EGO🔗

❖ There is nothing else in this world more filled with cunningness than EGO.

❖ Going around saying ‘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 away?’

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 ruin of 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 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.

❖ ‘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 fraud or 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 and such place,’ etc. They always live in an imaginary world of insults.

Third type: Wonderful persons, cultured people. They are fully aware 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:

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.

Don't Worry, Brother!

❖ 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 Thanjavur 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.

Origin of All Worries

❖ 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)

❖ 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?

❖ 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.

❖ 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 very well desire for anything. No harm. We can aspire for anything. It’s O.K.

> ‘How are you?’ >>‘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.

Everybody is surely ambitious to live without any sort of worries. The fact that we are not aware that only desires are the main root cause for all sorts of our worries is the main reason for all troubles.

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. Nithirajan 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 beeda on a plate and was waiting for Mr. Nitti. When Nitti 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.Nitti 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 Nitti 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 number of our worries is the same as that of our desires. If desires reduce, worries also automatically reduce. We select our worries through our desires.

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 fully 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.

❖ 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 blind, 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 sight, 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.

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.....’

Praising and thanking the divine force from the depths of your heart, breathing deeply at this very moment, and praying thus; then, that only is true devotion.

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:

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 India 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.

Meditation is one technique which enables us to make use of the energy which remains dormant in us.

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.

Where is God?

 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

 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.

 That is, spirituality identifies ‘energy’ as ‘God’ Science identifies ‘God’ as ‘Energy’

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 and 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 Brahmam, 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.

As God is present everywhere, there cannot be any place where He is not present; why, this is true even of an atom.

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 saying 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 omni-present.’

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.

❖ “COURAGE” is one of the great gifts mankind has.

❖ Hesitation and drowsiness are both the outcomes of lack of courage.

❖ 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.

There is a Chinese proverb: 'Even a 1000 mile run begins with a small step.'

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.

Look at those successful men in the world. They have come up in life only after going up the steps of courage, planning, steadfastness, hard labour, God's will ...etc.

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 Indians. But for his courage and the ability to face dangers and his perseverance, the name of Columbus would not be found in world history.

Ordinary men are those who make favourable things unfavourable. It is only those who, with courage, convert the unfavourable to favourable, and have their names etched 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 to favorable 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 those moments, we will only taste a feeling of being in hell.

❖ 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.

❖ Ananda is that which is beyond these above two kinds of feelings.

❖ 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.

There is no such thing as heaven or hell geographically. It exists only psychologically.

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 or five 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.

❖ 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 or bad 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.

If we turn our minds from fear to courageousness we can convert bad luck into good luck.

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 never wait expecting for good things to happen nor feel sad thinking about bad luck. 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.

Annexure I

M.I.N.D.

MATTERS.

A Mind Matters Column The Mind of a Mystic.

Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda 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 apt description of the Master, a 27 year-old from south India. 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 India, immersed himself in philosophy, read extensively and Mastered the art of meditation.

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!

Imaging Brain Activity

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 function 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 significantly 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, looking 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.

Measuring Brainwaves

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!

Conclusions

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 mind of a 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.

Annexure II

Oh! Those Two Blissful Days!

Ananda Spurana Programme (ASP) was conducted by Swami Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda on 3rd 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 mother-daughter, 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 white shirts 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 1AM 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 Indian folk dances) etc.

When the classes came to an end, our minds were without any confusion or worries, like a nice, crystal-clear 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 www.dhyanapeetam.org)

Annexure IV

Meditation camps and meditation seva programs

1. Ananda Spurana Programme (ASP)

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.

2. Ananda Dhyana (AYP)

Along with 2 discourses on spirituality and meditation, 2 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.

3. Shakthi Spurana Meditation programme (SSP)

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 acharyas (teachers) in this one-day meditation camp. By this we can discover experientially the energies and peace lying hidden within us.

4. Gnana Spurana (Meditation) camp (GSP I & II)

This is a one-day program for students, both boys and girls. In GSP I, wonders of the brain, 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 glands 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 acharyas.

5. Nithyananda Spurana Programme (NSP)

Who is an enlightened Master? Where am I? How 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.

6. Healers’ Initiation.

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.

7. Spiritual discourses.

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.

8. Ananda Anubhav.

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.

Annexure V

Dhyanapeetam

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.

Dhyana Healing.

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:

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.

Healing energy environment.

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.

Meditations.

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:

Annadhana.

Feeding the poor, educational assistance for poor students and free medical aid are being done successfully by Dhyanapeetam.

Annexure VI

(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".

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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 confuse a 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 false, the false 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. 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 creation of 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 to favorable, 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 light 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.

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Translation of the captions for the photo-plates in the book 'Kathavai Thira Kaatru Varattum. -----

1. Opposite to page 32:

Birth: Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda was born on 1st January, 1978 at Thiruvannamalai, a spiritual town in South India.

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: Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda, 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: Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda: 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:

Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda, as per his 'Divine insight', established a spiritual service foundation called 'Dhyanapeetam' on 1st 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:

Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda 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 Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda 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.

About The SPH Nithyananada Paramashivam

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 SPH 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 Mahasannidhanam (Pontiff) of Thondai Mandala Aadheenam, ordained as the 293rd Guru Mahasannidhanam (Pontiff) of Shyamalapeeta Sarvajnapeetam, ordained as the 23rd Guru Mahasannidhanam 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:

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 creation of the Universe, assumes a body out of His Free Will for the protection of the Universe, and for the welfare of the Spiritual seekers and Devotees.

The SPH 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 SPH 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 centuries-old Hindu genocide.

The 1008th living incarnation of Paramashiva, The SPH 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 SPH Nithyanada 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 SPH 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 SPH 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, crime rates, 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 Hindu liberty, mass execution, looting and enslavement.

Hinduism was once practiced freely in over 56 nations across the continent from Afghanistan, India, 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 SPH 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 SPH 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 SPH Nithyananda Paramashivam. Having enriched and enreached more than one 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.

Ebook ISBN: 979-8-88572-855-3