Ordinary people can get away from the powers of Maya only by the grace of an enlightened soul. Very few chosen souls have the strength to merely desire and Maya will become powerless over them -- only those who can identify their oneness in all! For Maya must also have come from the same source which gives rise to ecstasy and bliss. There can be nothing other than the one absolute. Once Ma Sarda said, "I am the Mother of the rich, the poor, the saint and the murderer alike!". Ramakrishna Paramhansa once asked her to keep some people away from herself as their nature is not pure yet. But she would not, She said, "How can I turn away my children, who come to me in distress?" By constant practice and devotion the grace of the God can be had. When you can see that everything is the manifestation of the same Absolute you will neither be tempted nor repelled by anything.

#spiritual

There are many ways to reach the same goal. How beautifully this was taught by all great teachers! Even after noting this for a thousand times it is not as easy to follow it. Every time I judge someone isn't it the same as accepting them with conditions? With spiritual growth acceptance of all comes by itself. There is a beautiful poem that says, "If you can accept everyone as your own you will find God!".

#spiritual

One day Kartik and I had gone to a small place where some poor people lived. Both of us had no idea what we would do. I anyway depended solely on my deep voice and few words to make interaction. He parked the bike at a little distance and we walked towards the place. Some kids had already started playing with the bike. They were tiny enough to play hide-behind-the-wheel. We had a packet of sweets with us. We slowly approached them. When we got near them a guy came and took the packet from me, we had no say. We just looked on. A lot of people gathered and wanted to have a piece of sweet. It was a completely new experience to us. We could not decide how to react. We turned back to go. A little girl came and tugged at my shirt and asked for some money. We asked her why she does not go and eat the sweets? She did not answer. She kept tugging at my shirt. Slowly we walked back to the bike planning on how we should handle it the next time.

#gratitude

Kartik and I go to a school nearby. There is an orphanage and an old age home also. In the beginning we had no idea what to do there. Now we tell stories, play with them and share sweets. On our first visit I had held one tiny little girl on my lap throughout the time I narrated the story. She was not well on our next visit and when we went next time I was surprised to observe that although I did not notice her she had noticed Jyoti Anna. I was smiling. And it was not only her. I never anticipated that an hour-a-week visit would make them remember my name. We all have a good time when we go there.

#gratitude

I go to Ramakrishna Math almost every weekend. And Usually I walk from there to the nearest bus stand, which is about two km far from there. It takes about half an hour. On my way I always noticed a man sitting at the same place (he has no legs). He never asked anything from me. But he would always look at me and smile. I returned the smile. Then one weekend I went up to him and we had a conversation. He told me that presently he is having some problems but his ‘ATM card’ would come on Monday and then it will be all fine. And that a Tiffin-wala comes and gives them Tiffin which costs fifteen rupees. I could not hear most of what he said because he was feeble and had few teeth but one thing that was striking is that he kept smiling and did not complain about anything. Nor did he ask for anything, instead in fact, he asked me if I had taken lunch. I had eaten and had got some lunch for him too. I gave to him and left.

What struck me most in this episode is that although he was old and frail he was not resentful at all.

When I think about it now I think what experience he must have gone through? He is old and has no one to call his own, yet he lives and smiles. I believe given an opportunity nobody would choose to be a beggar. When someone is hungry for days he can but only beg. To have respect and love is a very very deeply rooted instinct which simply cannot be suppressed permanently. With encouragement and help it is always possible to see a positive change.

#gratitude

One day Kartik and I were returning from office. I was waiting outside a internet-cafe where he was getting some printouts. A little girl barely up to my knees came near with spread hands. Yes, both hands. I got two chocolates, sat down there and tried talking to her. But she did not smile nor did she show any other emotion, I don't even know if she was interested in the chocolate. I started eating one chocolate and gave one to her. She made no attempt to eat it. She was doing that just out of habit. She walked away clumsily, half of the chocolate breaking and falling. We noticed that she gave it to her elder sister. Now we could see emotions on her face. And when her elder sister started eating it she too wanted to eat it and was fighting for it.

#gratitude

I was coming back from office. On a turning I heard someone call me... bhaiya. I paused and noticed a woman approach me. Her husband was also standing there with their baby on his shoulders. She said she needed some money to take her baby to hospital. I was nervous. I did not know how to behave. I gave her hundred rupees. She said she would need some more. I gave her. She hesitantly said she would need some more. I was walking back anyways, I gave her all I had in my wallet. I was nervous. I did not look into her eyes except when I had turned. I didn't know how to behave. I did not ask anything. I showed no real emotions on my face although I was continuously trying to understand the situation. In fact they might have found me cold because although I looked calm and listened I did not utter a single word nor smiled. I was sorry that I did not smile and did not spend some 'time'.

#gratitude

How often do we realize how very privileged we are? That we are all unique and there is little sense in comparing with  others.. not knowing that we do not necessarily need anything external to be happy? If we merely tell ourselves that we need only little for ourselves we will be filled with satisfaction. We are most happy when we make someone else happy. Never mind anything. Never get angry. Never loose heart. Always be cheerful. Always be hopeful. Always be thankful for what you have got and live in the present, live in this moment.

#heart #moment #satisfaction #spiritual

Waking up early is good habit. We have been told this very often. Why? What doe it matter if we sleep till eight or nine in the morning instead of waking up at six or seven? To exactly answer that question to ourselves we must try it out. Arguments and counter-arguments do not go a long way. For me the answer is that I feel happier, I get more time to do things like reading, exercising, meditating, cooking and eating. If i do not wake up early I feel less enthusiastic at work. The morning rays of the sun are very good stimulator. They awake us gently and make us ready for the day ahead.

Does that mean that people who are forced to wake up early like our newspaper man or the milkman are happier? I doubt that supposition! Yes, the sun would not discriminate, we still get the benefits but not in its full measure. It is a joy to wake up naturally at daybreak. It is the same difference when we study because we are forced to sit with our book and when we study something out of our own interest. And where does that interest come from? It comes when we appreciate the purpose behind the act ourselves, without being prompted each time. It is a rare privilege to be in a position to wake up early out of our own interest.

There are a few simple things to make it happen. The single most important thing is to get a good sleep. Waking up early and refreshed is a direct consequence of it. How to make it happen? How to have a good night’s sleep? There are a number of factors and the correct answer will differ for each one of us. There is no one-fits-all solution. We need to observe our sleep pattern and what affects it for a few days to get the most appropriate solution. However we can make certain common observations. We will discuss some them here.

Preparing to go to sleep. It is best to be calm and do some light activity immediately before you go to sleep. The point is that you should not be agitated or your mind preoccupied when you lie down to sleep. It is certainly a helpful habit to do prayer. The more regular you are in your habits the more effective they become. One important remark that I have here is that music does not necessarily help us have a good sleep. We should be able to fall asleep naturally without the music still on.

The body has its own clock. The body clock tries to keep a routine for us. It becomes easier to wake up early each time you do it. Another very important scientific fact to understand is about the body temperature. When the sleep is complete and we are about to wake up the body temperature rises a little. It is difficult to wake up if you are cold. Sleeping without bright lights around us and a quite environment helps us have a good sleep. It might seem revolting to some who are habituated to sleeping on their belly but we can get a more relaxing sleep if we sleep on our back or side. When we sleep on our belly our natural breathing is obstructed.

When we wake up it is best to be exposed to the warmth and light of the sun. It is the best stimulant to feel awake and alert. Artificial light is not as effective. The point is that we cannot awake comfortable in a dark and cold room. The sunlight also sets our body clock and helps us follow a healthy routine.

Immediately after waking up it is most helpful if we do a little exercise which will help the body temperature rise. Light breathing exercises are very effective in doing so. If we sit down to read some book or browsing the internet or watching the TV we still remain sleepy. Simple breathing exercises are good to energise us. It is important to keep the back straight. We can immediately see the difference when we sit erect and we slump. When we sit erect we feel more confident and alert. The point here is that we should engage in some physically stimulating activity in the morning to keep us fit and active. Sitting down to some mental work immediately after waking up is not advisable. Taking a light shower is perhaps one of the simplest physical activity to do in the morning that will immediately remove the sleepiness.

Thank you for reading this, if you have a comment you are welcome to write it. Your views are most welcome.

#clock #daybreak #environment #habit #lights #music #prayer #spiritual #stimulant #temperature

I had a nice dream today. I am writing about it. Unlike normally I remember my dreams and am mostly conscious that I am dreaming. I can choose to wake myself up from that dream. I hear the sounds around me even in my sleep and am aware that certain sounds are not the creation of my dream. Most of us would not have noticed that dreams that occur in a peaceful place with no sounds around us! Characters in such dreams do not speak. My dreams are mostly mute. Characters happen to communicate through thoughts but that is occasional, often they are not in sync. Today I saw divine Mother Sarda in my dream. And the first thought was that I want to serve her in some way, to please her in some way, and I sat near her feet. It was this thought that made me peaceful. I did not desire anything. I was happy to wait there. A sense of completeness and being at peace, accepting all.. was there. And I was aware that it is a dream. The emotions were very strong, I had to wake up.  Now I was thinking how I may continue to stay in that peaceful state? Answers were coming to me.

First visual was about serving my parents. Next I saw some friends. I thought about an orphanage we had visited sometime back. I tried going back to sleep and fall into that state again. I could not. It was about four o’clock and my sleep was over. I still tried - it was greed in my mind. As I tried falling asleep some random thought would start a new dream but I would wake up myself every ten minutes and try to fall asleep thinking about the joyful dream. I did not have success and finally I woke up at five o’clock.

There is something related to this topic that I may write here. I have the demerit of getting jealous. I still find difficulty in controlling this emotion. I had devised a remedy for it. When I felt jealous of a person I would deliberately force myself to do a good act to the person. It did not change things completely but it did prevent me from brooding over that person. Another observation I made is that i would get jealous of someone when I resent some action of theirs. Presently I have a different perspective. I understand that the permanent solution for me is to accept people around me as they are. All paths lead to the the same goal. Everyone wants to be happy and to give happiness to others. It is foolish to judge people. We cannot help anyone. We may only serve and in doing so we are helping only ourselves. We all have demerits but teachers say we are all essentially divine. Sometimes due to ignorance and limited knowledge we overlook this beautiful understanding. We can always choose to help each other progress on our individual journey.

Thank you for reading this, if you have a comment you are welcome to write it. Your views are most welcome.

#dreams #emotion #emotions #friends #ignorance #knowledge #mother #paths #peace #perspective #sarda #spiritual #teachers