Strings Of Our Life - Day 2

                                                                  Day 2

There are four important things to keep in mind and that we need in our life:

1. We need Good Deeds (पुण्य):
Towards what kind of good deeds is our heart attracted to? The good deeds that bring us closer to God is very hard to obtain or is almost impossible. We will not be sad for the thing that we are not happy to receive.  If money is lost, we are sad but we are least bothered if we do not get a glimpse of God in the temple. What is our mentality? Why is there no attraction towards good deeds that bring us closer to God? We cannot love anyone, love just happens. Meera was ready to consume poison for Sri Krishna whom she had never seen at all.

2. We need Intellect(प्रज्ञा):
We lack understanding and intellect that we need to identify God. If we give laptop or mobile in the hands of a cow herd, he does not have the intellect to operate it. What is our mentality? We have God in our lives but we don't have the intellect to understand who is God. We should never waste time as time once lost will never come back. We need the intellect to understand business or the intellect to understand God?

3. We need Ability(पात्रता या योग्यता):
We need the ability to implement God's teachings. For example, if we like a sweet and if we get it, it is due to our good deeds, we have the understanding to eat it, but if our stomach is upset, it means we do not have the ability to eat the sweet. Being able to store is one strength, being able to secure it is another strength and being able to increase what we have is our real ability. If we do not have enough ability then we have to keep waiting. The foundation of faith and devotion has to be strong. Our new generation is more interested in logic than in faith. Advanced technology is slowly ending our abilities.
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4. We need Manliness(पुरषार्थ):
If we like a sweet, our manliness is in chewing and being able to eat the sweet. Where are we lacking? Are we lacking in Good Deeds, Intellect, Ability or Manliness? If our stomach is full or we are in tension, we will say not to our favorite sweet also. Similarly if we are not able to give God a place in our heart, it means we lack manliness.

In these four, if we have to choose any one, then we have to choose Ability. The rest will follow. In spiritual path, if our ability is going down every day, then we have to understand three things:
a. We don't have the strength to listen to our weakness.
b. We don't have the strength to accept our weakness.
c. We are not ready to change.

If you have less expectations from people, you would be loved by them.

Strings Of Our Life

                                                           Pravachan 3/12/2012

Tansen was a famous singer and musician in Akbar's court. He used to perform and sing for King Akbar. Akbar was so impressed bu Tansen's music that he wanted to meet his Guru. Tansen refused to take Akbar to his Guru. On being asked why, Tansen replied that his Guru stayed in a village and would not meet anyone. Akbar insisted on meeting his Guru. Tansen then said that Akbar can meet his Guru on one condition. He said that Akbar should come along with him dressed up like a lay man and not like an Emperor. Akbar agreed. They went to the village to meet his Guru and Akbar asked Tansen's Guru to sing for him. The Guru angrily replied," Are you foolish? Why would I sing for you?" and he asked him to go out.
Akbar was surprised and asked Tansen for the reason his Guru would not sing for him. Tansen replied that they would wait outside the hut and wait for the Guru to sing. After sometime the Guru sand and Akbar was very impressed. He said that Tansen was nothing in front of his Guru. Tansen replied that he can never match his Guru because he sings for Akbar and his Guru sings for God's happiness!

In whose hands is our life? Who has rights to our life?
There are five things in our life:

1. Nature: 
Nature is such that we cannot control it. We are helpless if a Tsunami, earthquake, Heat or heavy rains comes. We are slaves to nature. Nature can end everything we have built in life. No matter how much technology has advanced, Nature can end our ego. We are in the hands of nature.

2. Family:
A father is powerless in front of his son, a husband is helpless in front of his wife. An 8 year old boy tortures his father for a video game and says if he does not get a video game he would commit suicide. The father is helpless and agrees. After few years, his father regrets as his son today brings prostitutes home. Family can change anytime, so we need to be alert.

3. Situation:
Today we have become so weak that we wan to commit suicide even if one little situation goes against our expectations. We cannot do anything in front of any such situation.

4. Good Deeds:
It is due to our good deeds that we can hear, see, talk, walk, think etc. But this is also not in our hands. It can change anytime.

5. Trust in God:
Surdas once falls in a pit. He has faith that Shree Krishna would definitely come to save him. Surdas was blind. A man came and gave his hands to help him. He immediately understood that it was Shree Krishna. He did not want to come out of the pit as Krishna would then leave him and go. But Shree Krishna some how pulled him out and started going off. Surdas just stopped him and asked one question. He said you might leave me now and go, but try to vacate my heart, then I would understand. God would never leave our hands at anytime.

As long as Nature, Family, Good Deeds and Situations are in our favor, we have to do good and remember God. When those things sometime will not be in our favor, we would be helpless!

Patang Ka Pravas

                                                               Day 4

To go on the spiritual path, there are a few points to remember, just like the journey of the kite in the sky:

1. ALONE:

A kite has to fly alone in the sky. Similarly in life, we are alone especially in the spiritual path. No one is with us but can we still be happy? We can take wealth and other items from other people, but peace, understanding, good deeds will be ours only. We cannot take it from others. Being alone in the eternal path is a plus point of a minus point? It is plus point as there is no one to stop us and we can run at our own speed and the minus point is that if we get tired there is no one to help or guide us.

"The one who is not happy with self cannot be happy with others"

Why is there trouble in staying alone. Can we stay alone on a weekend, all by ourselves?  Being alone is not the only point, but being happy when alone is the point! No one is going to share our sins. We came alone into this world, we have to go alone. If we want to touch the sky, we have to go alone.

2. ABILITY:

A kite says that it will fly in the sky no matter how strong the winds are. On the land, anyone can follow us seeing our foot steps. In the sea, foot steps are formed but are not seen. And in the sky, footsteps are neither formed nor seen. We must have the ability in us to be stable. The kite that does not have ability, tears and falls down. In life, if there is little pain, we loose all hope and move away from that path. We must have such ability in us that even it any condition occurs, we might bend but not fall. A big tree falls down during strong winds as it does not know how to bend, whereas a plant bends and saves itself during strong winds. 

A kite is made to fly in the sky and we are born in this world to follow God's path and become God. In eternal path as well, no matter how much trouble or pain comes, we must have the ability in us to bear it.

3. ADDRESS:

The only address of a kite is the sky. We have two addresses in life - one is Salvation and the other is being jolly. We have to be determined that until we get salvation we will be satisfied with whatever we have and we will be happy. We have to say," enough, not any more". What is our mentality in this? Address means goal of our life. We have been underestimating ourselves. We can either fly up or go down.

4. ADVANCE:

Advance means when you feel that there has been little growth in us. Going into the sky is address and going a little up is advance. There will be pain and struggle in life. When we want to change, there are three types of change - Thoughts, Heart and Life change.

When there is a change in life, everyone gets to know but only we can see if there is a change in our thoughts and heart. 

5. AIR:

The soul of a kite is air which helps it to come up and the soul of our life is love. Without love, our soul cannot go on the path to become God. God is Love. We can understand if we have love in our heart for others by seeing two things:

a. If we have the "Let Go" attitude in us.

b. If we have the strength to "Forgive" the one is the reason for our failure.

God says not to lose hope. If we miss the right opportunity then we will fail in life. If we follow the above steps, then we can understand that out kite has started going towards the sky and will touch the sky!

Patang Ka Pravas

                                                                  Day 3

In order to live a life worth living and to go in the spiritual path there are a few conditions to follow;

1. Require GUTS:

While flying a kite in the sky, we need the guts to actually fly the kite as there will be many challenges. Like in the sky there is sunrise, sunset, full moon, half moon etc, our life also will have all kinds of challenges and tough situations. The question here is do we have the guts to tackle any kind of situation? In life three things will always be there - Problems, Struggle and Solution.
One man had tied his horse to a tree in the night. In the morning he found that his horse has been robbed by someone. He had the guts to tackle the situation. He took a long stick in his hand and kept going around saying," Whoever has robbed my horse return it, else I have to do the same thing I did last time". The person who had robbed got scared and returned the horse. He asked, "What had you done last time?" The man replied," I had bought a new horse".
So the man had guts enough to get his horse back. Anything can happen in life. But do we have strength and guts to face it? Even in the spiritual life, there are lot of challenges but a person who has chosen this path has the guts to handle those challenges. So in this field, how rich are we? Guts is like petrol for a vehicle and like sugar in sweets. At least try to have guts in those situations where we can bear the challenge or situation.

2. Require GUM:

To make a kite, paper has to be stuck together with gum. God says, in life to how many people can we give place in our heart? There is no trouble in spiritual world if we don't have anything with us, but there is trouble if there is no one with us. How many people are there in this world who truly love you. To how many people are we stuck? How big is our circle of love and how many people are there in it? God does not become our by just leaving wealth. If we become more happy and prosperous, our neighbors would become jealous of us and if we go on the spiritual path, our family members would not like it. We are never able to implement what God has taught us. God loves each and every life in this world, but we are not even able to give proper love to our Parents!

3. Require GAS:

A kite can fly in the sky only if there is strong winds otherwise no matter how much we try it will not fly. Likewise in our life we need good deeds. Are good deeds in our favor? Now we have everything - eyes, ears, nose, hands and legs, but we keep postponing spirituality for our old age. When will we follow God's path? Our mind is never ready to decide when we would become pious? If we are going to postpone for old age, we might regret as at that time we are not sure if we will be able to see, hear, talk, walk etc.
So lets start it now!

4. Require GAP:

Two kites flying in the sky need gap in between them so they can fly properly. We need gap(distance) from our wealth, luxurious items, mobile, clothes etc. We should love people and not things. We become so angry at at person if he by mistake breaks our favorite watch. In other words we have become more attached to things rather than to people. We should not become such a big stone that even a sculptor cannot pick it up!

5. Require GLAD:

When we fly a kite and it goes really high in the sky we become very happy. How happy are we? God wants us to be happy in life. Happiness is the base of our life and if we are not happy in spite of having everything, then it is of no use.

PATANG KA PRAVAS - Week 18

                                                               Day 1

A stone has the nature of going down from where it is and a kite has the nature of going up from where it is. Lord Mahavira once said," O Human, You are great". He said this because we as humans can go up or go down depending on our state of mind. What is our mentality in this field? Do we want to be like the stone or the kite?

If we want to fly high and high like the kite there are some conditions and requirements:

1. Requirement of Land (समर्पण - Surrender or Dedication):

When we see up towards the sky and fly the kite, we don't have the fear of falling down because of the strong land below us. How much is our dedication in life towards God and our Guru?
Even to surrender there are some conditions:

a. Unconditionally Surrender - Somewhere or the other, condition takes a place in dedication also. But unconditionally surrendering is what we require. Are we slaves, servant or attendant? A slave has to work 24 hours without asking any question, a servant works under his boss for a specific number of hours where he as well cannot argue or say anything and an attendant is the one who keeps doing chores for his master without any conditions and does what his boss likes. An attendant surrenders unconditionally to his master.
When a blind man wants to cross the road, he simply holds the other persons hand and crosses as he cannot see what is in front of him. But we are such blind people who can see only what is not there in front of us like prestige, wealth, success and power.

b. Strong Dedication or Surrender - Even if we surrender unconditionally but if our dedication is not strong we will fail in battle and challenges of life.

c. Highest Dedication: A disciple could appreciate his Guru so much that his dedication is the highest.

Body and Health wise every animal is stronger than us. But we have the strength to correct the wrong and to make our mind  rich and powerful. And to surrender such a mind at a Guru's feet is the strength of surrendering. Gautam Swami surrender to Lord Mahavira and said your wish is mine. Hanumanji also said the same to Lord Ram as they had unconditionally and strongly surrendered to their Guru's.
Like a train that needs an engine, in life we need dedication.

2. Requirement of Luggage ( सद्बुद्धि - Understanding and Control of mind):

When we fly a kite, we also need luggage along with it like the thread, etc. Understanding of the right and control of the mind is the requirement of life. Control of mind prevents us from going on the wrong track. In the presence of temptation, though we are tempted to do something wrong, our understanding and control of mind brings us back on the right track. When we are riding a vehicle at the highest gear and if some other vehicle comes in the front, we apply brakes. Control of mind is the ultimate thing to do no matter what.
If the thread is strong, it will be able to go high and is mind is strong, we will be able to go on the path of enlightenment.

3. Requirement of Lunchbox ( समाधी - Art of compromise):

We carry some snacks or lunch with us while flying a kite for the whole day as we know we might feel hungry. We might get depressed and feel sad if someone cuts our kite but at that time if we know the art of compromise, then we will not sit back and regret but rather we would fly another kite. Our life is like a test match and not one day match. A one day match does not have second inning but a test match has second inning. In life if some years have been wasted, we must not become sad and depressed but we must have the hope that we have a second inning.
In life the sorrows are like the operation we undergo at the hospital. Once we undergo the operation we know we will be fine and happy. The definition of life is that what we wish never happens and what happens is what we don't wish. It is not possible to become aggressive and change others, rather we have to change ourselves. So lets keep in mind that whenever we are depressed we will remember the art of compromise.

4. Requirement of Lamp (Understanding): 

A lamp is the one that spreads lights and guides us. If we have all the above mentioned three points in us but if we do not have an understanding then we will fail in life. How important is a lamp in our life?

5. Requirement of Labor (Support):

While flying a kite, we need support or someone to help us. We alone cannot complete the whole task.Similarly in life we need someone to guide us.

In the above mentioned five points, lets focus on our weak point. The qualification of a Saint is not to do what your heart wishes!

Strength Of Soul

                                                               Day 4

In order to attain strength of the soul there are five terms and conditions:

1. NEEDLESS:
Need means desire or requirement. We need so many things in our daily life like, so many clothes, so many luxurious items etc. Our needs keep increasing day by day, but are we ready to become needless? Desire is the biggest enemy in spiritual life. One mobile is a requirement but wanting more than that is a desire. The biggest strength of spiritual life is learning to say "NO". Do we have the ability in us to say No?

"Learn to say 'no' to the good so you can say 'yes' to the best"

What is have is the mathematics of Life and what we are is the mathematics of spiritual life. In life if we want peace and happiness, we have to learn to say No to the luxurious items and other needs. We have to learn to give charity of the items in our house that are not being used for more than one year.

2. FEARLESS:
When we become needless, we start becoming fearless. Who is more worried and insecure - a Rich man or a Poor man? What is our mentality in this field? One Sadhviji lost her leg within 6 months of her baptism. She was worried how would she walk. The boy asked her to first stop taking all medicines and to take a book and write just one quotation in it," I am fearless as God is with me". He asked her to write it 500 times everyday in her book for 9 days. She soon recovered and was able to walk because of her faith and confidence in God. During rains we are fearless as we have a house to live in, during journey's we are fearless as we have food with us.

"Let us pray not to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless when facing them"

We must have the confidence in God and be fearless. There must be faith in God and also involvement.
A river is fearless that it will lose its name after meeting the ocean as she is happy. It is best to leave those things in life that create fear of losing it. Expensive items bring fear of losing them. Being fearless is very important.

3. NOISELESS:
We have to reduce our habit of making noise on any issue in life. We have stop becoming aggressive at everything in the world. A man who gets angry frequently must keep three things in front of his always - Disease, Old Age and Death. Sometime might come when we are not able to hear, walk or see. How will we manage our balance of mind then? We have to learn to maintain peace and become noiseless. We will have to learn to compromise in life no matter what's the case - loss in business or family life. Waves in the sea are seen only from the top and they are not there at the bottom. We have to learn to become noiseless. Just think how much energy are we wasting otherwise!

4. NAMELESS: 
Nameless means not giving top priority to your ego.We consider ourselves Capital I and others as small i.
Relations break because of EGO. We have to learn to lose our ego and cancel ourselves to live a meaningful life. What is our mentality in this?

5. ENDLESS: 
Our love for all the living creatures in this world has to be endless just like God's love which has no full stop at all. We have to love all living beings. Hence we have to learn to be endless in love.

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.