Bad Egg...

I came across this video Bad Egg on YouTube and it got me thinking...

The quote at the end which says 'Mother Earth has enough to satisfy every man's need but not every man's greed' - How True...I don't know when will all human beings realize this truth.

Today most of us are just involved in plundering Mother Earth and her precious resources. Why can't we learn to live like our ancestors who lead a much simpler life? In the name of progress and civilization we have eroded Mother Earth of everything and we are testing her patience to the limit. I am not sure how much more nonsense she is capable of handling but one thing is for sure, we will end up paying the price one way or the other.

Man thinks himself to be very smart and in his ego he may find another distant planet which would sustain human life, no doubt. But is it fair? Is it fair to use up Mother Earths' resources and leave her once our needs are no longer satiable by her? The Movie Wall-E also depicted how Mother Earth is depleted to the level until she was just a 'wasteland'. The message of this movie is something which we can't just ignore since this may be a sad reality within the next few decades. Also the truth is that we may not be in a position to face Mother Nature's fury when this happens.

Recently I read an article that sending an email actually takes up more power and is actually not 'eco-friendly' as was projected earlier. The other day one of my friend had indicated on her blog that she wished that iPhones existed maybe 20 years back when we were little kids so that she could capture the little beauties of nature like the sparrow, crows and beautiful flowers which were very much part of city life then. But the fact is that if cell phones existed then we wouldn't have had all the beautiful little things of nature that we enjoyed back then. Why? Just look around yourself today, do you see any small squirrels, sparrows, mynas, cuckoos, small shrubs, flowering plants? I read an article which stated that cell phone towers are responsible for creating radiations which are destroying the natural flora and fauna in their surrounding areas. So it is all a question of trade-offs...today we have traded nature to have the most advanced technology in our hands and we are not stopping at that. But how long will this trend continue...how much time we have left??? How long will we be the bad egg???

My tryst with music...

This post is about my experience with Carnatic vocal music which I have been learning for the past 3 months. Music and me were always poles apart. I loved to dance but music what something I wasn't too familiar with. So the desire to learn Carnatic music formally was a big one, given that I had no inkling of what Raagam, Taalam or Shruthi is all about. Anyways this craving in me got kindled thanks to the devotional bhajans we sing during our meditation sessions. I started getting quite good at it (ahem!) and thought I could do better justice to the devotional songs if I had some formal training. I signed up for an online Carnatic music course where my teacher is remotely located and we can schedule classes based on our convenience. Thus began my Carnatic vocal music sojourn.

I must say that after starting the classes, I realized that it is something which I have terribly missed all these years without even realizing it. I just wish I could have started learning music some 25 years back. But better late than never I hope. My life after music has changed a great extent and hence this post is dedicated to my experience post-music.

First of all, music really opens up avenues in our brain which you didn't even know existed. Generally after one hour of music class I feel so refreshed and energetic and my brain is usually at its peak performance! Also my cognitive faculties and those pertaining to paying detailed attention have also improved quite a bit. I think people who are into music know this already but I guess it is one of the best exercises that our brain can have!

But my joy with music doesn't end at a mental level only. I have come to realize and experience the fact that music is the direct step to ascend in our spiritual connection with the divine. It is so easy to connect to the Divine with music. Our ancestors knew very well that each musical note (Sa, Ri, Ga, Ma...) corresponds to one of our energy centres (chakras). This means that a true musical person will also be spiritually elevated. I guess it is one of the reasons why all the saints of ancient India were known for their musical compositions in praise of the Divine.

I personally like different kinds of music but after my spiritual aftermath I feel that music should be of the elevating kind. There are lots of genres of music and people do feel uplifted in varying degrees spiritually or otherwise but the real question I guess is, is the music is helping us ascend spiritually? Is the music in tandem with our spiritual system? This will help us filter out through a lot of clutter that is being marketed as music today. I personally feel that it is not just the technique of music but how connected we become when we sing / listen to a piece.

I would also like to thank my music Guru Mrs. Chamundeeswari P for sustaining my interest in music. The things I have mentioned in this post may not be new to the person who already is familiar with the alphabet of music but for the ignorant, I hope this blog would inspire them in some way to start pursuing the musical journey right away. Ideally, music should be made mandatory for all junior classes in all schools because I do not want children to miss out on this divine nectar. Also there is no room for doubt that it is also one of the best ways to relate to our culture. I have just started on this journey...I still have a long way to go...like they say, the journey of a thousand raagas begins with the Sapthaswaras...Sa, Ri, Ga, Ma... :-)

Children of Heaven...

This was an old post on a different blog of mine...reposting it here...

Children of Heaven - hmmm....this is one movie which has moved me like no other movie has until now. Simply superb, Awesome...and I think the dictionary is short on words to describe the pure magic of this movie.

This movie has its heart and the whole in the right place...no doubt about that...

There are so many subtle and beautiful truths about life that have been represented in this movie...like the love and trust between a brother and sister...and the sacrifices which kids make by understanding the problems of their parents.

This movie is at a far far higher plateau than most other no-brainer, techno-babble movies that are churned out today.

The whole movie is just a single pair of shoes...this pair of shoes take the brother and sister duo of Ali and Zahra on a whirlwind adventourous journey...and also takes the viewers along to heights which no theme park fun ride can...!!!

Also I feel that people who are 'well-off' may not be able to relate to the heart of this movie since they have everything aplenty. The value of losing the only pair of shoes you have...is difficult to understand while you have like 10-20 pairs in your shoe closet...!

This movie teaches so many morals...to children and adults alike...

There are several times when the brother Ali gives his sister many of his things...like the new pencil, the pen which he got for scoring good grades...I initially wondered if he is bribing his sister to keep the 'secret' from his Mom and Pop...or does he really like her to have those things...? But eventually...when he runs the race during the finale of the movie...you realize the true love that he has for his sister...

The moment when he asks...with great anticipation...'Am I third Sir..??' ...really is heart wrenching...it shows us that sometimes in life...coming 'first' is not always the optimal end...sometimes we have to lose the winning place to win something... :-)

A must watch for everybody...

Complete Harmony....

This is a post inspired by Axinia's blog 1000 petals which I follow...

The following is one of Gandhiji's sayings mentioned in her blog...it got me writing the below...

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

Today people think one thing, say another thing and end up doing something totally different! Most people today find it hard to remain as one person...they are different people in different places. They wear different masks at depending on the situation and people they have to interact with. They wear a 'nice' mask when they are with their near and dear ones, they wear a 'serious' mask at work and a 'jovial' mask with their friends. They never really expose the person who they really are deep down and maybe that person is unknown even to them. It is very easy to preach 'Happiness is what you choose' and that you just have to make a choice but that is easier said than done...!

People nowadays always find it hard to sync up the person they are at the Mental, Physical, Emotional and Spiritual level. Each level seems to have different needs which don't seem to fall in place harmoniously with the other levels. So people try to satisfy their needs at one or two different levels and ignore the rest. This results in cacophony and discord between the different levels resulting in imbalances that affect not only individual lives but also societies as a whole. That is how things slowly start disintegrating and people start losing faith and start believing in things which are just superficial. If you see this video on how pimples are formed (sorry for not being able to come up with a better analogy...) you can get a better idea of what I am talking about. First say a person is not satisfied at one level say the physical level, then he / she gets blocked at that particular level with all the 'bacteria' of ego, superego and conditionings. Then the person tries to satiate all their desires at that level and goes to the extremes like earning crores of rupees by any means to keep themselves 'happy' at the physical level. But like a drug the high stays for a short duration and the effects wear off gradually. Slowly things start welling up in them and then one day everything explodes - just like a pimple!

According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs the step of Self-Realization is the highest pinnacle among the needs of the homo-sapien species. But I believe it is not something which has to be achieved in steps.

I think human beings today are much more advanced than their ancestors and have come to realize the futility in hankering after material desires and also the emotional drain they experience being in unhappy relationships. So the ideal solution for this problem would be to start at the top end of Maslow's hierarchy. I have experienced in Sahaja Yoga meditation that once our spiritual needs are met then all the other lower level needs fall into place and it all happens very spontaneously. It works just like a pack of Dominoes...one piece falls and the rest of them automatically falls in place and you become completely synchronized and in tune with yourself. So you become just the 'one person' that you really are and lose the maddening duality. So anything you do from then on becomes a beautiful rendition of a song by a master soloist who is none other than the Divine and you just step aside and enjoy the soothing music. :-) so be happy and be yourself - inside and out!

He is 2.5 years old now... :-)

The last post about my son was when he was 6 months old but I think it is time to devote another post for him since he has grown so much since then...

Actually this post got delayed and my son is almost 2.9 months now...so I think I can write some more about him. He is still the same sweet child which I had described in my previous post about him. But now there is a whole bunch of things which he can do and amaze us at the same time. For instance he is very fluent in both Marati and Tamil - his Mother and Father tongues. So while he is talking to this Dad he speaks in Tamil and with Mom in Marati and he also translates for his Dad when required...he is our little translator :-D It is amazing to see how kids pick up languages at this age...just like that! I think some research into how kids do this will help us grown ones also to follow the same technique. Personally, I think it is because they have an open heart and open mind and are not biased by anything.

He is also very, very naughty now unlike the last time when I wrote about him where I described him as a sweet angel. But his naughty little pranks are all engineered to make us laugh or sometimes even scream depending on how much post-cleaning work we have to do... :-)

Also the most important part of his growing up is his fixation with cars which started quite early but is still very stead. He just loves them! Actually he loves any kind of automobile but he probably likes his Dad's van the best. I realized how much fixated he was with them when the first thing he learnt to draw was a Car few months back and he draws nothing else but that...! Also his favorite letters in the Alphabet is C (for Car) and V (for Van)...hmmm.....I don't remember when exactly his fascination for cars started but boy it has stayed for quite long and I am not sure how much longer will it stay....

He also does a lot of sweet things trying to help me which fortunately or unfortunately turn out to be double work for me! This one time he tried to help me clean the rice and spilt the whole thing on the floor :-O which make me furious at that given instant but later when I think back about the intention with which he did it makes me feel warm and I also feel sorry for yelling at him.

As he is growing up he is more closer to me than his Dad which I guess is a normal tendency for boy babies. Also I think the main thing about bringing up children right is by being a good example for them to mimic. There is no use telling them or disciplining them about right and wrong. You just do the right thing and they will follow you.

Now he understands what is happening around him much better and this has motivated me as a mother to do things which would help him understand our culture and heritage better. Hence I make it a point to celebrate all festivals by following the same rituals and traditions to whatever extent feasible. Hopefully all this will form a good treasure of memories for him to cherish as he grows older.

I can go on and on about him and his antics but I think I will stop here and will continue in another post after a few months....

Nostalgia...

This is a collection of some of the old Doordarshan serial songs and ads...hmmm.....feels good to be back to our childhood... :-) If you were a child in the 80s and 90s then you will surely enjoy these nuggets when life wasn't so complicated and we used to just have one channel on TV and a couple of channels on the Radio...and very few ads which we can still remember...

One of the songs which used to play on AIR...Ghanashyama Sundara

One of my favorite serials and title song (Tehkikaat)...I used to never miss an episode of this..

Another one of my favorite detective serials...I used to loveeeeee thisss....Byomkesh Bakshi

A funny serial which I used to watch regularly - Flop Show Great job Jaspal Bhatti ji...

A regular serial to watch to build up my General Knowledge bank - Surabhi - wish there were more programs like this one...

One of the earliest animations on DoorDarshan channel - for National Integrity - Need to play this even now on all channels...

Cute ad - can't forget this one - Jalebiiii....

mmm....Diary Milk ...sweet memories...

Patriotic ad - Hamara Bajaj

My favorite cartoon (obviously second to Tom & Jerry) - Jungle Book aka Mougli

Another good title song from those days - Chandrakantha

I think when we are kids we always aspire to be superheroes just like Shaktimaan

My first introduction to Arabian folk tales - Alif Laila

Another of my favorite patriotic song - Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

Really got me into the meditative mood early on - Om Namah Shivay

Freedom Run - old memories are flooding back...

Another favorite classic which I just stumbled upon in YouTube - Pingu - I don't remember this being telecast for long...but really brings back a lot of memories :-)

I will keep updating this list as and when I come across any of the old favorites...

Operation UnPlug - One!

This post is a continuation of my previous post which was quite grim. After giving some thought to it I decided to come up with a list of things which we can-do based on our feasibility to lessen our dependence on the 'crumbling' economy and at the same time respect Mother Earth a little bit more. These are just beginnings of a new perspective of life for me...but I can guarantee that there are people out there who are already very actively leading lives which are very self-sufficient and very eco-conscious...so if you are such a person and you happen to stumble across this post of mine please share your thoughts and ideas...and maybe we can make this world that much more nicer to live....

There are many things which we need to unplug ourselves from. Take for instance the food inflation which seems to be getting worse day after day. The best way to 'unplug' from this is to grow our own vegetables. Ok, I agree, it's not easy - we live in a flat too with very little gardening space but what is stopping us from having a few potted vegetables like tomato, potato, carrot, cucumber and so on? This will not only help reduce our dependence on the expensive vegetable hawker but will also give us the satisfaction of cooking our own home grown vegetables :-) which I can bet will be more tasty and fresh. This will also increase the 'green' quotient of your home and you will do your part in making the planet greener...

The next main thing is to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. For this we need to reduce our dependence on driving a vehicle or even renting one. I for one rent autorickshaws when I have to travel out but they are a species of humans I think I would be better off dealing without. If they gas prices go up by one unit these guys increase their rates 10 units. There is no one to question their rowdyism. I always abhor traveling in one but end up traveling as I have no other choice. To find a solution to my problem I started researching if there are electric bikes (remember I want my solutions to eco-friendly as well) which I could buy. But then I realized that were a couple of electric bike choices but their maintenance costs were way too high. Every year the maintenance cost would be about 50 % of the initial purchase price!!! I think there is a huge potential for electric bikes in India which is currently being ignored by the government for their own selfish purpose. Then I realized that in China there are a lot more varieties of electric bikes. If any business men are out there I would request you to please tap into this potential market which is the best solution from an environmental angle as well.

This is the first post among a series of UnPlug posts. I think people who think in favor of the environment and talk 'big' are still ridiculed upon today. But I think it is high time that the others wake up to the damage that has already been done and unplug themselves from all selfish associations and try to lead more fuller more eco-friendly lives. Their life may not be on the 'fast lane' but it will definitely be on the more 'sensible lane'.

Corporate Sustainability...the new buzzword

I came across this word in the newspaper the other day and it caught my fancy. hmmm...what does it mean...? There was an interview with Mr. So & So where he mentioned that it refers to companies considering all aspects of their business from a social, cultural and economic environment with the main focus being on creating a 'green' strategy...he mentioned that 'CSR' (Corporate Social Responsibility) was just frou-frou (there goes another keyword down the drain!) and he said that 'CS' or Corporate Sustainability was the catch-all word.

So what exactly is CS? According to the Brundtland Commission's Report it means - "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". I guess it is high time that we woke up to this truth...given the fact that we have already started paying a heavy price for the mistakes made by our previous two generations...

The first and foremost thing to be done based on the above definition of CS is that basically as corporate's or as individuals we have to become 'less greedy' - easier said than done. People today blinded by their greed want to earn and stash away $$$ by any possible means for themselves and for their future generations...but they forget to realize that who will enjoy all their wealth if there are no humans left alive on this earth???!!!!! 7 BILLION - a staggering number - maybe if medical science had not tampered so much with nature's cycle of life and death - maybe our population would have been at a much more sustainable level today. Don't take me wrong, I am not in favor of people dying early due to epidemics / pandemics (or) probably wouldn't want to have the average age of human being to be just 60...but when we talk about sustainability, all I am saying is that nature has its own laws and man has tampered with those basic laws.

There is a saying which goes 'Mother Earth has enough to satisfy every man's need but not every man's greed' - but 7 billion...just think...how will Mother Earth sustain this number, even if every individual transforms into a 'non-greedy' person!

Also I came across another term called 'Geo-engineering' (Yes, one more branch will be available very soon in all our engineering colleges). Since the problem of global warming is reaching alarming proportions they want to put mirrors in space to deflect sun's light :-O in addition to a host of similar plans including sprinkling salt on clouds to make them absorb the sun's light!!!! There will be numerous side effects to this including around 20 -30 % less rainfall in India......hmmm....and this is just the first one...! Why can't people just plant more trees which is the simplest solution to Global warming...No, wait...trees need space and who has it with 7 billion Homo sapiens occupying the same real estate...I am not sure how far people will go in their technological advancement....looks like they are hell bent on destroying Mother Nature's delicate balance...I think the time is not far off when Earth will look all arid and dry filled with 'man-made junk' as depicted in the movie 'Wall-E'....that will be a very sad day...very sad day for all of us....

100 Monkey Syndrome

I recently came across this phrase '100 Monkey Syndrome'. I started doing some googling and found out that it is a phenomenon that says, when a certain critical number is reached any behavior spreads spontaneously across the entire population.

This was supposedly proved by an experiment conducted by Japanese scientists on Macaque monkeys. Under this observation they found that some monkeys on an island were taught to wash their sweet potatoes before eating and gradually this behavior was learnt by other monkeys. When this behavior was learnt by the 100th monkey then the behavior seemed to spread across to all monkeys even to those not on the island, almost simultaneously. So the phenomenon states that when a particular behavior reaches a certain critical number then it automatically spreads to the rest of the population.

The actual experimental results are not based on much factual evidence but I have seen similar samples of the same in our daily life albeit in the Homo Sapien population. :-) I find it interesting that people have begun to now see the benefits of meditation almost spontaneously. You do not have to tell them that you are meditating and hence you have seen such and such a benefit. Everybody seem to already know about it! It seems like a certain critical number has been reached...can you take a guess what number it is???

Not only this, but suddenly the people practicing Sahaja meditation in India have an intense desire for the removal of corruption. And lo and behold, things are working out, now everybody seems to be having the same strong desire. Especially in India there seems to be some sort of a mass movement against corruption. Kalmadi being arrested, Anna Hazare's fast, Wikileaks and more...I feel all this boils down to a basic fact that all of us are somehow connected to a main energy. So when one of us gets a desire that is strong enough it does seem to spread to other minds through telepathy or some other unexplained phenomenon...so seeing this in effect I would like to conclude that let us all desire strongly for something good, good for the whole community, good for the whole world and let us unlock 'The Secret' and watch the magic happen. Also chances of your plea being heard by this energy are higher if you practice Sahajameditation. :-)

Happy Connecting!

Anyatha Sharanam Nasthi

A beautiful devotional song which I like...

Anyatha Sharanam Naasthi
Twameva Sharanam Mamah (3)

Hridayam Samarpayami
Praanam Samarpayami
Tava Paadah Padmi Maatah
Sarvam Samarpayami

Anayatha ... (2)

Twameva Saakshat Haripriya...
Twameva Maa Waageshwari (2)
Maha Durga Mahakali
Mahamaaya Maheswari

Bhaagyam Samarpayami
Karmam Samarpayami

Tava Paadah Padmi Maatah
Sarvam Samarpayami

Anayatha ... (2)

Swayam Saadhya Swayam Siddhi...
Swayam Siddha Swayam Prabha (2)
Suguna Ratna Sukrutha Krutha
Sumathi Ganga Samojwala

Maanam Samarpayami
Gaanam Samarpayami


Tava Paadah Padmi Maatah
Sarvam Samarpayami

Anayatha ... (2)

Anirwachaniya Anandi...
Sukhakarani Dukhaharini (2)
Yoga Sampsthapanarthaya
Avirala Vishwa Viharini

Sangam Samarpayami
Punyam Samarpayami

Tava Paadah Padmi Maatah
Sarvam Samarpayami

Anayatha ... (2)

Dhrimira Vrutha Disha hina...
Aatmasya Paapa Naashini (2)
Bahujana hitaaya Vanithava
Saashwatha Sathya Prakaashini

Aadhyam Samarpayami
Antham Samarpayami

Tava Paadah Padmi Maatah
Sarvam Samarpayami

Anayatha ... (2)

Enjoy!!!

Kaushika and the Crane...

This is a story from Mahabharata that brings to light that our spiritual achievements are useless if we neglect our duties or Dharma.

Kaushika, a Brahmin boy was his parents' only son. One day he told his mother that he wanted to go off to the jungle and devote himself to spiritual studies.

His mother was concerned as her husband was very sick and they needed someone to take care of them. But Kaushika was adamant and he was determined to study the Vedas. His mother cried in vain as she watched her son turn his back on her and leave for the jungle. Eventually Kaushika acquired great mystical powers after doing a lot of penance and acquired completed knowledge of the Vedas.

One afternoon, as he was meditating under a tree, a crane flew up, and perched herself on a branch above Kaushika. Some bird droppings fell on Kaushika's head. Kaushika furiously threw a fiery gaze at the crane. The crane immediately went up in flames and fell dead. The sage felt sorry for what he had done. He felt bad for letting his anger control him that way.

Later in the day, he went to a village to beg for alms. The lady of the house asked him to wait and went to get some food. Right then her husband arrived. She immediately set aside the pot of food she was taking to the sage and went to attend her husband. After washing his feet, giving him food, and attending to his needs, she came back out to give the alms to the sage. The sage felt very insulted as she put her husband before a pious Brahmin like him. She calmly said that a true Brahmin is one who has patience and who has mastered his anger. She said that she is not a crane who will die by his fiery gaze. At this the sage was amazed. He was wondering how she knew what happened with the crane.

The lady said to him that he was a learned Brahmin but one who has not understood the truth about virtue. She asked him to go meet Dharmavyadha in Mathura to know more about it.

The sage thanked the lady and hurried to Mathura thinking that Dharmavyadha must be a great and learned sage. But when he finally reached Dharmavyadaha's place, he found it to be a butcher shop! A very ordinary looking man came out and and said that he was Dharmavyadha. Kaushika couldn't believe how a butcher could be spiritually enlightened??!!!

The sage could not contain himself and blurted that he is in the sinful profession of butchering animals. So he asked him if he doesn't feel ashamed of himself. Dharmavyadha replied that he wasn't ashamed as he was just engaged in a family trade and that he worked hard and honestly. He also said that as we walk we trample numerous creates under the soil, so there is really nobody who doesn't harm another living creature knowingly or unknowingly.

The butcher then took him to his house where his wife was doing her house hold chores and his two boys were playing. The butcher introduced the sage to his wife and boys. Then the butcher entered the house and touched his parents' feet. The butcher remarked that his parents were God to him and that his wife and himself attend to them with devotion and love. In doing one's duty cheerfully lies true virtue said that butcher.

The butcher said that the brahmin has run away from his worldly responsibilities by deserting his aged father and mother. He said any level of spiritual achievement is useless if one has neglected one's Dharma or duties.

Hearing this Kaushika felt very ashamed of having left his parents and immediately returned to them and served them lovingly until their end.

There are two things to be learnt from this story:

1. To achieve spiritual enlightenment there is no need to relinquish everything and make the Himalayas as your abode...but you can be a completely connected person living in your current state of life and executing your routine duties.

2. If a person is well-read or if he / she is born in a particular caste / creed it doesn't mean that they are automatically superior in spiritual terms to another fellow person. At a human level nobody can measure the level of spiritual prowess, so it better left to the Divine to gauge us.

Having ego blinds us to so many truths and makes us deaf to other people's pleas. So in order to deflate this balloon of ego which is a major hurdle to our spiritual ascent and be completely at ease executing our duties effectively just try Sahaja meditation. The meditation also teaches anger management techniques which will ensure that you do not burn down any endangered species with your fiery gaze ;-)

Pencil Sketches

A couple of sketches I made of my meditation guru Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi...

Who is the greatest saint of them all?

Today's story talks about egotism with a historical instance at the foreground...let's proceed...

There were 2 great saints in Maharashtra during the 1600s namely Sant Namdev and Ghora Kumbhara. Sant Namdev was a very deep spiritual saint who used to get daily visitations from Lord Vishnu himself. One day saint Ghora Kumbhara who was also a deep saint and a potter by profession, was asked by a few seers to keep his stick on every saint’s head to measure their depth in devotion to the Lord. Ghora Kumbhara placed his stick on Sant Namdev’s head and announced that his devotion was not very deep. Sant Namdev was immediately irked by the comment. He asked him how he dared to place his ordinary stick on his head and make an atrocious judgment like that. He said that he was one of the great saints of all times as Lord Vishnu himself visited him every day, so how could his devotion be half baked? He was then directed by another seer to go to the deep woods and meet a great Yogi to find the answer to his question.

Namdev thought within himself that all the saints present there were jealous of him and hence were asking him to perform this task. So he decided to go and meet the other Yogi thinking that he would prove to the other Yogi also that he was the greatest one. Thinking this he set out on his way and after walking for many many days reached a spot where an old man was sleeping with his feet placed on top of a Shiv Lingam. Seeing this Sant Namdev was furious and he told the old man to take his feet off of the Lingam. For this the old man said that he wouldn’t be able to do it as he didn’t have the strength for it. So he asked Namdev to help him move his feet away from the Lingam. So Namdev lifted his feet and placed it to the side and to his surprise another Lingam arose from the ground under the old man’s feet again. He moved his feet to a different location and the same thing happened. Seeing this Namdev realized his folly and understood how egotistical he had been all this time. He fell at the feet of the old man and begged for forgiveness.

This story teaches us an important lesson that in life no matter how great or how learned we are we should always remain humble and down to earth because that is the right way of living. No arguments on that one!

In search of the King!

This is a very interesting story which I heard first from my spouse. This story provides us a metaphor for how we may feel when we reach the deep state of meditation. Let's get on with the story...

Once upon a time there was a poor man living in a great kingdom. He one day decided to travel across far away lands and visit the king's court to meet the king. He thought that if he met the king all his problems would be resolved.

So he set out one fine morning and after walking for several days encountered a man who was dressed in rich robes. He thought, "Oh, this may be the king! But I am not too sure, let me ask somebody!". So he asked a passerby, "Is this the king?". For this the passerby laughed and said, "No, he is just an ordinary sentry who works for the king". Next he saw a man on a horse with 4 soldier's following him. He thought this might be the king and he again inquired with a passerby who said he was one of the king's Senadhipati (aka Defense Minister). Disappointed he walked further and came across a man going in a palaquin (aka caravan) followed by several foot and mounted soldiers. "Wow, this surely is the king", thought the man to himself. But alas another person on the street told him, "Nope, he's not the king, he is just the king's minister."

By this time the poor fellow was crestfallen and was thinking of returning back to his village. But then he thought of giving one last try. After walking for several more days, he entered a grand palace and after entering through several sentry guarded gates came upon a grand court where several bedecked Senadhipatis and Ministers were seated. At the head of the court was a throne made of gold and adorned with several gem stones. On that throne there was a man seated in all glory wearing the most expensive clothing and the most glittering ornaments. The man just had one look at the man on the throne and exclaimed aloud, "O Great King...I get to meet you finally!"

So the underlying moral of this story is that when we can feel that we have achieved the absolute greatest right for us then we will not need a third party endorsement to believe it. This kind of an achievement may be at a worldly level like securing a high paying job or scoring a top rank in an exam. But the true doubtless truth which we can all achieve and know and trust that it is the absolute, is the state achieved via meditation. In the meditative state, we know that we are there in the present, we know that we have tasted the greatest nectar of them all...we just know! So try meditating and enjoy meeting 'the king'.

My world is different from your world

Today I will be telling the story about Lord Ganesha and Karthikeya which many of you must have heard at one point or the other during your childhood years. This story is based on the basic philosophy that a person's ego ultimately leads to their downfall. This story also gives an interesting angle about different perspectives, i.e, even if two people are given the same object they may take it differently because their line of thought is entirely different. So without further ado let us get on with the story...

Long, long ago when Lord Shiva and his wife Parvathi were bored as the administration on Earth was being handled well, they called their two children Lord Ganesha and Karthikeya. When they arrived their parents told them that they would give them a competition and whoever comes first would be given a special prize. Both the children got excited and asked their parents what they were supposed to do. For this Lord Parvathi said, "Whichever one of you goes around the world three times and comes back first will the declared the winner". Lord Karthikeya possessed a very quick moving peacock and so hearing this he was very thrilled since he knew that all that his brother Ganesha had was a small little mouse. So off he went on his peacock to revolve around the Earth. Ganesha on the other hand was confused. He kept thinking for a while and he had a flash of brilliant idea. He smiled to himself and he started walking around his parents. Lord Shiva and Parvathi were also confused. Lord Ganesha quickly finished his three rounds around his parents and then held out his hand for the prize. Lord Shiva and Parvathi looked at each other and understood what their little son Ganesha just did, smiled at each other and handed him the prize.

When Karthikeya arrived he was flabbergasted to see the prize already in Ganesha's hands and he couldn't understand what had happened. Ganesha quickly explained to him saying that for him his 'world' were his parents and hence he decided to just go around them.

This story talks about perspectives. Say for instance, for Person A, a rock may mean just a rock but for another person B it may signify a deity. In today's world as we have exposure to so many different ideas, thoughts thanks to the advancement in communication media. This also creates room for plenty of confusion and friction in a variety of relationships be it personal, formal or informal. To avoid such delicate situations, it is always good to not jump to conclusions but be patient. Also try to put yourself in the other person's shoes to understand how you would view the same situation...that's enough dose for today...

The emperor's new clothes...

This is a story that many of us may have heard several times in our younger days.

A vain and egotistical Emperor who cared for nothing but his appearance hires two tailors who are con men that promise him the finest suit of clothes from a fabric invisible to anyone who is unfit for his position or "just hopelessly stupid". The Emperor cannot see the cloth himself, but pretends that he can for fear of appearing unfit for his position; his ministers do the same. When the swindlers report that the suit is finished, they mime dressing him and the Emperor then marches in procession before his subjects, who play along with the pretense. The Emperor rewards the duo handsomely for their remarkable 'craftsmanship'. Suddenly, a child in the crowd, too young to understand the desirability of keeping up the pretense, blurts out that the Emperor is wearing nothing at all and the cry is taken up by others. The Emperor cringes, suspecting the assertion is true, but holds himself up proudly and continues the procession, deciding never to be so vain again and to take his position more seriously.

Hmmm....find anything similar between the emperor's pitiful situation and yours...??? So many of us today are trying to keep up with so many pretenses just like the foolish emperor. Some of them we do knowingly and some even unknowingly. The key word here is 'ego'. Today we are all muddled under layers and layers of expressions of our ego that we have forgotten our own self, we have completely lost track of who we are...deep down. Deep down we are the 'Pure Spirit' and as a spirit the first and foremost thing on our minds should be to venerate the Divine. But instead the first and foremost thing on most of the people's mind today is money, lust, revenge, hunger for more. People today identify themselves with something they do or some idea they have in mind. If you are a Doctor then you are just that, you develop an ego based on your profession. If you are an investment banker then you are just that. There is no other identity for you! You start thinking that based on your position you need to get a certain amount of money, certain amount of respect, interact with only such and such type of people, do only such and such chores...today everything going wrong with the world is because of man's ego, is because man is not able to see beyond himself. If you for a moment come out and see all the modern world setups you will realize how people have built establishments based not on just their ego but also on the past ego of so many others.

Today the state is such that only 'Money' gives a man security, only 'Sex' satisfies a man, only 'Scientific Know-How' quenches a man's thirst for knowledge...in the name of progress man has driven himself deeper and deeper into the realms of self-destruction because all his activities today are anti-Divine. if you refer to my previous post about old Doordarshan serials then we see that most of the programs airing on TV those days were 'family oriented' but today there are individual channels even for a toddler...then where is the question of sitting and watching a program together as a family??? When we are unable to get over our egos even at the level of a family setting then how will we get over our regional and national problems without letting go of our ego and thinking of the greater good? Today a wife is too ego-oriented to depend on the husband for money or vice-versa, today everybody wants to be independent in everything and all modern day amenities are directed towards that. What we do not realize is that the burgeoning world population and the gradual failure of all man-made edifices go to prove that only a collective community living in harmony without imposing individual egos on one another is going to succeed. It is only a matter of time when this truth will prevail. Until then, try not to be like the foolish emperor but like the innocent child who sees the world as-is...without the weight of his ego! Oh and I know it is very difficult to get rid of Mr. Ego because that is the bane of human civilization but still there is a very hard-to-believe-it-is-so-simple-and-actually-works technique called Sahaja meditation...try it and see if you can bring your Mr. Ego under control and enjoy the change in your perspective....

Raja Janaka and Narada

My New Year's first blog...I am still continuing with the series of stories with a moral...Today I am going to write about Raja Janaka's story. He was the father of Sita.

Raja Janaka was a great king who ruled over a great kingdom. One day Narada, the messenger of Gods came down to him and said, "O Great King...I have heard so much about your greatness. I have heard that you are a powerful and generous king. At the same time I have heard that you are a 'Vidhehi' (one who is above everything)...How can it be possible as you are such a powerful king having so many responsibilities, have so many luxuries, have so many things to worry about and still how can you be above all this? "

For this Raja Janaka responded, "Narad, I will answer your question in the evening. But please do me a favor. Can you please hold this pot filled with milk to the brim and not allow even a drop to spill. Please have this pot with you and return it back to me in the evening."

The sage Narada came back in the evening and was looking all irritated. Raja Janaka asked him what happened. To that Narada retorted, "I have been carrying this pot all day and have not been able to do anything else lest the milk spill from it. All my attention has been on this pot. I didn't see anyone, talk to anyone or do anything else."

Raja Janaka said, "My friend, that is exactly how my attention is. My attention is all the time on my spirit and hence I do not get bothered with any mundane things. My attention is always at a higher level."

Narada said, "O Great one, you have opened my eyes. I now understand the importance of attention. Long live King Janaka!"

This story talks about the importance of attention in our daily lives. If we keep our attention on something pure, then we rise above all other evils. So always keep your attention on good things and remember attention is different from concentration. You may ask how can we keep our attention on pure things when there is so much evil around us. We keep hearing, watching and reading so much negative stuff. That is very true, so to help improve your attention power, try meditating. This will take away all the negative thoughts and ideas and help focus your attention only on the positive.

So until next time, be purely attentive ;-)

Four brahmins and the lion

This is another of a moral story in my series...I actually wanted to write about the 'Two Monks' but it was already expressed in a beautiful way by one of the bloggers I follow. So I dropped the idea immediately. :-)

So let us get on with this story, a story about four Brahmins and a lion. I think some of you may have had this in one of your language classes in school sometime or the other.

Once upon a time there were four Brahmin brothers who were walking in a forest. On reaching the dense part of the forest, they noticed some skeletons lying on the ground. As all the brothers were very well-read and scholarly, they could immediately recognize that the skeleton belonged to a lion. So the first brother told the rest of them, "Let me assemble this lion's skeleton using my deep knowledge." He put together the lion's skeleton in a jiffy. The second brother then wanted to show off his skills and added muscles to the lion's body. The third brother not wanting to hold himself back added blood and all the other essential life fluids to the lion. The fourth brother then said, "All of you have done great things, but let me now do the most difficult thing...allow me to give life to this dead lion."

The dead lion came to life and roared gloriously. This terrified the brahmins and they all climbed up the nearest tree. The lion climbed up the tree and killed all of the brahmins. Poor souls!

So the moral here is that no matter how intelligent or knowledgeable a person might be not having the power of discretion is a great handicap. In this era, we find people who are very scholarly, very intelligent, very well-read but they apply their knowledge and skills in 'waking up dead lions' or in different words in areas which are harmful to the existence of humanity. A good example is the invention of the atomic bombs. Many people with deep knowledge in several subjects are even using their powers and reach in maybe not creating atom bombs but in corrupting humanity in a more subtler sense. This will eventually lead to the total collapse of humanity one way or the other. So it is very essential that great minds do not give into their ego to come up with destructive creations. One good way to overcome the pull of your ego is to meditate. Just try it, you will not regret it!

Punyakoti - A touching story!

Since I posted a story with a moral in my last post, I thought why not continue in the same vein and post a few more stories with morals...actually Moral Science period was my favorite in school...I am not sure if they have those classes in schools now...I believe they should...

Anyways...Punyakoti was not from a Moral Science class but I read the story in the form of a poem in Kannada class. It was such a moving story that I started crying bucketfuls when my teacher was reciting the poem. The rest of the class was laughing at me and me being in 3rd grade, I was very embarrassed and at the same time wondering how come the other girls were not affected by the sadness in the poem.

So coming back to the present, the lyrics of the poem are so beautiful and touching. I feel this is one of the most beautiful poems of all time... For people who do not understand Kannada, the story is about a Cow named Punyakoti who gets trapped by a hungry Tiger. The cow promises the tiger that she would definitely become the tiger's next meal but first she would want to go see her little calf to feed her and also bade her last goodbye. The tiger doesn't trust the cow but the cow makes a solemn promise to return. She then goes over to her calf, feeds him and requests all the other cows to take care of him as their own child. She tells them not to trample him or stab him with their horns as he is soon going to be an orphan. (never fails to tear me up...this part..sniff..sniff)...
So finally the cow goes back to the tiger and surrenders herself at his feet. The tiger is amazed at the cow for keeping her promise and feels so ashamed of his behavior that he ends his life by falling off a cliff...

So that is the end of the story and the moral of this story is obviously...no matter what...even when it comes to the matter of life and death you have keep your word. So enjoy being true to yourself and to whoever you have promised. On the other hand, just to be safe...don't make a promise...! ;-)

I think the most difficult thing is being true to oneself. We generally make so many little promises to ourself like I promise to start eating healthy, I promise I will read that book next week...but do we always keep them? This is a very difficult question and many a times we convince ourselves sub-consciously that it is okay to not keep the promise today but maybe do it tomorrow. A lot many people including myself waste a lot of precious time making promises to ourself but never keeping them. The effect of this in addition to losing out on a lot of benefits which may be tangible are, we slowly start eroding our stock of personal integrity which causes more harm than good...I think I will stop here for now...but mull over this...

Story of a chanticleer!

For those of you not familiar with the term 'chaticleer' it means 'cock or rooster' :-) I just learnt a new word too...

Some of you may already know this little tale but I wanted to put it down to demonstrate the power of 'witness'. Witness is a state where we do not react to anything that happens around us either positive or negative. But it doesn't mean that we do not help those in case of any emergency say an accident. It just means that we are always looking at an issue from a third person angle. The advantage of doing that is it helps us get out of the 'box' or problem per se and view it with complete detachment which in turn will lead to more creative solutions which will be most optimal from all perspectives. Enough of the theory...now let's get on with the story...

There was once a great king in the land of your imagination...he once wanted to organize a chanticleer fight and wanted to see who will rear a chanticleer well enough to make it win. So he donated one chanticleer to every one in his kingdom. So after a few months the competition to see which cock wins was arranged. So all the cocks were put into the fight arena. While all the other cocks were furiously fighting away there was one cock who just stood there unperturbed by all the mayhem surrounding him. All the other cocks saw this cock and thought that this cock must be possessing special powers and hence he is standing there right in the middle without any fear. So as a result none of the other cocks disturbed this one standing in the middle and in the end all the cocks died fighting while this cock was left standing alone. The king asked the great sage who had reared the cock the secret behind it. The sage told him that he only taught the cock to meditate and as a result of that its witness state had improved so much that he couldn't be perturbed by anything. So the king realized the power of the witness state and also realized that meditation is the only way to achieve that state...

I hope you enjoyed this post and if you are eager to meditate now then please click here