Strength of Soul - Week 17

                                                          Week 17 - Day 1

When Napoleon was young, he had great dreams. He told his teacher that he will conquer the whole world when he grows up. When his teacher taught about a small place name St Helena, he said he is not interested in such small places and want to conquer all the big countries in the world. No matter what he dream't and achieved, but when death came, he died in a small island St. Helena.

For the soul to enter the spiritual life, there are four conditions to be met:

1. Faith: 
What is the difference between trust and faith? Trust means having confidence in someone and Faith means having devotion. Trust is something that can break easily and Faith is that which can never be broken. To enter the spiritual life, we need 100% faith. A man who chooses a girl who to the world might not be so good looking has his own logic in choosing her among others as he knows she is the one made for him. Similarly there is no logic required in spiritual life.

"Faith is when you have the strength to leave something that is in your hands to obtain something that is not in your hands!" 

We might be forward where mind is concerned but not where the heart is concerned. Meera, Surdas were all uneducated but were forward in the matters of heart. Without petrol a vehicle cannot run, without money a market cannot run and without faith and devotion, a religion cannot exist. When you consider advanced technology, is your eye on the latest gadget or the one who invented it? The Universal Truth is that anything in front of your eyes is weak and the invisible is strong. For eg, an elephant looks strong but the one who rides the elephant is stronger. But the strongest is his soul that guides his mind to ride the elephant. 

Do we have such faith in our lives? What we see is not always right, For eg, two parallel railway lines seem to meet to the naked eye but it never does! Are we masters of faith? - Lets think about it!

2. Interest: 

We are interested in sugarcane that is filled with juice and mangoes that are juicy, however what about the interest in taking care of our soul? God also does not like a soul without interest. It does not matter how many hours we spend in the temple, what matters is with how much interest do we meet God even if it is just for 2 minutes. 

Once Shree Hanumanji asked Shree Ram, " The whole world calls me your devotee but how do I know that I am your real devotee?"  Shree Ram said," Good question Hanuman! Remember you will know that you are my devotee if while narrating about me you become glad, your voice is filled with excitement and your eyes with tears." 

The people we consider urgent in our life are the one's we are interested in and not whom we consider important. 

3. Relation:

Are we ready to give God and our Guru the place that we have given to people in our lives with whom we have a relation? We treat people according to our relation with them. We call God as our mother, father, friend etc, but when the time for sacrifice comes, we take a back step. A man after his marriage tells his wife that this is our home and not my house because he knows his relation with his wife. Why don't we maintain such relation with God? 

4. Emotions: 

Whenever God has given us something, he has always given us the best and deserving but where are our emotions? Emotions come into play when we remember someone and when we like someone. 

Where are we in these four conditions? 

Kabirdas once said that he is going on a pilgrimage and anyone can join him on one condition. His condition was that only those people who are ready to burn their desires, their beliefs etc can come along with him.

Heart Beats

                                                                  Sunday Special

 Once in a place named Junagad, there was a deep well that anyone would faint by looking down. A father and son were there. The father for fun picked up the son, held his legs and put him upside down. The son was still smiling. The surprised father asked," Are you not scared of the depth?". The son replied," It is important who is holding me. My legs are in your hands. I am secure in your hands so where is the reason to be scared?"

Similarly in our life is there any such person with whom we feel secure and happy? Is there at least one such address of a person whom we would trust and surrender completely?

"We can spend our entire life with just one good person but sometimes it takes an entire life to find just one good person"

There can many Mind address as we can give our mind to anyone but there can be only one heart address. Have we ever tried to find such an address? Where our purity is safe, happiness is guaranteed and love grows, we can understand for sure that it is the right heart address. Even if one of these conditions do not match then we are at the wrong place! 

There are three things:

I CAN, I MUST and I WILL find the right heart address. To find the right address, we have to first disappoint our mind,
Where the conscious says NO, the mind wins and where the conscious says YES, the mind loses. 

The right heart address can be found under the following conditions:

HEART :

H - Help

E  - Encourage

A - Attach

R - Respect

T  -Train

1. The one who Helps:

From the time we are born did we ever think of the number of people who have helped us to reach where we are today? We are so weak that we could not have done it alone without anyone's help. We have taken a lot of favors but have done very little. During a fire, if a fire brigade does not help we would be burnt to death. How many people have we helped. We always believe that it is others duty to help us, however have we ever thanked them for their favors? We can always give our heart to the one who helps us.

"There is no single rich man in this world whose life can go on without anyone's help, and there is no single poor man in this world who cannot help others"

2. The one who Encourages:

In life when we were in a critical position, when we were disappointed and felt like committing suicide, the one encouraged us and gave us hope is again a right heart address. When a kid writes on a slate for the first time, his mother makes him sit on her lap, holds his hand and makes him write. She feels proud about it and gives the credit to her son for writing. She encourages her son to write. People who encourage us are definitely the right heart address. Do we remember such people who have encouraged us when we were depressed. A depressed man should never be left alone. At some point in our life, we would have definitely felt like committing suicide, but by God's grace we had not taken any action. In 24 hours, how many times do we say thank you and felt gratitude?

3. The one who has attached us to the Right Place and Person:

The person who has always attached us to the right place, person, books etc is again the right heart address. We have to thank such people who have done favors on us. We will see once we start giving our heart to others, we would make such good relations with everyone. We have to at least talk with our family that without their help, we would have been nothing. Often, a person who speaks a lot outside is silent at home. Lets learn to express our gratitude for others, 

4. The one who gives us Respect:

We can always give our heart to the one who respects us. We always wait for others to give us respect. Our ego often comes in between. Why does ego come while saying thank you. Remember, if we don't get along well with the gardener, don't become enemies with the garden! The one who leaves the garden is the one in for trouble. 

5. The one who Trains us:

Have we ever thanked those who have trained us, given us good education? We tend to easily forget such people who have trained us - our mother, father, teacher etc. Our lives go on because of the support from so many other lives. If we leave them, our life will get disturbed!

                                 "We don't live, others in this world keep us alive"

Beyond The Visible World - Week 16

                                                                    Day 1

Once a Millionaire was travelling with an expensive diamond worth Lakhs. On the way he stays in a place where there was only one room available. He was asked to share the room with another stranger. On looking at the stranger he felt that he was definitely a thief. The stranger goes out for sometime. The Millionaire then hides his expensive diamond under the strangers pillow. The stranger returns and in the night searched all the bags of the Millionaire for the diamond, however he was not able to find anything. In the morning he spoke to the Millionaire and said, " I am a notorious thief. I tried to search for the diamond that you had , however I could not find it". The Millionaire replied, "I had hidden the diamond under your pillow. You had searched all the places, however, you had not searched under your own pillow".

Similarly in life, God gives us happiness but we are not able to find it.  Do we want to become God or follow God's principles?

There are four things to keep in mind:

1. Knowledge (Gyan Khand):

"One's first step in wisdom is to question everything - and one's last is to come to terms with everything"

What is our mentality in the field of knowledge, wisdom or information? Have we ever thought who we are, where have we come from and where would we go? What are our efforts to obtain knowledge and wisdom?  
Like a building that needs its base, even we need knowledge. We speak to everyone differently depending on the relation we have with them, eg. mother, father, friend, relative. Without pain, we might get wealth, power and worldly luxuries, however without pain we cannot get honor or good character which will come along with us even after death. Along with wealth we need good character. Do we know where is the break in our life? Before leaving this world it is necessary to learn to leave the luxuries and everything we are attached to in this world.

2. Shame ( Lajja Khand):

"The only shame is to have none"

Once we gain wisdom and knowledge, shame will automatically come to us when we look into our past and look into ourselves and will know our true nature. The great Tulsidas even after writing "The Ramayana" said," There is no one as cruel as me in this world". After attaining so much knowledge do we have shame in us? When anyone praised us for our achievements, did we ever feel shame in our eyes? This shame will remove all pride in us.

3. Grace (Krupa Khand):

“It's not the law of religion nor the principles of morality that define our highways and pathways to God; only by the Grace of God are we led and drawn, to God. It is His grace that conquers a multitude of flaws and in that grace, there is only favor. Favor is not achieved; favor is received.” 

It is by God's grace that we can do anything in this world. There is nothing in our hands and it all by God's grace that good things happen. We consider ourselves weak and we cannot do anything without God. Why do we take blessings from elders before starting anything new? Because we know that blessing is very important in our life. When Tulsidas completed Ramayana, Lord Ram asked Tulsidas, " Now that you have written my story, what do you want from me?" Tulsidas replied, " Lord, please conquer my desires and please put an end to them". In spirituality, there is always a demand of Shame and Grace.

4. Religion( Dharm Khand):

"Rational arguments don't usually work on religious people. Otherwise, there wouldn't be religious people"

Do we know the definition of Religion? Religion or Dharm is nothing but the character of a thing. Eg: Fire's work is to burn. No argument is required in religion. When do we feel like arguing - when the stone falls down or when it goes up? We argue when it goes up as we know it is the religion of the stone to fall down and not go up. If we do not require encouragement to become religious and to leave sins, then we call it as religion. What is one good thing that we have done without any encouragement? We need to take medicines,  we take dose, but oxygen is just taken. In life, religion has to take the place of oxygen!

Are We Really Educated - Day 5

                                                          Week 5- Day 5

"An educational system isn't worth a great deal if it teaches young people how to make a living but doesn't teach them how to make a life!"

Once Ravi Shankar Maharaj went to a School to give speech. Everyone was asking him for an autograph and a small girl has especially come to ask his autograph. He replied that I will definitely give my autograph but in return you have to do something. The little girl asked what she could do. Ravi Shankar Maharaj asked her to sacrifice tea and she agreed to it. After 10 years a letter came to Ravi Shankar Maharaj's house. It was from the same girl who had sacrificed tea. The girl wrote that with his permission she had left tea, however, now that her exams are nearing it is necessary to be awake late nights and hence required permission to drink tea again. Ravi Shankar Maharaj replied to her that she can drink tea if she wanted to stay awake for her exams. He also wrote that by doing this you might be successful in your exams but you are actually failing in the exam of life. After 5 days the girl again replied that she might fail in the exams but will not drink tea as she did not want to fail in the exam of life. After a month the girl again wrote saying that she never had tea and studied well and secured the second place in the board exams!

There are four things to be discussed in relation to Education:

1. Well Educated:

There is a difference between being educated and being Well educated. Educated means if you get good knowledge and well educated means when your educated along with knowing your cultural values. Does education system today just include education or education with cultural values. Now-a-days cultural values have almost ended. What do we want our kids to be like - just educated or also have cultural values along with it.

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child!"

Few years back, a kid had asked his teacher why is 2+2 = 4 only? The teacher replied that you have asked a very good question and said, " When you grow up like me, you will have to do business with money. You will have to give money and take money also. Hence we are teaching you from now that 2+2 =4, so that when you grow up you don't give 5 instead of 4 or take 3 instead of 4!

Today in teaching where is cultural values taught? :Like a train needs its engine, children need cultural values with education. There was a time when a mother used to feed her kid, but now kids have either no time due to the school timings or they like to sit in front of the TV and have food.
We find happiness in wealth, success, beauty and power but they are never in our hands. We can get it whenever we want. But the real happiness is in culture, shame, being happy from within. We definitely have to do an analysis on this.

2. Well-Reported:

Well Reported!

In life good and bad both occur. We are the medium who reports the situation. Do we report always good or always bad? What is our capability? Relations have ended between father and son, husband and wife due to wrong reports from others. Good reports bring relations together. If we have good sense, then we will be well reported. A beggar stands near a temple to beg and not near a theater, thinking that he will get some money from the person who goes to the temple. This is the good will of the temple.

3. Well - Supported:

Right or Wrong

Are we ready to support the right and good always. By being always with the good and the right, we can become well supported. In the newspaper, in one corner if there is story that says how a man cheated one crore and another story about a man who donated one crore, which story would we like to read first? Which story are we happy to read? Let us try and always support the good!

4. Well-Devoted:
The biggest result of education is being well devoted - devoted towards our parents, teachers, our guru and God. When we accept our weakness, we become well devoted. Arjun was well devoted to Shree Krishna as he new his weakness. Are we devoted?

Devoted Gandhiji

Gandhiji had written that he was devoted to his mother. Before going to South Africa he seeked permission from his mother if he can go. His mother replied that there was no problem in going but to keep three things in mind: No wine, No Non-veg, No doing wrong. Gandhiji had written in his biography that due to his mother he was able to be away from these three things.
Why don't Parents teach their students these cultures? It is the duty of the parents to teach their kids and it is duty of the children to implement the same. Parents have to blame themselves before they blame their children.

"True strength lies in submission which permits one to dedicate his life, through devotion, to something beyond himself"

So let us improve our education system so children are just not educated in life but well educated and understand how to live life!

Are We Really Educated - Day 4

                                                                      Week 5 - Day 4

Once upon a time in Delhi, Nadeershah won a battle and came. He sat on an elephant with the elephant rider as he did not know how to ride an elephant and went on a procession. Nadeershah and got down and said he will not ride anything that is not under his control.

How will the water from the tap be clear if the tank-water is not clear? In Education to be on the right path we need three things:

1. Teaching: 

Teaching is a very important factor in the education system. A teacher teaches the students everything from alphabets to subjects. Teaching improves three things in our life:

a. Increases memory power
b. Sharp Memory
c. Smart Mind

Is there growth or downfall after achieving a degree from the college? Why doesn't our mind grow even after being so well educated. If take advantage of education system and use our memory power and mind in the right way, we can be successful. Today an 8 year old boy has a mind of an 18 year old boy! Is that good or bad? It is definitely dangerous.  If our body should grow old with time, then our mind should also grow old only with age and time.

2. Touching:
In education system, three things should be taught in order to make the heart touching:

a. Sensitive heart(संवेदनशील हृदय) - If we love sharing our happiness and sorrow of others, then we have a sensitive heart. What is our mentality? Has our sensitivity increased? Are we the owners of a sensitive heart?

b. Sweet Words or Voice (मधुर वचन): To maintain a good relation with others, the first bridge is to have sweet words or voice. The why would we spoil such a good bridge?

c. Eyes filles with Tears (अश्रुशाबर आँख): Have the teachers taken the students to a blind school? We have show the students the blind children and show them the difference of them having vision and those not having vision. What sin have they committed that they don't have vision? They will be filled with tears!

Teaching should teach these three things - having sensitive heart, speak sweet words and have eyes filled with tears.

3. Turning (बदलाव): Teaching brings a change in our life, a turning point in our life that brings the following changes in our life:

a. No Darkness in life: Darkness always forces us to do something wrong but as brightness comes over we change in life and do good in life.

b. No Laziness: Change brings activeness in our life. We overcome laziness. Our issue is not that we cannot get up early, but it is that we sleep late.

Are we satisfied with the way our children are, even after being educated? Are we proud of their life? Is this an issue with the student or with the education system? It is definitely with the education system! Are we really educated?

Are We Really Educated - Day 3

                                                                  Week 5 -    Day 3

A man travelling from one village to another during summer time, suddenly forgot his way. It was very hot and no one was seen around. He found a tree and thought will rest under the tree. There was a river nearby. He was very hungry and thirsty. He ate the fruits from the tree and rested for sometime. The man was very grateful for the kindness the tree had shown.

He asked, " Dear tree, you have been so helpful towards me. What can I give you. Ask me anything and I shall give it to you". The tree replied that it had everything and did not want anything. The man still forced the tree to ask for something. The tree then said, " The way I showed you kindness and helped you, I expect you to be the same way to whoever comes to you. This is all I want".

In life there are some relations that are meant to provide security to us. A light paper wants a paper weight as security so that it does not fly due to the wind. Similarly, the rope is a security for the kite and a cow is safe until it is with its master, else anyone can slaughter it. But what is our security in life? A relation in our life is our security or is it a bond for us? Is there any relation that we feel is our security in life? In life we have to make a relation our security only if he/she has the following qualities in them:

1. Heart filled with Love:

We have to accept those relations that has a heart filled with love,  as our security. A sister is secure with her brother, a child is safe with his parents. Love is when we accept the other person even after they make mistakes and when we have a heart to forgive them and give them a chance to change. Did we ever find such a Love address or did we ever become the Love address for someone else? If we take security at a wrong address, our life will be at risk. There is unconditional love towards people who are filled with love towards us and who show us the right way. A relation of choice will  be stable only with a resolution and will never be stable if we become aggressive. Divorce happens because of aggressiveness. We must have the strength in us to forgive another person's mistakes.

2. Purity:

A relation should be made where there is purity. Today's world has become so dangerous that a man starts a relation as a brother but ends it as a husband. In a country, a VVIP is given the best security. But who is the VVIP in our life? There are four things that are our top VVIP. Our body is our first VVIP. How grateful are we? How happy are we in life. Situations are never in our hand, so we should never that we will be happy when situations change. The next VVIP in our life is our mind. How much is our effort to take care of our mind? The third VVIP in our life is our heart because a relation starts from the heart. But in life we have made money are top most priority! The fourth VVIP in our life is our soul. If these four are disturbed, our life will have no meaning. So we will definitely get security under the relation that is filled with purity.

Let us make the difference and build strong relations!

Are we really Educated- Day 2

                                                                Week 5 - Day 2

A Guru advised his disciple to bring a flower garland from the room. The disciple saw a snake in the connecting room. His Guru gave him a mantra to chant and said the snake would go away, however, the snake did not go. The Guru then asked the disciple to take a stick and hit the snake and then the snake would go away. The disciple did the same but the snake did not go and asked his Guru what he can do now. The Guru then asked the disciple to take a lamp and go as it was dark. In the light of the lamp the disciple realized that it was not a snake but a rope. The disciple then went into the room and brought the flower garland. He informed his Guru that it was not a snake but a rope!

In the above story, a lamp showed the disciple the reality. Similarly knowledge also does the work of a lamp. It shows us the right path. It has the power to teach us what is right.

There are four things that we need to know:

1. Understanding (समझ्शीलता):

“Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery.”

Power of Understanding will let us know what is our mind and heart like, what is this world like, what is our life like, what are our parents, what is our goal, what is our body, why have we taken birth in this world etc?  Are are any such life touching subjects taught in school today? Knowing and Understanding are two different things. The truth that touches the heart is Understanding, the truth that touches just the mind is Knowing. How much do today's student understand what they are taught? What is the purpose of sending children to schools? What are our expectations from the kids? Do we send them to school so that they can just earn money? It is not necessary to be educated to earn money. The real reason of education is to make our children good humans. To become a good human being, we need good power of understanding and should know what is wrong and what is right. Science shows us the difference between right and wrong, religion shows us the difference between good and bad. Which one are we interested in? Let us teach the students what is good and bad, rather than teaching them what is right and wrong. Understanding touches the mind.

2. Power (सत्वशीलता):

"The sole advantage of power is that you can do more good"

Bringing the inner power outside is the real power. Because of lack of power, students are stressed and commit suicide when they fail in exams. Do we encourage our children or discourage them? Do we expect them to bring good grades or become powerful? Have we made them understand that education is just a part of life and not our whole life? We should never bring in too many ambitions in our children's mind. Have we assured are kids that it is completely okay if they do not achieve much success in the field of education as this is just a part of life? Parents have put children under such stress and tension. Why is there so much on load on them? We have to teach our children to stand strong in times of failure, stress, sorrowful times. Why is this not taught in education? 28% of kids in India commit suicide every year according to a survey. It is easy to pass in the school exams but have we taught our children to pass in the exam of life?

3. Shame (शराम्शीलता):

"The only shame is to have none"

Have we taught our kids what is shameful and what is not? Without having a little bit of shame, neither a society nor a country can progress. In life we must have a little bit of shame. There is a famous saying that says never become friends with a person who has no tear named shame in his eyes. Such a person thinks and does whatever he thinks is right. Is this taught in schools and colleges today? People who talk about shame are considered orthodox and foolish in today's world. Where is the shame? Children have become shameless and watch and do all corrupt things. A shameless man can never become a good parent, good teacher, good politician etc. What is the top priority in our life today? Let us focus on this - Shame touches our eyes.

4. Being Sentimental (संवेदनशील):

Being sentimental touches the heart. The heart has to be filled with emotions and sentiments. Is there any subject today that teaches how to be sentimental?

No one can become perfect without being understanding, powerful, sentimental and without being filled with shame.