibrations become positive.
Q: What should I do if the stress factor is coming from outside. If it is something I do not control or it is beyond me. How do I transmit peace?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That is why we need to educate people on how to handle their stress. If one person is not well in the family, does it not affect the whole family? Yes, it does affect. Similarly, if a few are mentally unwell in the society, crime increases in society.
There are people who are in prisons who say, 'Oh, now we don't want to be in violence', but there are so many more outside who are causing problems to society and that is why we need to give this spiritual education to people.
We need to educate people on how to be calm, how to handle their negative emotions and how to handle their mind, because neither at home, nor at school did anyone teach us how to handle our mind.
So then there is anger, jealousy and hatred, and when you live with these emotions then you act on them. You don't know how to get rid of it. You hold on to it and then you act from that and then you regret. This is the problem.
These practices and this knowledge here is the solution.
Do you want to see God? How many of you want to see God? It doesn’t take much time. Stop seeing the world. If you see the world, you can’t see God.
Either you can see God or you can see the world. You can’t see both. You have to choose one.
If you want to see God, I’ll show you right away: Stop seeing the differences. Stop seeing the world.
Quantum physics can see God. Know that this all is one, that everything is made up of One. It is an illusion that there is this person and that person. It is an illusion that there is this object and that object. All objects are made up of One.
We are like in a hologram. One light beam makes the hologram. It appears to be an object but it is not an object, it is just light’s play and display. This whole universe is a play and display of light which appears to be different. There is nothing but God on this planet.
If you sit in a movie show, whatever you see on the screen is just light passing through, that’s all. Light is passing through a running film and appears to be different things, different people and different incidents. Like this, the whole world is a play and display of one consciousness. There is no matter and there is no energy. There is no you, there is no me, there is no this, there is no that. It is all just One.
That is it! You sit still.
In the Bible it says, ’Be still and know that I am God.’
It is the mind that sees the differences. The intellect perceives the differences. Transcend the intellect and be still. There is only one thing.
You can’t say One, because to say One, you need to have two. If you say something is complete, then you have to be outside of it and say it is complete. The ancient people were so brilliant that you would be amazed. They said, non-dual, there is no two.
To say One is wrong. Only two can say it is One. That there is no two is the best way to express it. That is what is called advaita (non-dual) but dvaita means dual. This is like the pure science, like the quantum physics. You can experience, you can know it, but in practical life, you have to come one step down. You have to acknowledge the duality, the multiplicity in the creation.
The table, chair, roof, door, is all made up of wood here and that is a fact. But you can’t use the chair for a door and a door for a chair. From that level, you have to operate in duality.
So the Periodic Table in chemistry is also true and Quantum physics is also true. Both talk about the same matter.
Q: Where did Hanuman and his kind disappear to? Were they monkeys or what were they? How could a superior species of apes just disappear?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You should talk to an anthropologist. They’ll give you the history. The world is all changes. Things keep changing. The only constant thing about the world is that everything is changing.
Q: Dear Guruji, can you give us some tips on how to feel your presence more in our daily lives?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Just be still. Even for a minute or half a minute.
Q: Dear Guruji, what is your sadhana every day? Do you run into the same issues as us like too many thoughts, anxiety, or do you live your natural state all the time?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There is a code of conduct for a teacher not to share their experience.
Do you know why? Because the student will start to think, ‘how come I am not having this? I want to have it.’
This wanting to have, this questioning oneself will go on. The best thing is to just be with your experience. Step by step you will always progress and a time comes when everything is meditation.
Q: What to do with my money? Can you give me some advice?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You are living in a world which is complex. In some way or another, you are dependent on something in the world. You cannot insulate yourself so totally.
Now see, Germany changed its currency from the Deutsche Mark to the Euro. You could not say, ‘no, I don’t want to get into the Euro, I want to keep the same Deutsche Mark with me.’
You could not say that and if you would have done that, you would be a big fool.
So there is no total isolation or insulation from what is happening in the world.
You can be smart, and not greedy. Often people who are greedy, they end up in trouble. They see these advertisements that say, ‘Just invest your money and you will get 200% returns out of it.’ You don’t scientifically think why they would give you 200%. You get caught in the cloud of that, ‘oh they are going to give me tremendous money.’
At that moment when you are so feverish, no wisdom enters your head. You think it is so real, and you invest and you lose all the money. I have seen so many people do that and have heard many people lose all their wealth just out of greed.
So we should be intelligent enough to see where it is good to invest. I can’t tell you all that. It is against ethics. You invest wherever you find it is safe.
Q: Dear Guruji, I cannot let go. What to do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Just hold on!
Breathe in and hold on! See how long you can hold on for. There is no choice!
Can you stop your age? No! You can’t say, ’I’ll become 49 after next year.’ You cannot say that.
‘Though I’m turning 49 this year, I’ll hold on until next year. I will think about it, whether I should be 50 or not.’
Can you choose to change your date of birth? No! If you do it, it is not true.
You can do it in a passport, but it is not legal, it is not right. You were born on a particular day and that is it.
Q: I always search for being loved. How to know that I am loved and that I am worth being loved?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: My dear, I have said so many times, you are love!
Don’t look for love but give love. When you start giving, it comes back multiplied many more times to you.
Q: Dear Guruji, my father died recently. My mother is alone, frail, disoriented with no goal in life. What can I do to help her?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Knowledge will help!
Speak with her about Knowledge. Sit with her and read some of the knowledge.
Read the Scriptures, some stories or Yoga Vasistha.
More than that, just you being around itself is uplifting. Time is a great healer. In fact, time is the only greatest healer.
Q: Beloved Guruji, you say that karma cannot be changed. Only grace can change karmic bondage. What is grace and what action can bring grace?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: All actions that are evolutionary and all that supports life. Selfless dedicated service.
Not that I do some service and think what do I get in return? No, that is not called service. Seva is an act done without wishing for something in return. This act is very important. Seva purifies our karma.
There is a proverb in India, ’a spoonful of ghee (clarified butter) on the rice purifies the rice.’
You know why? This is because if you eat rice just like that it digests very fast and becomes sugar very quickly. Many people who eat rice like that, they become diabetic.
A cardiologist told me, anytime you take cereals; you should have a little bit of fat with it. A spoon of ghee on top of it slows down the digestion. It becomes complex carbohydrates and helps to balance the sugar level in the body and that helps a healthy heart function.
That is why the ancient people had said this, ‘a spoon of ghee purifies the rice.’
Knowledge purifies the intellect. How many of you experienced that knowledge purifies the intellect? All the anger, cravings, aversions about other people, everything disappears.
Music purifies the emotions.
Charity purifies money that you earn. At least three to four percent of what you earn should be given away in charity. If all that we earn we spend on ourselves, it is not considered pure money or good money. Charity purifies the money and then you can enjoy the rest of the money. Otherwise the rest of the money just goes in hospitals and other things.
Prayer purifies the heart.
Meditation purifies the soul.
Ayurveda, triphala purifies the body and cleanses the bowels. We keep stuffing food into our system all the time, but once in a while we need to purge the system.
Four or five tablets taken at night before going to bed, in the morning your stomach is all clean.
So Ayurveda, yoga, pranayama and exercise purifies the body. Pranayama purifies the whole system, the body mind complex. That is why after Sudarshan Kriya you feel so clean. It cleanses you of all the karma, it brings that clarity.
Q: Dearest Guruji, Does the soul have to reincarnate again and again until all desires and karma is cleared? What is the way out of this cycle of birth and death? Is enlightenment the only way?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Correct! The only way to quench the thirst is to drink something. The only way to satisfy hunger is to eat something. In the same way, the only way to get out of this cycle is enlightenment or meditation. Total satisfaction!
Q: Q: Why do people underestimate talent considering a previous mistake?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You have answered your own question. You have talent, but when you have made a mistake, they are apprehensive because each mistake can cost a lot to a company or to a person. So, you will have to reassure them that a mistake will not happen and you will use your talents very well. People don’t want to take so much risk these days.
Q: Guruji, is there a right way to follow in the path of knowledge? What do we do about the thoughts and impressions that nag our mind about people who are important in our lives?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Don’t worry about the past, however the past has been. In the present believe in your innocence. You are innocent in the present moment. The mistakes in the past are due to your ignorance. But the fact in the present moment is you are innocent.
Q: Is it worthwhile studying astrology? Will we ever know enough?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Astrology is a science. But in some way, it is a lost science. The complete knowledge is not available, so whatever knowledge they have is 70 to 80 percent. They are able to predict something about it.
But there is one clause astrologers always give. There is a bigger power hiding behind, a higher power, which can overrule all of this. Because that superior power, that super power is independent and that is the Divinity, the Divine grace. The Divine grace can change anything at any time.
Q: How to stop my wife from talking in a bad way to me without any reason?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well, that is a challenge! If she is talking bad about you without reason, you tell her you will give her a reason!
Q: In Ashtavakra Gita, you mention that life is formed from three things: seeds, eggs and space. How is life formed from space?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Everything comes in space, stays in space and dissolves in space. You must study space. Then you will see that nothing other than space exists. Everything is formed in space.
Q: Dear Guruji, I feel that I have made many mistakes in the past three years and I need to suffer the consequences and I am afraid. Is there anything I can do to alleviate these consequences?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You being on the right path now itself is reducing the consequences. And your acceptance about the consequence itself is a relief. It puts you back on a higher pedestal.
Q: Dear Guruji, I’ve worked hard for three years but my supervisor killed my career without thinking. Now I am jobless and have lost my vision of life. How to deal with negative emotions about my boss?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Listen, no point in sitting and brooding over the past. Wake up! With full energy, move forward.
If you have lost one job, so what?! A million other jobs are there in the world. You can take another one. Never mind if you get paid a little bit less in this job and you got more there, move on!
Life is worth much more than sitting and brooding and wasting your energy and your time on what has happened in the past. It might have been because of your own mistakes in the present or it could be that you were unable to see your mistake in the past. That could be because of a past life, but never mind. There is no point in analyzing the past now. We need to look forward and just move on.
Don’t lose your enthusiasm for whatsoever reason.
Q: A few days ago you were talking about sattva, that water is the best transmitter. Is there a way to measure the sattva energy level?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There should be some way to measure the energy levels.
One of our Art of Living teachers is also a scientist. He developed a device for measuring the energy vibrations. He would measure on a person before and after meditation and he would find that their aura has increased by a certain amount of distance. So it is very interesting.
Q: Dear Guruji, when the body is physically hurt then one dies and the spirit leaves the body. Is the spirit so loosely associated with the body? Can the spirit move without getting hurt?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Spirit doesn’t get hurt. It moves on.
You can’t hurt a space. You can’t hurt air. The subtler you go in creation; there is nothing that can hurt there. You can’t divide it. It’s simply amazing.
Transform yourself - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (Article from ‘The Week’)
Posted on December 24, 2006 by allaboutgoogle
In this era of science and technology, we can be creative and productive, and at the same time not lose the humanness that we are all born with. Just material things or comfort alone do not make you comfortable. You may have a good bed to sleep on, but unable to sleep because of insomnia or worry! You need to get a broad understanding about yourself and your priorities. Clarity in the mind makes things much easier-understanding your basic emotions like love, your interaction with people around you, knowing about your ego or what your intellect or mind is saying to you and introspection will give you a few minutes of relaxation which is very vital. So, what is most important is introspection about one’s own life and how to improve the quality of life-this intention itself will open many doors for you to feel better about yourself. First of all, find out for yourself whether you are healthy.
Health is…
a disease-free body.
a quiver-free breath.
a stress-free mind.
an inhibition-free intellect.
an obsession-free memory.
an ego that includes all.
a soul that is free from sorrow.
Have you ever thought ‘what is the purpose of your life?’, ‘What is the meaning of life?’, ‘What is life all about?’.
These questions are very, very precious. When these questions dawn in your mind, only then your life begins! But, when these questions come into your mind, don’t be in a hurry to get an answer. Those who know will not tell you and those who tell don’t know! You can plug your ears and walk off! These questions are the tools by which you can dig deeper and the answers come from within you. Once these questions come into your life then you start “living” life rather than just existing. To know for what you are in this planet, find out what you are not here for!
You are not here to be sad.
You are not here to blame.
You are not here to be miserable.
You are not here to worry.
You are not here to show off.
You are not here to get stressed out.
You are not here to get irritated and irritate others.
The list goes on.
All our struggles in life are to know more. You are trying your level-best to understand your feelings and emotions, and you get into more and more and more confusion. This is what has happened with psychology today. It tries to explain to you why you feel like the way you are feeling. The “why” arises always when you are unhappy. You ask “Why this problem to me of all the people?” Nobody ever asked, “Why am I so happy?” You want to understand, “why am I not feeling good?” or “why am I angry?”, or ”why is this not happening?” The more you try to understand and try to dig it; you seem to understand less and less. The mystery deepens, but an illusion comes as though “I know it”. But that is for a short while. We ourselves do not know and we try to explain to others! Stop your explanations; your explanations have put you into a soup and make other people also more confused. You don’t know what is happening in your mind. Mind is like a roller coaster-it’s a crowd. Just be in the simple and innocent state of “I don’t know!”. This life is a mystery-beautiful-live it.
Living the mystery of life so totally is joy.
Becoming the mystery is divine.
You are a mystery!
When you see life in this context, clarity dawns in your mind and your life improves.
1 Review the context of your life
Look at your own life in the light of time. Millions of years have passed and millions will come. What is your life? 60, 70 or 100 years? Span of life is insignificant. It is not even a drop in the ocean. In terms of space you simply don’t exist! This understanding dissolves the ego. Ego is ignorance of your reality, ignorance of your existence. Now, just to know this, do we have to do something else? Just open your eyes: “Who am I? How I am on this planet? What is my life time?” Awareness dawns in the mind, and you will stop worrying about little things like, “this person said this thing to me and that person broke away with me and this happened with that person and I am going to say this….” All smallness will simply drop away, and you will be able to live every moment of your life.
Your life reels around your context. You should be happy in life. All other businesses involve ups and downs which is very natural. If there is a body, then it will get cold, cough, fever or something else and it will go away. But take care to see that happiness is always established in you. That is known as purashaartha. Our love, faith and belief should be deep-rooted, then everything else moves on its own. How many events take place in life! Are you able to maintain your equanimity always? Not everything in the world is sweet. If you are grounded with faith, like the husk with grain, you will progress.
Take this decision: “Whatever happens I will be there. I will be grounded. God’s protection is there on me. Whatever happens, I will never go down. I always have God’s hand with me.” Keep your mind in peace in all situations. The rest will be taken care of. You have to take at least one step forward, which is to be in peace and equanimity. “Oh! Nothing happened. Nothing of my work happened.” If you are able to laugh in such a situation, then understand that you have protection with you! The world is filled with love. Everybody has love inside them. You have to see that in your mind.
Your head will be in the mud in a few years; don’t put mud in your head while you are still alive! If you review the context of your life, the quality of your life will improve.
2 Know life’s impermanence
See the impermanence in this life. That is the truth. Turn back and see that all that you did is like a dream. All have passed, the whole thing is finished. Tomorrow will pass. Now and then, a pinch of unpleasantness comes. It makes you aware of your pleasantness. Suppose you never had unpleasant moments in life, you would never have pleasant ones. Your life would stagnate in utter boredom and you would become like a stone. So, in order to keep you alive, now and then, here and there, nature gives you a little pinch. It makes life more lively. Accept it.
You don’t have to be afraid in life. There is always support. So, every pinch that you are having in life is for the best, to make your life more lively and enjoyable. Day and night you work so hard. The whole week is spent working, coming home tired, eating, going to bed. The same routine the next day. Weekends have become another routine.
If you’re awake, then you see there is so much foolishness! Just watch when four or five people get together and have a gossip session. In a gossip session, you can immediately change the topic of conversation. This is the thing with a crowd. If ten people are talking about the weather and you change the topic to stock markets, everybody will immediately talk stock markets, whether they know about them or not. It is great fun.
Being aware of this impermanent nature of our life, you find that there is something in you that has not changed. There is a reference point by which you can say things are changing. That reference point is the source of life. That is wisdom. With wisdom, your life improves.
3 Make your smile cheaper
A research done in England found that a baby smiles 400 times a day, an adolescent 17 times and an adult doesn’t smile at all! The more successful one keeps a very stiff face. Is roughness a sign of success? Is being stressed a sign of prosperity, growth or dignity?
You should smile more. Every day, every morning, look at the mirror and give a good smile to yourself. You know what happens when you smile? All the muscles in your face get relaxed. The nerves in your brain get relaxation, and you get the confidence, courage and energy to move on in life.
You know, your smile is so fragile! Just one telephone call is enough to take it away! But what is the big deal about your feelings? Bundle them up and throw them into the ocean! Once you are rid of your ‘feelings’ you can be happy. Just see why your spirits go down? Because somebody said something stupid to you. And why did they say a stupid thing? Because they had some garbage they needed to throw out and you were there, ready to catch it! And once you have caught it, you hold on to it so passionately! Come on! Wake up! Don’t let your smile be snatched away by anybody!
Usually, you give your anger freely and smile rarely as though a smile is costly. In ignorance, anger is cheaper and smile costly. In knowledge, a smile is free like sun, air, and water and anger is extremely expensive, like a diamond. Make your smile cheaper and anger expensive! You are here for a greater cause. Just remember that. Take a challenge: “Come what may, I am going to smile today and be happy!” Smile more.
4 Be enthusiastic and praise others
Enthusiasm is the nature of life. We often have a tendency to put cold water on other’s enthusiasm. Reverse this tendency. Take every opportunity to praise others and support their enthusiasm. If you put down other’s enthusiasm, the same may happen to you. As you sow, so shall you reap. Recollect how much enthusiasm and joy you had when you went to the primary school. Someone without enthusiasm is like a corpse. But as you mature, the enthusiasm curve declines. As enthusiasm declines, we stop communicating.
How would you like to see yourself? Happy and bubbling with enthusiasm or dull and difficult to please? Often, you like to be pleased, appeased and cajoled. So you put up a tough, upset face and act difficult to please. If a person has to appease and please ten people all the time, it will be so tiring. People who keep a long face and expect others to cajole and appease them make others run away. Lovers often do this. They expend a lot of energy in cajoling, and this brings down the joy and celebration of the moment.
If you feel down, appease and please yourself. Your need to be appeased by someone else is the sign of grossness. If you want attention, all you get is tension. It is not possible to attain Divine Love with a complaining face. Become one whose enthusiasm never dies.
5 Make meditation a part of your life
The higher goals in life can only be realised through a few minutes of meditation and introspection.
What is meditation?
Mind without agitation is meditation.
Mind in the present moment is meditation.
Mind that has no hesitation, no anticipation is meditation.
Mind that has come back home, to the source, is meditation.
Mind that becomes “no mind” is meditation.
Deeper you are able to rest, dynamic you will be in activity. Even though deep rest and dynamic activity are opposite values, they are complementary. Before the body leaves you, you learn to leave everything. That is freedom. What are you looking for? Are you looking for some great joy? YOU ARE JOY!
I will give you an example. Have you seen dogs biting bones? You know why they bite bones? Biting wounds their mouth. Its own blood comes out and the dog feels that the bone is very tasty! Poor dog spends the whole time chewing the bone but getting nothing out of it! Any joy you experience in life is from the depth of your self, when you let go all that you hold on to and settle down being centred in that space. That is called meditation. Actually, meditation is not an act; it is the art of doing nothing! The rest in meditation is deeper than the deepest sleep that you can ever have because in meditation you transcend all desires.
Meditation is letting go of anger from the past and all the planning for the future. Meditation is accepting this moment and living every moment totally with depth. Just this understanding, and a few days of continuous practice of meditation can change the quality of our life. The best comparison of the three states of consciousness-waking, sleeping and dreaming-is with the nature. Nature sleeps, awakes and dreams! It happens in a magnificent scale in existence, and it is happening in a different scale in the human body. Wakefulness and sleep are like sunrise and darkness. Dream is like the twilight in between.
And meditation is like the flight to the outer space, where there is no sunset, no sunrise, nothing! I am sure that deep within, every one of you feel that you have not grown, meaning you have not changed, not grown old. This indicates the soul in you, the depth in you, the spirit in you doesn’t change, doesn’t grow old, it’s not aging. The body is aging but something in you is not aging. Getting in touch with that something that doesn’t age brings beauty in life. That is meditation.
6 Go to the most beautiful place
Only if there is alertness and presence of mind can your life improve. For this, you need to cultivate the habit of listening. Most of us are not good listeners. When you are listening to somebody, the speaker’s very first sentence triggers some conversation within you. You are constantly agreeing or disagreeing with the speaker. Have you ever wondered whether you can listen without any thoughts or pre-conceived notions? To cultivate the habit of listening, you have to “go” to a place where everything is beautiful!
Where is this place? That most beautiful place is within you! When you come to this place, then any place is beautiful. Then, wherever you go, you add beauty there.
Learning something about our breath is very important. Our breath has a great lesson to teach us: for every rhythm in the mind, there is a corresponding rhythm in the breath, for every rhythm in the breath, there is a corresponding emotion. So, when you cannot handle your mind directly, through breath you can handle the mind. Neither at school nor at home does anybody teach you what to do when you are upset or angry or depressed. The first thing we did when we came to this planet is that we took a deep breath and then we started to cry.
The last thing we’ll be doing: we’ll breathe out and make others cry! In between, the whole life, we are breathing in and out, but, we have learnt very little about our breath! No breath, no life… know breath, know life!
We need to learn a little bit about our breath. We need to know a little bit about all the layers of our existence-body, breath, mind, intellect, memory, ego and the self. This is what I call Art of Living, learning a little bit about ourselves, the seven layers of our life. And that makes you be in the present moment, and it helps us to maintain the innocence that we are all born with, and feel at home with everybody, anywhere. What I would suggest is, take one week off every year for yourself, like you take your car for servicing. During that time, align yourself with nature, wake up with the sunrise, do some exercise, eat proper food, just as much food as necessary, some exercises, yoga, and some breathing exercises, a few minutes of singing, and then some silent moments, enjoying the creation.
Book yourself on a trip to this most beautiful place in the universe. Then you find that every day is a vacation and a celebration!
7 Communicate effectively
Learning to communicate effectively with everyone is a skill worth possessing. Most of the time you find that you are out of place. Communicating without prejudice is vital for success.
If you are faced with someone who knows more than you, be like a child and keep your ears and eyes open for learning. If you are faced with someone who knows less than you, be humble and strive to make them as good as or better than you. Play with a small child as you played when you were a child. Talk with an elderly person remembering that one day you will be like that. Communicate with a person of your age group like you are his/her best friend.
This world is varied beyond our imagination, and there’s always something to share, learn and teach. When you are centered, you become a powerful communicator. And when your communication improves, your life improves.
8 Take out time for yourself
If for the whole day you are engaged in only gathering information, you do not take out time for yourself to think and reflect. A few quiet moments are sources for creativity.
Some time during the day, sit for a few minutes, get into the cave of your heart, eyes closed, and kick the world away like a ball. But, during the day be 100 per cent attached to the work. Eventually, you will be able to be both attached and detached. This is the skill of living, the art of living.
Renunciation refills your energy. Creativity cannot happen only just through efforts. There is a beautiful story about Chhatrapati Shivaji. At one time Shivaji became so frustrated about ruling his kingdom that he went to his guru Samarth Ramdas and told him that he is fed up and that he just wants to renounce everything. Ramdas told him that he can renounce everything. Shivaji became so happy and relaxed at the very thought. Then Ramdas told him: “Now I am the king and you are my servant. Will you do whatever I ask you to do?” Shivaji replied: “For you I am ready to do anything.” Ramdas said: “Very good. Will you run this country for me?” Shivaji replied: “Yes, I will run the country for you!” Total renunciation had brought zeal and enthusiasm in him.
Creativity springs up when you are relaxed. You have to renounce all work you have done the whole day, only then can you rest in the night.
Though many times pain, struggle and frustration have brought out creativity in some people, these are not the only reasons for a person to be creative. Millions of people in the world are struggling or frustrated, but they are not creative. So, taking out some time for yourself improves the quality of your life.
9 Better the world around you
A river needs two bunks to flow. The difference between flood and a normal river is that water flow is regulated in a river. During floods, water has no direction. Similarly, the energy in our life needs some direction to flow. If you don’t give direction, it is all confusion. Today, most people are confused because there is no direction in life. When you are happy, there is so much of life-energy in you; but when this life-energy doesn’t know where to go, how to go, it gets stuck. When it stagnates, it rots. For life-energy to move in a direction, commitment is essential.
Life runs with commitment. If you observe every small thing or big thing in life, they go with certain commitment. A student takes admission in a school or college with a commitment. Needless to say, a family runs on commitment: mother is committed to the child, child is committed to the parents, husband is committed to wife, and wife is committed to husband. Greater the commitment you take, greater the energy/power you gain to fulfil that commitment. Greater the commitment, easier things are. Smaller the commitment, suffocating it is for you. Smaller commitments suffocate you because you have more capacity, but you are stuck in a small hole!
When you have ten things to do and if one thing goes wrong, you can keep doing the ten things; the thing that has gone wrong will set itself right! But if you have only one thing to do and that goes wrong, then you are stuck with it. Usually we think we should have resource and then we will commit. Greater the commitment you take, greater the resources will come to you automatically. Whatever you are committed to brings you strength. If you are committed to your family then your family supports you, if you are committed to society, you enjoy the support of society.
Commitment will always bring comfort in the long run. Make a commitment to make this world a better place to live.
10 Nourish your emotions
A person without emotions is like wood without any juice. You need to make your life interesting to make people be with you. This will happen when you nurture yourself with music, prayer and service.
The way to expand from individual to universal consciousness is to share others’ sorrow and joy. As you grow, your consciousness should also grow. When you expand in knowledge with time, then depression is not possible. The way to overcome personal misery is to share universal misery! The way to expand personal joy is to share universal joy. Instead of thinking “what about me?” and “what can I gain from this world?”, think “what can I do for the world?”
Silence heals and rejuvenates. Silence gives you depth and stability and brings creativity. Service leads to the dynamic experience of heart. It creates a sense of belongingness. Lack of service can land a person in depression. Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. Pain is physical. Suffering is mental. If you are not sensitive to others’ pain, then you are not a human being. That is why you need to serve. Service alone can bring contentment in life, but service without silence tires you. Service without spirituality will be shallow, and cannot be sustained for a long period. The deeper the silence, the more dynamic the outer activity. Both are essential in life.
When you bring some relief or freedom to someone through seva, good vibrations and blessings come to you. Seva brings merit; merit allows you to go deep in meditation; meditation brings back your smile. When you sing and pray from your heart , your emotions are nourished and you become “lively”.
11 Plan short and long-term goals
At any given point of time, our mind is oscillating between the past and the future. Either it is angry or sad about the past or anxious about the future. Whatever actions you do in this state of mind, you regret after some time. This is how you get caught up in the same old cycle. Does it mean that you should not plan your future? No! You should plan your short and long-term goals. Then, and only then, life gets a channel, a direction to flow. When the mind is totally in the present, the right planning happens. Not only should you plan your goals, but plan the means and methods to work towards them. Where would you like to see yourself after three years? After 20 years? After 40 years? Don’t be feverish about the results. Give your 100 per cent. If you are feverish about the results, it will lead you to disappointment.
Do not make a list of all the things you want to achieve. Select few things that really matters. Once a teacher brought a glass jar to the class and a bag with some big stones, some small stones and some sand. He asked the students to put all the contents from the bag into the glass jar. Some students put the sand first, then small stones and by then there was no place for the big stones. The teacher later explained that had they put the bigger stones first, then the smaller stones, there was always space around the stones for all the sand in the bag. This example teaches us an important lesson in prioritising things. If we put things that will give us maximum fulfilment in the long term, smaller things will automatically fall into place.
Among all planets in the solar system, the earth is privileged to host life in its many forms, and, among all the species, humans are most privileged, for, they can host knowledge. Again and again you remember that you are peace, you are love, you are joy and that you are hosting the creator. If you do not realise that you are the host, you live like a ghost!
12 Prayer is a vital tool
Prayer is a vital tool to improve your life. It also nurtures values like integrity and honesty. Prayer happens in two situations, or in a combination of situations. When you feel grateful or when you feel utterly helpless. If you are not grateful and prayerful, you will be miserable. In either case your prayers will be answered.
What you can do, you do.
What you cannot do, you pray for!
It is said the divine dawns in you when you pray for it, when you cry for it, when you sing for it. The divine is only waiting for you to dig a little deeper into yourself. Because, it can then fill you with much more nectar! Divine wants you to create more space in you. Cry from your soul for help. This is for those seekers who are weak. Those seekers who are strong-with the power of knowledge-can sing with that joy of what they have achieved! The moment you sing in gratitude, in glory of the divine, it immediately dawns in you, and fills you up again. One type of people is grateful for all their growth. The other type is helpless and weak. Both will be helped.
Spirituality is not some ritual, or doing something. It’s a very pleasant, uplifted state of being and seeing that the whole world is all spirit or consciousness. Use prayer to bring integration in your personality. Whatever you do, know that the higher power has the final say and it will always be for the best.
13 Implement changes if needed
Sorrow simply means that viveka (discrimination) is overshadowed. Viveka means knowing that everything is changing. Your body, your emotions, the people around you and the world-everything is changing. Time and again you have to awaken to this reality. You are often fearful of change. Change is inevitable in many fronts though security is hooked on to stability. You know there is a need for change to improve your life, but you feel secure in the old pattern. You need the courage to implement changes whenever it is necessary. You have to evaluate the pros and the cons. You have to see whether that gives you short-term joy and misery in the long run or short-time pain and joy in the long run.
Life is a combination of both change and non-change. So, use your intelligence and courageously implement changes when you feel that there is a need for change.
14 Identify your limitations
Every time you are unhappy or miserable, you are just coming in touch with your own boundaries! And what can you do? You can just feel thankful: “Oh, I came in touch with my boundary, my limitation. This was my limitation.” You just turn the whole situation into a prayer: “Let there be peace, not just in me but in everybody.” Prayer is that moment when you come in touch with your limitations, your boundaries.
You are peaceful, you are joyful, you are happy as long as you have not come in contact with your boundaries. At that moment what can you do? You can just say, “My Lord, my God, You made me become aware of my boundaries. You bring peace. I am giving it all to You.” That very moment you will start smiling. However hopeless the situation is, you will walk through it, sing through it, dance through it! This is love.
In Hindi, love is written with two-and-a-half letters. They say, “Who is a master, who is a pundit, who is a wise person? Not one who has studied a lot of scriptures, but one who has studied the two-and-a-half letters.” And this two-an-a-half letters is at this moment. It is a test of the moment, when you come in touch with your limitations, your boundaries. You are happy, peaceful. Are you in the boundaries? Or are you maintaining your boundless and the innocent love in the heart? Is it remaining? If it is, then nothing can rob you of peace.
15 Do not lose your friends
Mistakes keep happening all the time. Often you want to correct them. How much can you correct? There are two situations when you correct others’ mistakes.
1 You correct someone’s mistake because it bothers you. But even if you correct it, this does not work.
2 You correct someone’s mistake not because it bothers you, but for their sake so that they can grow.
To correct mistakes you need authority and love. Authority and love seem to be contradictory, but in reality they are not. Authority without love is stifling. Love without authority is shallow. A friend needs to have both authority and love but they need to be in the right combination. This can happen if you are totally dispassionate and centred. When you allow room for mistakes, you can be both authoritative and sweet. That is how the Divine is, the right balance of both. Krishna and Jesus had both.
Don’t make a mistake by pointing out mistakes!
Once a lady came to me and said her husband had lied to her. She was very upset. I asked, “Why does your husband lie to you? Because he loves you, and is afraid to lose your love or hurt you. If he did not love you, he wouldn’t lie to you!”
Do not tell a person a mistake he knows he has committed. By doing this, you will only make him feel more guilty. A magnanimous person will not pick on the mistakes of others and make them feel guilty; he will correct them with compassion and care.
16 Don’t look for perfection
Many a time, you become angry or miserable because of the feverishness for perfection. If you are too much of a perfectionist, you are bound to be an angry person.
In a state of ignorance, imperfection is natural and perfection is an effort. In a state of wisdom or enlightenment, imperfection is an effort; perfection is a compulsion and is unavoidable! Perfection is taking total responsibility, and total responsibility means knowing that you are the only responsible person in the whole world. When you think that others are responsible, then your degree of responsibility diminishes. When you are in total vairagya (dispassion), you can take care of even insignificant things with such perfection. Perfection is the very nature of the enlightened one. When we are joyful, we don’t look for perfection. If you are looking for perfection then you are not at the source of joy. Joy is the realisation that there is no vacation from wisdom. The world appears imperfect on the surface but, underneath, all is perfect. Perfection hides; imperfection shows off.
The wise will not stay on the surface but will probe into the depth. Things are not blurred; your vision is blurred. Infinite actions prevail in the wholeness of consciousness, and yet the consciousness remains perfect, untouched. Realise this now and be natural.
In this world, everything cannot be perfect all the time. Even the best, the greatest of actions, performed with the noblest of intentions, will have some imperfections. It is but natural. Unfortunately, the tendency of our mind is to grab the imperfection and hold on to it. And, in the process, we end up making our moods, our minds imperfect and our souls reel with this nonsense. It is imperative to get out of these cycles, and to become strong and courageous from within.
17 Let us be unpredictable
We often behave like machines. A compliment makes us smile and an insult makes us frown. We don’t have to react in the same way always. You have the freedom to respond differently. You don’t have to answer all questions posed to you. As people have a right to question, you have the right whether to answer or not.
So, be unpredictable!
18 Have a sense of humor
You are endowed with certain naughtiness as a child. Keep it alive. Humour will grease all tough situations. One who has humor can sail through any conflict. Humour is the buffer that saves you from humiliation. If you refuse to be humiliated, you become invincible. Humour brings everyone together, while humiliation tears them apart. In a society torn with humiliation and insult, humour is like a breath of fresh air.
Humor should be coupled with care and concern. Humor can keep the spirit high, yet if overdone it leaves a bad taste. Humor without wisdom is shallow. Humor without sensitivity is satire-it comes back to you with more problems.
The wise use humor to bring wisdom and to lighten situations. The intelligent use humour as a shield against humiliation. The cruel use humor as a sword to insult others. The irresponsible use humor to escape from responsibility. And fools take humor too seriously!
How does one cultivate a sense of humor?
Humor is not just words, it is the lightness of your being. You do not have to read and repeat jokes.
Taking life not too seriously (because you will never come out of it alive)!
Having a sense of belongingness with everybody, including those who are not friendly.
Practicing yoga and meditation.
Having unshakable faith in the Divine and in the laws of karma.
Being in the company of those who live in knowledge and are humorous.
A willingness to be a clown.
19 Don’t be afraid to make mistakes
Whenever a boundary is broken, it creates some fear. The fear creates dislike. This dislike puts us back in the boundary. And to keep yourself in the boundary you put forth defenses. When you try to defend your position, it is such a stress. Every time you try to defend your position, it makes you more and more weak. Drop all your defenses. When you are totally defenseless, that’s when you’ll be strong.
Your knowledge of a mistake comes to you when you are innocent! Whatever mistake has happened, do not consider yourself a sinner because in the present moment you are again new, pure and clear. Mistakes of the past are past. When this knowledge comes, you are again perfect. Often, mothers scold their children and afterwards feel so guilty. Okay, you got angry at your kid once or twice. Why? Because of a lack of awareness! Awareness was missing, so the anger came up. Knowledge of the self, truth and skills can bring out the best in you. So, don’t be afraid to make mistakes, but not the same mistakes. You have got to be innovative even in your mistakes!
20 Overcome your prejudice
Your prejudice against gender, religion, caste and class does not allow you to mingle with everyone around you. Often, you don’t sit with people who are not economically or socially at par with you. You have to learn to break that barrier. Also, there is age prejudice. Teenagers don’t like to have fun with elderly people and vice versa. Gender prejudice is more prevalent in rural areas. Caste system is present even among the royalties of Europe, the UK and Japan.
Religious prejudice is well known. There are good people and bad people in every community, religion and every section of society. Don’t be prejudiced against them. At the same time don’t be shy about your identity. When you overcome prejudice, you will be very natural, and your quality of life will improve.
21 Feel that “I am blessed”
There is so much talk about success. Have you ever thought what success is? Success is simply ignorance about one’s capabilities. Success is ignorance about the power of the self. Because you assume you can do only this much. If there are obstacles, you are clear about your objective. With a calm and serene mind, think of many possibilities. Know that failures are stepping stones for greater success. Actually, there are no failures in life. All the seeming failures are only stepping stones for greater success. If you feel the obstacle is too much, deep prayer can work miracles.
The feeling that “I am blessed” can help you overcome any failure. Once you realise that you are blessed, then
all the complaints disappear.
all the grumbling disappears.
all the insecurities disappear.
a sense of not being loved disappears.
wanting love disappears.
Ego is always ambitious and wants to do tough jobs like climbing Mount Everest. Whereas in a simple act like watching a butterfly, watering the garden, watching the birds or the sky, can bring deep relaxation, and relaxation connects you with your source. Seemingly trivial actions open a new dimension and bring in immense peace and rest. Just come out of your little shell and feel free.
There is a saying: Behind every successful man is a woman. I will modify this: Behind every success there is the Divine saying “I am behind you”.
22 Do random acts of kindness
Abiding in the self you become the valentine for the whole world. Spirit is the valentine of matter, and matter is the valentine of spirit. They are made for each other. They uphold each other. If you do not respect the spirit, then matter is not pleased. If you honour the spirit then you will care for the world, and when you care for the world it will take care of you.
You are the Christmas tree. At the time of year when no tree bears anything, it has many gifts to offer. A Christmas tree bears the gifts and the lights not for itself. Similarly, all the gifts you are carrying in your life are for others. Anyone who comes to you, you offer them your gifts. When you show kindness, your true nature comes into play. Have you ever done acts of kindness without expecting anything out of it?
Our service should not be mechanical. Once some boy scouts were at a Sunday service, when the priest said, “You should serve.” They asked, “What is this service? Could you give us some example?” He said, “Suppose an old woman wants to cross a road, go and help her cross the road.”
So the boys went and looked for a whole week, but there was no old woman trying to cross a street. Finally, four of them found a woman walking on a footpath. One of the boys went and asked her, “Madam, would you like to cross the road?” She turned and said, “No.” He was disappointed. So another boy went and asked her again, thinking, perhaps, that the first boy hadn’t asked properly. The woman was now a little bit confused. She wondered why she was being asked this. So, she said, it was all right for him to take her across the road. Once they had reached the other side, a third boy came and asked her, “Would you like to cross the road?” Now it really bothered her. When the fourth one approached her, she almost screamed and ran away!
You don’t have to plan acts of kindness. Just do something spontaneously. When you do random acts of kindness, you come in touch with your true nature.
23 Be a student, always
Know that you are a student forever. Do not underestimate anybody. Knowledge may come to you from any corner. Remember the ancient saying “let knowledge flow to me from all sides”. Each occasion teaches you and each person teaches you. The world is your teacher. When you are always looking to learn, you will stop underestimating others. Humility will dawn in your life.
There is a nice story. A man earned a lot of money and then gave all his property to his son. The son then built a small house behind his big house and told his parents: “Now you have to stay there.”
So the old couple stayed there, while the son and his family lived in the bungalow. One day, while playing, the grandchild came to his grandfather’s home, where everything was in pathetic condition. The grandchild said, “Grandpa, be careful with your plate and chair. Don’t break them.” When he asked why, the child said, “Because tomorrow, my father will need them.” One does not realise this fact. You are also going to be old one day.
24 Dream the impossible
Unless you have a dream, you cannot realise it. Every invention has come out of a dream. Dream the impossible. Obviously, dreaming employs something which is beyond your perceived capacity. Consider the faculty which is the preceptor of the dream. Some dreams have impacted your daily living and others have not. Some dreams you remember, and others you have forgotten.
We are all born in this world to do something wonderful and unique; don’t let this opportunity pass by. Give yourself the freedom to dream and think big. Have the courage and determination to achieve those dreams that are dear to you. Many a time people who dreamt big were ridiculed, but they remained strong to achieve their goals.
Do something creative. Not a year should pass without doing something creative.
25 Compare your performance
As we flip the calendar, we need to keep flipping our mind as well. Often, our diaries are full with memories. See that you don’t fill your future dates with past events. Allow the space for creativity to dawn. Celebration of the New Year allows you to be wise. Learn and unlearn from the past, and move on.
In the past year, how many days were you in sanyas? How many days were you struggling, being caught in maya? Turn back and remember the whole year. Do not run away from anything. Do not reject anything. Do not go away from anything. At the same time, let your attention be on the self. This is a delicate balance. That balance is yoga.
A poor man celebrates the New Year once a year. A rich man celebrates each day. But the richest man celebrates every moment.
How rich are you? If you celebrate every moment, you are the Lord of Creation. Review the year while you celebrate. This is your homework. Compare your performance in the year before last and smile.
The year 2007 is fortunate because you are living at this time!!! When you are living for the sake of the world, the world is fortunate. Let time celebrate your presence. You keep smiling as ever.
When you let time celebrate you, you are a witness amid celebration. The heart always longs for the old, the mind for the new. Life is a combination of both. Let the New Year bring into our life ancient wisdom and modernity, as life is incomplete without either of them. Don’t feel shy to speak about human and spiritual values. The time has come now to call the whole world!
