1. Open the Door... Let the Breeze in!

• Oh Mind? Oh Mind? What is the Confusion?
• Let us Welcome Confusion.
• Clarity

• Education A burden?
• Desire Birthplace of Memory

• Dream! Imagination! Reality!
• Futile Talk
• Where is Peace?

• Tightness
• Why? Why Unable to Tolerate?
• Forgive and Forget

• My Dear Youngsters. ..
• Wake up
• Love

• Equanimity
• Lack of Equanimity

• Sainthood in Youth
• Master? Or Disciple?
• Don't Believe the Enlightened Masters

• Hello! How are You?
• Children
• Learn to Learn

• Belief
• False Belief
• Satisfaction

• Stubbornness
• Ego
• Insult

• Don't Worry, Brother
• Origin of all Worries
• Sorrow: Way to Hell

• God
• Principle Behind Temples
• Where is God?

• Courage to Make Unfavorable, Favorable.
• Heaven, Or Hell? It's Your Choice.
• Good Luck? Or Bad Luck?

Open your heart... Let your enthusiasm overflow!

The stories appearing in this book are not just ordinary stories. They are seeds selected to beautify our life story itself.

For a seed to sprout and grow into a tree, the earth should nourish it to grow. In the same way, for us to grow, for our minds to become healthy, let us allow these stories to nourish us.

The sugar coating on the medicines that heal the man is only an attempt to reduce the bitter taste of the medicine and add sweetness to it as it heals.

This book, 'Open the Door ... Let the Breeze in' comes with stories and pearls of wisdom , by adding some suitable stories, to reduce the struggle of the mind to understand the concepts and easily realize the truth, which makes a man complete in all respects.

To get the maximum benefit from the book:

• • Do not read more than one article in a day. If not, just two articles per day. (If you read the entire book in a day, stories may remain in the mind, but the seed of truth which lies buried in them, will not get rooted and established in the mind.)
• • Put in practice whatever you have read. (Then only the bad aspects present in your walk of life will vanish and limitless bliss will be born).
• • Instead of intellectually believing in the truths contained in this book, experience them. For the modern man. this may be somewhat difficult.

Examine and see.

Think well and implement them.

Can the truths mentioned in the book be the truths to enrich my life as well? In which case, how best may I use them?

With this attitude of mind, examine these articles. Implement them in the examination of life. Achieve success and be blissful!

One night, a Zen Master stood by the side of a river, watching the beauty of its flow. The moon and the stars were reflected in the waters, and there was peace all around.

On the bank of the same river, a little distance away, stood a man who was restless and had no time for the river, moon and stars. He was depressed, fed up with life and moaned inside his dark hut. 'Oh life is miserable! Life is miserable!'

The Zen Master heard this man and called out: 'No, my friend, life is full of joy. Come out of the hut and see. Only then will you know.'

There was no response.

Master continued, 'Keep your door open, and let the breeze come in. The breeze which comes towards you will bring you out into happiness.'

Still, there was no response.

Suddenly, the Master screamed, 'Oh God ... Danger! Danger! There is fire in your hut.'

The moment the man heard this, he came rushing out of the hut.

The Master took him by his hand and showed him the stars in the sky. After looking at the beautiful moon, the twinkling of the stars and the calmly flowing river, the man admired them and stood there blissfully.

Like this man, most of us do not respond when a Master tells us, 'Come out of your shelter ... You will enjoy bliss."

If one has no belief in God there is no use telling that person, 'You can see the almighty and get salvation.'

The only way that person will listen is when he feels that his house is on fire. Shouting out, 'Danger! The hut is on fire' is only a technique to bring the non believer out.

The human being is like a silkworm that builds a cocoon around itself from which it cannot escape. A man, while living with miseries, builds walls, thinking that he is building a beautiful house. Once built, he finds it's a jail, and does not know how to break out of it; he lacks the courage to break away.

If the seed is afraid of bursting open, no tree can arise out of it. If the worm is afraid to tear open its cocoon, it cannot come out and fly in the sky freely as a butterfly. If we are afraid to open the door, we cannot let the breeze inside.

Have courage, open the door, and let the breeze in.

During the time of World War II, a small airplane was discarded in a tribal village. The people of the village were illiterate and had never seen a plane before. They saw this strange contraption with wheels and associated it with the only other non living that they had seen with wheels, a bullock cart. They decided that this was some form of a bullock cart and began to use it as a bullock cart by yoking animals to it.

A young man of that village, who had read up to some extent, and knew about machines, saw the plane and said: 'This is not a bullock cart. Because it has got gears and wheels, it is more like a tractor.' He showed the villagers how to use it as a tractor.

After a few months, a tourist who had worked in the air force came to that village, looked at the airplane and said: 'This is neither a bullock cart, nor a tractor. This is an airplane used in wars.'

This man tinkered with the machine and got it to fly. The villagers looked on in amazement and celebrated.

In this world, most of us consider ourselves as bullock carts. Some consider themselves as tractors. Only very few correctly understand the human mind body system as a powerful airplane and use it as such. Most of us lack awareness of who we are. Only the enlightened are aware of the full potential of the mind body system of the human being.

Only a person who has become enlightened, can express and share the alchemy of bliss that arises from realization of the human potential. Experience is one thing. Enlightenment is different. When we are young, we touch the fire in the oven. Immediately on touching it, we come to know that the fire in the oven will burn and harm us. We touch the flame in the wick of the candle; we come to know that even the flame in the wick of the candle will also burn and harm us.

After touching each fire, experiencing it burn and learning that all fires will burn, is knowledge. Just by touching the fire only once and coming to know that it burns and immediately realizing that 'all fires will burn us' is experience. On seeing a man suffering after touching a fire and grasping the fact 'fire will burn us' is wisdom.

Wisdom does not depend on age. We need no qualifications. We just need to be aware.

We humans come in three packages.

The first package of people can only think of:

• Food sleep! ●
• Sex - pleasure!
• Position money! ●
• Name - fame!
• Birth death! .

These people use their mind bodies as a machine, or at best as an animal being, only for temporary pleasure, with no thought given to what the potential of the human mind body is. These people are purely physical with very little intelligence and are a burden upon Planet Earth.

Unfortunately most of us belong to this category.

We live to survive day after day. Like animals from whom we evolved, we eat, sleep, work or hunt, procreate without any thought given to whether there is a purpose to the way we lead our lives.

Then there is the second package of people who are interested in:

• Art poetry ●
• Painting sculpting ●
• Dance music ●

These people are more evolved than the first category and use their mind body as a thinking and learning entity that can emulate a little of the nature's beauty that they perceive around them. These people work from their hearts as artists and create lasting treasures of literature, art, music etc.

The last category of people is a rare group, and these people truly have realized what they are capable of, what their potential is and they work from their being level. They have:

• . Clarity - Compassion
• Peace Equanimity ●
• Calmness Bliss ●

These people understand who they are, what they are here on this Earth for, and realize that the potential of their mind body system is that of a super conscious being, not just another living entity and certainly not a machine.

Such people are the enlightened beings, who tread lightly upon Planet Earth and whose presence sanctifies the ground they walk upon.

The Brihadaranya Upanishad (scripture) says hauntingly:

As our desires are. so is our will is, so are our actions; as our actions are, so we become.

Our destiny is foretold by our desires. Nothing happens by chance.

What do we wish to be? Who are we? How do we use our mind-body system?

Do we crawl like a snail or a worm? Or do we want to fly like the butterfly?

The decision is in our hands. Whatever we decide is certainly possible.

Our life will shape up based on our decision. Decide!

A traveler started his journey towards the holy city of Varanasi. He started from his hometown after making a few preliminary enquiries.

Having traveled far and fearing he may have lost his way, the traveler asked a sanyasin (monk) who seemed to be returning from Varanasi, 'Oh Master, how far away is Varanasi from here?'

The sanyasin said: 'Before I reply, you must answer two of my questions.'

The traveler found this strange, and having no choice agreed.

The sanyasin asked: 'Do you clearly know why you want to go to Varanasi?''

The traveler felt that this question was foolish and the answer was obvious. He said: 'Oh, Varanasi is a holy place. I will be blessed if I go there, scriptures say.'

The sanyasin asked the second question: 'Before starting, have you thoroughly enquired about the path to reach Varanasi?'

The traveler felt that this too was irrelevant and said: Yes. I enquired a little bit. I left it at thinking that I can find out more as I travel further. '

The sanyasin calmly said: 'If you had had clarity as to why you should go to Varanasi and had known clearly all the details about Varanasi, you would not have asked me as to how much distance you should travel further to reach Varanasi.'

Thoroughly confused and irritated, yet still polite, the traveler said: 'Oh Master, you have not replied my question at all.'

The sanyasin said: 'You have already come forty miles beyond Varanasi.'

We are much like the traveler not knowing where he is going and why. We rarely question:

Why we have taken birth in this world? Why do we continuously struggle and suffer so much? Where are we headed?

All of us lead our life in search of some goal or other. It may be any material goal like a good education, good job, fame or wealth, or it may be something different. One's mental setup determines the type of desire one has.

The desires may be many, but the aim of all these desires is only one: Peace, Jov. Bliss. Everyone journeys in his own way, only to achieve these goals.

There is nothing wrong at all in this journey, this searching. Problems arise when you embark on the journey without knowing the path.

Spirituality through meditation helps you define the path. Once you are on the right path, the destination happens by itself.

There are three types of people who journey through life.

The first type believes that its goal in life is to live for oneself: 'First of all, I should enjoy happiness. I should be satisfied. It is not possible to satisfy everyone else."

The second type believes in extending its happiness a bit further: 'I should make near and dear happy. That is my duty. Let me satisfy the people in my house as well. It is enough if they are happy.'

The third type says: 'The joy and contentment that we get in the outside world is not permanent. What are we searching for? Can we get what we want from the external world? Can it make us happy and blissful?'

One cannot get the answers for the purpose of life until one looks beyond the boundary of one's life. Many may not ever understand the purpose.

However, we can aspire. The very purpose of human birth is to obtain permanent and everlasting bliss. The urge will continue until the bliss is achieved.

Spirituality is all about solving the mysteries of life.

You say:

'Oh I am not able to sit relaxed even for a few minutes. Problems fill my life: money problems: health problems; worries.' Along with these, the condition of facing competition in business with the thought, 'if I relax, I may be pushed far behind. In the midst of all such struggles, do I need spirituality at all?"

Wherever I go, people surely ask me questions in this manner.

The answer for this is: yes, we do certainly need spirituality.

Just like the traveler, in this story, many live their lives knowing certain things superficially. That is why their searches continue to meet with failures.

Who are you? How many are the wonders lying dormant within you? How to live life joyfully? Why our lives or our relationships do not proceed as we desire them to? How to make the desires come true?

We do need spirituality to discover answers for these questions. Spirituality is the only path that reveals to us the treasures lying hidden in ourselves in the potentiality of our mind, body and being.

Many of us do not know how to really enjoy whatever property and name and fame that we now possess. If the quality of real enjoyment increases in us, we will actually be far more joyful in these matters.

Spirituality is that path which enables us to get contentment and joy which we do not get after even achieving many great things in life.

We will be continuing to lose a wonderful part of our life if we do not set apart at least half an hour each day for spirituality in search of a blissful life.

Therefore, there is no place at all for questions like: Why spirituality? What for spirituality?

Spirituality has actually become an essential subject for everyone in this fast paced mechanical world. An inevitable subject!

• What were you before your birth?
• • When does the unformed foetus which is made up of billions of cells which takes shape in a mother's womb change into a separate human life? When did life actually enter into that foetus?
• • What exactly is life? How will it be? How can we evaluate life by modern scientific methods?

Man takes birth again and again. Is it as a result of past karma? At this date, there is no scientific explanation for karma.

To understand karma, here is a small story ...

A miracle happened in the life of a stone cutter.

A fairy appeared before him and told him, 'From today, you will become whoever and whatever you would like to be.'

The stone cutter had always wanted to be rich, very rich and he wished he could become the king, and instantly he became the king.

He slept happily that night, 'there is no one more powerful than me from now.' The next morning, the stone-cutter who had then become king, wanted to go round his city in his chariot and called his minister.

The minister said: 'Oh king! It has been raining heavily from yesterday and you cannot ride in the chariot.'

The king thought: 'Is the rain more powerful than I? Then I should become the rain. Forthwith, he became the rain.'

He was extremely happy as the rain and flooded the city. Suddenly, there came a strong gust of wind which scattered away the clouds and stopped the rain.

Very angry at this, the rain thought: 'Is the wind more powerful than I! All right, then I must become the wind.' The rain instantly changed into wind.

The wind became very happy and blew hard and fast. It uprooted very big trees and destroyed many houses too. But, try as it might it could not do any thing with the mountains.

'What? Are the mountains and the rocks in it more powerful than I? I then wish to become a mountain.' The moment he thought so, he turned into a mountain.

At dawn, a stone cutter came to the mountain and began to cut on the rock face. The mountain could do nothing. Every cut and blow hurt terribly.

Even as the mountain thought, 'Is this stone cutter so powerful that I cannot stop him even though he hurts me? I may then as well be a stonecutter,' the mountain changed into a stonecutter.

The stone cutter returned to his starting point. One cycle was completed. How he has to be hereafter depends upon his desires. This is what continuously happens due to desires.

The stone cutter would not have continued upon such a cycle if at any stage he had remained contented and happy with whatever nature had bestowed on him, and without any pride whatsoever.

It was only because, at every stage of his desires, he did not feel fulfilled that he had to go frantically searching: what next? What next?

What we call karma, is the collection of unfulfilled desires and unsatisfied aspirations that we accumulate during our lives.

Enlightened Masters and incarnation appear from time to teach each one of us how to stop the wheel of karma and attain the state of bliss.

Some questions for those who may think that it is rather difficult to understand about karma:

• Why, out of two children born in the same house, is one child intelligent and the other dull?
• • Why is it that only a few people are very lucky? Why do a few people suffer and fail in whatever they do?
• • Why do a few people contract chronic diseases even though they do not have any bad habits?

The reason for all these is the result of activities of one's previous births and the accumulation of unfulfilled desires and discontentment!

If the awareness is brought to eliminate these desires, the wheel of karma can be stopped. Suffering can be stopped.

An easy method to make that awakening happen is meditation. Enlightened Masters arrive on this planet earth, so as to educate people at different periods in these steps: Raise ourselves in awareness through meditation.

Examine our desires thoroughly.

Find out which are practically feasible.

Enjoy and experience fully those desires which are actually possible.

This running cycle of the wheel of karma can be easily stopped. It is not possible to make the vast subject of 'The wheel of karma' any simpler in a few pages.

Let's make our attempts sincerely and wholeheartedly. Everything is possible!

Knowledge! Experience!

• Generally men have two views about wisdom:
  • 1. Knowing about various matters (i.e.) Knowledge. 2. Experiential knowledge (i.e.) Experience.
• Real wisdom is beyond both these types of wisdom.
• Bliss is beyond knowledge and experience. This is the peak of joy. It is enlightenment.

A long time ago in China, a metal worker fashioned a mirror for the first time ever. Looking at his reflection in the mirror, this man said: 'Oh, my God! My father has descended from the heavens.'

On seeing her husband talking to himself, his wife peeped into the mirror. She saw her own face and screamed: 'Why are you talking to another woman?'

The husband replied: 'I was not talking to a woman, I was talking to my father!'

His wife was furious. She shouted: 'Not only are you talking with other women behind my back, but you are also lying about it. You must be having an affair!'

A preacher, who was passing by. heard the noise, stopped and looked at the mirror which started the quarrel. On looking at the mirror he was shocked. He shouted with fury: 'I am the only preacher in this area. Where did this monk come from?'

He flung the mirror on the ground and it broke into many pieces.

If he were a wise man, this would not have happened.

What is wisdom?

Wisdom is not Knowledge.

Knowledge is accumulated information. Wisdom is knowledge processed through experience and found to be true.

Fireflies emit light so that the male fireflies can locate each other. mate and multiply. That is the truth and wisdom. If someone observes fireflies emitting light, and from that observation concludes that the purpose is to light the way in the night, it is useless and misleading knowledge, as most of our knowledge is.

It is easy to gather knowledge. We fill our minds with knowledge by reading, watching TV, and listening to people. It is so easy. Most of such knowledge and information is useless. They only add to your ego.

Experience is born out of real hard labor. We cannot change knowledge into experience, as there is no connection between worldly knowledge and life experience!

Start by reducing the accumulation of knowledge which increases only the ego. Instead, internalize the knowledge you have and relate it to experiential wisdom. Let the breeze of joy blow in vour life.

Continue to be involved in spiritual practices. You will always be continuing to progress towards more and more wisdom.

The great philosopher Aldous Huxley divided the earth into East and West. The symbol of West is the brain. The symbol of East is the heart. When you say heart, it denotes love, compassion and affection. Fulton, Jaishin, Mark Twain and other philosophers also agreed on this.

Religions were born in the east. The Buddha was full of compassion. Light of Africa is flooded with his grace. Jesus is also overflowing with compassion. That is why his pictures in every country show him as not revealing his intellect but revealing his heart only. Wisdom that is experiential wisdom just springs from the heart.

Aldous Huxley points out two types of great philosophers. One type thinks within the boundaries of time. They are timely philosophers. The other type goes and thinks beyond the confines of time. They are eternal philosophers.

The second type includes those who first changed themselves and then went on thinking of changing others. Adi Sankara, Jesus Christ and The Buddha come under this category.

Those who do not change themselves first but try to change others, fall under the first category. They promote their own conceived philosophies.

Many amongst us think only within a time frame. We never have even an idea to change ourselves at any time. Even before that. we start correcting and changing the world. To make a change in ourselves, first of all, the knowledge needs to manifest as experiential wisdom.

One cannot reach God through money either: nor through education. Digging deep within oneself is the only way to reach God.

Today's education teaches us, for example, who the prime minister of Australia is. However, it does not teach us what type of fertilizer is suitable for a particular type of soil in a field or for growing a particular variety of crop.

Our farmers know much more than our agricultural scientists.

Our education produces only teachers. Its aim does not seem to be to produce men who can execute properly.

Our education, which gives great exercises for the intellect, does not at all give importance to creative things which come from the heart. That is why there are some professors in our society who teach the same lessons continuously for twenty-five years without any change.

We pay very meager wages to the wood-cutter who sweats all day long and work hard. Experience is born out of real hard labor. It is easy to gather wisdom. But it is rather difficult to enhance the experience. Mere knowledge will not give fulfillment. Experience only will give fulfillment to man.

If we try to change knowledge into experience, the truth will never be revealed. That is, there is no connection between worldly knowledge and life experience!

It is immaterial whether information, news and articles etc. which are of no use to real living, leave their impressions in our intellects or not.

Perhaps the weight of our heads may increase due to the richness and quantity of knowledge.

First of all, reduce the richness of knowledge which weighs our heads down and transform our knowledge to experiential wisdom. Let the breeze of joy blow in our life.

Let us continue to be involved in spiritual practices. We will always be continuing to progress towards more and more wisdom.

• • To exist without utilizing the God-given gift of blissful energy; This is self destructive behavior.
• • What do we expend for the sake of money, power, name and fame? Our body, life and mind!
• ☆ In what way is it just and fair to spoil our body, life and mind just for the sake of money, power, and name and fame which are ready to desert us at any moment? Think for a little while.
• • If we know how to enjoy life, even for a beggar, this world will appear as heaven. If we do not know that, even for a rich man, it will appear as hell.

There were two great thinkers in the last century who actually shook the western hemisphere: Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud.

Out of the various statements of Marx, I like his statement, 'Which one do we lose, to get which other?' Oh what potent words these are!

Just think for awhile. As we rise up in the morning, we have no time to enjoy the beautiful rising sun. We don't have a mind to water the rose plants which are in a beautiful bloom in the garden and caress them. We have no time at all even to interact, converse and play lovingly even with our own children.

Money ... money ... .money ... Just for this sake, we lose all types of joys and wonders and suffer and struggle right through our life. Even if we continuously run, run and earn money in thousands and millions, what is going to remain with us ultimately?

A few cars and a few houses.

Do we know what we are giving away as a price for these lifeless objects? The valuable and great God-given gift of life! The blissful life force given by Him!

Even if viewed as a sort of bargain, we will come to realize how unjust it is to give away the joyful life just to acquire some lifeless objects.

Once there was an old man aged about sixty years sitting on a beach and was expecting something. A young man sitting beside him asked him, 'Sir, what are you expecting so eagerly?'

The old man said, 'Oh, nothing ... I have decided to marry a girl who is perfect in all respects. I am just waiting to see if any such girl is coming."

The young man again asked, 'Even after waiting for so many years, were you not able to get a beautiful and perfect girl?'

The old man said hesitatingly, 'When I was thirty-five years old, I came across a perfect girl.'

The young man hurriedly asked. 'What then? You could have married her.'

'The problem is, like me, she was also searching for a perfect man', said the old man.

Like a blind cat jumping over the loft, people just hang on to some sort of principles, etc. and totally ignore their joyful living.

Those who start their lives thinking to achieve greatness, even after achieving, continue to go on and on and on. Then, even after achieving much, they feel not fully satisfied, and begin to lament, saying thev could have lived a very normal life without straining to achieve anything at all. The reason: they have not enjoyed life at all.

I will tell you a story as told by Jesus Christ.

There lived a rich man who wanted to live happily and indulged in wine, women and mansions, etc. Opposite to his house there lived a beggar who was suffering from some disease. He used to live by eating whatever wasted food was thrown from the rich men's houses, fighting with street dogs in the process.

Since the methods adopted by the rich man to live merrily involved using excesses of everything, what remained for him ultimately were only a diseased body and a dis-satisfied mind.

At last, both the rich man and the beggar died almost the same day.

After death the conditions were topsy-turvy. The rich man was in hell. He was suffering too much with thirst, struggling for even a drop of water.

But the beggar was lying happily on the lap of Abraham in heaven.

The rich man begged, 'Oh Abraham, I am very, very thirsty. Please give me just a drop of water.'

Abraham said, 'No, it is not possible at all.'

The rich man now in hell, said, 'If so, at least send that beggar to the earth and ask him to tell everybody about my sufferings in hell; let my brothers at least escape from these.'

Abraham said. 'No. Even that is not possible. Even if the beggar goes to the earth and tells about your sufferings, nobody would believe or listen. They will mock him."

What is the meaning of this story?

It is not the purpose of some people to preach and say that rich men go to hell and beggars go to heaven or such as that. One cannot get joy and contentment by being rich or leading a life of pomp.

A person will be a proud owner of joy and satisfaction, if, and only if, he is able to think. 'Oh. I have this present moment available to me, it is enough if I utilize and enjoy the present moment.' By this thought one can enjoy himself and his surroundings as well. This story is only to reveal this great truth to one and all.

The life of the beggar is to be noticed. In spite of the rich man having all luxuries and pleasures, he did not possess some particular thing which the beggar possessed. It is the quality of life which the beggar relished and enjoyed. He was in unison and perfect harmony with his surroundings and environment.

You are a person, who is able to devote sufficient time and money to read this book and so can never be a beggar.

'If one is able to know enough to enjoy and live life happily, even a beggar can realize heaven.' If that is so, why can it not be possible for us? We must earn to respect ourselves and our environs. We will realize.... heaven is within us.

Even though such great truths have been revealed by many great seers and avatars, many people continue to do what they think is right and then, when they begin to suffer, then only they begin to realize these great truths.

Before such a state sets in, let us just ponder this ..... Without wasting time, start to respect our surroundings, enjoy and begin to live accordingly. We will not get caught or struggle in life. We will love and enjoy life. We will simply celebrate!

'Life is a big and continuous festival.' The hidden meaning of this statement of our forefathers will become the meaning of your heart and soul!

Enjoy life and live blissfully!

• ☆ Merely comparing is useless for life.
• Comparing self with others and getting depressed. 彩 - Inferiority Complex
• : Comparing self with others and feeling proud - Superiority complex

Many among us might not have seen a giraffe in real life. A few might have seen it in a zoo. But many have seen it on the T.V. on the Discovery Channel.

The giraffe thought one day, 'Why am I so tall? If I were short and small, I could hop and run like a rabbit.' And he felt sad about it.

Then there came a fox and asked the giraffe, 'Why are you so tall?' The giraffe replied, 'My worry is also about the same.' Then the fox jumped on to the top of an up-turned basket and started to speak.

'Man feeds the cow with grass, hay, etc. Why? Because it gives milk, because it will draw a cart, man feeds the horse with grain, etc: a dog watches and guards the house, so man feeds the dog with some food. Man does not worry or take care of any thing which is not useful to him in any way. But you neither give milk, nor draw a cart, nor do you even guard a house.'

'Hence during summer, even if there is no grass on the ground, only if you are tall, you can reach some leaves from trees and eat them. That is why God has created you so tall,' said the fox. Then only the giraffe understood that there is a reason for God creating it so tall.

This is a meaningful and beautiful story for each and every child who has nurtured the seeds of envy, jealousy, etc.

It is only the 'struggle' of their inability to understand the purpose, which creates in them the negative feelings of comparison, envy, jealousy, etc.

A beautiful rose has thorns just below the blossom. Why did God create it like this? It is only to protect the nice rose from the cattle. If there were no thorns, rose would have lost all its respect and glamour. So, there is no meaning in differentiating between the two.

Amongst the bamboo, some are used to carry corpses to the burial grounds; some are used to put up platforms for conducting meetings, etc. Only very few become flutes. So. if we say only bamboo which become flutes are the best ones, then that only means our thinking has not become mature enough.

Whatever we are, however we are, we have to remain what we are. We should not appear like someone else. How is it that even now there is a saying, 'What is born to a tiger cannot become a cat?'

The reason; the cat looks like a tiger. Only rats are the enemies for the cat.

Even cats do not fight with them face to face and kill them. Cats make the rats run, run and run and make them mentally weak out of fear and kill them finally. But the tiger is not like that. As such, here, the cat which compares itself with the tiger becomes a symbol of disgrace.

The tendency to compare oneself with another happens due to one's inferiority complex. Actually the thought that we are inferior by birth, causes us to compare ourselves with those who appear to be superior to us.

But problems will arise by comparing thus, 'I am not like him; he is not like me, etc.'

When Swathi Thirunal was king of Travancore, he was witnessing a drama. One man was acting the role of Lord Rama.

It so happened that the king had to arrive when the drama had progressed halfway. The man who was acting as Rama bowed to the king as he arrived. Immediately the king left the place. What was the reason for the king's anger?

The king said. 'The actor, who should have actually become Rama himself on the stage, thought that he was only an actor and bowed to me. By this he has insulted Rama himself.' The king's sense of deep devotion to Lord Rama did not allow him to see the actor merely as an actor.

Such troubles start arising when we expect the noble qualities of great men in normal average people. The true respect the actor had for the king was not understood by the king. The reason: the quality of comparing. It will be only a problem if great seers are compared with ordinary men. We should learn to accept people as they are, with all their merits as well as de-merits. It is wrong to compare one with the other and look upon someone as lowly.

By comparing, one more problem may also arise.

Somewhere in a desert, a passer-by knocked at the door of a tent. The owner of the tent received him inside, and cooked and served him some food.

Before he started to eat the food, the tent owner told him. 'Oh guest, first of all thank God and then begin to eat.' But the guest said, 'I have so far never mentioned the name of God. If you want, I will say my thanks to you. '

But the tent owner insisted that the guest should and must say his thanks to God and then only, eat. The guest left the place without eating.

That night God appeared in the dream of the tent owner and said, 'I have been feeding him, as my child so far even though he has not mentioned my name even once. Just because he did not thank me before you for a single day, have you sent him away with hunger?' On hearing this, the tent owner felt sad.

This happened simply because the tent owner had compared himself with religious and pious people and set for himself a wrong image. The very process of our trying to judge people as good or bad depends solely on the scales of comparison we have set in ourselves as to which is right and which is wrong.

What is right and what is wrong is applicable only to you. The trouble starts when you start assessing and judging people, measuring them with your scale which is applicable only to you.

We get depressed due to these comparisons and we make others become depressed as well.

Put a big stop to your getting depressed through comparing yourself with others. From now on, start seeing the achievements and fulfillments of others as motivating factors for yourself.

• • The feeling of craving for recognition is a handicap for an enthusiastic mind.
• ❖ It is only the inability to recognize ourselves which makes us crave for recognition by others.
• • If we need to say the truth, for a man who is alert and motivated, outside recognition is not necessary. A person who longs to have recognition from outside cannot remain alert and motivated.

A couple, who had gotten married two years before, came to see me. They had a beautiful child with them. But they were sad. Why sad? I could not understand at first. But after talking with them I could understand the reason for their sadness.

That young couple used to visit their friends' houses often. When they had been to a friend's house, they were shown a newly purchased refrigerator. They asked the couple, 'What brand of refrigerator do you have in your house?' On hearing this question, the couple became sad.

The couple then went to another house and saw a VCD and MP3 players there. Again they got upset. The reason for their sadness was their going to the friends' houses joyfully and comparing their own house with others and becoming sad every time. They were not able to accept and reconcile easily their own status.

Again the reason was due to the shocks they got on seeing the growth and prosperity of others. It is only the act of ours of not being able to accept and recognize ourselves as we are, that makes us crave and wait in anticipation of others' recognition of ourselves.

Many of us must have experienced this. The main reason for us feeling bad is only our comparing ourselves with others and feeling terribly low about ourselves.

J.Krishnamurthy, while once speaking in London, said, 'Don't measure.'

What he said was not about taking measurements of the body, however. He was speaking about people losing their hearts by comparing himself with another.

A husband always expects a certificate from his wife that he is a good husband. A teacher expects a good certificate and opinion from his students. Many people go on and on suffering, always expecting a good certificate from others.

Why are people going on suffering with expectations of other's opinions, which are always changing?

Until recently, in Europe, no medicine was prescribed for asthma. They thought that asthma was the ultimate punishment sent to man by God. Do they not give medicines for that now?

Aristotle wrote saying that women had more teeth than men. It took many centuries later for Bertrand Russell to come and question it. Russell asked, 'Should Aristotle not have at least counted the number of teeth of his wife before writing?'

Walt Wiltman sent his poem collections called 'Leaves of Grass' to Leo Tolstov, who was famous at that time in the world of literature. But as Tolstoy had a bad opinion of Whitman, he threw it into the trash.

Expectations of approval and recognition have existed in the immemorial. Depending on the recognitions, some of the trends of history have been influenced.

Many times, others' recognitions have become the basis of our lives do not take shape on the basis of what we really think of ourselves. We have shaped out lives on the basis of buying others opinions about us. We are actually a totality of marks given to us by others.

Every one of us has almost become like a parcel loaded in a goods lorry. We have put our stamps on the parcel. It will be good if there is one seal over the stamps on an envelope. But if there are so many seals over the address itself, then the letter will never reach the correct address. We have all become like that.

Once upon a time, one Vachaspathi Misra wrote a commentary on Brahma Sutra. His guru, who had requested him to do so, gave his daughter Bamathi in marriage to him.

But Misra spent a lot of time in writing it. Brahmasutra, which contains Mahavakyas, is a world's treasure of knowledge. So, to write a commentary, it took him nearly fifty years. He was going on writing without proper food and without even getting out from his place of work.

You should not ask whether all these things are possible, because, only to reveal great truths such historical incidents happen, but people leave the truths and hang on to the stories. A ladder is meant for people to go up, but if you are just hanging on to the ladder, what can be done?

Finally, when Misra finished writing the commentary on Brahmasutra, he raised his head. He saw an old lady standing before him. He asked her, 'Who are you?' But she said 'Have you finished writing? It is my good fortune to be of help and serve you while you are writing. '

Surprised and shocked a little. Misra asked again. 'Who are you?' She asked. 'I am your wife Bamathi. Have you finished writing?' He said, 'I have finished. I am yet to give it a caption.' She again said, 'I am fortunate to serve you.'

Vachaspathi Misra, recognizing her sincere service without the anticipation of any returns, gave as title for his book the name of his wife. 'Bamathi.' The lady, who never expected any sort of recognition, got the very best recognition.

From this story, we come to know that there have been wives who have not demanded their husband's attentions.

Today however, there are wives who snatch away the newspapers from their husbands if they go on reading it for more than ten minutes. There are also husbands who become angry on seeing their wives absorbed in watching T.V. serials.

The reason for all this is that each one is waiting for recognition from the other.

Recognition is the thing which creates the craving sign of approval. Other's deficiencies are only their shadows. Only their efficiencies are the real truths. The sigh of crazy cravings for recognition is merely leaving the object and giving importance for its shadow.

There are husbands who do not fulfill the expectations of their wives as per the wives' expectations and wives who do not fulfill the expectations of their husbands as per their thinking. The reasons for people behaving this way is leaving the real object and hanging on to its shadows and living only for the shadow.

We cannot estimate the quality of others' lives by simply seeing the outward facilities they enjoy. Those are only shadows. They can never become real.

Others' opinions cannot become truths. They are only superficial thinking about you. Others praising you or abusing you - both are only half truths. Half truths are worse than lies. They are only shadows of truths.

A real life is one filled with joy and peace. Let us turn our minds to live a real and true life. There is no need to envy and suffer just by recognizing only shadows.

If we recognize and approve ourselves, shadows will not attract us any- more. We will not be waiting eagerly for others' recognitions. Our joy and peace can never be shattered by others.

The World is a Reflection of Our Minds

• Our thoughts get formed as per our mind.
• • Our lives get formed as per our thoughts.
• • Our success gets formed as per our lives.
• • Our health gets formed as per our success.
• ❖ Our mind gets formed as per our health.

Do you understand...? It is a cycle.

Mind: this is the way it acts. People always act like reflecting mirrors. If we give respect, we can get respect. If we bother somebody, we will be bothered. If we show love, we will receive love. If we are always in an irritated and angry mood, it will appear as though the entire world is always wrong and everybody is irritating us in a planned manner.

To explain this, a small story ....

A dog which was roaming in the streets accidentally entered the king's palace. The king had built a guest house using a thousand mirrors. That dog was having the habit of barking angrily at any other dog entering its street and territory. The moment that dog entered the king's guest house, it was shocked and got very angry, because it saw nearly 1000 dogs in the mirrors.

As usual, the dog started barking. All the 1000 dogs were barking from different angles. The dog became a little afraid. Still unable to bear the anger, the dog started barking again. All the dogs also started barking. When the dog stopped, all the dogs stopped barking. When the dog barked again, all the dogs barked. The dog barked all night long, lost its energy and ultimately died.

The dog did not know that he was the only real dog and all the other dogs were only its own reflections in the mirror. It was rather difficult for the dog to understand too. If only the dog had observed keenly that the moment this dog stopped barking, all the other dogs also stopped barking, it might have understood the reality. It would have understood what is maya or illusion.

The planet earth is always a heaven. All are basically very good people. If we are angry, we feel that the whole world is doing wrong. If we always feel irritated and are in low spirits, the whole world seems uninteresting.

When we are successful, happy and contented, we feel really happy and say, 'Aha! What a wonderful world! Beautiful relationships! Nice people!'

Understand the truth. Mind will always be barking like a dog. Whether our eyes are open or closed, our qualities such as anger, hatred, jealousy, being in low spirits etc. will always be there with us. No change will happen.

Moreover, all the faults we discover in others around us are actually our own faults. What the dog saw in the mirrors at different angles were all its own reflected forms.

Making statements like, 'Who are these people, they don't have any sense of understanding, fools, senseless fellows...etc. ' These are all the voices of our minds, not our real, true voice. When we think about others thus, 'Oh, what nice people, how affectionate they are, this is the correct way to behave' is also just the action of our mind.

It is an illusion to think very badly about people and the world.

As a matter of fact, all are normal and nice people. The world will change according to our method of approach towards it. The planet earth is very beautiful. We must start realizing it. We will know the truth!

• Laughter A medicine for us A feast for others

• • A face without laughter A face of a corpse - differences are very few

Observe the people around you. Who attracts more crowds?

There will always be a group of people around those who are always cheerful and laughing every now and then. People will move away from those, who, with a serious face, always talk about philosophies. All like to be laughing, forgetting all worries.

However forward-looking an idea may be, it will reach ordinary people only when it is conveyed in an easy way, mixed with a lot of laughter.

We fill up a bag with rice. If it has become full, and if we want to add some more, we usually shake it up a few times and again fill. It will hold more then.

In the same manner, if the listeners in a crowd are filled with lots of information and messages by a speaker, for the crowd to listen more, great speakers will sprinkle some jokes here and there in their talks.

Certain dramas are sometimes presented in our villages. Of these, 'Panchali Sabatham' (Challenge of Panchali) is a famous one. In a village, where this drama was being enacted, the scene of 'Panchali thugilurithal (pulling away the saris of Panchali) was going on. The person who acted the female role of Panchali was actually a young man.

The village people, who were watching the drama, were immersed in that scene. It so happened, on that day, the person who usually played the role of Krishna, who had to continuously supply fresh saris as the saris worn by Panchali were being pulled away, did not turn up.

The person who was acting the role of Dusschasana, did not know this fact. As usual, when Dusschasana started vehemently pulling the saris from Panchali, since the fresh saris from Krishna did not reach Panchali, finally, the actor (Panchali) stood there with only his undergarments.

Immediately the person who acted as Panchali, cleverly managed the situation and changed his dialogue, suiting this condition and spoke thus: 'Oh, Lord Krishna, Oh protector of those in dire need, protector of orphans, vou have really done a great miracle by changing me from woman to a man!' All the audience, the village people, had a hearty laugh, seeing that.

If you laugh to your maximum capacity, you will be rid of all diseases. This is not simplv an adage. This is actually a formula of meditation, which has a healing effect, Laughing continuously for 20 minutes, by itself, is a type of meditation. They give a lot of importance to continuous laughter in Zen Buddhism. If only the kings of olden days had not given such importance to laughter, we would not have gotten Tenali Raman and Birbal.

Laughter breaks our ego. Some do not laugh in gatherings. They think that laughing changes them as ordinary people.

A leader who laughs wholeheartedly, however, dissolves himself and merges with the gathering and there is no difference between him and the others. Generally egoistic persons will be morose, tight and rigid.

Many times, due to anxieties and worries, our mind gets tired and depression may set in. Laughter is a good medicine to make us normal in those moments.

Some are even able to tell us great things in such an easy way, like poking a ripe banana with a needle! The reason: their sense of humor and laughter.

In a house, the wife was working in the kitchen, when she heard a sound. 'What is that sound?' asked the wife. The husband said, 'A shirt has fallen out of the window.'

The wife again asked, 'So much sound for simply a shirt falling?' When the husband said, 'I was within that shirt,' she felt a little ashamed.

The husband, who was a mature person, to make his wife understand that she was not at all respecting him, said this humorously. He settled the matter without giving room for any quarrel much in the same way as poking a ripe banana with a needle.

An eye doctor had kept three sets of eyeglasses on his table. A person who came there to get his eyes checked, pointed to one of the eyeglasses and asked, What is this suitable for?' The doctor replied, 'It is for nearsightedness.'

The visitor showed the second eyeglasses and asked. 'What is this one for?' The doctor replied. 'This is for farsightedness."

He pointed to the third eyeglasses and asked, 'What is this one for?' Immediately the doctor said, 'This one for seeing where the other eyeglasses are.' Disease is common to all. It will come to you and to me as well. It will come to everyone. Only to make it understood, the doctor replied that wav. Only if a person possesses a sense of humor. he can manage even an

embarrassing situation with ease and pleasure.

For a few people, it is possible to make others laugh even in a critical situation. At a time when Hitler was having his heyday, he was holding a meeting with the journalists on the top floor of a multi-storied building. To prove his might and his total control over everything, Hitler asked a soldier to jump out. Immediately the soldier jumped out to the ground and turned to pieces. Hitler thought that the iournalists

may think that only an ordinary soldier had obeyed and jumped out. So he called another high ranking major-general and asked him to jump out.

As he was about to jump, one of the journalists rushed and prevented him from jumping out. Then that general whispered into his ears, 'Oh, you sinner, you have actually prevented me from the only chance of escaping from Hitler.' You can find throughout history lots of such laughs. Laugh. Are you asking, 'thinking about what?'

Think about yourself and laugh! If we deeply think about our own selves, we can find out that we, ourselves are an object to laugh at. Instead of mocking and laughing at others, if we only know ourselves fully and totally, we can laugh at ourselves freely. We will know about ourselves.

• • If we feel that men are gods, houses as palaces, the world as heaven, then it means that we are really healthy.
• ❖ Those who are healthy will be joyful. Those who are joyful should and must be healthy. There is no other way. This is a 'Formula of Bliss.'

Physical problem = Disease.

• • Mental problem = Suffering.

Whenever there is deficiency in health, disease begins to form. Disease does not occur suddenly. It is not possible. Health and Well-being slowly becomes lesser, suffering increases slowly and steadily and at an unexpected moment, bursts out in the form of a disease.

A healthy mind is necessarily required for a healthy body. If the mind is in good shape, then the body will also be healthy.

Doing work mechanically, polluted air and water, food mixed with chemicals, city life (which is far from the natural unpolluted surroundings), stereotyped jobs, ever-unsatisfied relationships, unsatisfied mind regardless of what happens, new diseases which are being discovered continuously .....

It is rather difficult for a man to devote his attention to a healthy life when he is living a life contrary to his true nature.

Many do not even know that they are not truly healthy. They think that if they do not have high blood pressure and diabetes, they are healthy. Know one simple truth. Disease is only an outcome of a prolonged deficiency of good health.

When the energy in our body starts reducing, our health starts deteriorating. When this condition continues for a prolonged period, only then disease starts to manifest.

Are our minds and bodies truly healthy? Read the following questions. If your answer is 'yes', then your health is O.K. If the answer is 'No', then it means that there is a problem.

• • Do you feel fresh as you get up from bed in the morning?
• • Do vou get sleep as soon as you lie down?
• ❖ After sleeping for six hours, do you get the satisfaction of having slept well?
• ❖ While laughing, are you able to have a hearty laugh?
• • Do you have normal digestion?
• • Does remaining alone give you any joy?
• • Do you feel energetic while walking and while doing normal household jobs?

We actually start losing our health as our enthusiasm and joy start reducing.

What are the basic things for a healthy life?

In Sanskrit, they divide it into three types:

Sāttvic foods are those which contain very low quantities of oil, hot ingredients like chilies etc. and other spicy items.

Rājasic foods are those which are hot, containing lots of oils and all foods cooked with spices.

Tāmasic foods include fried foods which contain large amounts of fat, foods which have become old and spoiled and foods which are taken solely for their tastes and are without any nutritional values.

Sāttvic foods possess the quality of keeping the body and mind very pleasant.

Rājasic foods have the quality of increasing the tension and anger in us.

Tāmasic foods have the quality of increasing dullness, laziness and sleep.

If you like to have pleasant feelings and a light body, take only Sāttvic foods. You will see the results for yourself in only a few days.

A peaceful atmosphere containing clean air and unpolluted water is the environment most suitable for a man to live in.

That is why all the old civilizations were formed on the banks of the rivers. Due to the uncontrolled population growth, a healthy atmosphere has become utterly impossible.

Still, here and there, there are some parks and temples which a healthy atmosphere. For those who live in cities, sitting peacefully and meditating in a healthy atmosphere will be healthy to their minds and bodies.

Those who possess a healthy body and mind cannot sit at all with laziness. Even in dreams they cannot have a sad face. They will always like to remain alert and joyful.

Those who remain wounded in their minds can only wound others' minds. Some people ask others, thoughtlessly, 'Alas! What really happened to you? Why have you become so thin?'

On listening to such a question, even persons with perfect health and strong mind also, will run away from such people. They will even become doubtful about their well-being.

Those who are healthy, even without their knowing so, will have positive, good and healthy relationships with all people. They will ask everybody, 'What Sir, how are you? Fine?' They will ask 'Healthy?' Innocently they will ask 'Oh! You should be very happy! You have put up some flesh too! Good!'

On seeing such an inquiry, even if a person has some problems in his body, he will soon be alright.

It is enough if our approach is healthy. We will get good relationships easily. Try to become healthy! Be healthy!

• & The answers given by most people for the question 'Who are you?' An illiterate: - Thinks, 'I am the body' A literate: - Thinks, 'I am the mind' A learned man: - Thinks, 'I am the soul'

• • All these three thoughts are only the illusions of the mind. Mere opinions. Who is the real you? This cannot be understood until we get self-realization.
• • Life is Maya (Illusion)

• If a man, who is struggling with various problems, says 'life is maya', it is a lie. It is simply a lame excuse for not knowing how to really enjoy life.

• If a man, who boldly faces and solves all sorts of problems, says 'Life is mava', then it is a fact. It is a clear opinion, born out of an understanding of life after experiencing all sorts of pains in life.

• If an enlightened person, who has attained that state of not getting affected by problems at all, says, 'life is maya' then it is a truth. It is an outcome of having experienced the pains and pleasures of life and attaining ultimate wisdom.

• • An average person will misunderstand the statement of an enlightened Master's saving 'life is mava.' He will use it as an idea to justify his own struggling life. That is all. This is nothing but misunderstanding the truth and turning it into a lie. This is the biggest maya; greatest illusion of all illusions! Some people will be sitting sad. If we ask them, 'What is the matter?' they will say, 'I am not feeling well at all mentally….' Some others will say 'Oh, the mind is a monkey. You should not allow it to jump as it likes. You must keep it under control. '

We always talk about mind. What is it? It is only an organized structure gifted by God to man for him to live as a real man. The mind is a servant which helps in satisfying the needs and necessities of its Master. which is man, to lead a happy life.

The reason for all the problems is that the mind, which should be under the control of man, has become a structure which actually controls the man.

If a servant behaves like a Master at a time when he is adequately careful, how will it be?

An immature servant becoming a Master is like catching a monkey and seating it on a throne. That is why all great enlightened Masters compare the mind to a monkey and call it a 'monkey mind.' Until the monkey is removed from the throne, problems and worries are bound to follow.

Mind has the quality of creating all sorts of problems and imitations. Maya is one of them.

Maya, or illusion, is that which shows something non-existing. Being afraid, thinking about or desiring a non-existent thing as if it really existed, are outcomes of maya.

Here is a story to understand more clearly about maya ....

Two monks were traveling on a journey towards Tibet. They continued their journey begging for their food all along the way. The older monk among them was feeling restless from the time they started their iourney, after finishing a nice feast in the house of a person who was a devotee of Lord Shiva.

The elder monk, as he was walking, was looking back again. There was a little unusual frustration in his face that day.

He was walking hurriedly. There was a shiver in his voice. He was often touching and feeling for something in his shoulder bag.

The younger monk, who was walking with him thought 'Why is he looking frustrated?'

Then both the monks drank some water near a well and rested for awhile. In a short while, the elder monk slept soundly. Without disturbing his sleep, the young monk slowly took away his bag.

On opening the bag, he saw that there was a golden crown was earlier given to the old monk by the devotee of Shiva). Now he could clearly understand the reason for the hurry and frustration of the old monk.

The young monk took out that golden crown from the bag and threw it away and replaced it in the bag with a wooden piece of almost the same size and shape and put it back on the lap of the sleeping older monk.

After some time, both of them resumed their journev. The old monk continued to walk with his same frustration. He was also touching and feeling the bag as before.

The younger monk asked as though he was innocent. 'Oh Monk, why are you looking so frustrated?' Any problem?'

The old monk replied, 'No. No. That devotee of Shiva, in whose we had the nice feast, had given me a golden crown and asked me to donate it to some temple at Varanasi. On the way, some thieves or robbers may come! That is why I am feeling frustrated.'

The young monk asked, as if innocent, 'Is it the small crown in that bag that took away your freedom and caused frustration in you?' The old monk replied 'Yes.'

'Can you surely say that only the crown in this bag frightened you this much?' asked the young monk.

'Yes,' said the old monk.

'If that is so, then open your bag and see.' said the young monk.

On opening the bag, the old monk was shocked. Except for a small wooden piece there was nothing else. He was almost shaken.

The young monk said. 'It is I who threw away that crown and kept this wooden piece as well, when we were near the well. Now do you realize to what extent the maya, or illusions of the mind, shakes up and controls a man?' This made the old monk realize the truth.

Overcoming his shock, the old monk laughed with all his heart, at having remained in a frustrated state of mind to such an extent, all the while thinking about an actual wooden piece as a golden crown.

Like this golden crown, our mind also involves itself wholly in protecting as if it is a treasure, all the name and fame, money and such other illusory things.

In reality, all these things, name and fame, position, things, money, etc. are not golden crowns, but mere wooden pieces. Just like a water bubble, they will be with you only for certain duration.

If we understand this reality and act accordingly, we will control our mind and the mind will not control us.

Let us Welcome Confusion

• ❖ We need not hate confusion; understand that it is an indication that we are growing.
• ☆ There is nothing wrong if we are confused. It is wrong only if we continue to remain confused.
• ❖ It is just for us to be confused; to confuse others is unjust.
• ❖ Today's confusion is tomorrow's clarity.

We can drive away the confusion to half the distance if we read the above lines carefully and retain them in the mind.

Some people will seem to remain confused always. They will remain perturbed in taking any sort of decisions. Some keep on lamenting: 'Confusion alone is my first enemy; this only is actually an obstruction to my progress.'

The problem is not with confusion. It is only in our method of approach towards it. The problem is in our thinking that it is wise to run away from it, as we think that confusion is an evil power to give us trouble.

Now I will tell you a story. A king by the name of Sharo Shaun was very much confused due to a dream he had the previous night.

First thing in the morning he assembled his court and told about his confusion.

The king said that he had had a dream in which he had become involved in a big problem and in that difficult moment he did not have his minister or his military chief by his side to counsel him.

The king proclaimed an order, 'What should I do on such occasions when I do not have anybody by my side to advise me? I must get an immediate reply for this. '

Because a reply was sought for a confusing thing, the confusion rose to a climax. When all of them were thinking that it could not be resolved at all, an elderly person stood up and said. 'I have found an answer.

Continuing, he said, 'Oh king, one condition. The reply for this is only a single line. But you should not read it now. You should read it only when a crisis arises.' The king accepted the condition. All the persons present there, except the king, read that reply and said, 'Oh, what a wonderful answer.'

The old man put that reply, containing the answer to the king's question in a diamond ring and inserted it on the king's finger.

After a few months, a war started with the adjacent country. The king was defeated. Just as the king was escaping alone on a horse, the enemies were chasing him. The king's horse reached the top of a hill and stopped there.

When the king felt sad thinking 'What do I do next. there are no ministers or advise me now' he remembered about the lines written on the diamond ring. Immediately he opened the ring and saw what was written.

It read, 'This too will pass away,' The king felt easy with those words. Soon after the enemies left him and went on their way. The king also escaped.

That king, after a few months, invaded that same adjacent country and won the war. When he was celebrating the victory, he once again opened the ring and read it.

It said, 'This too will pass away.' He took it as a warning not to feel too much pride about his victory.

In the same way everything will change.

It is enough if the truth that the present condition will surely change is realized by one and all of us. We can approach and tackle any sort of confusion easily.

Do not take any decision at a time when you are at the peak of confusion. Relax for ten minutes, take a deep breath in and out, and after your mind has relaxed, and in an enthusiastic mood and atmosphere, face the crisis or confusion and make a decision. You will get a good solution. The confusion will leave you.

Welcome the confusion fully and totally. Don't be afraid even if you reach the peak of confusion. The moment we go beyond confusion, we will get clarity. This is a subtle truth. Those who have gotten clarity, each and every one of them agree with this truth.

No matter what struggle we undergo, it is only for the child of clarity to be born within us. We can calculate ourselves how many times we have aborted and prevented the birth of the clarity within us by trving to destrov the confusion. being afraid to face the confusion.

Like the king mentioned above, approaching the confusion with ready-made statements like, 'Surely this condition will also pass,' is the first approach.

The step which is beyond this is 'welcoming the confusion'. Facing boldly and fighting with the confusion and obtaining both clarity and the solution, is the second type of approach.

The second type is better than the first. However, it is somewhat more difficult. Great things are not available for free.

Don't be afraid of confusion!

Don't feel sad also in the face of confusion!

Say thanks for the confusion; welcome it!

Clarity

• • It is rather difficult for a man who has a weak mind, to enter into and come out through unexpected twists and turns of life. A weakened mind is unclear.
• • Clarity is one of the essential requirements to enter and come out through the intricacies and twists and turns of life.
• • Clarity is not so cheap that we can get it just by reading a few books. It is only a collection of the experiences of many individuals which will create clarity.

Once an ant slipped from a wall and fell onto a balloon. For an ant, a wall and a balloon is each a broad and flat surface. If we go to the ant and try to explain to it in its own language saving. 'Oh ant, the surface over which you are standing, is not, as you believe, a very much wide and vast area. It is only an ordinary balloon,' the ant will not be able to understand. The reason is its own very small body structure.

In the same way, man also firmly believed that the planet earth that he saw was a 'very, very far and wide stretching flat surface.' Galileo, who was somewhat spiritually oriented, due the broad outlook he possessed, and helped by his instinct, strongly affirmed that the earth is actually spherical in shape.

In those times, neither the people nor the government believed in Galileo. Thinking that he was telling only a lie, they not only insulted him but also tortured him.

What is the reason?

As far as the ant is concerned, through its eves, the balloon looks like a big giant. The same way for man. Man is smaller than the earth by many million times. How can he see that the earth is actually a sphere?

If the ant were to be at least as big as a pup. it could have understood that the balloon is also an ordinary thing, like the pup itself.

Until man knows science and understands science, no one can accept that the earth is a sphere. In the same manner, until a man knows spiritual wisdom and understands spiritual wisdom, he cannot realize that life is full and blissful. He cannot clear himself out from the grip of sufferings.

It is because we have wisdom only to the size of an ant or a mustard seed, we continue to suffer from all sorts of troubles, sorrows and disappointments. As the wisdom begins to grow bigger from the size of an ant, many truths will begin to be revealed.

Clarity is understanding the truth or the reality and not embroiling oneself in difficulties and grief continuously. Clarity is the intelligence to realize that these are all just ordinary things in life's natural flow.

If we get clarity, that is enough. We can find solutions for all problems and come out from them. Even if we don't get solutions, we can think clearly and come out very quickly from our mental confusion by knowing that the sufferings may take their own time to get solved and we will know what is to be done at the then existing moment.

Thinking that we can come out of a problem, without clarity, is just like a blind man trying to walk nicely on a slippery and slushy road, without even using a stick. When we try to lead a clean life, without getting to know the correct ways to lead a crystal clear life, we get only troubles and disappointments continuously.

Even though we believe that we live with a clear mind, the fact is, that, from our youngest age, due to the adulterations in thought caused by disappointments, our clarity is really 'unclear'.

One small story:

A fellow, Johnny by name, got frustrated in life, decided that suicide is the only solution for him and went to a medical shop, bought some poison, ate it and lied down.

He waited on and on till the morning with expectations, thinking, 'I am going to die in ten minutes, die in five minutes ... ... '

In the morning, Johnny went to the medical shop and asked the shop-owner with anger, 'Sir, what sort of poison did you sell me? : Nothing has happened!'

The medical shop owner, without getting irritated at all, said very casually, 'Nowadays where do you get unadulterated poison?'

Though it looks rather funny, it is worth pondering deeply. Our clarity has become adulterated. It has become commonplace nowadays for people to roam about thinking that they speak everything with clarity, only even though thev do not possess any clarity at all. It is rather sad.

How to change unclear clarity to clear clarity?

Let us add a pinch of salt to the taste of our life, by adding meditation gradually to enhance our intelligence which, at present, is the size of an ant.

How? Only if the ant becomes bigger to the size of a puppy. it will become clear to it that the balloon is only an ordinary thing like itself.

In the same manner, it will be known that, as the intelligence increases, all the difficulties and problems are mere ordinary stones on the path of life.

Clarity will begin to blossom in us, petal after petal!

• Education is an art.
• ☆ Until there is an attachment in life, there will not be enthusiasm and intelligence in education.
• It is only the compulsions and struggles imposed by society on education which creates hatred for education.
• It is difficult to learn painting or sculpting with aversion in the mind.

If we try to learn with aversion, even art will create worries and anxieties. It will appear only as a burden. This is the subtle thing which makes education a burden.

Is education an obstacle to live life joyfully?

Either due to various problems, without a regular education, some spend their life without understanding life properly at all. For this reason many do not really understand what life is. They have to suffer later on due to an inferiority complex.

Otherwise, having read very much, some people obtain PhDs in two or three subjects. Because they have read so much, they think very highly about themselves. They begin to suffer from feelings of superiority. In the end, both these types of people struggle by failing to enjoy their lives.

As a matter of fact, education is not an obstacle at all to happiness and joy. Real education is a method which helps us to understand ourselves. Education for worldly life means learning to understand the worldly life and live a good life.

Our understanding about ourselves and our understanding of the world are both only for living a good life. Of these, understanding ourselves is more possible and understanding the world is very difficult.

If we begin to understand ourselves, the process of 'studying' which happens in us will become a natural and ordinary one. Until we begin to understand ourselves, 'studying' will only appear as a burden.

We have very many wrong ideas about how to study, actually. If we go one step further, we have to admit that we are educating our children exactly in the wrong ways. In the name of educating the young children, what some teachers do to them is a form of torture.

At this date, the most important thing is to teach such teach children in the correct way.

Children possess an abundant wealth of imagination. They have the capacity to think and act in such peculiar ways that are even unthinkable for us. We don't understand their creative abilities. We think of our children as plain slates with nothing written on them.

We are in such a great hurry to write something on them ourselves before the child can write anything on himself.

The result is, when they should to be actually playing at this age, they are writing, making their fingers swell with pain. At a time when they should be seeing with awe and wonder a squirrel and an owl, they see them only in books. At an age when they should be learning new words in their mother tongue playfully, they are being compelled to read this and that.

When they are compelled to read in this manner, they develop an aversion to reading. Therefore, their attention towards reading gets scattered and thev get attracted to watching T.V., games, chit-chatting, bad habits, etc.

Because this compulsion continues to be there even as they grow further, some youngsters become addicted to drugs, etc.

The idea that the youth should be allowed to watch T.V. excessively from very young age to keep them happy and form other bad habits (possibly drugs) is wrong. The great aversion and difficulties created knowingly or unknowingly over studies creates an attraction to and happiness from, other things such as T.V. and possibly drugs. If this is understood, half the problem will be solved.

Recently a gentleman came to me with his 22-year-old son. The son is studying in the medical college in Bangalore. Whether he learned medicine or not he learned well to use ganja (drugs). He had been spending his time using all sorts of drugs.

The old man had brought him to me, as he was afraid that he might lose his son ultimately.

After speaking with that boy, it was known that the boy had absolutely no desire at all to study medicine. As he had started doing medicine only on the compulsions of his parents, he easily fell a victim to drugs.

When his condition was explained to him suitably and tactfully, he realized his mistake. It was easily possible to redeem him and bring him back to the correct path. He understood that mere aversion had shaken him and brought him to such a bad extent. The aversion over the education was gone and desire was born in him.

In fact, all have the capacity to study well.

Education is a necessary burden for today's life, today's world. You may wonder about my calling education a burden. You must understand it as a burden which has failed to become a pleasure.

The first twenty-one years of a man can be divided into three stages.

The first stage is from age one to seven. This is the child stage. 'I should be with the mother: I should get whatever I want; all should accept me.' Children have such desires.

Whoever is trying to separate the child from the mother or from its playing, will be hated by the child. Children cry for at least a few days when going to school because they think that the school. studying and the teacher: all of these things control them and bother them.

This is the reason why the children joyfully run out of the school when the school closes daily and they run out like prisoners escaping from jail.

The second stage is when the children are between the ages eight and fourteen desire to play much. But they are deprived of such opportunities because they are attending special classes, etc.

So many desires are not satisfied and remain in their minds as unfulfilled desires.

The third stage is during the ages between and twenty. This is the time when the child becomes a youth. This is the time when they have to fight with their hormones for the first time; a time to accept responsibilities and become an achiever.

During the period of life from birth till the age of fourteen, it is a time of moving about happily like an independent bird. It is only because this independence is either 'refused' to them or because they 'think that this independence is refused to them'. Children of the age of fourteen to twenty-one prepare themselves mentally to satisfy those pleasures which they have lost. The reason is the independence and the bubbling youthfulness present in them in this age.

It is sufficient if they know the basic reasons for their lack of concentration, they will come to know that whatever things are diverting them from their studies are just illusions which don't really exist. If this is understood, automatically, the aversion towards studies and attractions towards other things will begin to reduce. Interest in the studies will naturally begin to increase. Enthusiasm, intelligence and eagerness in studies will happen. Studies will no more be a burden.

My dear youngsters! Study well during student days. Never doubt whether it is possible for you. The indisputable fact is 'Everything is possible for you.'

Continue to keep in mind always the belief that you are capable of achieving and the belief that you can achieve things.

Enough with your sleep and sadness. Rise up. There is no end at all to the race called achievement.

• Studving is a burden
  • Until desire blossoms in the mind, this is true.
• Studying is tasteful - After desire blossoms in the mind. this is a realized truth.
• & Saying that studying is either a burden, or pleasing, depends upon the amount of one's desire.

Drrrring....Drrrring...... (Telephone rings)

'Hello! This is Kannan speaking. I am studying in the 10th grade. I have very little memory power. So I am not able to read and not able to get good marks.

...... You suggest to me some way to increase my memory power.' This is what a student asked in a live question and answer program on the T.V.

I asked him, 'Brother, did you watch the last cricket match? With great enthusiasm he replied, 'Yes, are you asking about the Bharat – Australia match? Oh! It was a super match, Master.'

'Is it so? Who was the man of the match? Who all took the wickets?' I asked.

He began saying, 'The man of the match……' and continued to tell all the details and gave all statistical information for all questions I asked and also for those not asked by me.

I told him. 'Brother, just now you told me that you are having very low memory power and that's why you are not able to get good marks. If you had very low memory power, how could you relate all statistics about a match which was plaved last week?

The student began saying, 'Oh, Master, which is ...... '

I told him, 'Brother, now do you understand what your real problem is? You have a liking for cricket. So you are able to grasp easily and clearly about that. '

Because the desire or liking for studying is somewhat less, it is difficult to grasp and retain in the mind, studies and all related information. That is the reason why whatever is read is not retained in the mind. It is only the collective result of these things which create the illusory appearances such as loss of memory power, etc.

Yes, the real thing is, memory, understanding, ability, executing capacity, application, enthusiasm all these things emerge from the seed of 'desire.'

Your memory power, executing capacity, etc, get formed in you depending upon the quality and the magnitude of your desire.

To understand this, a small story:

One John Millan belonged to a middle-class family which was bound by meaningless controls in the name of morals, justice and straight-forwardness. All such controls, as well as his poverty led him to decide that 'only authority and wealth' will give peace to a man.

Due to that young man's view (for whatever he had decided), only his principal appeared as his model. He wanted to become like him.

For a person to reach that status, good education and good virtuous qualities are required. The desire to become like the principal changed Millan completely. He became very good in his studies. He exhibited himself as a good person and also got a good name easily.

Suddenly, an incident occurred. One day in the evening, long after the school time was over, he had to pass by the principal's room. In the principal's room, the principal was standing and somebody was scolding him. The principal was only answering his questions politely and never retorted in any manner.

Next day, it was known that the man who was scolding the principal was the chairman of the institution. That chairman was a politician. John Millan's desires now changed their direction. His desire and aim was only authority and money. Now he came to the conclusion that only the chairman was his model.

This desire became deep-rooted in him, because if he became a chairman, the entire and total control of such an institution would be solely with him. For one or two years he observed keenly the activities of the chairman and began to change himself in a similar fashion.

The quality of 'intelligent study' which he had acquired when he wanted to become like the principal left him. The desire to change like the chairman caused him to nurture 'political qualities' within himself. He lost many good friends.

He changed his aim and nature, thinking, 'What is there after so much of studying? Life means, you have to achieve something, somehow."

John Millan, who had changed his directions, could only think of anything in a villainous way. Studying became rather difficult. Even after studying, nothing was retained in his memory. So he started saying, 'Nowadays, I don't like studying at all.'

We know the fact as to how John Millan once was, and how he has changed now. But John Millan does not know. John Millan will now be only of the idea that his memory power has decreased.

In the same way, every one of us, even without our knowledge, has been affected in many ways by various factors such as society, relatives, and due to some matters seen or heard by us. Our desires and aspirations will also have changed many times.

Our minds are not with us due to reasons of there being very many ways to distract our minds, and also for the reason that education has become like a big burden. As in the case of John Millan, all our desires are ever changing as per the circumstances that exist.

Whatever desires and ambitions we now have, there is 99% chance that they are not really our own, true ambitions.

If we know this truth and also understand how education is of basic importance in the present day world, and use the God-given intelligence, we can really shape up our actual desires and ambitions.

Let us enhance the breadth and depth of our desires. Application, enthusiasm, memory and such things will reach us by themselves automatically. This is the straight path; an easy path.

It will be a difficult path if we think of merely enhancing our memory. That is the reason why studies appear difficult for many.

To study well, it is enough if we learn to divert our minds from unnecessary, useless and time-wasting activities. The memory power within us will begin to bloom and bubble up!

• The incompatibility between our imagination about life and actual real life makes life miserable.
• Without trying to make the mental cinema of imagination run in real life, those who fritter away their life energies by scattering their attention, are really 'great sinners.'
• Imagination is one 'action of the mind' given as a given by God to man to enable him to change himself, as per the needs of the future, such as, 'How has a man to live in the future? What type of wife, life and family will be formed? What sort of property and other life comforts are required, etc.?
• For a man who strives to make it really happen, imagination is a 'driving force'. On the other hand, for a man who, without making a fantasy become real, if he wastes his life simply on fantasy only, for him imagination is a 'dull force.'

Many people have inquired about me. Readers have asked many questions such as 'Who am I, where was I born, why this saintly appearance at such a young age, etc ...

I was born in Thiruvannamalai in a simple family. At a very young age, I had a spiritual urge. I used to sit and do penance on the very rocks of Thiruvannamalai where Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi and other great saints have lived. Formal education gave me mere knowledge. So I began to wander in search of real wisdom and truths.

I have only one dress to wear. That is all. I do not touch money. I started walking. I wandered for kilometers throughout Bharat by walking. I met many great saints and stayed for many months in the Himalayas. After ten years of severe penance. I realized myself and got enlightened.

A few years back, when I established a small ashram in Tamilnadu and was staying there, many would come to meet me in the evenings.

Then, I would be watering the plants in the garden. Those who came to see me would ask me, 'Is Master available in the ashram?' I would tell them. 'Yes, he is available: you go inside and be seated.' Then I would go and sit before them.

They would tell me, 'We have come to see the Master.

My young age was an obstacle for them to see me as an enlightened Master. People have imagined a saint as a man with beard, moustache, a water jug (kamandalam), with rosary in hand. Even if it differs in a small way, they don't accept it.

One has to accept the things as they are. If one does not possess such maturity to accept such, only anxieties and worries will remain.

But what are we doing? One sculpting the other has become a way of life. A father sculpts his son in the way he wants his son to become without knowing his son's desires. The father thinks, 'I am a police officer, my son also should become a police officer.' But the son acts in a way quite opposite to the desires of the father.

On account of this, there is struggle between the father and the son. The father starts lamenting everywhere 'My son does not listen to me.' The basic problem is with the father. Without knowing this, what is the use of lamenting?

Cotton cannot grow in a marshy land. Jute cannot grow in black soil. The possibilities of children performing in the disciplines which they don't like are very low. The parents do not realize this. Apart from this, in this ever-changing world, the world as seen by the father was different from the new world which the son sees.

As time changes, ideals change too! Even now the bullfight is there in Tamilnadu. In early days the girls used to marry only those men who bravely tackled, caught hold and controlled the bulls with sharp horns.

So, a Tamil teacher asked his daughter, 'There is a brave youth who has fought with a bull and controlled it. Will you marry him my dear girl?' But she asked, 'He has done so much with the bull; what will he not do with me?' Values of one period of time go on changing with the change of times.

A man was searching for his life partner, with his own desires as to how she should be. A marriage broker asked him, 'What sort of girl do you want to marry?'

'The eyes of the girl I am expecting should be like the eyes of such-and such actress. The nose should be like that of another actress ... he continued relating.

The broker searched for such a girl, found one, and produced her before him. But when she was asked to accept, she simply refused. When she also produced her list, saying 'The person who is to be my husband should have a nose similar to that of some actor, his moustache like another actor's etc., he lost all his spirit.

Many search for persons matching their imaginary ideal.

Mostly there is no agreement at all between the beauty and love of the real wife and the beauty and love of the imaginary wife before marriage.

Similarly, there does not exist any similarity between the love and affection of a real husband and the love and affection of an imaginary husband before the marriage.

The reason is the imagination being very far from the realities.

The power of imagination is a wonder given by God for us to plan and execute our works properly.

If we misuse our God-given imagination by daydreaming, then the fantasies that result are rather useless.

There is nothing wrong with imagining. It will be decided to be right or wrong depending upon how we are going to use our imagining power.

Part 2: Open the Door... Let the Breeze in!

Persons, who cannot make their imaginations a reality, turning their minds towards imaginarv literature, and getting temporary satisfaction and again spending time in fantasies, has become common, and it is a horrible thing. Such imagination is certainly wrong.

The reality that there is a high likelihood that the future wife would be a girl similar to himself in all respects regarding body, mind and mental struggles is hidden completely by the black smoke of fantasy.

It is natural for persons who expect queens in their imaginations while naturally imagining themselves as kings, with pride and ego forming itself deep in their hearts. It is only this pride and a false ego which cause men to disrespect and crush the flower-like tender femininity.

In the same manner, it is also natural for girls to expect in their imaginations, great heroes, and to imagine themselves as nice heroines and become very proud in the depth of their hearts.

It is only this pride and ego, which prevents some mothers from exhibiting their motherly qualities, which is essential for a family to be peaceful and joyful.

Throw away the fantasies and accept reality. You will begin to regard men and respect them as men. Peace is sure to blossom!

Futile Talk

નું Why are we talking? What did we intend to talk about? How are we talking?

• If you ask such a question to a person talking, many may not be able to reply. It is due to such people that ordinary talk becomes futile talk.
• The very nature of futile talk, in a particular atmosphere, has the quality of disconnecting relationships. It is one reason to worry.
• During conversations, allowing futile talk is like driving a car without brakes in a city.
• In futile talk, there will not be any inherent clarity in what we speak.. It will be just flowing without any control of the mind. This will affect both the speaker and the listener.

'Sister, oh, that lady in the opposite house ... ... '

'Oh! How nice that Sachin plays ... '

'That MLA's wife ... .. '

'That hero has …..somebody'

'In yesterday's T.V. serial ..... '

'That saint is a .......'

All feel happy in speaking about such useless matters. However some have no liking for such gossip. But still they too will give some lame excuses saying when all are talking and I alone keep quiet, will they not wonder about me?

Politics - Sports - Cinema

The gossiping stalwarts will usually be talking about only three things again and again. When they feel bored, they will even mix up spirituality with politics in their talks!

The subjects of gossiping ladies are different. Their job is to talk ill of their neighbors, discuss about cinema, T.V., saris, jewelry, etc. If they get fed up with these subjects, they begin discussing about devotion, cooking, etc.

It is all right if, in this modern, mechanical world, these talks happen only for passing time or entertaining. But it becomes a serious problem when we waste precious time.

In Bharat, though there is enormous manpower available, it is being utilized only to a small extent. If only the time wasted in futile talks were utilized in constructive ways, Bharat would emerge as a superpower.

We know of many historic quarrels ending in big catastrophes, which had begun only as ordinary futile talks.

Discussions, arguments, quarrels, misunderstandings, hatred and gossip, beginning in ordinary, simple things and ending with parting-of-ways, etc. reveal clearly the incapacity of clear understanding by one party and the intolerance of the other.

No. Not possible just immediately. We are always talking, sometimes outwardly and many times inwardly in our minds. We call this 'inner chattering'. Can we not reduce this futile talk?

When we are alone and not talking to anyone, we begin talking to ourselves. In sleep, we begin talking in dreams. We are not able to be peaceful, simply because we keep on talking the whole 24 hours.

We may not feel anything if we run for one or two minutes. If we run for five minutes, we will be gasping for breath. But if we keep on running, what will happen to the body? In the same manner, it will become difficult if the mind goes on talking.

There is no question of perfect health or a blissful life unless the horse-like mind which keeps on running and the never-ending debates which go on in the mind are brought to an order.

A Zen Master was living outside the town. A professor came to know that the Master was a great man and was giving good explanations and solutions to all problems of the people.

The professor also went to see him. He requested the Zen Master to teach him about tranquility and bliss. The action of the Master in front of the professor was rather confusing.

There were two tumblers, one filled with water and the other empty. The Master filled the empty tumbler with water and then poured the water in the already full tumbler also. It overflowed.

The professor asked, 'Oh Master, why are you doing this?'

The Master replied. 'In the same way as we cannot add even a drop of water to the tumbler already filled up with water, you also have your mind filled up with many matters. Until you empty your mind of all those matters, I cannot teach you about tranquility and bliss. '

We have our minds packed with all sorts of information, saying this man said this, that man said something else, etc. We cannot talk about any thing else other than those we have come to know in the name of religion, movements, etc. Our inner chattering also gets formed based on these.

As a first step, let's throw out of the dust bin of our minds, all that stinky garbage which we have accumulated unnecessarily. The more important thing is that we must ensure that we do not accumulate any further garbage.

The beauty of our inner self (feelings) will be revealed in our face.

The beauty of mind (thoughts) will be revealed in our speech.

When essential and necessary, things only get deposited in the bank, that is our mind, then there is absolutely no chance of any gossip or any futile talks to emanate from you and your life will be blissful, too!

By cleansing our minds, our speech will become attractive. Those who hated us will begin to love us. Let us make our speech attractive and beautiful as soon as possible.

Where is Peace?

• True attachment gives peace and jov. Attachment of the mind steals peace and joy.

Trying to possess people in the name of relationship = Attachment of the mind.

• Valuing people as highly as one's own life Through the opportunity of relationship = True attachment.
• The detached state of mind is beyond both the above types of attachments. In this state of mind, one can see the presence of God within oneself as well as in others. One can get real, true peace.

There are many among us who lament, 'What is this life, Sir? There is no peace at all ... '

Those who go to the peak of dejection saying, 'All this is my fate .....' do not understand one thing clearly. That is, for our dejected feelings, we are one hundred percent responsible.

There are neople who have earned millions and still committed suicide; and there are also people who do not even have enough daily food and still live happily without any worries.

Life is one thing that is waiting for all with all sorts of unexpected turns and opportunities. It is only those who do not possess awareness and who wish to live lazily, who lose all the opportunities and also lose their peace of mind, and suffer.

When do we begin to lose peace of mind for the first time? It is only when we begin to search for security. The wheel of our life is being turned on and kept in motion on our expectation that we will feel secure if we have a good amount of money, more property, a good name and fame.

The seed begins to sprout in the depths of our hearts with the thought that our life will be more secure the more we possess. The attachment is only that quality which has caught hold of the man as an off-shoot of his persistent resistance to insecurity. It is just this useless feeling of 'me' and 'mine'.

Real attachment does not result in afflictions. But mental attachment only creates all sorts of trials and tribulations.

Real or true attachment is based on reality. Mental attachment is based on our mind only.

Real attachment: It is the understanding with correct earnestness, of all our possessions, all our relationships and of having pleasant love and relationships with our friends. Real or true attachment is only living the life fully in this manner.

Mental attachment: Wasting our money just for name and fame and living extravagantly. Living just for duty without understanding fully our relationships and friends, without having any tolerance, having hatred, frustrated and having enormous ego; all this is mental attachment. It will only spoil mental peace.

To explain the extent to which this desire will ruin mental peace. I will tell you a story.

An old man was returning home from the next town and from a distance he just saw his house and started crying aloud. His house was actually burning.

His first son saw this and came near him and said, 'Father, don't cry. We have sold the house for a good price two days back.' The old man said, 'Is it so. I am glad.' And he became consoled and wiped his tears.

Just then his second son came to him and said, 'Father we have not yet legally sold the house, we have only got twenty thousand rupees as advance.' On hearing this, the old man asked 'Is it so?' and started crying again.

The third son then came near him and said. 'Father, don't cry. The man who bought the house is a very nice man. He has never gone back on his words. So he has said that he will buy the house at the agreed price.' Again, the old man was happy.

Read this story carefully. The detached feeling 'As another person has bought the house, it is no more my house' gave him so much of peace and tranquility. The attached feeling that 'the buyer has given only twenty thousand rupees as an advance, so it is still my house' came to him, the old man was very upset.

Can you understand that even though the old man did not lose anything from beginning to end of this story, when he got the information that the house no longer belonged to him on two occasions it gave him so much relief and peace?

Whether we accept it or not, believe it or not, it is only our attachment which destroys our peace. To whatever extent we wish to have a secure feeling, to the same extent we will begin to increase our properties and relationships.

Each and every thing changes in this world. It will continue to be changing. Never is it constant. Nobody is possessed by anybody. Each one has his own individuality. The solid truth is that any thing can happen at any time. It is enough if this is understood. Nobody, nor any circumstance can spoil our tranquility.

Change your mental attachment as a true attachment. Start stepping towards peace. Get peace.

Intoxication-giving status!

Overwhelming, joy-giving money!

Another sort of pride-giving name and fame!

These are the things which, like brokers, bring tension to man.

• Results a person gets when he carries on his life with tension.

• A face which finds it difficult to laugh!

• Grief, unable to be shared outside!

• Inability to enjoy anything wholly!

Knowledge should become wisdom.

Status should become service.

Money should be shared.

Fame should be properly digested.

If a man lives like this, then these will become like an angel which brings sweetness in a man. There is no chance of these things bringing tension to man.

I have read much about Babur (a famous king). You might have also read about him. I will tell you about an interesting incident which happened in his life.

Once, a learned man wanted to meet Babur, so he sought and obtained the permission to meet Babur.

On a particular day, he went to the palace. Babur was talking jovially, mingling with ordinary people.

The learned man was surprised to see this. People in high positions do not laugh at all.

Even at something very funny, they only smile. The learned man could not digest seeing such a great king mingling and laughing with his own servants.

He said to the king. 'Oh king! I have heard that you are a very wise man and an intelligent man, too. That's why I wanted to meet you.

I came here to see and enjoy your discussions with great people such as wise men, great intellectuals, poets and philosophers.

But, after my coming here and seeing this, I don't see any intelligence in your behavior. I am not able to bear this. So. I am going away.' So saying, he hurried up to go away.

Babur said. Just wait. Listen to what I am going to say. After you hear me, you can decide whether to stay here or leave."

The man was shocked and stood still. Babur began to speak...

'Look there, I have kept a bow in that corner. You also see that I have not tied the string strongly at both ends of the bow.

Do you know why I have done like this? If I had tied the string at both the ends of the bow tightly, it would always remain under tension. If the bow is always under tension, it will surely break in a few days.

A bow should always be flexible. If it is in such a condition, the arrow, on release, will jump and go swiftly like the wind. Only then success will be achieved.

I also wish to be like a flexible bow. If I am always tight, I will become mad. As a result. I am like this: soft, flexible, playful and joyful. That is the reason for my success.'

The learned man was dumbfounded on hearing the words of Babur.

We should be soft and flexible like a bow, with the string not tied tight at the ends. When we are tight and rigid, lots of changes occur in our body and mind. Muscle catches and sprains which happen in our body are indications of tightness and stress. Pains occurring in various parts of the body are another sign.

Those who are rigid and tight get chest pain often. They may have head-aches too. The treatment I give for such people who come to me is just to make them laugh. I will make them laugh, forgetting all their worries. In a few minutes they will say, 'My chest pain is gone!'

There are many ways to ease your tension. Play with children for some time. (It is all right if they are your neighbor's children too!) Tension will disappear. Fondle affectionately, the plants in your garden. Become easy and light. Tension will break away from you.

Watch the fish swimming swiftly in the fish tank in your house. Tension will be gone. Even when you hear a very small joke, laugh aloud. Tension will be cut off from you.

Understand one thing clearly. Whatever way we may try, man cannot fly like a crow. We cannot be in water like a frog. It is foolish to think that man can perform anything and everything. Whatever is meant to happen naturally will happen.

If we understand this, tension will ease away.

'It has not happened as I thought! I have not good people as I thought and expected!' Rigidness is only due to the deposits made in our minds for many days of sticky things made in our mind due to such irritations.

It is only the accumulated irritations and all sorts of disappointments of many days which become mental tensions.

The only easy way to release such mental aberrations is to throw away the illusory thinking of 'others. as well as circumstances should change as I expect' and trying to remain happy and joyful every minute.

Begin to merge with the natural flow of life and act naturally. Tension will begin to dissolve and disappear.

Why? Why Unable to Tolerate?

• • Animals do not know how to be tolerant. Tolerance is a culture only developed by everyone born as a man.
• ❖ Tolerance is the first stepping stone in the growth of man's mental structure.
• ☆ Intolerance is not a culture of man. (Only because man has got mind as the sixth sense, different from the animal, which has got only five senses, is he called man). Intolerance is only an indication of improper growth of mind.

Every incident which occurred in the Buddha's life will reveal a very great truth. I will tell you about one such incident.

Once, Buddha and his chief disciple were walking from one city to the other.

They missed their way while passing through some forests, hills and plateaus. They came to know about it only when they reached a place which was very far away from their original intended destination.

Then, after inquiring about the correct path, they started walking again. After walking some distance, they asked the people there. 'How much distance we have to walk to reach the city?'

When the people said. 'If you walk two more miles, you will reach the place to which you want to go.' they started walking enthusiastically. Even after walking for further two miles, they did not reach any city.

Again they asked the people there, 'How many more miles do we have to walk to reach the city?' Thev replied, 'If you walk two more miles, you will surely reach the city.'

After that they could not see any city even after walking further two miles. The chief disciple, Ananda could not bear this and became angry. He shouted with anger. 'What foolish people these are, without telling the correct distance, why are they annoying and deceiving us?' The other disciples agreed with Ananda.

But Buddha did not think so. He said, 'Without understanding them, why are you angry with those people? All the people from whom you have inquired about the path, have, in fact, showered their grace on you. The city is still very far away. The fact is that you have to walk many miles to reach it.

What will happen to all of us, if they tell us so? We will get upset and simply sit down here thinking 'so much more distance to walk'? We should not lose our enthusiasm.

Buddha told his disciples 'It is only because you have to surely reach your destination, the people have been saying every time that you would reach the city in a few miles.' The disciples became satisfied, having understood the reasons for the people's actions.

Many of us are also like the disciples of the Buddha.

A man, who does every thing hastily and without any enjoyment, behaves only like a machine. A man who eats a nice dinner in great hurry, does not even know whether the food requires some more salt, or it is sour, etc.

A man, who reads a collection of poems in great speed, horribly misses the beautiful lines of the poetry. The man, who walks hurriedly through the parks where there are plants in full bloom, badly misses the nature itself.

As the saying goes 'Haste makes waste.' Hasty people only embrace defeat instead of success, on many occasions. Watch carefully the 1000 meters running race on the T.V.

A person, who runs fast at the beginning of the race, will not usually run till the end. Even if one is running as a third person, if one decides to run slowly but steadily, that person will run fast in the end and win the race and get the prize.

The hurry and haste is only due to the abnormal desire and expectations.

Both restlessness and haste are the outcomes of intolerance.

Intolerance is the root of the tree of impatience.

Patience or tolerance is an important qualification essentially required at all stages of life, beginning from the ordinary actions of simple bargaining and even up to the holy and sacred actions of service and showing affection etc.

It is the concluded opinion of psychiatrists. that the root cause for many divorces is the intolerance to digest and bear the current problems and insults in life. This quality of tolerance in a man actually depends upon his quality of understanding.

Please do not understand this incorrectly. Do not think that tolerance means 'not showing any reaction at all to whatever anybody does, and to keep your feelings suppressed.'

The quality of tolerance is not suppression of feelings. It is a state of matured feeling.

Whenever our feelings happen to be very much disturbed, unable to bear the happenings outside, then, we should begin to turn inwards, asking why am I struggling so much? Why? Why?

Don't stop with just asking, 'Why? Why? If we begin to understand as to why we are losing our patience and tolerance, we will begin to understand the reasons for the irritations we get from external things. The struggling feelings inside us will begin to reduce. The more and more we are able to understand the value of tolerance, actually our tolerance will even begin to increase. Let's begin to understand.

Forgive and Forget

• • The one who is affected by our anger, The one who is benefited by our forgiveness,

• Both are only us, not the other person.

• • By continuously hurting our body and mind, through severe anger, we can waste our energy by scolding others and hating them for even small mistakes.

Who is affected more by this? Is it the man who is angry, or the other person who takes easily all our outpourings, which come out as a result of our intense anger?

• な If we forgive, the very next moment, our volcano of anger will cool down. Body and mind will become light. The wasting of energv due to anger will be saved. The time required for thinking how to take revenge will also be saved. The person who is benefited due to savings in energv and time is:

• Is it the forgiver? OR

• The forgiven?

A disciple came in search of a Sufi Master. He had come only to learn how to live life properly.

However, there were rays of anxiety on the disciple's face. His behavior showed the restlessness of his mind.

He opened the door of the Master's house with a big bang. With the same force, he closed the door.

He threw away the shoes he was wearing, into a corner. Due to these actions, he felt pacified a little and then silently sat as a good boy before the Master. Then he paid his respects to the Master.

But the Master did not accept his respects. He said, 'I will not accept your respects. First of all go and ask to be excused by both the shoes and the door and then come!'

The disciple could not understand what the Master said. He looked at the Master, wondering why he was blabbering so.

The disciple continued putting questions to the Master, thinking himself to be too clever and intelligent. He asked, 'How can I ask for an excuse from the shoes and the door? Are they living beings? Even if I ask to be excused by them, what can these things know?'

The Master did not become angry when he listened to him. "When you came with anger. You did not have the courage to show that to some people and became calm. So you showed it to the door and shoes. What wrong have the shoes and the door done to receive kicking and beatings from you?

You thought they were living things when you showed your anger toward them. But when it comes to asking to be excused by them, you call them inanimate objects.

How can I accept this? I cannot accept you as my disciple,' the Master said. The disciple hesitated to accept what the Master said. But he did not want to leave the Master. He felt there was some hidden message in the Master's words, beyond all these things.

He thought. 'The man whom I have approached now, is a slightly different type of person. There appears to be some truth in what he says. So, why not obey what he says?' and prepared to ask to be excused.

'Friends, don't think much of all my insults to you. Have a heart and excuse me,' the disciple asked politely and submissively.

The disciple did not, however, act with all his heart. As he was asking to be excused, there was only fun and a giggle in his tone.

In spite of it, after he finished asking to be excused, there was a change in the disciple's mind. He felt as though a big burden which was on his mind, had broken free and fallen away.

The disciple began thinking, 'I asked to be excused only in a playful (and not sincere) manner. Even for this, my mind has become so light. If I begin to ask with all sincerity and seriousness, how much more relief and peace might I get.' Now, again he asked to be excused by them one more time, sincerely and truly. He then felt a comfortable and nice feeling within himself.

From that day, he changed himself completely. We should also begin to forgive. We will blossom as new persons.

The mind which excuses is great. We need not fight to get such a mind. It is enough if we begin to see everything with compassion. The tendency to forgive will blossom by itself.

We may ask. 'Is that state of mind of forgiveness such an important one? Somebody makes a mistake. We get angry with him. Our anger does not decrease until we forgive him. In fact, anger will only be increasing day by day.

Too much anger will create problems in our body and mind. In the same way as a very small fire, which is formed in some corner of a house, gradually becomes bigger and ultimately consumes and destroys the house completely, the anger which is not under control will destroy us completely.

Only a mind which excuses has the capacity and strength to destroy this big fire.

'Do you know what sort of big mistakes you have made? But I have forgiven you. So I am great. You are nothing...... ' Don't commit another mistake by your thinking high about yourself. The worst type of pride and ego is only the thinking 'I am a very good person.'

So let us learn to forgive. Also learn to forget it immediately.

If we are not able to forget, then, that means we are only acting in the name of 'I have forgiven.' If the forgiving is total and wholehearted, simultaneously as the act of forgiving happens, forgetting will also happen.

• ❖ The secret of achievement lies hidden in these three words: Belief, morality, enthusiasm.
• • It is known to everyone that belief and enthusiasm are essential for achieving. But the fact that morality is also essential is not known to many.
• • Individual morality is one thing, Social morality is another.

This is an era of youngsters. It is only the voungsters who have the capacity and skill to lead the presentday society in the proper direction.

There was once a time when elders led the way for us. Some experienced middle-aged persons and some extraordinarily talented women have led us properly.

The time has come for them to move aside and give way to the youngsters. Reason: This era is for the youngsters.

I have been to the United States recently. I saw that the youngsters are not leading a good life. I could understand easily that they are heading toward a dangerous and confused state, as the institution of the family is disintegrating and they are without any control whatsoever.

But I was stunned to see the amount of confidence and belief these youngsters possess. They have the urge and fire in them. They also possess the clarity of mind as to how they have to shape up in the future, and also what are the steps to be taken for achieving those goals.

More than anything else, they possess the necessary belief. It will not be wasted. They also possess lots of confidence that they can do something very useful to themselves, as well as to their country.

As I observed the American youth keenly, immediately the thought about our youngsters came to my mind.

Our voungsters are really ideal in the matter of morality. For the entire world, if you have to search for guides in the field of morality, we could well send our youngsters for the task.

However .....morality alone will not give progress in life. I had the feeling of regret when I thought about the fact that our youngsters do not actually possess that much belief, perseverance and clarity of mind as possessed by the American and European youths.

Our present day youngsters do not possess the same amount of clarity of mind possessed by the youth during our independence struggle.

During each period of time in history, when the voungsters have some good quality, they are lacking in some other good quality.

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa moulded and shaped Vivekananda. In those days, Vivekananda could create thousands of Vivekanandas.

The brains of the modern day youngsters are blunt. We can see them rising only if their minds, which are at present distorted.

Disbelief exists in our youngsters to a somewhat great extent. There is no meaning at all to this disbelief. If we compare the environments in which the foreign youth are living to that of our youth, it has to be said that our vouth have much better. Whatever competition is existing in the West is not present here in the

East. The cultural collapse which is prevalent there, fortunately, does not exist here. It is really an unfathomable puzzle as to why we have to subject ourselves to so much disbelief, in spite of our having a nice and congenial atmosphere here.

The second deficiency which our youth possess is the absence of the enthusiasm to change the environment in which we live. They do not have the desire and ambition to become great scientists or big entrepreneurs.

They do not also think that they possess the required amount of energy.

However, as a matter of fact, our youth's minds do possess an abnormal amount of energy. If you were to show something as a symbol of the amount of our youth's energy, you would have to point to an ocean.

The minds of youth are as powerful as the depths of the ocean. Like the waves, whenever we perform each task, a little amount of energy leaves us.

Have we seen an end to the waves in the ocean? Have we seen an ocean completely dried up? Likewise, the energy you possess is never destructible at all.

Vivekananda once said, 'Give me a hundred youngsters. I will change Bharat.' The task of changing our country is fine. First of all, let us try to change ourselves.

Childhood is past. We cannot change it now. Old age is the future. If we want it to live in a particular age, youth is the present time. Let's not miss it.

There is morality in most of our youth. Particularly, individual morality is very present in some. The belief and enthusiasm which the foreign youngsters have, is wanting in our youngsters.

If morality, belief and enthusiasm are present, then, such a person's run for achievement will be similar to the steady running of a horse with proper blinders on its eyes. They can hit the target. They won't miss their way.

If a person possesses mere belief and enthusiasm and is devoid of morality, then it will rule and trouble the man like a wild horse. It will ultimately cause him to become like a very old horse. Only dullness will remain in his life.

How do we wish our running to be?

The run of an old horse?

The run of a winning horse in a race?

Decide yourself.

If morality, belief and enthusiasm are exhibited in abundance, success is for certain. Winning is sure. Succeed in life!

• • Many are attracted to a life of constant struggling with lots of quarrels, etc., rather than living a jovful life with a sense of awakening.
• It is rather strange!
• ☆ If we say, 'awaken', all of us know how to open our eyelids. The human mind will find it more difficult when it is explained that 'awakening' is not simply opening up our evelids.

The story which I am going to tell may already be known to many of you. We have lots of stories. We have also grown up listening to lots of stories. But it is only our misfortune that we have missed the messages and principles conveyed through them.

Every time I tell you a story, it is not for making you happy or to just entertain you. It is to make you understand the principles contained in it.

There was a very big lake by the side of a village. Due to continuous rains, it was full to the brim.

One day, before sunrise, a boatman came to the lake. His job was to take the people who wished to go to the adjacent town in his boat.

As he was walking along the lake's edge in the darkness before the sunrise, he felt a bundle on the path near his feet.

He was trying to find out what was in the bundle just by running his fingers over it. He felt as though there were some pebbles in the bundle. He lifted the bundle and put it near his boat by the lake. He continued in his thoughts while keeping his feet on the bundle.

There was a lot of time left before the sun would rise in the east. He took a stone from the bundle and threw it on to the water's surface. He heard a nice ringing sound.

As he had no other work to do, he continued throwing the stones in the water, one after the other.

After some time, the sun started slowly rising up in the east. Light started spreading everywhere. He had thrown all the stones from the bundle, except the last one.

He was surprised and shocked to see the last stone in the bright sun light. The boatman had just awakened to reality.

The stone he had in his hand was not an ordinary pebble: it was a costly gemstone!

Frustrated and upset very much. he cried. 'Alas! How have I wasted so many costly gem stones by throwing them away into the lake?'

We are also like this boatman. We are really wasting our lives.

A youngster who was born in a village was lamenting, 'Oh! What sin have I committed to have been born in a village?'

If the youngster had awakened, he could have given good education to the children of the village. He could have arranged for the road facilities there. He could have brought new small industries, etc. to the village and contributed for the economic development of it.

Even though there were so many opportunities for him, he wasted his life badly. That youngster had been thinking that if he lived in a city, he could progress well.

However, only the city youths know the various kinds of obstructions to progressing well in the city.

I say again and again.........

We have two fine legs. We waste them by not using them properly. We have two good hands. We also waste them by not using them in the proper way.

We waste our eyes. Why? We waste even our brains which perform with great efficiency.

The boatman in the above story was, in a way, a lucky man. He could see at least the last stone before also throwing it in the lake. He had the satisfaction, 'At least this one stone has remained. It is good that I have awakened.'

But many among us are not even as lucky as the boatman. Only after wasting our life in totality do we begin to realize the greatness of life.

It was enough for the boatman to have kept with him the last gemstone. With that he could have wealth sufficient for three generations to live. He need not worry about the wasted gemstones.

If you are asking how to spend the rest of your life usefully, whatever be your age, stop worrying about the life you may have wasted so far.

Bliss will begin to overflow. We will attain the basic qualification to enjoy the present as well as all our future births blissfully!

• • What we get on seeing a flower is attraction! What we get on seeing a beautiful art is attraction!

What we get on seeing a human body is also attraction.

What we get on seeing the qualities of a person is also an attraction.

Attraction + Lust = Infatuation.

Attraction + Affection = Love

Attraction + Respect = Friendship

• • When the feeling of attraction in the mind is mixed with a feeling of lust it becomes infatuation.
• • When the feeling of attraction in the mind is mixed with a feeling of affection it becomes love.
• • When the feeling of attraction in the mind is mixed with a feeling of respect it becomes friendship.

Love is a wonderful sense of feeling. You may be surprised whether a saint can speak about love at all.

I will tell you about an incident which happened in the life of Sri Ramanuja. This will give you clarification.

Ramanuja was a revolutionary saint. In those times, when suppressed people were not considered as human beings at all, it was Ramanuja, who got on top of the temple tower and proclaimed loudly, 'All men are embodiments of God. '

Ramanuja was a great Vedanthi (Exponent of all Vedas). He was very thorough with lots of philosophies. But, those who speak relentlessly about various philosophies do not possess a heart with soft feelings such as love etc.

Philosophers are those who give more importance to the brain than to the mind.

Ramanuja was not such a philosopher. The importance he gave to love and affection was unique and special.

Once, a middle-aged man came to see Ramanuja. He prostrated at the feet of Ramanuja and asked, 'Swami, I want to reach God, so teach me a way for that.'

Ramanuja asked him. 'Before I tell you the way to reach God, I want to ask you a question. Have you loved anybody? Have you shown a lot of affection towards anybody?'

The man asked Ramanuja angrily, 'What? Do you ask me whether I have loved anybody? I am a perfect bachelor. I will run away from girls as one runs away from diseased persons. That being the case, why do you ask me such a question?"

'That is all right. During any time in the past, was there a feeling of love in some corner of your mind?' asked Ramanuja.

'You are asking me the same thing again and again! I have come to you only to learn how to pray. Not for learning how to love.' He said again with anger.

From what you say. I find that you are a man, who cannot feel what is love and affection. How can I teach about the prayer to reach God, to a man who does not know how to love? It is not at all possible to know about praver for a man who does not know how to show affection.'

Affection and love are two other wonderful forms of prayer will be successful easily through love. Through that one can also reach God easily. But you don't possess that basic thing at all, learn to love the people. Afterwards you can think about reaching God.' So saying Ramanuja sent him away.

After Ramanuja has explained about the greatness of love and affection so easily, who can raise his voice against it at all?

The best way to rule and control our ego is only love. Between two lovers who have intensed and merged in each other at the being level, the question whether 'you are important' or 'I am important' does not at all arise. We enter into a dark room with two lit candles.

The light which emanates from the candles floods the room with bright light. Is it possible to divide and measure the brightness and say this much of light is coming from one candle and this much from the other?

Love is also such a thing which cannot be divided and measured. Even then, each one will, at the same time, preserve and retain its own individualities. For a river to flow, surely two banks are required on both the sides. Can the river flow with only one bank on its side? These two banks are the two lovers. The river which flows in between these two banks is the love which blossoms between the two lovers.

Though the two banks appear to us as two separate entities, they are actually united under the water. Lovers are also like that.

Do not mix up the sacred feeling of love with feelings of lust and infatuation, etc. Infatuation is only one aspect of love. Infatuation is connected with the body only.

Love is not one of robbing and ruining others. Infatuation is, in the name of mutuality, deceiving each other. It is only for this reason there is absolutely no feeling of closeness and a sense of security between two persons who are attracted to each other merely by infatuation. That is why they drift apart.

What comes at a very young age is just bodily infatuation. It is misunderstood as love.

Giving importance to this sort of confusing feelings will only lead to unnecessary, complicated problems. So, in the matter of love, one has to be very careful.

Reason: At the age of youth, when there will be changes in the levels of hormones, it is rather difficult to differentiate between true love and infatuation. If it is self who has fallen in love, due to the presence of ego, the mind will assert and emphatically say it is true love. Youth and immaturity will cause this.

If one possesses a very large amount of awareness as well as intelligence, it will be possible to distinguish between love and infatuation.

In this manner, when we indicate our relationships as the best ones, there is no harm pointing them out as good friends. In all relationships, when friendship blossoms in them, they attain completeness.

Start traveling from love towards real affection!

• The permanent peaceful state we possess within us is - Equanimity.
• Equanimity The spokesman who releases the news that we are in perfect health.
• Equanimity The symbol of a spiritual person.

Equanimity - If we possess it, we are the prime minister of our house.

• If we are able to handle anger, that is equanimity. If anger handles us, it is lack of equanimity.

• Handling anger as a mere energy to be used only at the time of necessity, is the first step towards equanimity. I will tell you a story of a Buddhist monk. Listen.

That Buddhist monk received an unexpected invitation. The person who gave the invitation was a prostitute. She blocked his way and asked the monk in her own begging and seductive manner, 'You must stay in my house for the entire rainy season."

Nobody can think, even in a dream, of a monk receiving such an invitation.

A monk is a man who has detached himself from the grips of all feelings and from the dragnet of sexual pleasures (not by running away from all this), and has approached the next step in life with equanimity. Such monks will never get disturbed under any type of circumstances and environment. Their equanimity will help them celebrate all types of circumstances in totality.

The lotus which enjoys its coolness and presence of water. under any circumstances, will not stick to the water. Even if the water tries, it cannot stick to the lotus. A lotus will remain as a lotus.

A true monk will be only like this. Whether a person is living with the society or in a palace, because he remains independent and is with tranquility, whoever he is really a monk! A saint!

With a smile the monk said, 'If your invitation is true and sincere, certainly I will come.'

The prostitute was shocked to hear this, since she had asked the monk playfully as she had thought that the monk would ask her, 'What question did you ask? Are you in your normal senses to know that you are asking this question to whom? Are not the sins committed by you so far not enough and hence started to spoil the monks also?' She had thought that she could enjoy all this and have a hearty laugh.

Without showing her surprise and shock, she said, 'Hmm… Yes, I am inviting you sincerely and truly.'

The monk said, 'I will come, but after getting the permission from the Buddha, I will come. Until then, you have to wait.'

She said, 'Oh, yes. I will surely wait.'

She also said, 'After you have promised to come, is Buddha's permission necessary?'

The monk said, 'The promise I gave that I will come, is the experiential clarity I had from my equanimity; asking for permission is my duty. '

Next day, after the Buddha's discourse was over, the monk told the Buddha, 'On my way, one prostitute blocked my way and invited me to come and stay in her mansion for the entire rainy season.'

The Buddha said, 'Why are you asking my permission for such things? If one is disturbed by an ordinary woman like a prostitute, he cannot be a true monk. '

A true monk cannot be disturbed by any woman.

'Without getting disturbed and waiting only for my permission, you are a true saint. You can go boldly. For you, a prostitute's mansion and a monastery are same. Take rest for the entire rainy season and return.'

The monk went to the prostitute's house. The prostitute received him with love and affection and served him to her heart's content. Each day she celebrated differently. She utilized all her known ways with a variety of dress, foods and celebrations, etc. She started slowly shivering mentally. Because, by this time an average man would have become a slave to her, but this monk was always remaining with a clear mind under all circumstances. The prostitute could not shake even a little, the peace and tranquility in him. The question started arising in her mind as to how it was possible for this monk to remain calm and composed even when whatever happens.

One morning, the prostitute was holding his feet and crying.

The monk asked. 'Oh girl, why are you crying?' She replied. 'I cannot act any further. How is it possible for you to remain peaceful and calm? I want to know the secret immediately?' she asked begging.

The monk replied. 'It is very easy.'

'Firstly, find out how much you are disturbed and also find out how much mental balance you have. Half the problem will be solved.

Secondly, whenever vou feel disturbed, be with awareness. Be fully aware as to how much you are disturbed, how you are disturbed and what for you are disturbed. If you continue to remain with your awareness or in an awakened state, a change will happen within you.' the monk said.

The prostitute utilized the teachings of the monk in her day to day life. As she continued to use them, she realized that gradually equanimity was flowering in her.

What a surprise! After a month, when the rainy season was over and the monk started to leave saying, 'Good-bye' to her ......She said very calmly and with equanimity, 'Please take me also to the Buddha. I also want to become a monk.' Equanimity is real peace, equanimity is real independence. Equanimity is real tranquility. To enter from 'lack of equanimity' to 'equanimity', it is enough if you have the visa of 'Awareness.' You will reach equanimity.

As you have realized the value of equanimity, you will be eagerly awaiting to get equanimity.

Equanimity is O.K. What does 'lack of equanimity' mean?

How to reach 'equanimity,' from 'lack of equanimity?'

Is 'lack of equanimity' vacillation?

If you want to get answers for such questions arising in you, read the topic 'Lack of Equanimity.'

• Anger and outpourings are external indications of the presence of 'lack of equanimity'.
• Feeling of struggle is an internal indication of the the presence of "lack of equanimity".
• At the time of anger, outbursts and struggles, being fullv aware of it is being with awareness.

All our anger is childish. It is an indisputable fact.

Anger is not under our control. We are under the control of anger.

We become angry for very small matters, such as for changes happening outside, some wrong behaviors in relationships and for things not turning out as expected.

The small changes which occur outside us only cause us to lose our tempers and to lose our balance. This upsets our equanimity; creates lack of equanimity. Enlightened state is only that of remaining with equanimity and wholly within you at all times and under all circumstances. The Hasid enlightened Master Ju-Malki is one such person.

The news spread like wild fire that disciples of Ju-Malki are all joyful and many of them have already become enlightened.

One Negam C belonged to such a group of people, who, while remaining in the hurry-burry way of life, wished to get enlightened immediately just like that.

One day, Negam C came to Ju-Malki and asked him, 'I need enlightenment very urgently. Can you get it inside me immediately?'

Ju-Malki asked Negam C. 'Why are you in so much of a hurry? Why do you want to get enlightened so hurriedly?'

Negam C said. 'I have started a new business with huge capital. I don't possess the maturity to manage the business. Moreover, the health of my father, who was of great help and support to me, is also

deteriorating. Hence. I should get enlightenment as soon as possible. Then I can live with equanimity. Please tell me very early a method for me to get enlightenment."

Ju-Malki, with an unchanging smile, looked at him, surveyed him and said, 'At least twelve months will be required.'

Negam C begged of him, 'I will do whatever you say. Whatever severe penance and meditation you want me to do. I will do so. Kindly make early arrangements for me to get enlightenment."

Ju-Malki said. 'If you have this much of haste and disturbance inside you, you will have to strive and work hard at least for five or six years. '

Negam C could not accept such a sort of reply. He was angry that this man was not able to realize his position and also his urgency.

But Ju-Malki did not bother about this and again said calmly, 'If you are so disturbed inside and feel so much urgency, then it is rather difficult. Even in your imagination, you cannot experience equanimity and enlightenment unless you are on the path of spirituality for at least ten or fifteen years.

Negam got utterly confused. He asked, much perturbed, 'Then, what am I to do?'

Ju-Malki, with all his grace, said, 'My intention is not to injure your feelings. I spoke like this only to make you understand the truth.

You must understand one thing deeply. To whatever extent there is urgency and hurry, to the same extent there will be anger and bad temper. Depending upon the amount of anger and bad temper, equanimity will be affected giving rise to lack of equanimity.

Stop this hurry and look at yourself inwardly. Haste will be lessened. Until then, don't even come near me.' So saying, he sent him out. With uncontrollable anger, Negam exited from there.

It will be known to what extent our equanimity has become polluted and turned as lack of equanimity.

Have you found out the faults? If the answer is 'yes', it means you have taken the step towards equanimity for yourself. Yes, one should really have an open mind to accept that there is struggle going on within you.

Even beyond this, if we have found out the nature and quality of the struggles inside us, then, know for sure, that we have begun our walk from lack of equanimity towards total equanimity.

Finding out the struggles is equivalent to discovering that bridge. Overcome the struggles. Equanimity, which is devoid of all sorts of struggles, is waiting within us.

The easy way to overcome all the struggles is to enter into the struggle with courage and the awareness to accomplish that, no matter what happens.

Begin right from this moment, to enter into the lack of equanimity and begin the travel toward a state of total equanimity.

If we get equanimity, we can also become Ju-Malki. We will be able to shower equanimity as a gift to ourselves and also to the world.

If we continue to live with lack of equanimity, as the enlightened Master said to Negam C. our own lack of equanimity will appear too much for us and we will pity ourselves and also make others pitiful and lose our peace of mind. Ponder. Walk towards equanimity.

• True saints are not made, they are born.
• One who does not utilize his youthfulness in his youth stage is only an 'old man' in the garb of 'youth'
• な The juicy part of life is the youth! It has happened that 'youth' has become a burden filled time of life due to education. work and fear about the future.

Those who see me, ask, sainthood at this age? Or renunciation in youth?

Once I was speaking in a meeting. It was question and answer time. A well-learned pundit asked about 'Varnashrama Dharma'. He tried to corner me by saying, 'At a time when you should be a Grahastha (householder), you are in Sanyasa (renunciate).

I told him, 'At a time when you have to be in 'Vanaprastha', having renounced all attachments though still outwardly in the family life, how is that you are still a 'Grahastha'. He could not give any answer for that and simply sat down.

It is not possible for all to become monks. So some people like me, become monks and we are blissful and also show the path for others to become blissful. It is a social necessity, God's will.

In our history, when the war happened between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, many small kings joined sides with one side or the other. However, in Tamilnadu, one king by the name of Perunchotru Udiyalathan, did not join any side. He concentrated only on food production, thinking, 'if all go for the war, who will make the people work on the fields? Who will contribute for food grains production? Like Perunchotru Udivalathan, at least one or two persons have to share their wisdom with others.

What is not possible at the stage of youth will not be at the old age either! This is true as far as average people are concerned. There are people who have become rich and who have reached good positions in their old ages too!

Generally, the seeds of success which we attain later on, are actually planned during youth. Youth is the essence of life. Unless this is crushed and extracted and offered, great heights cannot be reached.

It is only the dedication formed in the youth which later transforms to wisdom, riches or positions of power. There are people, who. in their youth, kept themselves aloof from the general flowing of the world and attained enlightenment due to their intense penance.

In some cases, God Himself has showered His full grace and made them godly in their very young ages. But, even for such a thing to happen, an urge and search should have been there before that or even in their earlier births.

It is said, that when the great saint Thirugnanasambanthar, after suckling from the Goddess Parvathi, sat by the side of Thoniappar temple tank in Sirkali and sang the song, "Thodudaiya seviyan" he was said to be only three or five years old.

In our history, people like Adi Sankara and Vivekananda kept themselves aloof from the world in their youth and then fulfilled their aims for coming into this world.

To become a saint, such a sort of courage is required, which is not possessed even by warrior wins over others. A saint wins over himself. So, all cannot become saints.

Just because the seed looks small and tiny, we should not come to the decisive conclusion that a banyan tree is not contained in it. A poet 'Allama Iqbal' says beautifully:

'O crescent moon, don't feel sad, Full moon is buried inside you. '

So, the field for success is only youth. Is there not some age limit for persons who play cricket? The mind may be still young. But it is not compulsory for the body to cooperate at an old age. So it is better to start the achievements during the stage of youth.

All of us who are in the present worldly life can become saints. How? Ramakrishna Paramahamsa tells a beautiful story.

'There was a servant maid working in a rich man's house. She used to care for the sons of the rich man, using such words as Hari and Rama. But she would be only thinking of her own children who were in her hometown, who were suffering in utter poverty, and who were always thinking about her dearly.

In the same way, though, we are in this world and we must be thinking of God. For, whatever we are offering in our youth, we will receive the same thing as a gift in our later life.

Not only youngsters, but everyone should understand one important matter. There are not two types of lifestyles named "spiritual life" and 'ordinary life."

Spiritual life means blissful life. After man began to realize that his life was not joyful due to self-pity, the title created by him to somehow convince others is 'ordinary life.'

All of us want to reach the peak of joy. But we toil like a bull all the way, and in the way we prefer, to enjoy things such as love, name and fame, money, power, etc.

Right from the Buddha up to Ramana Maharishi, who had reached the peak of sense pleasures and even gone beyond, have been saying in various languages, that the joy which we are searching cannot be obtained from outside.

There is nothing wrong at all in our enjoying the 'sense pleasures' by the use of our five senses. However, having the required amount of energy and intelligence, if we begin by searching for pleasure and satisfaction, then the problem starts.

Meditation will create the necessary 'energy' to enjov life fully. Wisdom teachings will greatly help to obtain the 'understanding capacity' to know the world and understand the people and help them to live with equanimity.

Meditation and wisdom are very essential, more for the youth who is eager to enjoy every atom of life than for an old man who has missed enjoying the life.

Master? Or disciple?

な Come!

Come near!

Come near me!

Come and merge with me!

Come so that I become you and you become me! - In this state, the atma (soul) within you is ever waiting for you. To accept the invitation or reject it, is in your hands.

❖ A Master's job is to help you and enable you to turn back and see the soul which is waiting for you and to make you merge with your soul.

I was in a discussion with some college students in Salem. Then, suddenly a youngster rose up and started asking some questions. His aim was to corner me by asking some question. I understood his intention as soon as I watched the manner in which he rose up and asked the question.

The question that the youngster asked me was this: 'Have you seen God?'

Laughingly I asked him. 'Are you asking me in the same way Vivekananda asked Ramakrishna?''

The youngster replied, 'Yes.'

'When Vivekananda asked Ramakrishna whether he had seen God, Ramakrishna told him, 'I have seen. I can show you also. If you want to see God. follow me.' Ramakrishna had said.

Without having any doubt about the words of the Master, Vivekananda simply followed him.

There was a ray of pride along with a smile on the face of that student with the thought, 'Oh, see, what sort of sensational question I have asked!', until I told him, 'I have seen God. With these two eyes and even beyond that, I have seen God, enjoyed and also became enlightened.'

But the youngster was shaken somewhat for the next question I asked him. 'Come with me. I will show you God. Are you ready to come?' His pride gave way and he became confused. Unable to bear the shock, he went away and merged with the crowd and ultimately disappeared.

All of us are again and again examining the capacity, maturity and wisdom of those persons around us. The doubt we have about the Master only makes us test him again. But we never even once test or analyze our own capacity or maturity. When we worry so much about the dirt on the back of others, we never bother about the glaring dirt present on our own face.

When we search for a capable Master, we do not remain as a deserving disciple. Leave aside your attempts at assessing the grades of your Master and try to observe your own true colors. Utilize them. There will be benefits. When we really change as a deserving disciple, God must and will surely send a competent and able Master to us. He will send him for certain.

Thousands of people had seen Ramakrishna when he was alive. But only a few hundred had realized his true greatness and powers and also felt that he was a form of God.

Only matured disciples can know and understand fully their Master. So, it is enough if our whole attention is concentrated on enriching our maturity. A Master will appear and reach us by himself.

The student who asked me 'Have you seen God?' had, in their hearts, no real intention or thought about knowing God.

Nowadays, there are many in number, who, after reading one or two books on spirituality, and without any real urge or sincerity about searching for God, just wish to show others their own expertise and knowledge of these matters. It is sad that the number of such people is increasing day by day. If God is to be seen, very many great sacrifices have to be made. God is not just instant coffee or tea to come to the table as soon as you pay some money for it.

It is important, before testing the capacity of a good Master, to test and examine whether we are really true and good disciples. If you are a good disciple, even a stone will become God and show you the path of light in your life. Otherwise, even if God appears in person, we will ask him, 'From where are you coming? Show me your identity card. What is the proof you have for me to believe that you are God.' God is one who is within ourselves and not outside.

We need not worry too much about the Master. Our sincerity and earnestness itself will show us the way to God. Because God is sincerity personified. If we search with all our hearts, we will get what we search for.

If we have decided wholeheartedly to lead a blissful life, even if we don't go in search of him, Master will come in search of us. The surprising thing in this is, if we make a decision wholeheartedly, we cannot just sit and relax and waste our time, even for a minute.

Our decision will change the end of our life altogether. Take the decision. The solution, God Himself will look after!

Don't Believe the Enlightened Masters!

• ❖ If you believe, believe 100%, fully. If you can't believe, don't believe 100% the teachings of the Masters.
• ☆ All the wise teachings about wisdom are all applicable to all times without any change.
• ❖ If you believe only some of the truths of the enlightened Masters:
• 1. When we take only such things which suit our pride and ego, we are only feeding our pride and ego nicely.
• 2. Reason: Whatever truths a Master may say, we will understand them only depending on our mental attitudes and views and accept them only as some ideas of the mind.
• 3. When we believe the truths given by a Master only partially, deficiencies of our mind will begin to appear as efficiencies of our mind. Ego will become alive.
• 4. Only if we believe the words of the Master in totality, truths will reach us as truths. Otherwise, truth will enter in us as mere idea and opinion.
• 5. Enlightened Masters are not needed just to get some mental ideas and nourish our ego. Some low quality book available on the streets are enough. The speeches of some low-grade speakers are sufficient.
• 6. If we believe the truths fully and totally only, it can effect useful and nice changes within us.

Do you know about Sufis? Like our Siddhas, they go to various places, like vagabonds, in search of wisdom. They spread the wisdom they have to others.

There lived in a city called Pistan, a Suff saint named Bayasid. He was the most famous amongst the Suff saints.

One day, the king of that country wanted to become a disciple of Bayasid. The king himself came personally and asked for permission. When the king himself is asking, who can refuse it?

The Sufi saint knew the fact that the king had absolutely no fitness or qualification of any kind to become a disciple. But how could he say that to the king?

That Sufi saint decided, instead of directly conveying the king's unsuitability, he could make him understand through some incident.

'Oh King! There is no dearth of saints in this country. When so many are loitering everywhere with locks of hair and beards, why did you come in search of me? I am a very ordinary person,' said the Sufi saint.

'Oh saint! I have heard that you are a very nice person. That is why I came in search of you,' said the king.

'Observe me keenly. Then come to a conclusion,' said the Sufi saint.

After some days, the king went to the forest for hunting. There he saw Bayasid sitting on the banks of a small lake.

It was all right if Bayasid was sitting alone. But there was another girl with him. She was also pouring some thing in a tumbler and giving it to him. What was it?

The king got confused. 'Aha! I was thinking about him as a very big, enlightened man! He is enjoying beside the lake with a girl! It is good, that now at least I am about him by seeing personally myself! After this, I should not become his disciple,' the king decided.

But what happened really? The girl who was with the saint was his own sister. What she poured into the tumbler and gave him was merely water!

After having come near the saint, and after understanding the king begged him, 'Oh Master, in a haste I have misunderstood you. You kindly accept me as a disciple.'

The saint sent him away saying, 'You have absolutely no fitness to become a disciple.'

Why this story? It is only to show that where we have to act with total belief we should not be going on doing some research wrongly.

To raise questions like 'why' and 'what for' is no doubt a basic thing for knowledge. For that purpose, if we are going on raising questions for any thing and everything, the belief in us will get exhausted and we will become like a desert.

Are you asking, 'Mere belief, will it not push us into ignorance? If you do not ask questions, then how do we know the facts? What information you know about this universe, is what you have seen through your physical (mental) eyes.

Beyond our normal physical eyes, begin to see with our being). We will wonder, seeing the vastness of the universe. The universe itself will appear to be a puzzle.

The same way, as this universe is full of puzzles, so are our minds, lockers full of puzzles. Start traveling in your mind.

Only the truths we know about our mind are permanent. All others are temporary in nature. He is a fool who loses the permanent ones to obtain temporary ones.

Believe! Believe!! Believe!!! Belief only is life! Belief only is everything!

Otherwise, don't believe.

Believing partially, understanding partially, 'That Master will talk like this. Of all the statements he made, only this is right and I like it. He is a wise man, all right. But for that reason, can we accept what all he says? What that Master is trying to tell us through that is?' In this way, if you speak some useless philosophy and if somebody listens to you, and thinks, 'Oh, it is because of that Master this man has begun talking like a lunatic,' in this way we should not be instrumental for others to lose a real enlightened Master.

If we believe, we must believe 100%, totally. We will not be talking uselessly. We will begin to stride towards success.

❖ To talk proudly about loving the world is very easy. But loving only one person truly and wholly is equivalent to trekking to reach the summit of the Himalayas.

• ❖ How we move with others, will reveal how we are with ourselves.
• ❖ A person who respects his own body, mind and life force, can only respect others wholly.
• ❖ A person who respects his own body, mind and life force half-heartedly, will respect others only in the same manner.
• ❖ It is a horrible pity that behaving normally with others has become an extraordinary matter.
• ❖ It is difficult to think about happiness even in imagination as long as we live in a narrow circle of 'Me, me, mine, mine.'
• • Dharma: All actions that give happiness to oneself as well as others is Dharma.
• • Adharma: All actions that give troubles to ourselves as well as others is Adharma.
• ❖ There is no need to be born as man if one remains confined to himself and his own affairs. Already animals remain in that state.

Human relationships are very wonderful. Joy-giving ones.

Those who behave in a very pleasant and congenial manner with the surrounding persons, turn out to be great successful persons.

For those who are ever ready to quarrel for anything and everything, for example, problems with the neighbor, fighting with the co-passenger on the bus, fighting with the other department people in the same office, etc.; what remains at the end is only defeat and restlessness.

There is always a special value for an introduction. You buy a new flat and start living in it. The person already residing there looks upon you as an enemy. If you also behave in a similar fashion, a good relationship, will not flourish. Only quarrels will remain.

After occupying the house, a few days later, on a holiday, go with your family and say, 'My name is Ramaseshan; I have come newly to this flat. She is my wife. She is my daughter. You come to our flat one day.' In this manner, you invite them. Then you watch how the flat owners behave toward you with love and affection.

We may wonder as to how to introduce ourselves to strangers. If we begin by giving importance to some questions, no work will be done properly. Moreover, we can introduce ourselves only to the strangers and there will be no need to get introduced to those already known to us.

Once, George Bernard Shaw was out walking. He came upon a person who had just occupied his newly built house and was watering his plants in his garden.

George Bernard Shaw asked him, 'How are you?'

The man, who was watering his plants, got angry. 'Who are you? I have not seen you before at all.' So saying, he angrily went away.

Next day also the same man was watering the plants in his garden. George Bernard Shaw did not hesitate. When he asked 'Hello, how are you? Yesterday we got introduced to each other. Do you remember?' that man, who had come to the new house, had no choice but to extended his hand in friendship to Mr. Shaw, to greet him.

If we learn to move with people pleasantly, we can pacify even those persons of a shouting nature.

We should not take human relationships lightly. We should behave in such a manner that if somebody comes to our house, our presence is felt.

This is not a matter of pride. It is a wrong thing which hides our greatness.

Mingle with people with truth and sincerity without any expectations such as: 'What benefit will I get by moving cordially with my neighbour? What help he will do to me if I just enquire about the welfare of the people in the opposite house?'

Our pleasant approach will shower joy for others and gentleness to us.

By our joyful dealings, let us shower happiness profusely on others and experience peace within ourselves.

• • Children need not be brought up; they just grow up.

• The greatest gift by the parents to the children is that, in the name of bringing them up, they neither change the direction of their children's growth nor hinder the progress of their growth.

• Instead of claiming it as a right: "This is my child," and making the child as a possession, value the child as a life which has made you father/mother. Then the child will be seen as God.

• We should realize that mere giving food, clothes and protection; scolding them sometimes and cuddling them at other times, is not 'bringing up.'

• Punishing a child is not 100 % wrong; pampering a child is also not 100 % correct.

• Spoiling a child in the name of bringing her/him up or failing to bring up the child to avoid spoiling the child - both are 100 % wrong.

• • First of all, start finding out the deficiencies in your behavioral patterns and correct them as early as possible; secondly, find out the wrongs being done by average parents in the name of bringing up the children. You grow to make your children grow. Both are 100 % correct. Children are gods, since the divine qualities of innocent smile and clarity in the eyes are always present in children.

Children do not act from their heads.

• Since children act (till they are seven) from their hearts, their power of grasping will be total. Whatever they have seen or known, whether right or wrong, will get registered in them as it is. They themselves will become those imprints. The experiences one gets in his tender ages determine the basic qualities of a person. Some people ask me whether bad people become so due to being brought up badly in their childhood. It cannot be said that there is always some thing wrong in the methods of upbringing. The mistake lies always in the lack of maturity in those who bring up the child.

Even though there may be differences in the maturity levels of those who bring up the children, we cannot find fault with the methods as they do have the desire, sincerity, love and affection to see that their children grow up well.

A man who is fully mature cannot bring up a child in a wrong way. In the same way, a parent, without adequate amount of maturity and with average feelings of hatred, irritation, envy, grief etc., however much they read or listen about child-rearing methods, cannot bring up the child properly.

Children do not observe our words or our expectations, since these are related to the mind. Children wholly absorb only our facial expressions and our feelings, because these are related to the heart.

• Mostly, people live their lives with a masked face. They have to hide their real feelings, desires and anger for various reasons and act as per the demands of the circumstances. As they have practiced living this sort of double lives, they almost forget how to live with their heart and soul and with real feelings.
• Like cotton, the children's minds absorb the colors we exhibit and give. This is an intricate truth. If a child grows always seeing quarrelling parents, it will get ingrained in the child's mind that quarrelling is a part of life. The seed of confusion and fear is sown in its tender mind. Such children grow up to become angry men and rebels.
• If a child grows up seeing their parents live without any quarrels, loving, caring for each other, it will then get implanted in such a child's mind that love, helping others, etc. are all part of life, a way of life.

For a mind which has been planted with the feelings of love, culture and similar good things, aggression, anger, fight, harming others, etc. will appear as poison.

The child growing under the care of the first type of parents, to become a 'good', 'loving', and 'cultured' child, lots of efforts are required.

However, the child who grows under the care of the second type of parents need not take any special efforts at all to become a good, loving and cultured adult. These things will come naturally for that child.

Poor children! Children are gods; nobody refutes it. But until the child becomes a grown up, you, the mother or the father, is their Guru and God.

The child sees God and the world only through us. Our small mistakes and our immaturity will all add up to poisoning the child's tender mind. They will not even be aware that they are absorbing poison (for their qualities of mind, and in regard to money). They entirely believe us, so try to feed them with nectar.

Our mature mind is that nectar. In addition to accumulating wealth, we also acquire good culture. Besides gathering name and fame. let's acquire clarity of mind. Instead of learning methods of bringing up children, strive to learn the methods of growing up ourselves, which is of paramount importance.

Learn to learn

• Every sudden turning point of our life is waiting with lessons we have to necessarily learn :
• Every incident in our life: Veda.
• Every person we come across: Teacher.
• Every moment of our life: Meditation.
• • The main reason for all our troubles is only our failure to learn whatever we had to learn when required.
• First, I will tell you a story. There was a religious preacher by name Abichithananda. He was very famous for his spiritual lectures. Thousands of people would listen to his lectures with rapt attention when he talked about Ramayana and Bhagavad Gita. That preacher, who was above sixty years of age, got a doubt suddenly one day.

His doubt was: 'Have I completed the task for which I have taken birth in this world?'

Always contemplating on that, he roamed about here and there without peace of mind. He consulted right from the doctors to great enlightened Masters in search of a solution. It was of no use.

In that same place there was a Christian Father, whom many people approached with their problems and received solutions. Some people told the preacher. 'If you approach him, you may get an answer to your question.'

• Thinking 'What is the Father going to say? He will give me a Bible and ask me to read. Anyway, let me go and see him,' he started out. After listening silently to Abichithananda, the Father took out a book.
• The Father said to him: 'Oh friend! There are answers in this book for whatever questions you ask. If you read this, you will realize yourself.' He gave him the book. The book he gave was not the Bible. It was Bhagavad Gita.
• Abichithananda was disappointed. He asked, 'For the last 30 years, my job was to deliver lectures on Bhagavad-Gita. You are asking me to read Bhagavad Gita myself."
• Abichithananda was shocked when the Father said, 'It is all right that you read Bhagavad Gita for thirty years. But you have read it only for others. Now read it for your own sake. You will get answers to your questions.'
• We also suffer on various occasions the same faults that Abichithananda did. We do not observe either from the incidents that happen in our lives or when we read good books, as to what they tell us. Whatever we have grasped from the good books or from our life experiences, we use them only to brag about ourselves, and we forget about trying to realize our true selves.
• If some one tells us about charity, instead of thinking what we have donated ourselves, we start lamenting 'Oh, my neighbor is a great miser. When approached for Murugan temple Kumbabhishekam,( a Vedic ritual) he gave just ten rupees and left it at that.'
• In this world, however small a matter may be, learn from whatever it teaches. In this way, we can make ourselves grow and progress in life. Each and every incident in life contains great secrets. This truth will be known to us only when we begin respecting other people and life fully.
• Learning to learn is only learning to respect other people and also life. After we have learned fully to respect, we will find that the teacher, the Vedas and meditation; all these exist around us. Learn to learn the secrets of life. Begin to respect the world and the relationships. Truths will begin to be revealed.

• • Have belief in whatever work you start to do; life will help that belief.
• • 'My name is xy/xx.

I am a man, woman. My family, my job is thus. My life's aim is this. I am physically, mentally all right.'

Based on such beliefs man is able to live with a clear state of mind.

It is only the confusion in these beliefs which spoil the mind of man and make him become mad.

If such beliefs disappear from the mind and life leaves the body simultaneously, then the man dies.

• • The quality of our life depends upon the quality of our beliefs. For some of us, we want everything to happen immediately. Such things can happen only in the story of Aladdin and the wonderful lamp. But life is not a story, nor is it a cinema. To achieve success in life, we have to wait.

So much revolution has occurred in agriculture. Still, we have to wait for about three months for the paddy to grow and be ready for harvest. Likewise, we will have to wait for about nine months and a few days for a child to grow and be born after it is formed in the mother's womb.

Ernest Hemingway was a Nobel Laureate. He won the Nobel Prize for his book, "The Old Man and the Sea.' The old man in this novel is belief personified. The basis of belief is patience. If a man has no patience, first of all, his belief is put to test.

Belief is life. Have belief. Believe in yourself. In whatever you believe, you become that. There are lives which die due to ordinary bacteria. There are also people who have bullets in their chests and still carry on their lives! The only difference existing between life and death is belief.

A small story: A deep ocean. There was a mountain in its middle. In a crevice on the top of the mountain a bird had built a nest and there were a few hatchlings in that nest. One morning the bird had flown out of the nest to fetch food for its young ones, but it did not return for a long time.

The young birds became very hungry. There was hot sun on one side and there were huge waves rising below from the sea.

'I am going to jump down below,' said one hatchling. 'If you jump, you are sure to die by drowning in the sea,' said the other young bird.

After hesitating for a while, the first bird gained some courage and simply jumped down into the sea water below. Only after jumping, did it come to know that it is impossible for it to get drowned in the sea (because of its very light weight).

It was nicely floating on the surface of the water and picked up some small fish and ate them. On seeing this, the other hatchlings also jumped out and fell into the sea. They came to know that they could only float on the surface of water and could never get drowned.

In this story, if only the first hatchling had not had the belief, then that one as well as others in that nest would have died due to hunger. It is only belief which made them survive.

There is no harm if belief is born out of knowledge. But if belief is born out of heart, then it is rewarded immediately. Mere knowledge questions every thing; it won't believe anything. There is no harm in questioning. But life should not be with questions alone.

Every man sees other men die. Still he carries on his life as though death will never happen to him. Even though this is a wrong belief this belief only remains as a driving force for a man to carry on with his life.

Why does a man patiently wait for a long time after throwing away his fishing hook in a big lake? Who will go near the lakeside if disbelief comes to him that he can't catch any fish with his fishing equipment? The basic stepping stones for success are: waiting for something to happen with due belief; planning, working hard, wisely, etc.

Man does not live simply by breathing air: he lives because he breathes belief also. If the air we breathe is polluted, deterioration of our health is for sure. Likewise, if our belief is polluted, deterioration of our life is also for sure.

It is only one's wrong belief which hurts him, causing an inferiority complex by thinking 'I am bad.' It is also one's wrong belief which causes superiority complex by thinking 'I am big.'

One's belief is the very basis and an axle for the functioning of his behavioral nature and mental set up. If there happens to be a defect in this axle of belief, then the movement of the wheel of life gets affected and the man begins to struggle.

The functioning of his mind and the revealing of his nature, which are formed entirely due to the pollution of the mind for reasons of: believing the imaginary as real, false as truth, wrong as right; all these depend upon the extent to which the belief is polluted.

Only depending on these, it will be decided whether the movement of the wheel of life is one of enthusiasm or one full of inward grief.

If we recognize the wrongs and understand them correctly, all pollution surrounding the belief will simply vanish. Solutions to life's problems can be obtained.

The quality of our belief decides whether our life is good, or problematic, or solved. We need to make our beliefs rich and fertile, and then our life will also be enriched!

• • False belief is a HIV virus (Happiness Insufficiency Virus) which has entered our minds. It will spoil peace of mind and decrease happiness.

Belief is very essential for a man to live. One's life will depend upon the nature of belief of that person. Beliefs are of various kinds, lack of faith, blind belief, false belief, belief due to fear, fear due to desires, etc.

Everybody is trying to keep the wheel of life moving, having some of these beliefs as the axle.

Have you ever thought about how such a huge elephant is controlled by such a small chain in a circus? If the elephant could think about it then it could easily run away, breaking that chain tied to just one of its legs, as if it were a weak thread. Yet it never happens. It is only due to the deep-rooted messages in its mind.

When the elephant is very young, they will tie its leg with a chain. Instinctively it will try to go about here and there to play. Being very young, it will not have enough strength to do so. The fact that it cannot break the chain is natural for the young elephant. The message that it cannot break the chain and run away gets deeply implanted in its brain. The elephant does not know that it can break the chain and go away.

Even after it has grown up, the elephant never gets the thought that it can now snap the chain and run away freely.

Truth is always truth whether one knows it or not, whether one understands it or not.

Like this elephant, many of us, when we were young, we may have faced some small or even big failures, due to our incapacity or due to then prevailing circumstances. But those failures are not the end.

Those unfortunate failures get implanted deeply in our minds. If a person has struggled and failed in his maiden attempt at public speaking, he will begin to believe that he does not possess the skill of public speaking.

That belief will change into incapacity to do public speaking forever. But each and every person invariably possesses all the skills necessary for public speaking. This is a fact. This fact will go unnoticed. Even if they come to know of this by chance, such people cannot believe it.

Beliefs are of various types. However, one problem which has grown in this century particularly is pseudo belief, self-cheating in nature. It is getting deceived by oneself.

'I can read only this much; more than this is not possible.'

'I can work only this hard, no more than this.'

'I can remain only this happy, no more than this is feasible.'

People have started drawing lines and erecting fences concerning matters such as their nature, capacity, lifestyle, inter-personal relationships etc.

Just as in a young elephant's mind, the thought that it cannot snap the chain gets firmly imprinted. Likewise, each one of us plants the negative idea that 'we cannot' based on our first negative experience in each and every matter.

After growing older, even when the required amount of energy and the possibilities are available our false belief prevents us from acting.

In today's world, all those who suffer are affected by these false beliefs. And all those who have been successful and are happy are people who have realized their true strengths and believed in them.

Once, Nithirajan was traveling in a train. The ticket-checking was going on. Nithirajan searched for his ticket but could not find it. Then he opened his suitcase and pulled all his clothes out and searched for it; still he could not find it.

Next he turned his bag upside down and searched but could not find the ticket. The passenger next to him, who saw that Nithirajan was desperately looking for his ticket, asked him: 'Sir, did you check in your pant pockets?' to which Nithirajan replied: 'Oh, No! I'll only see it in the end! My whole hope and belief is in my pant pockets.' The passenger asked 'Why you are confusing me?'

Nithirajan replied calmly, 'Now, I cannot find my ticket in all these places. I believe that it should definitely be in the pant pocket. That's why I'm searching it in all places without any frustration.'

Like Nithirajan, lots of people waste their time and energy holding on to false beliefs, thinking they are true.

The human mind does not record successes and appreciation with the same intensity that it records failures and insults. So, let's not dwell on our failures, instead look at our successes and believe that we have the strength to achieve!

Solely based on a few instances of failures, we and our strength cannot be fairly judged. Due to a few failures, don't judge yourself as a failure, misfit etc.

'I cannot do it' 'I can only do this much' 'My capacity is only this much' 'This is too much for me'

We must throw out false beliefs like these! Just jump into the ocean of life! Discover your strengths and talents! When false belief disappears true belief will be born!

Success is for sure!!!

Satisfaction

• • Satisfaction is of two kinds: First: False satisfaction Second: Real, deep satisfaction.
• • Living things with only five senses, try to derive satisfaction from four things: food, sleep, sex and play. They cannot move even one step beyond these.
• • Reason: A Deeply inquiring human mind is not present in them. In spite of possessing an inquiring mind, if man also finds pleasure in food, sleep, sex and aspiring for status, and feels he is satisfied, that is only a false satisfaction.
• • On the other hand, what is derived after attaining love, peace of mind and joy, that alone is real and deep satisfaction.

Yayathi was the king of a country called Gandharva. He became 100 years old. He was a man who enjoyed all pleasures and joys of life to a much greater extent than what one can normally aspire to. One night, suddenly Death came and stood before him. 'Your time has come. I have come to take you away,' said Death, who never fails in its duties.

Yayathi was a great warrior. In spite of that, he became nervous on seeing Death. He begged, 'You have come so early to take away my life. '

'Is it early? You are now 100 years old. Your first son himself is 80 years old now. Do you want to live still?'

'Oh! Death! I have 100 wives. So I have 100 sons. Would you leave me if one of my sons is willing to die in my place, and willing to come away with you?' Yayathi began arguing.

'I will surely leave vou. But, when you vourself, want to live further, how will your sons be willing to give away their lives?' Death asked Yayathi.

Yayathi summoned all his sons and asked, 'Who is willing to die for my sake?'

Silence was the answer for his question. But his last son, who was only 16 years old, got up and said, 'I am willing and ready.'

Death was shocked to hear this response and said, 'You are a small boy. You don't know anything. You have not really enjoyed life. Your old father and all elder brothers have enjoyed life well. When they themselves are hesitating to come, how is it that you say you are prepared?'

That boy began to speak without any hesitation, 'Even after living 100 years, my father is not able to acquire satisfaction. Neither are my brothers. '

'When nobody is satisfied, why should I want to live? There is no point in living in false satisfaction. At least I am able to give my life for the sake of my father. That deep and true satisfaction itself is enough, ' said the boy.

Even Death could not dispute what the boy said.

Many of us are living like king Yayathi of this story. Satisfaction does not begin to flower in us so easily.

If a man possesses one million dollars and wants to become a rich man with one billion dollars, then it is desire; even after accumulating one billion dollars and remaining still not satisfied and wanting to make it many billion is a poison of avariciousness, which creates false satisfaction.

We buy mixers; we buy grinders; we sell our black and white T.V. and buy a color T.V.; we buy a washing machine. The list is ever continuing. Why do we not get the feeling of satisfaction? Reason: it is only false satisfaction.

If the imaginary thinking that I am peaceful, and the feeling that I am not satisfied, get mixed up and come out of mind, then it becomes false satisfaction. Not being contented and satisfied with worldly matters and going on 'what next?', 'what next?' will spoil whatever peace of mind is left in us.

Those who do not get real satisfaction in life may even become mad and may roam about here and there.

In realizing the truth there is: Satisfaction! Behaving magnanimously is: Satisfaction! Being compassionate is: Satisfaction! Teaching good things to others is: Satisfaction! All over the vast field of life, lying strewn is: Satisfaction!

Until a sense of deep satisfaction flowers in us, the feeling of 'contentment' will not blossom in us. As long as a sense of false satisfaction is hanging on in us, a dull feeling of 'what is bigger than this' will always be arising in our minds.

The best way to eradicate the feeling of false satisfaction is to see and feel a sense of real deep satisfaction in each and every incident happening in our life. We need to be continuously using our intellects to attain a sense of deep satisfaction.

Let's throw away our false satisfaction and begin our travel towards real and deep satisfaction.

• • Stubbornness is worse than paralysis.
• ❖ | Paralysis will affect only the human body
• ❖ Stubbornness is a demon which hides itself within the man and makes its ugly appearance every now and then, and then destroys the man as well as others around him.

'I have to make him understand who I am.'

'Is he bigger than I?'

It has become very common nowadays for some people to lose the greater part of their lives, thinking 'I will lose anything to safeguard my prestige and principles. It is rather sad.

Here is a story of a man who lived his life with enormous stubbornness.

In a village, there was man by name Kuppan, who was a big bully. He almost controlled that entire village with terror.

Suddenly one day he had a dirty idea. He ordered, 'Hereafter, nobody except me in this village should have hair on their heads. All should have their heads shaved off.

Not to antagonize him in any way, all people in the village immediately shaved their heads. On seeing that, Kuppan now became very proud and said, 'Aha! Now I am the only beautiful man in this village having such nice hair on my head.'

One new man by the name of Paramasivam, who was also a good musician, arrived and settled in that village. He was sporting hair up to his shoulders. He did not know anything about Kuppan.

Having come to know about this new man with beautiful hair in the village, Kuppan came rushing there with anger.

Kuppan asked him, 'So, you are Paramasivam? How dare you to come before me with hair intact on your head?'

Paramasivam said. 'It is enough if you apply some oil on your head for the hair to grow well. Why are you confused? What is the connection between hair and courage?'

Kuppan replied, 'In this place, what I say is law. How dare you argue with me? Come on: let us see whether it is you or me.' So saying he brought out two swords. (Throwing one at Paramasivam, he challenged Paramasivam to a fight)

'What is this? Should a man fight just because he has hair on his head? Alright, let us see,' thought Paramasivam, and then told Kuppan, 'Before we fight, let me go to my house and return. Then we can start our fight."

Kuppan got confused and asked, 'Why do you wish to go home now and return?'

Paramasivam replied. 'It is possible that only one of us may win in the fight. If I get defeated, my family will be on the streets. So I will go and kill my wife and then come back here to fight. Then I will not bother whatever happens in the fight."

'If you think similarly, you can also go and do the same and come back. Then only we can fight with full concentration.'

Both went back to their respective homes. Kuppan killed all the people in the house and returned. Even after fifteen minutes Paramasivam did not return.

After half an hour, Paramasivam returned with his head cleanly tonsured and applied with oil thereon.

Kuppan could not understand anything. 'You told me that you will fight with me, but you have now come here with your head tonsured. '

Paramasivam calmly said, 'I went to my house with the sword. After all, it takes just ten minutes to get your head tonsured. I thought, why should I kill my people for such a simple matter. I got my head tonsured with the very same sword you gave me."

Kuppan was stunned. He did not know what to do. He thought, 'For such a small thing, I lost a very big thing, my whole family. '

Like Paramasivam, all men change all the time. Nobody is going to remain in the same state of mind always. If we live our lives with all stubbornness and feelings like:

'What a big man I am, my prestige, my principles, etc.'

What will ultimately remain is only our stubbornness. Due to our stubbornness, we will have to meet heavy losses in our lives.

Stubbornness is a type of disease that occupies our minds. Let us leave this useless stubbornness and escape from our many, many losses!

• There is nothing else in this world more filled with cunningness than EGO.
• Going around saving 'I am big, this man, that man' ... alone is not ego.
• Even saying, 'I am small, humble, sinner, incapable' ...is also ego.
• Ego will do anything and everything to survive. It will somehow hide itself and try to grow and flourish.
• Living joyfully and striving to live joyfully continuously; both will destroy ego.
• A man with ego will not be joyful; a man who is joyful will not possess ego.

Once there was a Buddhist monk in China. One day, as he was traveling, he was caught in a heavy rain.

After walking a long distance, fully drenched, he saw a Buddhist temple and attached monasteries.

He met the head of the monastery there and humbly requested him. 'Please give me some place for tonight only, ' but the head of the monastery said, 'There is no place here. Go out and find your own way.'

After persistently begging him, the monastery head said, 'Stay in the temple for tonight only.' And he went away to his place to sleep. At midnight, cold winds started blowing.

The head of the monastery, who was sound asleep, woke up suddenly with a doubt, 'I have permitted a stranger to sleep in the temple. What if he steals something and runs awav?'

Immediately he came to the temple and saw that there was a fire inside. He wondered as to how there could be fire. The monk who was staying there for the night was burning a wooden statue of Buddha and was warming himself up in the heat of the fire.

The head of the monastery became wild with anger. He drove the monk out of the temple.

The next morning, he explained the incident that happened the previous night in a letter to the head Lama, asking him to take a suitable action against the monk who burned the Buddha statue.

The next week, the monastery head received a letter from the head Lama. The very first sentence of the letter ran like this: 'You have been removed from the temple committee.'

Perplexed and shocked, he read through the rest of the letter.

The letter read: 'If the wooden statue of the Lord Buddha, who was himself a personification of love, is not going to help in relieving the sufferings of a monk due to cold, then there is no meaning to either that statue or to Buddha's love.

Further the letter said: 'We sent that monk only to test you. Now we have seen your true colors.' On seeing this he became speechless and shocked.

We observe here what paved the way for the head of the monastery. We will immediately say that it was nothing but the ego of that person.

To do a self-analysis on this subject (ego) and to know which type of a person you are, take this small test. Take two sheets of paper. On one of them, list all the things you know. In the end you would have finished writing that you know much more than the others.

The reason for making this mistake is nothing but the ego lying buried deeply in us. In order to eliminate this ego. I will teach you another exercise. Now take only one paper. After listing the things you know. list also the things that you do not know.

For example, we know how to eat but may not know how to cook. Your wife might not read like you. But if your wife possesses the ability to cook tasty food, you should respect her for that knowledge.

It is one thing that your wife knows a particular thing. But the fact that your wife knows one thing that is not known to you is a different thing. Start finding out things not known to you but known to others and begin appreciating them. Then the ego will begin to get destroyed by itself.

Continuously appreciating others for the right and deserved things, giving up our rightful things gracefully to others just for the pleasure of it, being continuously joyful, striving always to be joyful, and doing things which give joy to others through all possible ways by us; all these will begin to root our our ego.

Doing these things rarely once in a while, will only pave the way for our ego to grow and flourish further.

The reason is, if you are doing these only rarely, it will be 99% for selfish gains only. The feelings of 'I, mine and for my sake,' will begin to grow deep-rooted.

If we continue to practice all the items stated earlier above, ego will begin to be eradicated. Ego will not allow us to do any work without a reason or a benefit. Even if we continue so doing, feelings like 'it is not necessary, it is impossible,' etc. will arise. These are indications of the presence of ego.

Whatever actions we do to improve the well-being and happiness of others, will destroy the ego within us and lead us to happiness and joy.

Jump into BLISS by yourself being happy and joyful and making others also joyful.

Part 3: Open the Door... Let the Breeze in!

• 'Insult' is something which is discovered by our mind, based on our status, age, religion etc.
• Generally, if a person is higher in status, age, and position higher than we and speaks or behaves with us in a manner of slight disrespect, we give it a name 'liberty' (Oh, how much liberty he takes with me, etc! It is all affection!)
• On the other hand. if a person who is lower to us in status, age or position behaves with slight disrespect to us, we call it by the name 'Insult' (If I give a little room, see how much liberty he takes with me, etc! It is all very bad!).
• Insult is only a mental illusion.

Many times, the reason for being sorrowful is: the insults we suffer!

'You seem to be literate persons! You don't know how to write a bank loan application?'

'It is now six years since you got married. Still no issues?'

'Throw away all your experiences in the trash. Listen to that supervisor.'

Like so, we are insulted ten to fifteen times each day. We are surrounded by people who want us to bow down our heads, by insulting us.

We have to live only in the midst of such bad people. It is not necessary for us to take seriously the acts of those people who intentionally want to insult us. It is good to be unmindful with them and ignore them to the maximum extent possible.

What does it mean to be unmindful or ignoring them? To explain that sort of state of mind, let me tell you a Khalil Gibran story.

A tourist suddenly entered the country of Lebanon. He knew nothing about Lebanon. There was a big hotel looking like a big palace. He saw people going in and coming out of it. He felt very happy on seeing this and said to himself, ' Aha! what sort of big arrangements they have made to receive me knowing that I am coming here!' He coolly entered into that hotel. Four girls welcomed him. Politely they seated him on a nice cushioned seat. Tasty food was served to him.

The tourist was extremely happy. He said to himself, 'Only these people know my real merit and greatness.'

After he finished his food, the hotel staff gave him the bill. He felt happy, took the bill and put it in his pocket saying, 'Oh, as though this much respect given to me is not enough, they are even giving it to me in writing! '

The hotel staff was shocked. They thought 'When we gave him the bill, instead of paying the money, he is keeping the bill in his pocket. Either he must be a fool or acting to deceive us. Instead of our tackling him, we will produce him before the court. Let the judge punish him.' Hence, they took him to the police. Without properly understanding it, the tourist thought, 'Oh, next, they are taking me to the king's palace, I suppose' and he went happily.

In the court, neither did anyone understand what he said, nor did he understand what the judge said to him. The judge could neither understand whether this man was a fool. He ordered that the tourist be made to ride on a donkey and paraded in the streets, with his face painted with red and black paint dots as a punishment.

But the tourist did not at all take it as an insult. He thought that in Lebanon this is the respectful way in which they will show the town to a visitor and so was happy.

He did not bother even though he was insulted in so many ways. The whole problem was solved for the Lebanese people only when the tourist was literally bundled and thrown out into his own country, as there was no other way out for them.

Generally people approach insult in three ways:

First type: As in the case of the above tourist, in spite of being insulted by various people, they will go to the very same people and get insulted again and again repeatedly. They are not even aware there is a better way. They are dull in their minds.

Second type: Those who get angry for anything and everything. Such people always possess a false sense of prestige and also invent and search for instances of their having been insulted by some people and will say, 'you insulted me in such and such manner in such place,' etc. They always live in an imaginary world of insults.

Third type: Wonderful persons, cultured people. They are of the fact that there is no such thing called insult. They have fully realized the fact that what we consider as insults are only the beatings that we receive to our egos, and they are beyond all these. As they have totally transcended their egos, they are not affected even if they are insulted by anybody.

Those who have attained the ultimate experience of Divine consciousness can never be insulted by anyone. Even if someone insults, it will be related only to the body. The feeling of being insulted will never occur to those persons who have become mature enough as to not to get affected by any- thing.

A very good example for these third type of persons is Ram Tirth. There was an enlightened Master by the name of Ram Tirth living in America. Whenever he was talking about himself, he would never use the word 'I.' Instead he would refer to himself only as 'Ram.'

Once it so happened that he was grossly insulted, but Ram never cared about it.

Someone asked him, 'When such an insult has been thrown on you how is it that you are not at all bothered about it and how you are able to be so calm and quiet?'

Laughingly he said, 'Whatever you call as insult happened only to Ram.'

This is a great state of mind, which is beyond the body. Insult is possible only where there is ego. This truth is experientially realized by such persons. This is a peaceful state.

It is the ultimate aim of every one of us to attain this great peaceful state. We can strive to reach this state in three different ways:

• Ignoring all the insults.
• Facing the insult.
• Going beyond the illusion of insult.

You are intelligent if you adopt any of these three ways. Progress well continuously on the path of life. Those who are affected by insults, learn to ignore them. Those who have learned to ignore, learn to bear them. Those who have learned to bear them, learn to jump over and go beyond that.

• Every moment of life, when there is no light of happiness, then the darkness of sorrow will come and fill it.
• Bliss is that condition which is beyond happiness and sorrow.
• Nobody is in happiness permanently. Many can say when a sorrow will come and how long will it remain. But even a few cannot say when happiness will come and how long will it stay. That's why happiness is 'Dosha' or affliction.
• Sorrow is a poison to happiness. Happiness is a medicine for worries.

In the last century, a man from Coimbatore went to Thaniavur to meet a Veena Vidwan (Veena, a musical instrument; vidwan is a musician) to draw up a contract with him to play for a function that he was celebrating in his place.

After arranging things, when he was starting back, he recommended to the vidwan a particular person to play ghatam for him, to accompany him in his music program, saying that people in his place like his ghatam playing very much.

Feeling offended with this, and due to envy of the ghatam vidwan getting name and fame, he said, 'It is all right that he may be an expert in playing ghatam, but due to enthusiasm he will toss up his ghatam some times and when he does so, if the ghatam, being a mud pot, falls down and breaks into pieces, it will be a bad omen for you.'

The Coimbatore man did not go to the house of ghatam player and silently returned home without engaging him to play.

The program day was approaching. Having come to know that he has not been invited to play ghatam, the ghatam vidwan came to his house to ask him why he had not been invited. He in turn explained to him what happened.

The ghatam vidwan listened to him patiently and then began to talk, saying 'It is all right that the veena vidwan may be an expert in playing veena and he can even be compared to the Goddess Saraswathi. But when they carry the veena instrument, covering it with a white cloth and bringing it with both hands, it will appear as though they are carrying into the house a dead body. On such an auspicious day, when you want to really celebrate nicely, should such a bad omen happen at all? You can decide yourself.' On hearing this, the Coimbatore man was shocked.

After the ghatam player left, he decided not to have any music program to celebrate the function.

Why did I tell you this story? It is only to show how one person's envy has affected the ego of three persons. If the problem of ego comes, the first casualty will be happiness only. Therefore it is our job not to allow the ghost of envy to raise its ugly head in us at all.

Another easy way to retain happiness is not worrying at all. Lord Krishna is never seen to be worried or sorrowful. That is why he was able to be in bliss always.

When an aircraft flies in the sky, safety is mostly in the hands of the pilot. The flight will not be enjoyable if we don't believe that the pilot is really capable and responsible for our life and property.

In the worldly life also, the only best way to be blissful is to do our duties, leaving the burden of our care entirely to the divine energy. The first step to bliss is to remove the thinking from our mind that we are the doer.

As a poet has said. 'Keenly watch the glass fish tanks. In them we can see the golden fish swimming joyfully with colorful dreams.' We can observe that the fish do not worry about the water becoming messy due to their playful splashing, jumping, etc. Think about the blossoming flowers in the mornings, spreading a nice fragrance all around. Watch the small birds like sparrows, which enjoy in the musically running rivers. When nature itself is so happy, why should man have worries?

Reason: In a place when light disappears, the next moment itself darkness spreads without any one inviting it. When happiness begins to reduce in a man, the very next instant sorrow begins to appear in his mind.

The three main factors which reduce the happiness in a man are: jealousy, disbelief and ego.

Our nature will be revealed in each of our words and actions. If we observe carefully, we can find out the factors which reduce our happiness from our own words and actions. Try it . . . .

What? Have we found out the reasons for our sorrows? Then what are we thinking and waiting for? Let's begin to root out the factors which reduce our happiness.

By removing whatever is hiding the light from us, brightness will increase, darkness will go away. Our joy will begin to increase when we begin to remove from our minds whatever is reducing our happiness. Sorrows will begin to disappear.

Brothers! Sisters!

Don't worry. Be happy and joyful. Then, go beyond that and be blissful.

心 The condition of a man who is not bold enough to face worries, but is desirous of possessing anything and everything -- PATHETIC (Reason: unfulfilled desires become worries)

必 It is human nature to desire everything. The mind will also encourage that, but, before you desire, think for yourself: Is it possible? Or impossible?

必 It is easy to desire anything, but it is rather hard to let a desire go when we know that it is impossible to achieve. So it is wise to think well before we desire. It is easy, too.

હુન I know how to desire. If I come to know that it is impossible or not necessary, I also know how to drop it! I don't worry about worries.

If we have maturity to approach life with this attitude. we can verv well desire for anvthing. No harm. We can aspire for anything. It's O.K.

'How are vou?' >>'I am fine; O.K.' >'All are fine in your home?' >>'By God's grace, all are fine." >'How is the business going on?' >> 'Fantastic. The One above looks after everything without any worries.'

Our conversation proceeds in the above fashion. Outwardly, everybody shows that he is all right. But each one knows only for himself how much troubles and worries he is undergoing.

It is only desires that sow the seeds for doing any sort of work. By the time one desire is fulfilled the next one comes along. Due to this continuous flow of desires in our mind, we are always engaged in either doing or thinking about some work or the other.

Even though we possess enough of every thing. most of us continue to worry about some thing or the other. Why do we worry so much? Let me explain this through this story.

One day Mr. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAMrajan went to a restaurant, ordered for a lot of items and ate them. Finally he told the waiter 'Bring me some sweet beeda (betel leaves with lime, nuts and spices) to chew,' and went to wash his hands.

The waiter had brought and kept the beeds on a plate and was waiting for Mr. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM. When THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM returned to his table, he asked the waiter, 'I asked you to bring only beeda, but what is this paper you have brought?' The waiter replied, 'This is the bill for what you have eaten. You have to pay Rs.545' Frightened at this Mr.THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM said 'I asked for only some food. I never ordered this bill; who asked for this?' Though this story looks funny, it has a deep meaning. The bill for Rs.545, was only as a result of THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM having ordered and eaten so much food. We also begin to do various things driven by our desires. But we refuse to accept the worries that also come along with them.

In whatever activity we get engaged, there is always pleasure as well as pain. If only we involve ourselves wholeheartedly and with full attention in whatever we do (for example, if we read, read with full attention, when we eat tasty food, enjoy fully and eat; while doing any work, do the same fully realizing the responsibilities). . . . . .

First of all, we will get a sense of satisfaction.

Second, there will not be any chance for the next desire to rise up. Desire ..... worries ..... next desire.....this cycle will come to a halt.

The reason for not being able to do any work fully is because of the desires rising without any limit. With whatever speed we throw the ball of desire on the wall of life, having so many limitations, it will bump back and return with the same speed.

The moment we understand this fact, we begin to step into a contented and peaceful life. Having known now that only desires are the main reason for our worries, why hesitate then? Think clearly.

Just leaving from our minds all unnecessary and unachievable desires, we will soon realize that we have unloaded most of our burden of worries. This is definitely possible!

Sorrow: Way to Hell

• • Do we wish to peep into Heaven? Laugh.
• • Do we wish to peep into Hell? Feel Sorrowful
• • If our mind is happy and enthusiastic, even a blade of grass will appear as a weapon. Even in small possibilities we will be able to perceive that impossible things are possible.
• • If we are mentally tired, we will have fear, even though a big army is behind us and we will begin to think, 'Now it's OK: but I don't know when I will be defeated next. Our mental perception will recognize clearly only small possibilities in things which are real possibilities.

A survey was conducted to find out 'which disease has actually affected mankind most in this century.' It was thought that it may be anything like AIDS, cancer, blood-pressure, diabetes, poverty, etc.

But the result of the survey was quite unexpected. It was known that SORROW affected mankind the most. The reason for this was found to be DEPRESSION. The biggest problem for humanity in this century is only depression.

How are sorrow and depression, which affect mankind so much formed? Listen to this story.

In a village, there was a woman who was always sad about her sons, who were living in a city nearby. She came to know that an enlightened Master, who solved all sorts of problems for people, had come to the adjacent village. She went to see him.

She asked the Master 'Oh Master. I am always worried about my sons. Please tell me some ways that my sons will see better times.'

The Master asked, 'Is it so? Why are you always sad thinking about your sons?'

The woman replied, 'See, now it is rainy season. My first son is doing salt business. In the rains all the salt will get wet, and since there is no sun he cannot make salt at all. '

' After a few days, it will be summer. My second son has a business selling winter caps. During summer because of sun, due to want of buyers, he cannot do any business.'

'If my first son is not able to earn money for six months in a year and my second son is not able to earn for the next six months either, how can I be happy?' she asked.

The Master said, 'Why are you troubling yourself unnecessarily? Thank God for your first son being able to do good salt business during summer. And, feel happy for your second son being able to do good business of winter clothes during winter. Then you see that your grief goes away!'

In the same way, many people feel always sad, worrying about something or the other. As the Master said, that woman could have remained happy throughout the year.

Being happy or sad depends only on how we approach our lives. We will feel sad only if we do not have a clear mind. Dwelling over experiences of the past and worrying about the future only result in sadness.

It is a normal thing for a person to experience grief once in awhile. But to be always in grief and anxiety is terrible! Being in grief has become a habit. There is an easy way to be free from grief or depression.

Be always active and busy. To be always active, may not be possible. We cannot become active by telling ourselves, 'I am active, I am active, busy,' etc. only by reading some books on the subject.

Being always alert and active is a thing which should blossom from within us. Whether you are a student or a family man, involve yourself totally and take all necessary responsibilities.

We can live an enthusiastic, active and busy life to the extent that we actually take on responsibilities. Then depression will come nowhere near us.

GOD

• • God has form.
• な God has no form
• • Form, formless; both are God.
• • God is beyond form and formless.
• • God is a concept created by man.
• ❖ There is nothing in the universe as God.
• • There is nothing in the universe other than God.
• • The statement 'God is everything' is the many faces of the one truth in all the above statements.
• • It is the nature of the mind to hang on to any one of the above statements and then go on discussing it with all possible imagination. It is human nature.
• • Instead of all sorts of discussions, it will be of use if only we pass on beyond the mind and reach (God) deep inside. Only time will be wasted in futile discussions. No use.

One day a blind man was brought to the Buddha. Though he was good at debating about all sorts of philosophies as if he had Mastered them.

On all sorts of subjects, he would not stop without proving that he was always right. Anybody arguing with him would have to compulsorily listen to him only and could never change the ideas of the blind man.

For example, he will emphatically assert that there is no such thing like light in the world. If someone said there is light, can you imagine how he would begin to argue?

'If something called light really exists, catch hold of it and show it to me.'

The blind man would also argue 'I want to go around it; smell it: touch and play with it. If all these can be done, then I will accept that there is light.' How can anybody catch light or who can go around it or play with it?

Since nobody could do all these things, it appeared that the blind man was going to be proven correct. He would also roam about with the pride that he had won; and there was nobody to win over him in his arguments. People did not know how to make him realize the fact.

He was taken to Buddha. Immediately the blind man started arguing. 'There is no such thing called light. If it is there, prove it.'

Without a word in reply, Buddha asked his doctor to examine and treat him. The blind man did not argue, and as a result, he received his vision. As soon as he got the blind man's joy knew no bounds. He enjoyed seeing all colors. Then bringing some flowers and fruits, he offered them at the feet of Buddha and prostrated.

The blind man spoke from the depth of his heart: 'O Lord Buddha! Blindly I have been arguing with everybody. Others also argued with me and destroyed me. It is good that you have not argued with me. If you also had argued. I too would have argued with you and I might have been ruined. But now I well understand that light exists.'

There are many among us who argue unnecessarily with pride and without any substance. It does not matter if they talk about anything else. But it is dangerous if they begin to argue whether or not God exists. Many times, atheists will come to me and draw me into arguments saying 'Is there a God? Can you prove it?'

I will emphatically tell them that there is a God. If they persist, I will be silent in the same way Buddha was with the blind man. In this particular matter, keeping silent is not an indication of defeat. If we try to prove that there is a God, and if it is proved, that matter will become bigger than God Himself. It is not a small or low matter requiring proof. It is not an ordinary matter.

God is such a state that is beyond proof by ordinary human common sense. It can only be experienced. In the same way as it is not possible to prove light to a blind man, it is impossible to prove God to an atheist.

The fact that God cannot be proven is by itself the proof that God is beyond human understanding and knowledge. Here is a story:

In a cold and snowy place, there was a snake lying frozen like a wooden stick. A blind man passing by that way stumbled upon it and took it in his hand. Feeling over it, the blind man was happy and said to himself, 'I have a good stick to help me to walk with.' An enlightened Master, passing that way, saw what he was doing and warningly said to him 'Oh Sir, it is not a stick but a snake; shortly there will be sunlight. Once the sun comes out, the snake will be free and become normal and will harm you.' The blind man did not accept what the Master said. He thought to himself that he had a good stick and the Master was only trying to take it away from him. Only after the snake bit him did he realize the truth.

In the same way, whenever enlightened Masters try to save mankind, man makes his own life a hell, due to ignorance and doubts.

Instead of asking questions such as 'Where is God, why God, what for God?', and leaving it at that, ask and analyze yourself by asking "How will God be? Why should there not be God?" You can realize God totally and fully. If you get that experience, then that is BLISS!

The Principle Behind Temples

• • Devotion! Energy! Salvation! These three are intricately connected to one another.
• • Fulfillment of devotion is the revelation of Energy. Fulfillment of energy is the revelation of Salvation.
• • Your quantum of absorption of devotion determines the quantum of absorption of Energy.
• • Mostly there is no relationship between real devotion and what we think is devotion.

If it is in the form of: 'I want this, that...... Please save me from this, that ... If only you give me this ......... '

Then it is only bargaining or business with God, believing that it is devotion.

• Bubbling with devotional emotion transcending as feeling of thanksgiving and saying: 'Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks for giving me this, that .... Thanks that I am alive this minute .... Thanks for whatever you have done to me so far and still going to do ..... '

Why do we feel a sense of peace when we go to a temple, sit there and return home? Why do we also feel a sense of peace when we have been sitting in a beautiful scenic atmosphere and return back home?

The reason is nothing but enriching ourselves with energy. Unpolluted energy will always be there in nature in a scenic and beautiful atmosphere. Our body gets refreshed and our mind becomes calm only because our body and mind get energized by nature similar to a battery getting charged.

When a person goes to a temple, church or mosque and prays with a state of sincere devotion (sincere devotion is meditation), unknowingly he stands before the divine presence with a wide open heart. Each and every one of God's sanctum sanctorum are small energy centers. If we keep our hearts open, that is, if we are in a state of open mind, then, as per law of nature, the cosmic energy will descend and fill us up to make up any deficiency of energy within us. Going to temples gives satisfaction to many mainly due to this.

How and from where do these temples derive the divine energy? If an enlightened Master establishes and plants an idol or anything at a particular 'sacred location,' his experiential divine energy will continue to flow there forever ...

We can know this from a lot of examples. The establishment of the holy town of Tirupathi and the sacred installation of the presiding deity there were done by an enlightened Master by the name of KONGANAVA. Every Master leaves a particular type of energy in each temple he establishes. All the famous temples are so famous in their own different and unique ways due to this reason.

There are two main reasons why our prayers are being answered in holy places:

• 1. Our open minds, true and sincere devotion.
• 2. The presence of divine energy in that place.

While it was BOGAR, an enlightened Master, who established the hill temple of Palani, it was KAROORAR in the case of Thanjavur Big Temple. It was IDAIK-KATTU SIDDHAR who established the Tiruvannamalai temple, which symbolizes the fire form of divine energy. The temple at Chidambaram was established by a great Master named Patanjali.

The reason for the millions of people visiting Mecca continuously is the divine energy released therein by the enlightened Master (messenger of God), Mohammed Nabi. It is only because of the benefits derived from that divine energy resulting in satisfied and fulfilled desires, etc, that people continue to visit this place again and again.

The reason for the huge crowds of people visiting Velankanni in South Bharat is also due to the presence of the divine energy there.

Each person gets his spiritual feelings and devotional feelings at different places.

It is not important to which temple or place we are going. But it is very important whether we get a feeling of true devotion deep within us or not.

Without a sense of true devotion, if a person goes to a temple just because his parents or somebody asks him to go, or performs it just as a duty, then, if he calls himself a theist, he in fact, is really an atheist.

Such people will remain theists just for name's sake, but, by feelings deep in heart, they will remain only atheists.

It is only because we become enriched by the energy field present in the temples, that when we go and sit and meditate there with true devotion, our body gets refreshed and we get peace of mind. Then we should understand one thing clearly, which is: the reason for our body feeling tired and dull and being without any enthusiasm is only the deficiency of energy.

If we remain without peace of mind, wavering, and feeling restless, with a sense of craving or discontentment, for this also the reason is the deficiency of energy. Hence, it will be enough, if by some means we learn to give energy to our body and mind. We can live happily by correcting the energy deficiency, which is the main cause for all the problems.

Going to temples and 'remaining there in the divine presence with a pure devotional mind' is one easy method which takes the energy present outside and feeds it to your body and mind.

Involve yourself totally and fully in whatever you do. When you go to a temple, do not return without sitting there calmly and meditating at least for half an hour.

• & All religions, all spiritual paths containing various prayers and rituals, all meditation techniques are there for us only to realize the gigantic divine power within us.
• ❖ There are just only two kinds of people
  • 1. Man who has become God
  • 2. God in the form of man.
• • Omnipresent, omnipotent is God. -- Spiritual statement
• • Omnipresent, omnipotent is Energy -- Scientific statement

By analyzing the above, any learned man can easily come to a conclusion.

Before answering the question 'Where is God?', here is a small story:

A disciple by the name Sevananda was returning to his Ashram. From a distance he saw a huge crowd. Getting curious, he looked inside the crowd and was shocked..... A dog was trying to eat some food from a plate and Sevananda's Master (Guru) was sitting and riding on the dog!

Sevananda could not understand anything. 'What is this nonsense going on here? Oh Master, what are you doing?' he asked utterly confused. The Master replied leisurely. 'Don't you see? Some brahman (god) has kept some brahman on a brahman. One four legged brahman is trying to eat it. Another brahman is riding on it. Many brahmans are standing all around and watching this event. That's all.'

On hearing this, the crowd dispersed saying, 'What is this madness?' But Sevananda felt that there should be some great truth hidden in this statement.

He sat under the nearby tree and started contemplating. The potent words: 'plate, the food, the dog, the Master, the people are all brahmans' were ringing again in the ears of Sevananda. As time passed, words slowly faded and disappeared and feelings of intuition started arising in him. Gradually he started to realize that all things surrounding him were brahmans.

He could realize and understand that the divine energy, God was blissfully moving about in each and everything. In a moment everything changed for Sevananda. The thought of 'I' was lost; instead, the feeling of 'Self' dawned. The fulfilling feeling of 'All is Brahman, everywhere is Brahman is within me too' was born. He experienced the feeling of the ocean of Ananda or Bliss within himself as well as outside continually. Sevananda had the first experience of enlightenment.

All are Brahman; God is everywhere. Divine energy is filled and overflowing at all places. Only to reveal this I have told this story.

The basic truth in spirituality is that God is in the form of energy and is formless. God can not be an individual. It may be energy. It is only the religions that give shapes and forms to the divine energy. It is, however, a good beginning, not an end.

What is the basis in saving that God is in the form of energy? There is a beautiful explanation in Quantum Physics. It says that 99.99 % of an atom is simply empty space. There are continuous vibrations going on in that empty space. Only these vibrational waves exhibit themselves as energy. Each and everybody is filled with energy. Today science says 'Everything is filled with energy.'

Our enlightened Masters have expressed it this way: 'God is energy and He fills all space and is omnipresent.'

Even thousands of years before science developed, our sages and seers have revealed this truth. They were able to pronounce these truths only on account of certain specific experiences they clearly had, which was beyond reach of normal human minds.

Energy is indestructible; it can only change from one form to the other. Electricity stored in a battery fades away and disappears after some time. Then the iron plate and the carbon pieces become separate bodies and then change to another material or another battery.

In the same manner, the human life, after it becomes an embryo, is born as a child, grows as a man and remains in a human body for a specified time and merges again in the atmosphere.

That very same life which merged with the atmosphere comes alive again and becomes man. In this way, energy appears again and again. In the universal scheme of things, in the universal timetable, human existence is just momentary, like a bubble in the water.

This is the reason the great Masters said. 'God is present in a pillar, and He is there even in a particle of dust.' The basic thing present in these as well as in a man is only energy. This energy is God. Energy is constantly present even when it changes from one form to the other.

Even our body itself is just a shroud or a cover for our life energy. God is very much present in each and every cell, every atom.

Courage to Make the Unfavorable, Favorable

• If we hesitate on seeing an unfavorable situation, the path of life will become darkened. ન્ડ્રન
• ું મુ "COURAGE" is one of the great gifts mankind has.
• ું જુ Hesitation and drowsiness are both the outcomes of lack of courage.
• જુન The fate of our future is written, at this very present moment available to us.
• • The courage in us is equivalent to the very big banyan tree lying hidden in its seed.

One day a farmer had to cross a forest on a dark night. An enlightened Master who was there gave him a lantern to help him through the forest.

The farmer asked him 'How many miles do I have to walk to reach the town?'

'Ten miles,' replied the Master.

'You say I have to walk ten miles. But this lantern does not seem to show me the way for even ten feet.' grumbled the farmer.

'You start walking and you will know,' said the Master.

Only after starting did the farmer realize the fact that the lantern which showed the way for only ten feet, would continuously give him light, though for ten feet at a time, for the entire ten miles.

Don't bother about however big a thing which you are going to face. The solution is small. Finding a solution to a big and rare problem will usually be an aggregation of methods of approach with small, small solutions.

So there is no need to lose heart on seeing the enormous nature of the problems. But we struggle when we face problems. Successful persons do not do so. They know fully well that solution to a problem does exist within the problem itself in the same way a beautiful child remains in the womb of its mother.

Columbus, who discovered America, did not intend to reach America. After his sincere efforts of many years, he started out in a ship given to him by a king. An instinct within him that there was land on the west side persuaded and pushed him to go.

Along with his colleagues he started westward on the sea. He met with a lot of dangers in his venture. Winds, heavy rains and whales opposed him. His friends scolded him saying, 'We would have remained happy with our families in our homes. You have pushed us into the midst of the seas.' Columbus even lost his basic desire for a moment. But he was of the conviction that courage would help and continued.

The next morning, he saw some sea-gulls flocking together in the sky. After some time, he saw some land with lots of trees. He thought of it initially as an island. All were happy. When he alighted from the ship and walked, he came to know that those who lived there were Red Hindus. But for his courage and the ability to face dangers and his perseverance, the name of Columbus would not be found in world history.

There is no success without courage. In fact, there is no life without courage. It is enough if there is a feeling of courage. The path for achievement will continue to form by itself.

It is sufficient if we have a little lamp called courage. Clarity of mind will be born to understand life in all its nuances. The energy to change the unfavorable will be born. Stand up and be courageous.

Heaven or Hell?

It's your Choice

• Anger, hatred, anxiety, grief: when any of these happen in us, we really live in hell. In ું જુ those moments, we will only taste a feeling of being in hell.
• જુન Peace, happiness, tranquility, love: if these happen to us, we are, for sure in heaven. In such moments we will definitely enjoy a taste of being in heaven.
• નું Ananda is that which is beyond these above two kinds of feelings.
• ું જુ Gnana or Enlightenment is that state beyond heaven and hell.

Some people, per force, will be doing only good for others. They will be very liberal in matters of donation, charity, etc.

Their intention, in reality, is not wholly doing good for others, but rather to reach heaven after their death.

We have heard about people cursing those who harm others saying 'This man will surely go to hell.' Such curses are being said based on the belief that such people will get the punishment only in the hell. Frying

men in very hot oils, roasting in the fire, whipping, etc are some punishments in hell which are explained to us right from childhood and we begin to develop fear, even as children.

Is there really any such thing as a hell or heaven at all? Before finding an answer to this, let us hear this small Zen story:

A warrior asked a Zen Master one day 'Are there really a hell and a heaven?'

The Zen Master asked, 'First tell me who you are.'

He proudly said, 'I am a warrior.'

The Master sarcastically asked 'You! A warrior? Which king will keep you as a guard? Your face looks like a beggar! You don't possess the looks of a warrior!'

Upset at these words, the warrior swiftly got out his sword and rushed to kill the Master.

Stopping him, the Master said, 'This is hell! Realizing his mistake, the warrior put back the sword in its sheath and bowed to the Master with a smile and the Master said. 'Well, this, in fact, is heaven. ' The warrior felt convinced and was happy that he had so easily understood such a big concept.

It is only those who have not understood this fact who are getting caught in such false feelings and are suffering. We have to understand this very big fact that real heaven and hell are not anywhere outside. They are very much within us. Hell is that moment when we are very angry. When our mind is overflowing with love and joy we are, for sure, in heaven.

Those who meet me often ask me how to control anger. As far as I am concerned, it is a very old and aged question. I will tell you some facts about anger.

'If somebody tells you that you are Harshad Mehta and that you have swindled many millions in the stock market, you will simply laugh and you will never get angry. Because you know full well that it is a lie.

But if somebody tells you, 'You are a dishonest rogue,' you become instantaneously angry. Why?

Because this accusation means that there is at least some element of truth. We get upset and start reacting angrily only when we feel somebody has stabbed at the wounds in our minds.

Be careful when becoming angry. Instead of suppressing our anger, examine the reason for our anger. Think on the lines: 'The mistake being on my part, why should I be angry with others?' If we are really innocent and have not committed any mistakes, who can point an accusing finger at us?

We have to notice one thing when we are angry. The magnitude of our anger is always more when it is directed against weak persons.

If a worker of ours is worthy of a salary of one thousand dollars, we pay him only one thousand dollars. We are never liberal and pay three thousand. We never pay many times more than his due.

But if the same worker commits a small mistake, our anger is not of the order of one thousand dollars, but to the tune of five thousand or even more. For one unit of mistake committed, we pour out many units of energy equivalents of anger. Who loses most? Think about it.

When we exhibit an unnecessarily high amount of anger. we are wasting our constructive energy very much. This is the energy required for us to do things in the best manner possible. Those, who become abnormally angry, become dull and weak only on account of losing this energy. So, if unavoidable, limit your anger to the extent much less than what the occasion demands.

Don't be surprised when I say 'you become angry.' Anger is a state of mind. In worldly life, there is a meaning and even a need for it. Only if it exceeds the limit, it becomes a death knell for us.

When we suppress anger within ourselves, it lies dormant in us, waiting to explode anytime. Suppressed anger affects our body in many ways. Those who often become angry and are unable to show it and hence suppress, become vulnerable to blood pressure connected diseases: they get heart-attacks also.

However, side effects happen only when anger exceeds certain limits. So, if the horse named anger is under our control, we can ride safely on it and reach our destination. On the other hand, an uncontrollable horse will kick us and throw us down onto the ground.

Only an anger exceeding a limit becomes a curse. To escape from this curse, escape from limitless anger. Conserve energy. You will begin to move towards liberation.

In anger, man lives in hell, and is so also during such moments of suffering from grief and pain. As in happiness and joy, man lives in heaven during all such moments which make him feel pleasure and enthusiasm.

If we try, we can create our own heaven. Heaven and hell, without any doubt, are in the hands of man! Let's create our own heaven and enjoy.

Good Luck? Or Bad Luck?

• Generally speaking, it can be said:
• Good luck and bad luck come and go of their own accord in Life.
• One can enjoy good luck or digest bad luck only if one has the courage and maturity to face them.
• 心 If observed keenly, it can be understood that there are absolutely no separate states existing as good luck or bad luck.
• We are happy if we get good things in life easily without much strain or labor. Also, we feel sad if something does not give the desired results in spite of our best efforts in all manners.
• Both good and bad luck in life depend not only upon results but also differ according to happy or sad states of our minds.
• Results together with our state of mind are what create good or bad luck.
• 'An abundance of luck' is waiting for one who is eager to utilize every minute of life usefully.
• Imaginary 'Bad luck, aplenty,' of course, is waiting too, for one who is dull and lazy and wastes time unduly.

A small story: Once upon a time in China, in a particular year, there was no rain and hence all the crops had withered away. But in one particular farmer's land there was an abundance of crop waiting for harvest. So everyone praised him saying he was a lucky man. But the farmer simply said 'Good luck or bad luck, I don't understand anything. I also don't understand the reason why you are saying this.'

When he was about to do the harvest, the previous night, some horses from the adjacent hillside came and destroyed all his crops. Then all the surrounding farmers gathered together and said 'Oh! What bad luck has descended on you.' But the farmer again said, 'Good luck , I don't know anything.'

The son of that farmer trained some of the hill horses and was riding on one such horse. But, while so doing, somehow he fell down and broke his leg.

Again all the farmers gathered and said, 'It's good luck, all right, you got some of those hill horses, but it is surely ill-luck that your son got his leg broken.' One more time the farmer repeated 'I don't know good luck, bad luck and such.'

That very same evening, the army men came to that place and recruited all able-bodied youngsters. They left the farmer's son because he was injured and took all others.

All the farmers now said to this farmer. 'Oh. it is your good luck that your son has not been taken.' This time also, the farmer said that he did not know whether it was good luck or bad luck.

If we have to live happily, it is essential that we too should possess the state of mind of this farmer. We should never worry at all about good or bad lucks.

Our duty is to work hard without any kind of expectations.

As Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita 'Do your duty without expecting any particular results.' This only goes to show that we should only continue to work without stagnating at any stage.

Many feel that they are not successful in spite of hard work. They don't realize that hard work by itself is a success in a way. One can convert bad luck into good luck by the depth of the labor.

When Alexander the Great was returning home with pride of having won more than half of the world, he saw a great saint sitting on his way near his hometown. Alexander went to him to say that he was conquering almost the entire world.

But the saint, without any hint of respect whatsoever, gestured to him silently to move aside. Alexander could not understand why he did so. The saint was simply enjoying the golden yellow sunset.

For an enlightened Master who lives enjoying every moment of his life, that is, who always lives happily in the 'present moment,' he will not at all be afraid of anybody, be it even a king. An enlightened Master who is always blissful will not mind about Alexander the Great or anybody else for that matter. The reason: he has no fear.

It is always fear, which is a wound in the mind that magnifies even ordinary simple things in life. If we drop the fear and begin to face life, bad luck will never threaten us. If we can do that, then cravings such as 'I am not lucky; I don't think I will ever be lucky…etc' will not be there.

Only the fear and lack of hard work ignites in us the fire of expectations of good luck. The very same factors spread the smoke of ill-luck, etc. around even simple things in your life, which you are unable to digest. Bad luck is nothing but what one cannot digest about ordinary life situations.

Wise men will use their brains in all aspects of life and come out always with energy and enthusiasm.

Let's approach life with all enthusiasm! Very ordinary things in life will become lucky ones for us. All will begin to praise us with wonder that we are very lucky. The magic formula for 'GOOD-LUCK' is just this.

Become a lucky man by becoming the proud owner of all lucky things lying strewn around you, waiting to be picked up by you.

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM Swami is a trim, healthy-looking young man with dark, shoulder-length hair. Handsome and polite, possessing an open manner and a wealth of curiosity, he could be any ordinary American college student.

The difference is that ordinary American college students do not wear saffron robes and turbans, have not experienced spiritual enlightenment and are not regarded as a teacher, healer and mystic by millions of people in all corners of the world.

A mystic? The term is not a bad fit for the Master, as he is known. Mystics, popular culture tells us, have direct communion with God. Through means not understood or measurable, mystics are thought to have access to ultimate realities or truths. Picture a mystic and you will probably picture someone full of bliss, someone gifted with lofty thoughts and insights that the rest of us do not possess. The very presence of a mystic is thought to bring peace and healing to others.

That's an ant description of the Master, a 27 year-old from south Bharat. He is approached by thousands of people every year seeking relief from diseases and ailments that conventional medical approaches have not cured. His background also lends him the air of a mystic. He left his home as a teen, visited ashrams across Bharat, immersed himself in philosophy, read extensively and Mastered the art of meditation.

M.I.N.D.

MATTERS

When Master passed through Oklahoma City recently as one stop in his world travels. I asked him if he would let me use some of modern medicine's newest technology to peer into his brain while he meditated. My goal: to understand, measure and demystify what happens during the mystic phenomena. Master, who believes that meditation has a scientific basis, happily agreed.

The procedures the Master went through were administered by some of Oklahoma City's finest and most experienced physicians, neuropsychologists and researchers: Drs. Fordyce, Ruwe and Higgins of the Jim Thorpe Rehabilitation Center Neuropsychology Department and Dr. Chacko of the PET Center of Oklahoma. These doctors were using technology they use with patients on a routine basis. When they look at images obtained by their technology, they know what is and is not normal.

The results from testing Master? Decidedly not normal!

Our first look into Master's brain was achieved with the help of a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) device. Unlike traditional diagnostic techniques that produce images of the body's structure or anatomy such as X-rays, CT scans or MRI, PET produces images of the brain through the metabolic activity of the cells. An analog of glucose is attached to a radioactive PET tracer. The PET scanner then images the metabolically active brain areas at any given time.

In the case of the Master, the drug was intended to identify highly active areas of the brain in an alert and conscious state, in the early stages of meditation and during deep meditation.

The results of the PET scan tests were stunning. To begin with, the activity in the frontal lobes of Master's brain was sigmificantly heightened, even in early meditation stages. The level of activity was several times higher than would be seen in the average human brain under any conditions. The frontal lobes are associated with the functions of intelligence, attention, wisdom and judgment.

When we then asked the Master to go into the deepest meditation state, there were two more remarkable findings.

First, the dominant hemisphere of Master's brain was more than 90 per cent shut down. It was as if His brain had packed up and gone on vacation. It was quiet and still, completely at peace… and the Master had made it so at will.

A second amazing aspect of Master's deep meditation was that the lower portion of his mesial frontal areas lit up in a very significant way. This area roughly corresponds to the reputed location of the mystical 'third eye'.

When we later asked Master what he was doing when the mesial frontal areas lighted up, he said he was opening his third eye.

Associated with both cosmic and inner knowledge, and thought to be a place of clarity and peace, the Third Eye is considered by many to be the seat of the soul. Were we seeing an indication that deep meditation can open an area of the brain responsible for communicating with the divine. Iooking deep into the mysteries of Self or creation? I believe the PET scan revealed what I call the brain's 'D-spot'. Whether you consider the 'D' in D-spot to stand for delight, the Divine or even dopamine (the chemical through which our bodies experience pleasure), initial indications are that meditation can stimulate it.

The second procedure we used to look into the Master's brain is known as Quantitative Electroencephalography or QEEG. QEEG measures electrical patterns in the brain, patterns commonly referred to as brainwaves.

There are four bandwidths of brainwaves, each different in speed, and each associated with a different state of mind. For instance, beta brainwaves are small and fast and linked with an awake, alert state of mind. Alpha brainwaves are slower and larger and are connected with feelings of well-being. Theta waves represent a state of consciousness that is close to sleep, a stage in which there is a sense of calmness and serenity without active thought.

In a day's time, most people will experience all four types of brainwaves. The progression from one bandwidth to another, though, is not so easily within their control.

From the Master's QEEG though, we can see that he has complete control over his brainwaves. When in deep meditation, his brain smoothly shifted from one state to another like a talented pianist playing the scales. There was no hesitation and no retreating, just continuous, fluid shifts from one type of brainwave to the next. Because the QEEG represents the five brainwave bandwidths as colors, it was as if we were watching the Master float from color to color within a rainbow!

The brain is the body's most complex organ, containing more than 100 billion neurons, each of them in chemical and electrical conversation with up to 10,000 other neurons. Its sheer capacity to process information is astonishing.

Remarkable, that complexity presents little difficulty for Master in managing his brain activity. Master's mind (his thoughts, emotions and intellect) control his brain. He can, in a very fluid, easy way, shift his brain function and alter his brainwaves.

More than answering questions, the voyage we took into the mystic brings intriguing questions for study:

Are there techniques we can learn and teach that will bring balance and peace into people's lives?

Can we invoke a healing response or accelerate healing through specific training? Can we learn techniques that will allow us to control pain or alter the course of a disease?

Can we learn to activate what I call our D-spot, thus putting us in instant connection to delight or the divine?

The results from our study of the Master are new pages in our world's growing book of research on the brain. There continue to be indications that the human mind may be able to choose to heal the body. We are now looking at the possibility of people learning and acquiring these healing capabilities, an event of immense benefit for humankind. The potential for altering the rates and progression of many diseases heart disease, cancer, arthritis, alcoholism and many others - is beginning to look achievable.

The Master is a bridge between the invisible, ancient world of mysticism and the modern, visible world of science and discovery. As brain research continues on a widespread basis, and as we appropriately bring the phenomena of mysticism into the realm of science for further study, we are taking strides on a path of hope and health.

Ananda Spurana Programme (ASP) was conducted by THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM on 3ª and 4th of May, in Chennai. Kothai Achi, wife of S.A.P., founder, editor of Kumudam weekly, and Parvathi Nachiappan Achi, who attended the program, share their views here.

If we wish to be happy and joyful, leaving behind our worries due to various kinds of problems, we have to participate in the ASP program conducted by Master. He is conducting this program in places such as Bangalore, Tamilnadu and Mumbai.

It is one important condition that those who wish to learn from this program must stay at the location where it is conducted for the two days. If we accept this condition and go there, then it is bliss and bliss only all the way.

In the beginning of the classes. Master taught us to learn various things by integrating ourselves with our beings. It was written at the entrance to the class where we leave our footwear. 'Keep your mind and footwear outside.' That was surprising to us.

We could not understand at first why the Master was saying this. A new awakening came to us when He explained thus, 'We say a lot of useless Vedantha to our people. When there is already a lot of information in our brains, how are we to learn new things? We have to forget whatever we have learned wrongly, and then learn things afresh. That's why I have asked you to keep your minds outside. '

Soon after the Master entered, he said, 'All of you get introduced to one another, even if it be motherdaughter, husband-wife or relatives; introduction is a must."

On both the days when ASP classes were conducted, as Master went on talking, we were able to understand a lot of things very easily. We were surprised to see that whatever we were not able to understand. Master made us understand easily.

Whatever truths and messages had to be explained to us, the Master did it by means of telling us some small stories, incidents and some proverbs. On both days, as He was telling a lot of stories, we listened to Him like small children.

The Master explained wonderfully in the ASP classes about the functioning of the seven chakras in our bodies. 'Man is joyful when these seven chakras open up and when total energy is released from them. But, due to the presence of some negative qualities, these chakras get blocked and the energy flow gets obstructed and we suffer and struggle," said Master.

How to open up these chakras and what are the meditation techniques for that – these were taught by Master. The meditation techniques taught by Sri Nithyananda Swamiji are quite different from the ones taught by others.

For example, in one meditation, you have go on scolding. Master told us to scold those persons with whom we are angry, in such a language neither known to us, nor understood by anybody, like a dumb man blabbering something. When we did so, all the anger in our minds melted like ice and our minds became calm and quiet. Ah! How easily Master has unloaded the horrible burden of anger from our minds!

During all these meditations Master ties a white ribbon of cloth over our eyes.

Hence, nobody knows what the man sitting next to him is doing. There is no need to know that. We later understood that Master is adopting this technique only to make us do the meditations with full concentration.

It is the Master's order that the men attending the classes should wear white dhotis and in the case of ladies, white saris and white blouses. Ladies can have kumkum (red powder) on their foreheads, but not stickers. The reason for this is that agna chakra gets closed by doing so.

On the first day, the classes which commenced at 9 in the morning, ended at 1 AM in the night. However, we felt relaxed when we got breaks of ten minutes each, every now and then. We never felt tired.

Even after we returned in the night after the classes were over, we would not sleep. We were talking about what Master taught us that day. We had only a few hours of sleep. Again we started fresh the next morning. It was also the same the next day.

Master spoke with us; laughed; sang; danced. All were surprised to see him dance so well during the Shakti Darshan. Nobody knew where from their strength came, even 84-year-old people had joined Master in dancing. Ladies also danced with kolattam, kummi, (South Hindu folk dances) etc.

When the classes came to an end, our minds were without any confusion or worries, like a nice, crystalclear stream. The stress and strain which were torturing the mind and body were gone and we felt light like a paper floating on the air, like the feather of a pigeon.

We were overwhelmed to see the Master, who has changed us to this extent and we wondered as to how at this young age, he has so much of wisdom! That joy and wonder has not reduced even now. We were very happy to think how Master also danced along with us in the same way Lord Krishna played with the Gopikas (milkmaids). We wish to convey our heartfelt thanks to the Master.

Annexure III

Services rendered by Dhyanapeetam

(Some information from the web-site)

(A.S.P) Ananda Spurana Programme has been conducted many times all over the world

(SSP) Sakthi Spurana Programme has been conducted in several places around the world

(N.S.P) Nithyananda Spurana Programme has been conducted several times and new spiritual names given as per the being levels of each person.

Many people have been touched by Sri Paramahamsa through `Healing by meditation.

Serials in the weeklies are being published: varattum" in Kumudam and "Unnaippaar… Vaazhvu valamagum" in Vaanambadi weekly of Malaysia.

Annexure IV

Meditation camps and meditation seva programs

ASP consists of a two-day meditation camp. This camp is conducted by means of seven discourses and 7 meditation techniques, taken from 7 different religions, for the 7 chakras (energy centers) in the body. These chakras, in which the body, mind and soul merge, are cleansed and energized.

Along with 2 discourses on spirituality and meditation techniques, which have been proven scientifically, will be taught. This meditation camp is being conducted throughout the world by 50 acharyas who have been personally trained by Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda. How to live the worldly life more happily and joyfully is being taught.

Scientific explanation and spiritual meditation techniques about the three types of bodies in man, viz. physical body, pranic body and causal body are being taught by acharvas (teachers) in this one-day meditation camp. By this we can discover experientially the energies and peace lying hidden within us.

This is a one-day program for students, both boys and girls. In GSP I, wonders of the intricacy of memory, enhancing of reading capacity, increasing the understanding quality and practical and motivating meditation techniques are being taught by the acharyas.

In the GSP II program, explanations about the knowledge of the body and about emotions as well as the basic life education for shaping up the students' future life in a joyful manner, are being taught by the acharvas.

Who is an enlightened Master? Where am I? – It is a four-day program conducted by Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda himself concerning these great spiritual principles based on the five 'koshas'(sheaths) within us.

After attending 2 ASP camps, for those who wish wholeheartedly to do Ananda Seva (healing service) for people, healers' initiation is given free of cost in the ashram.

Free spiritual discourses as well as meditation camps are being conducted by acharyas personally to such schools, colleges and associations which obtain prior permissions from the ashram.

One year of free Gurukul education, Ananda education for those young men and women who are spiritually inclined and who have obtained their parent's permission also, are being conducted at Nithyanandapuri, Bangalore under the Gurukul education system along with free food, dress and residence.

Dhyanapeetam is located at Bidadi on the Bangalore - Mysore Road in beautiful, natural and scenic surroundings.

In the ashram, services such as Dhyana healing, teaching of meditation and feeding the poor for free are being rendered.

The main reason for all sorts of diseases is that the energy contained in the seven chakras of our bodies does not properly reach our bodies.

Ananda Dhyana healers in Dhyanapeetam will find out and tell you which chakra out of the seven chakras is affected in you.

Based on the Vedas of the rishis, audio cassettes under the title 'Mantra Therapy' have been made, containing the healing vibrations specifically suited for each of the chakras.

Further, individually selected meditation techniques are taught freely in the Ashram.

The following have been formulated by Sri Paramahamsa Nithyananda:

For the 7 chakras in our body - 7 separate meditations.

For the 7 subtle bodies within our body - 7 different meditations.

Specific meditations are taught to each of the patients depending upon the problems relating to his body. mind, and his qualities.

There are many, who, after undergoing the Dhyana healing properly and after becoming healed completely, exclaim with wonder, 'How is it that I have been healed so quickly!''

If you want to stay in the ashram and undergo the healing process, please register yourself a few days in advance, duly contacting Dhyanapeetam by telephone.

Because meditation corrects the energy deficiency, which is the root cause for all types of problems, whatever be the disease, meditation will give the relief from that.

Ananda Dhyana healing is only that most modern healing method in which the deficiency of energy in the patient is corrected by giving the energy from within us.

This healing is being given at Dhyanapeetam on all the days around the year by the healers who have been personally taught by Sri Paramahamsa Nithyananda.

The yogis do this holistic healing all through the year to all those who come with problems of body, mind and their qualities.

Those who stay in the ashram and take the healing, continuous healing is given by Ananda healers.

It is rather sad that many are not at all aware of this spiritual truth.

The reason for the crowd of people being always present around rishis and enlightened Masters is only because of the Ananda energy field being released from and around them.

Ananda energy has the capacity to give peace. It has the healing capability.

In the same way as the magnetic field around a magnet attracts the iron by sending its magnetic attracting force to it, the Ananda energy field created by the enlightened Masters around them only attracts people around them. It heals people; it makes them joyful.

In the same way as an electric current can induce magnetism in a wrought iron piece and make it retain its magnetic powers, an enlightened Master can energize a specified area of land or a material. This is called 'PRANA PRATHISHTA'. It is possible for an enlightened Master to retain the Ananda energy continuously for a certain distance in an ordinary land. It is a subtle truth.

Nithyanandapuri, where Dhyanapeetam is located, is one such energized plot of land. This land is full of Ananda Energy. Staying for a few days in such land spaces which have been so energized is equivalent to remaining by the side of an enlightened Master. Staying for all the 24 hours in the midst of such energy flow will go beyond our minds and work inside our bodies.

Those who come as escorts along with patients ask me many times, 'I had a particular problem: I did not undergo any healing. But I have been cured. How is it possible?'

The answer is that there is no sort of magic or miracle in this. Whatever change occurs in you is entirely scientific. It can be easily understood.

Everybody has a deficiency of energy. When such a deficiency of energy remains in an energized area for 24 consecutive hours, it is totally filled up with energy.

Once the reason for a problem becomes all right, the problem is corrected. That is all.

Each one of you should experience such matters at least once in your life-time. You should enjoy the flow of energy atom by atom.

The following meditations are taught to the public in Dhyanapeetam. Those who want to learn meditations can do so after getting prior permission from the ashram:

• ❖ Mahamantra
• ❖ Dukha Haranaa
• や Glossolalia
• ゃ Death meditation
• ❖ Vishuddhi meditation
• ❖ Third-eye meditation
• • Sahasrara meditation
• ಳ Sthoola sareera meditation
• • Sukshma sareera meditation
• ಳಿ Kaarana sareera meditation
• ୍ଦି Sakthi Dharana
• ❖ Yanthra Dhyanam
• • Dhyana seva.

Feeding the poor, educational assistance for poor students and free medical aid are being done successfully by Dhyanapeetam.

(List of books published by Dhyanapeetam)

• Nithyananda Oar arimugam. ●
• Patha poojayin mahathuvam ●
• Yanthira dhyanam
• Kathavaith thira...katru varattum ●
• Paramahamsarin Gnana mozhigal ●
• Katrin suvadugal
• . Uthirum Saragugal.
• Gnanathin thiravu koal. ●
• Manam kadantha nilai .
• Manathai thira....magizhchi pongattum ●
• Gnanathin kural .
• Saagum kalai ●
• Guruvae charanam ●
• Udal – Gnanathin their
• Padippu Tadai karkalai padi karkalaakkungal ●
• Dhyanam .
• Ilaignargalae... ●
• Anuthinamum Paramahamsarodu .
• Vazhvin ragasiyangal ●
• Sorgam unakkullae! .

Translations of the messages contained in boxes in various pages of the Tamil book "Kathavai thira, kaatru varattum".

1. Page 13 of the Tamil book:

A banyan tree within a seed. Tree of joy within the story. Open the door .... Let the breeze in! Open your heart...Let enthusiasm overflow!

2. Page 20:

Spirituality = Joy. The correct name for joyful life is 'Spiritual life.'

3. Page 21:

The new name invented by man for not being able to live joyfully, is 'ordinary life.'

4. Page 27:

Desire sprouts again and again, only because dissatisfaction pushes the desire and ends only in dissatisfaction.

5. Page 30:

Results of actions of past karmas will decide the direction of life, but will not decide life itself.

6. Page 33:

Mere information and knowledge will only fill up the brain. Only experience which is beyond knowledge will give liberation.

7. Page 35:

The knowledge of many wise men has only been mere guesses!

8. Page 41:

Wasting the life is a sin; a cruel action; a felony.

9. Page 47:

Getting disheartened by repeated comparisons and getting motivated by repeated comparisons – it is all in your hands.

10. Page 55:

A ladder is there only for going upstairs. If you begin hanging on to the ladder, then how can you go upstairs?

11. Page 62:

There is no connection between one's world and the world of another. Depending upon the opinion, view and mind of each person, the world will appear different to each one.

12. Page 69:

If you laugh with all your heart, disease will disappear. This is not a proverb. It is a meditation technique. Laughing continuously for 20 minutes is in itself a type of meditation. Do you want to see heaven? Then, laugh. Laugh fully and wholly!!

13. Page 74:

Good health is a pleasant, sweet and nice feeling which cannot be shaken by anybody or anything.

14. Page 79:

Mind itself is an illusion! The illusion of the mind is stranger than a ghost!

15. Page 85:

It is possible for a confusion to confusion only when the confusion itself faces the confusion without any confusion.

16. Page 91:

It is rather easy to get cleared from an unclear condition. It is difficult to get cleared from an unclear clarity.

17. Page 95:

You are not responsible for your not being able to have studied well. But you are responsible for what you are going to study!

18. Page 104:

If you have the magic key of desire, it is very easy to open up the good thing called memory.

19. Page 111:

The imagination which helps to plan the future is a wonder! The imagination which leads you to waste the present moment is futile! Whether the imagination is a wonder or something futile will be decided based upon turning imagination into a reality.

20. Page 119:

Futile talk - Proof that useless thoughts are cutting up your mind (to pieces).

21. Page 125:

If our intellect reduces, peace of mind also will reduce. If we can enhance our intellect, we can surely get peace of mind.

22. Page 129:

A joyful laughter and life will give blossom and brilliance to the face muscles and the lips which have become hardened and tight due to stress. 23. Page 135:

For every minute a man loses his tolerance he becomes an animal.

24. Page 143:

Depending upon the quality and strength of self-control, anger is energy or a knife. Forgiving is a great medicine.

25. Page 147:

Achievement is only a collective outcome of belief, morality and enthusiasm!

26. Page 153:

Grief will only be overflowing in life until one really 'wakes up'.

27. Page 162:

Affection is something beyond all these three: sex, love and friendship.

28. Page 163:

When friendship blossoms relationship reaches its totality. When affection blossoms man reaches his fullest maturity.

29. Page 166:

Equanimity is the best of all the charity you perform..

30. Page 168:

The peace, satisfaction and joy which the people around us get due to our equanimity, cannot be obtained even by the hundreds we may give in charity.

31. Page 173:

To make others struggle is the nature of the world. To struggle oneself is the nature of one's mind. Remaining unperturbed is the nature of the soul.

32. Page 178:

Sainthood is the name given to the life-style of 100% independence and 100% bliss. The person who lives so is called a saint.

33. Page 179:

Today, the part of life which is full of taste as well as burden, is youth!

34. Page 180:

O, Youngster! You only are totally responsible for your blissful life.

35. Page 185:

There has never been a dearth of Masters at any time in the past. But there continues to be a dearth of true disciples at all times.

36. Page 192:

You may do research with enlightenment and with enlightened Masters to begin with. But continuing to do research is a great mistake. There is no use in that.

37. Page 196:

An easy way for a good and pleasant life is to nurture good and cordial human relationships.

38. Page 197:

Being just natural is the very nature of mankind.

39. Page 202:

Taking a child to task requires knowledge of child psychology and also knowledge of general flow-of-life. To pamper a child, both the above are also required.

40. Page 207:

After learning to learn, the things to learn at the time suitable for such learning are only the life-secrets!

41. Page 211:

Belief only is life! Belief only is the problem! Belief only is the solution too!

42. Page 218:

Pseudo belief has the quality of making the real appear real and making one believe false is real, finally destroying one's peace of mind.

43. Page 224:

A false satisfaction is much worse than dissatisfaction.

44. Page 228:

Stubbornness - A paralysis which has caught hold of your mind.

45. Page 234:

Not being able to be at peace in one's inside or outside is a symbol of the presence of ego.

46. Page 239:

Insult - Is it real? Or imaginary? Answer: It depends on your state of mind.

47. Page 247:

Anxiety is a net. Joy is a dosha or affliction. Bliss only is permanent!

48. Page 251:

If you realize that 'I am responsible for my worry', then desiring is all right. You can desire, nothing wrong.

49. Page 252:

For those who want to know, 'Why for me alone, so many worries?, ' understand that the reason for your worries is only your desires!

50. Page 257:

Too many worries lead to sorrow, sorrow leads to depression leads to mental disturbances.

51. Page 264:

God is blissful juice, blissful state, bliss itself, which has to be experienced after entering ourselves in, remaining inside and enjoying.

52. Page 270:

Devotion is the key to energy! Energy is the entrance door to salvation!

53. Page 274:

God is the only reason for the universe. Reason for you to take shape! Why? It is the very reason for the movement of yourself and the universe.

54. Page 275:

Looking from the scientific point of view, the entire universe can be seen within a cell!

55. Page 276:

Looking from a spiritual point of view, the entire universe will appear as an ordinary cell.

56. Page 281:

It is only those that change with courage the unfavorable, who make their appearances in world history.

57. Page 285:

Open up your mind's eye. The truth that you are only in the bright will become known to you!

58. Page 292:

Good luck is the lazy peoples' dream! Bad luck is the coward's nightmare! For a smart, courageous person, both are same. They will continue to mature in life through both of these.

1. Opposite to page 32:

Birth: THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM was born on 1* January, 1978 at Thiruvannamalai, a spiritual town in South Bharat.

Next page: Well being! Well being!! This is what man has been searching for era after era! Sorrow! Sorrow!! This is what man experiences birth after birth. Joy! Joy!! This is what man is very eager to enjoy birth after birth. Well-being! Sorrow! Joy! This circle is the game we, ourselves have started. The struggle in life is only because this has not been properly understood. If this is understood, life is a celebration.

2. Opposite to page 64:

Childhood: THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM, right from childhood, naturally involved himself in spiritual pursuits such as listening to the stories of great Masters, visiting pilgrimage centers, and following devotional and yoga paths.

Next page:

Likes and dislikes will equally be present until the flower of love blossoms in the heart. Make love blossom. Realize love is God and become God.

3. Opposite to page 96:

First spiritual experience:

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM: At the age of 12, on the Buddha Purnima day, while meditating, the thought 'I am a separate body' vanished and he realized 'All are myself'. I am all'. The thought 'I' disappeared and gave way to the feeling of 'self'. In Sanskrit, they call it as 'Satori'.

Next page:

Meditation and wisdom are more essential for a young man who is eager to live and enjoy life fully than for an aged man who has missed enjoying and living a proper life.

Reason: Meditation enhances the energy to experience and enjoy.

Wisdom enhances the strength to live and interact with others.

4. Opposite to page 160:

Enlightenment:

The fire of spiritual search became severe day by day. The spiritual journey consisted of deep and varied penance, aloneness, hunger, starvation, 100% unsafe living, death experience etc and finally blossomed as 'Total enlightenment' on 1st January, 2000.

Next page: Show 100% love. Help 100%. Respect 100%. Instead of doing these to your male or female lover, first of all, learn how to do these unto your own self.

5. Opposite to page 192:

In spiritual work:

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM, as per his 'Divine insight', established a spiritual service foundation called 'Dhyanapeetam' on 1* January 2003 at Bangalore, and is continuing to render service to the world by offering as a gift to the world, the wisdom he obtained, to remove the ills of the mankind and to lead the people beyond happiness towards eternal bliss.

Next page: Every moment of life teaches the secrets of success. Learn to learn that.

6. Opposite to page 224: In Ananda Seva:

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM has established world-wide. Dhyana Healing centers, conducts meditation camps, spiritual discourses, Gurukul education, Maha Satsangs, training Acharyas who spread the Ananda meditations everywhere.

Next page:

Spiritual life means a life of joy. Spirituality means life education to obtain happiness. Become spiritual and experience the joy.

7. Opposite to page 256:

All of us are proud that our THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM proves spirituality in a scientific manner and that his 'spiritual experiences' have been proved to be true and correct scientifically by American medical scientists and researchers.

Be blissful by fully utilizing this nice opportunity.

Next page:

' After losing the key to heaven, without even knowing about losing it, why should you suffer and live like a demon or a low person, losing all life's joys, when you should actually be living like a king?'

Only if you realize this and begin to search for the key to heaven, will you realize that the key is very much in your own hands!

The search is only: Meditation. The key is only: Wisdom.

The Supreme Pontiff of Hinduism ("SPH"), Jagatguru Mahasannidhanam ("JGM"), His Divine Holiness ("HDH") Bhagavan Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam, is recognized as the 1008th living incarnation of Paramashiva as per Sanatana Hindu Dharma ("Hinduism") and by His predecessors of enlightened masters and adepts.

The SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM is reviving Hinduism as the 1008th Acharya Mahamandaleshwar (the head for all spiritual leaders) of Atal Akhada (ancient apex body of Hinduism), coronated as Mahamandaleshwar (Supreme Spiritual Head) of Maha Nirvani Akhada (largest apex monastic order) and the youngest Mahamandaleshwar, ordained as the 233rd Guru Mahasamidhanam (Pontiff) of Thondai Mandala Aadheenam, ordained as the 293rd Guru Mahasannidhanam (Pontiff) of Shyamalapeeta Sarvajnapeetam, ordained as the 23rd Guru Mahasamidhanam of Dharmamukthi Swargapuram Aadheenam, and coronated as the 203rd Emperor of Suryavamsa Surangi Samrajyam.

The Srimad Karana Agama, Purva bhaga, Patala 71, Sakalotpatti vidhi, Sloka 8 & 9 (Sacred Ancient Hindu scripture) declares:

डत्येवं निष्कळं प्रोक्तं परं भावमिति स्मृतम्। सष्टिस्थं लोकरक्षार्थं लोकस्योत्पत्तिकारणम।। साधकानां हितार्थं तु स्वेच्छया गृह्णते तनुः।

In this way (Shiva) who is Nishkala - without any body and parts, who is the Ultimate Supreme Being, who is established in the Creation, who is the Cause of the Universe, assumes a body out of His Free Will for the protection of the Universe, and for the Spiritual seekers and Devotees.

The SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM is the reigning spiritual emperor of 17 ancient traditional Hindu kingdoms and the reviver of the most ancient, most peaceful, still-living and long-lasting demonstrable system that shows the possibility of peaceful co-existence amongst people. Following the coronation to establish KAILASA worldwide at the age of 16, for the past 27 years, The SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM, as the face of the unified Hindus, has been single-handedly, tirelessly inspiring the dispossessed Hindu Diaspora to reclaim their Hindu centric freedom and stand unified for the centuriesold Hindu genocide.

The 1008th living incarnation of Paramashiva, The SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM stands as the unifying force for the 2 billion born and practicing Hindu diaspora worldwide and established the Hindu State, KAILASA for the persecuted Hindus in over 100 countries.

The SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM has made resolute efforts towards recognizing and legitimizing the Hindu genocide which has been receiving scant consideration by global leaders and international bodies, The SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM founded KAILASA Uniting Nations. For the past 27 years, this international body has been responsible in building relations, bridging dialogs, inspiring leaders, uniting nations towards acknowledging the Hindu policies which are universal, life positive as referenced from the ancient text of Hinduism. This is the 'ahimsa' (non-violent) way of bringing acknowledgment to the horrors of the Hindu genocide, the untold facts of the darkest act of mankind on Earth to the most contributing civilization - KAILASA.

KAILASA is an apolitical nation whose vision is enlightened living for all. Towards this goal, KAILASA is the only Hindu nation on planet Earth today bringing legitimacy to the principles of Hinduism. Social principles, economic principles, judicial principles, Hindu medical principles, and Hindu economic principles. KAILASA is The SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's response to humanity's global problems of poverty, hunger, illiteracy, disease, violence and global warming and the continuing ethnocide and genocide of over 80 million Hindus worldwide since 7 centuries.

Over the last 50 years, the effects of meditation and its significant impact on stress, violence, political decision making and even war in local and global consciousness is well established. Unfortunately, in the last two hundred years, forcibly we are made to believe Hinduism is a functional principle only for enlightenment and spirituality. It is absolutely dysfunctional for the political, social, economical system. Making Hindu family structure, Hindu social structure dysfunctional is the greatest crime done against humanity.

Sanatana Hindu Dharma has faced both historical and ongoing religious persecution and systematic violence, in various forms including assassination attempts on living incarnations, targeted elimination of Hindu pontiffs through bio war and lawfare, cyberbullying, Hindu phobia, forced conversions, documented massacres, demolitions, desecration and grabbing of worship temples and monasteries, looting of Hindu temples properties, destruction of Hindu educational institutions, elimination of well known Hindu libraries, the gross violation to the freedom to practice the Hindu school of liberated thinking (Sankhya), Hindu schools of living enlightenment (Jeevan Mukthi), gross violations of the right

to freedom of religion that includes violations of the right to life, personal Hindu integrity or personal looting Hindu liberty. mass execution. and enslavement.

Hinduism was once practiced freely in over 56 nations across the continent from Afghanistan, Bharat, Nepal, Burma, Sri Lanka, all the way to Singapore, Malaysia, and Cambodia and Indonesia, and in 200 states, 1700 samasthanas (provinces) and 10,000 sampradayas (traditions). Over several centuries the combined forces of foreign invasion, political upheaval, colonialism and religious persecution systematically ended millennia of Hindu Swarajya, or self-rule. Today Hindu temples remain in a few countries but the Hindus who worshiped in them have been ethnically cleansed.

The revival of Hinduism through the civilizational nation of KAILASA globally irked vested interests of atheistic terrorist militant elements, caste supremacist terrorists and other anti-Hindu forces who executed a massive persecution and genocide on SPH and His followers on 2 March 2010 that continued for the next whole decade and comprised of over 70 assassination attempts, over 250 sexual assaults on SPH and his monks and disciples, lawfare of 120 false cases over 10 years, massive hate propaganda in electronic media of over 14,000 hours and print media of over 25,000 articles in 5 years, destruction of heritage properties worth over 27 million USD, and the continuing ethnocide and genocide of over 80 million Hindus worldwide since 7 centuries. Specifically, the lawfare involved:

• Delegitimizing SPH by hate propaganda, disenfranchising Him of His civil and human rights, prejudicing Him from fair representation and fair trial
• Repeated illegal imprisonment, with brazen torture, custodial assassination attempts, supported by system justification in various forms, including the common processes of bureaucracy, indifference, self-deception, diffused responsibility and has resulted in continued systemic complicity with torture, murder and genocide
• . Well-planned multi-layer false hate propaganda by the 'fourth estate' media sustained by moral disengagement, leaving the broader public in a state of willful ignorance, motivated denial, out-group victim-blaming, dehumanization and bystander apathy to even genocide.

The SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM stands in solidarity with the untold, multi-level - social, political, intellectual, religious, cultural, linguistic, economic, legal, digital - persecution done to Hinduism and faced by Hindus and Hindu minorities worldwide for the past several thousands of years continues through the modern day. The SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM has been recently acknowledged by the United Nations for the persecution of The SPH and the KAILASA global community, especially the affected women and children.

The KAILASA with de facto spiritual embassies operating across over 100 countries and having presence across the globe as the largest spiritual knowledge source on Hinduism is spiritually governed with the life positive, all-inclusive, universal policies sourced from Hinduism revived by the SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM. Having enriched and enreached more billion individuals over the past 27 years the KAILASA raises the voice to protect Hindus, defend Hindus and preserve the Hindu narrative for the world.

Part 4: Open the Door... Let the Breeze in!_English_part_4.md