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Ignite the flame of Illumination-I

#27

Illumination here means knowledge of Self. In all of us exists Light of God. Light is where there is no darkness. The purpose and aim of spirituality is to discover our real and authentic nature. It is a journey that we undertake where the destination is the discovery of the presence of Spirit or the source of illumination in ourselves. Spirit is the illuminating Light ever present within ourselves.

 The journey though long and uphill, once when embarked, one day comes to an end only when a stalwart Spiritual Guru, who is of course a liberated soul himself, rescues and salvages our soul. He transmits and infuses His own power for us to unfold and later manifest fully our omnipresent Spirit, the source of Light of Illumination and Knowledge.

Nityananda Baba blessing

Swami Nityananda of Ganeshpuri

Swami Nityananda is my param guru, a maha siddha yogi. His entire life was dedicated to the welfare of those people who were dispirited, miserable, grief-stricken or sick and dying. And also towards the seekers or sadhaks. He was always in bliss and therefore earned the title Nityananda which means ‘always in ananda,  bliss’

His samadhi is in Ganeshpuri, approximately 75 kms from Navi Mumbai. Incidentaly, there is no Ganesh temple in Ganeshpuri as the name says, but the main place of interest is the samadhi of Swami Sri Nityananda. There one  also finds  samadhis of his prominent disciples  resting close to him like Swami Dayanand Shaligram and Swami Muktananda. Ganeshpuri is famous and known mainly for Shri Nityananda who spent almost all of his life there amidst the tribal people inhabiting the forests some 70 years ago. He made their lives better helping them by providing much needed social services like schools, hospitals, roads etc. Ganeshpuri is synonymous with Sri Nityananda.

Though he is no more in his impermanent physical encasement, that place still emanates very strong vibrations of deep peace and  tranquility and spiritual splendour within a wide range of its radius.

It is not possible for us to know the depth and stature of his prolific spiritual state and the staggering heights that he had touched and had possessed. But even now, if we implore with a sincere call, he readily unveils a profile of his great humane character. For us, this is like receiving Kripa- Prasad or grace as blessings.

Param Siddha Yogi means an expounder and exponent of mighty and lofty liberating ideas. A rescuer, a liberator and the one who has attained multiple divine powers since very early childhood. He is born as a free soul with no tinge of lingering mud of sins and only virtues of highest order with him. Param Siddha yogis appear on earth only with the wish and will of God with a very big mission to accomplish and merely for the uplifting and welfare of the humanity in masses. Their kind-bigheartedness compels them to have pity at the helpless state of  the miserable and needy men. They raise them from physical, mental, emotional and spiritual sufferings and sorrows. People’s lives are restored, their miseries mitigated and stability as well as prosperity established. The delusion of Maya is completely wiped out in the case of sadhaks, sannyasis, yogis, mahayogis and rishis if they so desire. For enlightened souls like Nityanand Swami,  Gyan (knowledge), karma (action) and bhakti (devotion) are all one because they converge and all three are equally dear to him, whichever our path maybe.

The world for them is a Leela, a stage where there is a passing show or drama going on. Brahma, the absolute is real and the rest unreal.

Out of the so many followers that come to the Maha Siddha Yogi,  just a handful plead for salvation. Whenever such a suppliant implores with a sincere call, he loses no time in responding immediately. But the petitioner should possess some basic qualifications such as firm determination to help himself and devotion and loyalty towards his gracious guru. The rest of the responsibility is taken care of by him as he is endowed with all the Shakti (power) and yukti (strategy).

The birth and life of exalted souls is encrypted in mystery by God’s will. They have exceptional missions and goals in life which are unthinkable and unimaginable for us and impossible to ever attain. But when their benevolence and Kripa Prasad is given out of mercy on us, we are equipped to accomplish some extra-ordinary goals, missions  and feats in our  life which we could have never achieved otherwise on our own.

Let me now share something with you my dear. What I just finished telling you just now relates to my life too.  It has occurred in my life because of which I could deal with many life situations in extra-ordinary ways by overcoming various deterring obstacles and also achieving difficult goals. I beat many odds and therefore could accomplish many things which was impossible for me to do otherwise. This has led to altering my life completely. How can I not thank the compassionate and merciful Master for his benevolence, generosity and kindness towards me? Words are never enough to thank Him.

Yesterday was 31st Jan of the year 2009 and the day was Basant Panchami, the spring festival in India. It is also a day on which the Hindus pray to goddess Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge of scriptures, arts and music. As a child I remember in school we all used to worship Ma Saraswati by decorating her idol with yellow and orange marigold flowers, singing hymns and devotional songs in her praise, saying prayers and asking her to bless us and give us knowledge. We all gathered in the assembly hall and sang in chorus. All the girls would wear yellow clothes on that day and after the prayer meeting, we all got a piece of yellow burfi to eat! I presumed then that we chose the special colour of the day, yellow because in North India, after Basant Panchami arrives Basant Ritu or the spring season. So yellow was seen everywhere, you see. But that was all I knew, the spiritual aspect of the colour yellow and the importance of the spring season in terms of scientific and spiritual sense was unknown to me.

In Ganeshpuri Samadhi temple on this particular day, the celebration of the spring festival is also performed by opening the restricted idol area of Swami Nityanand in the temple by removing the barricade in front of the idol for a few hours for all to enter. The purpose is that the devotees can circumambulate or walk all the way around the holy idol. Circumambulating an idol is a ritual, a way of worshiping and in this way we also get an opportunity to come closer to the energy field of the resting soul there.

Vajreshwari temple

To recharge myself and to receive additional spiritual benefits, I planned and made a trip to Ganeshpuri on this day with my daughter. I wore a deep lemon yellow cotton sari and proceeded towards my chosen destination in the morning. On the way, I stopped my car at Vajreshwari, 3 kms before Ganeshpuri  and climbed upto the doorsteps of the  temple of Ma Vajreshwari, one of the many forms of goddess Durga. The temple is unique in structure and style of architecture as it is made like a fort by the local ruler before independence. We were lucky that day as we found very few people in the temple complex and I was able to pray there quietly and spend some peaceful minutes inside the inner chambers. We then drove towards Ganeshpuri .

After reaching the place, we both went inside the big temple hall of Swami Nityananda where the followers and bhakta were in a relaxed mood and were waiting in the short queue to walk around the idol. Once again  we got lucky as the swarm of people had not arrived yet. Like others, we too walked towards the idol without any restrictions and felt privileged. Once inside, I was ecstatic. The chamber where the idol is installed vibrated like a dynamo, it was a very charged zone. We also took a parikrama around the idol and touched Baba’s feet. With humility in our heart, we offered a box of sweets and a coconut as per the rituals as a mark of gratitude towards him. I came out with a deep sense of contentment and found a comfortable place to sit in the hall in front of the iconic idol… ..

Side view of Swami Nityanand’s temple, Ganeshpuri

                                                                                                                                                                                                         To be continued.

Please -refer- How to surmount obstacles-II to know Swami Nityananda’s contribution in re-moulding my life through his benediction and selfless love)

 

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Peace-the quality of our Soul

#26

Last night on 23rd Jan, I slept in deep peace. Something mystical conjured up before I was retiring to bed. As is the practice every night, I washed my face by splashing some tap water and began preparing myself for a good night’s sleep. While I was  brushing, I smelt something heavenly near me. There was a waft of jasmine incense stick scent sweeping in my area and it caught my attention instantaneously. I was quick to perceive and identify the alluring ethereal scent  in the atmosphere. It was very distinct. I spoke to myself,  “This is not the ordinary Jasmine fragrance I know of, though it is similar to the one I have at home.” My extra sensory perceptions were heightened and I continued thinking “Definitely, there is something supernatural happening around me. A celestial being is near me at this moment and wishes to convey something. But who can it be? Why has He appeared before me? What am I to understand and grasp from all this?”

I comprehended and perceived the identity of the Divine Soul right then with whom I am very familiar with and was obviously delighted and felt so blessed. Not ready to miss this blessed moment, I went in my room without allowing my mind to get engaged in its trivial and frittering movements. I sat quietly on my bed with no lights. I bowed unpretentiously to my beloved astral accomplice of those blissful moments. I then meditated upon the pious and serene image of this compassionate saint and waited in expectancy to receive his bountiful gifts.

Within a few seconds, I slipped into a spell of calmness and tranquility and began to experience profound peace vibrations falling all over me. The room was radiating with abundant peace and I tried to absorb every little ray of peace floating around me. I became calmer and more calmer and the mind melted completely in the calm sea of peace and bliss. I continued sitting still without moving and was bathing in joyful peace. My eyes were closed and on my forehead, cheeks, head and shoulders as well as on arms were falling glimmering rays of golden Light one by one buoyantly. I got completely softened, melted  and immersed in the golden glow of mellow luminosity!

During such glorious moments, I submitted myself at the Lord’s feet and sincerely requested Him to suggest to me what I must write next in the upcoming post of mine. “I, in all humility and submission offer each word that I write to the Merciful Father, the endower of all creative works.”  I spoke politely to Him. With such wonderful thoughts, I went to sleep peacefully. So peaceful were the last moments that I woke up on light ethereal wings and I yearned to experience those sublime moments once more after absorbing the leftover divine beatific rays!

The morning that followed was a distinguished one. I returned to the same spot and began to concentrate on the inner illuminating eye. The connection with the inner Self seemed effortless on that day. Enlightening thoughts began to brim over one by one and I could comprehend that this is because of last night’s ‘classic encounter’ of mine. So I consolidated previous night’s sojourn with the Deity within me who began to speak in its own distinctive language and speech! Ideas and thoughts began to flow with his benign flow of Grace!

My dear daughter, now this is for you….

During the meditation span, I started getting insights regarding the current situations of our country as well as the world from the viewpoint of the liberated souls of the saints and mahayogis who are not in their physical body at present but they still wish to communicate something to us. Doors to an entirely new subject were opened for me and I saw their  wide and broad-minded opinion of  a global vision during meditation. The current economic and political situation is not only our concern today, but also for them. They are more concerned than any of us I feel. I began to understand this more and more during the passing moments and clarity crept in.

To those liberated souls, progress in spirit and the events of the world are of equal concern as these events affect our lives and future in many serious ways. We cannot be indifferent to the circumstances around us. It is the limited mind which thinks otherwise. God speaks to us in so many ways you see! Sometimes through nature, sometimes through bizarre incidents and sometimes through the medium of saints. Man doubts God’s existence and His power existing behind the presence of life on the earth. But God is very, very compassionate and is looking after and protecting humanity by conveying peace messages through Divine Souls. Like god, the liberated souls are equally concerned about bringing peace upon the world for progress and prosperity.

Look at the phase through which our country  and the whole world for that matter, is passing through now-a-days. Many developmental and economic reforms were undertaken in our country in the last few years and there was a boom. People were thrilled and were beginning to expect the country to take a giant leap by its emerging as a super economic power. But with the  recent abrupt halt we now see gloom. There is a downturn and all eyes are on the President of US, who won the elections recently as to what economic and political policies will he adopt and the consequent results they will have on the other countries as well.

Now let’s look at this particular scene from the view point of spiritualism and humanitarianism put together. The question is can only bringing about economic reforms and developments, changing political situations bring about peace and prosperity in the world? Can there be prosperity for all of us only by making life more abundant, comfortable and tizzy? Let’s assume for a moment that all the nations of the world have Presidents or Prime Ministers who are ideally suited and have only one mission- serving the people. Will we still be done? If every person benefits (which is incredibly impossible) from the incredible economic and political waves of reforms, will then each man be happy? If not, then let’s think, what is missing here?

From the spiritual viewpoint- no, he won’t. Because-

Apart from economic, social and political correctness, the man also needs something more, something else. And that is peace! Man thrives on peace. We must have peace in the world, peace in our country, at home, at office and peace everywhere.

Many years ago, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated and his peace plans were thwarted. Look at the social and political scene of the two neighbouring countries at present. There are no signs of peace but only conflict and violence. War, hatred, economic rivalry, petty ideals make our world narrow and difficult and unsafe to live in. Our countrymen are being divided and further divided into smaller groups for personal petty gains by people in power and politics. Therefore, corrective measures as individuals, groups as well as nations need to be taken  soon. If the President of US is today taking corrective measures to bring about peace in the world by resolving and amending the conflict between warring groups and countries, let’s join in the world family and wish good for all and pray for him and others too, so that there is lasting peace established in the world that we live in today.

These days, I am flipping through the  pages of  ‘Savitri‘. I understood some paras well. The following lines convey similar line of thoughts which I have picked up and am writing  for you.

 In ignorance and nescience are our roots.

A growing register of calamities

Is the past’s account, the future’s book of Fate:

The centuries pile man’s follies and man’s crimes

Upon the countless crowd of Nature’s ills;

As if the world’s stone was not enough,

A crop of miseries obstinately sown

By his own hand in the furrows of the gods,

The vast increasing tragic harvest reaped

From old misdeeds buried by oblivious Time.

He walks by his own choice into Hell’s trap;

This mortal creature is his own worst foe.

His science is an artificer of doom;

He ransacks earth for means to harm his kind;

He slays his happiness and others’ good.

Nothing has he learnt from Time and its history.

   ‘ Savitri’ Canto II  by Sri Aurobindo.

In this Universe, of which we are a part, there is a constant play of God and anti-God forces. When the anti-God forces increase in the form of unrest, agitation, violence, unrighteousness or adharma, crimes and other sinful acts, there is chaos, disruption of peace plans and prosperity.

Our world is going through the era of ‘Kalyug’. The basic characteristics of the Kalyug man are greed, selfishness and materialism. With such characteristics, where is the scope of peace in his mind?

Greed divides man from man, society from  society, one nation from another nation. If only we could realize that true happiness comes from peace within and not by satisfying our selfish materialistic goals and impulses and passing pleasures, we can make our ‘Home’, the world a better and worth living  place for all of us.

Hope you understand the underlying many good thoughts and golden rules of spirituality which are interwoven in this thought provoking post.

So my dear girl, we, as responsible citizens and devotees of God must pray for peace for the  world and for ourselves. When you remember God in your meditations and prayers, bring down peace in your heart, in your mind and disperse it everywhere you go. Bring down peace for yourself, for your family, for your neighbourhood, for the country and for the whole world. During meditation, chant the mantra- ‘Om shanti, shanti, shanti Om’ many times. The holy word Om has peace vibrations, its frequency is such that it creates creative energies in the environment we live in. Shanti means peace. Shanti word dispels agitation in the mind and relieves the body from restlessness and mental agitations. It is a powerful mantra. Chant it whenever you can, wherever you go.

This is the ideal way to offer our contributions towards our Mother Earth, Nature and our planet as a whole. We owe a lot towards them, don’t we?  In return we must spread vibrations of peace on the place we live in. Do you recall this mantra from Upanishada?

Om Sarve bhavantu sukhina. Sarve santu niramaya. Sarve bhadrani pashyantu.  Ma kashchit dukhbhag bhavet. Om Shanti, shanti, shanti Om!

May all be happy. May all be without diseases. May all have well being. May none have misery of any type.

                                                                                                                          Brihadaaranyaka    Upnishada 1.4.14

 

(This post is dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi, the apostle of peace. Today is 30th Jan, Gandhiji’s death anniversary)

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Using the creative powers of visualization

#25

My invocation

My Lord! You give me Inspiration

Inspiration is blind without creation

I call you, my Divine to make me your

Space of beauty and rhyme

Create in me something never created before

And create so beautiful that never seen before!

Visit to Dakshineshwar YSS ashram second time

I have just returned from my spiritual re-treat at Dakshineshwar ashram and since then I am pondering over the fledgling thoughts and diving deep to assess and gather all my spiritual experiences.  I am aware of the fact that there is always a purpose of God, who gives me some exotic solitary moments and isolation from the noisy and clamorous crowd of the city.  It was  refreshing  in the quiet sabbatical in the holy precinct there.

The weather was very pleasant and the garden was blooming with beautiful seasonal flowers.  Saw them all:- dahlias, roses, pansies, hollyhocks, sweet peas, nasturtiums, carnation, honeysuckle, cockscomb and many more attractive varieties. Some were bell shaped, some dish-shaped and some like falling water droplets. Such a soothing environment compelled me to spend most of my time on the green lawns, under the huge shady trees or just walk around the garden on the brick path. The winter flowering shrubs and perennials had their element of beauty and they shared their perfume and beauty with all who passed by. The flowerpots were placed in various corners and places in various formations showing the craftsmanship of the designer making lovely landscapes. The songbird Koels were singing songs of joy and felicity while the  sonorous Bulbuls were hopping in glee from one branch to another gathering seeds and visiting their mates. Butterflies of all colours and shapes were dancing gracefully around the flowering plants in synchronized patterns  and the mynas were singing their ragas in full throat. A place of perfect peace and beauty well worth visited!

I also did some introspection in the conducive atmosphere apart from drowning in the gifts of nature.  I compared this visit to the ashram with the  last one that I made about three years ago. I am wonder struck to see that so much has happened in my life, particularly in the area of fitness and personal health. During my last visit, I was very feeble. I needed some one to accompany me and take care of me there. But this time around, I went alone and I was bouncing and beaming with boundless energy. There was no dearth of zest and mental agility and  the outcome of the retreat was wonderful. Since I have come back home, I am craving to know what has caused this exceeding health benefit in me? What are the factors responsible for this mega reversal of physical trend? So, I gave myself some time at home to find out the possible reasons for the same.

I have gladly arrived at the conclusion that in the years that have gone by, though wobbly, I had nurtured a vision, and have been creating a mental picture, a dream for myself. I have without a single day for that matter told myself many times in a day that I have very good health, I have tremendous mental and physical power, I am not sick, new cells are re-generating in my body, blood circulation is very good, I am a very happy person, I can do and complete all the jobs and tasks that come my way, I can exercise without any fatigue and I will one day be in pink of health, I will share and give happiness and abundant joy with others ……

Every time there was a picture of all this being created in my mind, I visualized myself as a very happy, healthy, strong and  degeneration-free being. I instilled and fed very bright, vibrant  and enthusiastic thoughts many times a day repeatedly and very vehemently. Today I have understood that I have actually achieved all this without my even being aware of it! It only dawned on me when on the last day I visited places in the city, did so many things in a high activity packed day yet did not even get tired. Previously any change of weather and city would have a significant slackening effect on me. So I ask myself  today what does this prove?

My realizations–

There is so much power in our mind alone in the form of imagining and creating mental pictures!

 

Visualizing them, repeating them over and over again so that they get deeply ingrained in the brain that one day they start  manifesting in our lives with the grace of the Divine.

 

When we imagine something over a good amount of time, we arouse and collect the creative powers lying within us and store them in the mind little by little, brick by brick. The foundation of a new castle is laid by first wanting something, desiring something. Thoughts of creativity and visualization are the bricks by which we build our future. Faith in God and in oneself is the cement and repeated reinforcement  is the mortar for bonding it. The structure is ready for us to see now!

 

So, whatever you want today, create it in the mind first, make mental pictures of it and everyday water your visions and dreams with love and passionate longing. One day it is bound to sprout and manifest in your life.

 

The power to create by mental and Spiritual visualization

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In our mind lies the power to create.

In our mind lie the thoughts.

Our thoughts have power contained in them.

To make them dynamic, strong  and come true.

Invoke Divine Will and use Divine perceptions.

Throw and beam your thoughts in the Cosmic Universe.

Soon you will see Nature at your command.

See your ideas, visions and dreams.

Shaping up, bit by bit, like the bricks in the castle.

Weave dreams around your aspirations, lofty ideas and soft fluffy wishes.

Create visuals in your mind like a design on a fabric.

Soon you shall see the vibrant colours and hues of the motifs coming up alive.

Like a beautiful garden full of blooming dahlias, lilies, honeysuckle, roses.

Inhale the intoxicating fragrance of the lovely roses floating in the misty air.

Drink the nectar of peace, serenity and fulfilling joy.

Design and create your own wonderful tomorrows.

By the warps and wefts of creative visualization and mental imagery.

Keep on weaving your dreams till one day they manifest.

Like a heavenly angel straight from the fairy tale!!!

 

# Creative power of visualization       # The power to create by mental and Spiritual visualization

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The power of praying intensely

#24

Today is 31st December, the last day of this year and of the month too. And it is also my birthday and this year I would like to celebrate it differently- by writing down my thoughts for you about what all I know my dear Mandira regarding the importance of our birthday. I hope you will enjoy reading my blog entry as much as I have enjoyed collecting and writing  my thoughts. I humbly dedicate this article to my Divine Mother of Pondicherry who infused  spiritual vitality and resurrected me with Her vibrations when things were not going right for me once and I was groping without any direction.

I read somewhere in a book in which the Mother had mentioned that-

On our birthday our soul rises up and goes to meet the Divine. Therefore, we must pray and meditate with great interest and fervour on this particular day as we are very close to our source of origin.

Though these days people believe that merrymaking and revelry is a way of celebration but for me these lines reverberate on every birthday of mine since then.

Ma also explained to me that before we are about to take birth and come on the earth, it is our soul which decides and determines as to how many karmas  it will dry up or work out, out of the uncountable karmas, out of sanchit karmas or accumulated karmas of all the previous lives stored up as unripe fruits of karmic seeds in us.

It is we who decide whether we want to undergo the formidable efforts  and salvage ourselves or not. It is we who  decide in which life and when and how should it be done.

Some individuals don’t want it, some postpone it and just a very few have the courage and fiery determination to decide and agree to finish the long-pending job of salvaging their soul from their millenniums old ignorance. It is decided on the reasoning and understanding that if eventually one has to bear and work out the fruits of actions of many past lives at some point anyway, so why not do it now? Why not free myself from the entrapment of numberless cycles of life and death? It has to be done any way at some point. Although man lives in a deep slumber but the Spirit wants to be free from the shackles and soar in vast space and take a flight of freedom and float in ether without limits.

Now the question is -Does it really happen? And how?

The answer is yes,  when we pray.

Pray how?

Pray intensely!

When we pray so quietly, unknown to all, who is the witness then?

The God residing in us is the witness and administrator of our pledge and invocation.

And on what basis does God give a consent to our request?

If the pleader makes an earnest request by praying intensely to God to free him or her from the bondage of countless regressing rebirths and consequently free oneself with associated mental and physical suffering, wishes to atone, make amends, then God is merciful and gives consent.

Liberation and salvation is not possible without the consent of God who is benevolent, supportive and sympathetic.

He helps by appointing a mentor for us in the form of a Divine Guru when we come to stay  on earth and also bears a part of the weight by giving us the much required support and encouragement in the form of generating the force of forbearance, courage, fortitude, firmness in our goal, persistence in us. And also by helping us build an unshakable  faith and complete trust in the Highest Power.

My dear child, whatever I have revealed to you today is a very pensive and profound matter of spirituality. It is worth consuming all your attention and thoughts.

Imagine that very short transitory moment, the power of a single moment when we decide for all our lives to come and that moment when we pray intensely to God for this, even when we are not born in the physical body! The impact and repercussions of a moment’s intense prayers! How much power is contained in our praying intensely!

 Think. Imagine the power of intensity, imagine the power of praying and put it together and see the impact of the power of intense praying!

Intense praying contains the power of feelings, faith, devotion of God and is surcharged with willful intentions. So we must learn to pray everyday, many times and make it a natural habit. You never know which is that crucial, life-altering moment you see. Praying should become a habit. Talk to God in this way.

Some people ask me what is praying? Why should I pray?

A prayer is an invocation, a request for help and an expression of thanks made to God. It can be an earnest hope or a wish. It is a call upon God for mercy, redemption and correction.

Praying is communicating with the Omnipresent God to find a solution to a problem. It is an acknowledgment to God for favours and obligations.

When we pray, we acknowledge and accept that there is a Higher force in this universe and we submit to it for our existence.

With our prayers we send out positive vibrations in the atmosphere. It is the broadcasting of one’s innermost desires, yearnings, requests and wishes. It is purposeful invocation to the Supreme for the advancement of oneself and others.

In praying lies mental, emotional, physical and spiritual healing. We can regress in previous lives and therefore heal our past. We become even-tempered, peaceful and restful in mind, body and spirit. It dissolves and releases the knots and blotches of stagnant blocked or burnt energies in our system. It accelerates the process of evolution of our Spirit by exhausting the karmic deposits.

Prayers can be said loudly or silently, alone or in a  group small or big one. It can be for ourselves, our family, community, country or for humanity for the well being and goodness of all.

The more intense and truthful, emotion packed the prayer, the more powerful its impact on oneself and on others as well.

One can pray anytime, during the day or at night, while resting or while in activity, at work. By doing so the mind of the devotee  does not wander aimlessly and is  riveted firmly and hence in control. It is attuned to the Highest Power through which we receive solutions, guidance, strength, determination, peace, fortitude and stability.

Extraordinary and welcome events occur in the form of miracles in sincere praying through the work of God.

We recover, recuperate, revitalize, find remedies. We bloom, we flower, we rejoice in health and mental peace.

Many of my prayers have come true. I have prayed for years for mental prosperity, spiritual growth and physical fitness and for an uncomplicated, worry less existence. I have  wished and asked God to make each day of my life peaceful, joyful and purposeful. I see all my prayers coming true!

My sweet child, it is my sincere prayer that may your heartfelt prayers also be heard and come true!

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What is love?

#23

In love we shall find God,

In love we shall attain peace.

In love is hidden our salvation.

In love is hidden salvation for others.

 

Love means to give and never ask.

Love means to give freedom and never tie.

Love means to receive whatever comes your way.

Without a grouse, complaint or a sigh.

 

Love means to endure, even if you think you can’t take it anymore.

Love means doing things for others which you never did before.

Love means giving respect for their ideas, beliefs and unique thoughts of mind.

Knowing that one day they will converge with yours.

 

All roads lead to one destination.

That is the abode of God.

No matter where, when we met and how.

All that matters is we have met at last with a purpose in mind.

 

Our love is true and must meet every test of time.

We both must hold hands together and must attempt the climb.

The next step of transformation and ascent.

To prove to ourselves that we have met with the wish of our Maker.

 

In these moments of utmost happiness and joy.

Let us not forget and enter the stupor.

Or else the purpose of our meeting will be lost.

So arise, arise, arise and arise and you shall climb.

 

Till you see the Light of the Creator in you.

And re-awaken the glory and honour that was once yours.

So that the world will see you and

Through your grand work for the Divine.

 

Will be reminded to others that

Do not be in a state of quiescent.

Know that the Light of God is present everywhere,

In you, me and everyone.

 

Know that in God you shall find full rest and peace.

In God lies all the answers to all the queries of the fleeting world.

One cannot ever rest well unless he rests in God through his soul.

So rest your mind and body in God alone!

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Updated on 25.5.21

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1411374165786510&set=a.1380940312163229

P-65 dated 28.2.2015

God has made love the most quintessential quality in human life.

God has made love the most quintessential quality in human life. Material acquisition and its senseless possessions are blinding acts. Human flaw and error is such that they never recognize the virtue of love which every human needs to live happily all his life. Unrestricted love without wanting anything in return makes man most happy. Non-judgemental, unconditional love inculcates compassion. These actions bring back love and more endearing lives for us in next lives.

 

 

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The power of endurance

#22

The last many weeks have been hard and tiring for me, full of changes and new developments because of some hard decisions that I took at the domestic front. During this time while busy with work, I have been thinking at the back of my mind about the power of endurance and also how to increase it. As each day progressed, I taught myself over and over again that something good will eventually emerge out of all that although the going got tougher. Based on this bright thought, I let myself lose and allowed myself to take on whatever experiences that I had to undergo to prove to myself, “If you endure, you will procure.” I reminded myself repeatedly that God has some definite and nice plans for me and before that actually manifests in physical terms, I should endure this phase of alteration and ambiguity.

Literally, endure means to tolerate or undergo, to suffer patiently. It is the power to put up with something. In brief, my dear,

Endurance is the staying power

And now that the brief period of my test is over, I write my next post on the power of endurance for you. Had I not endured, the new  positive developments that have taken place after the silent storms would not have taken place at all.

These are the realizations which have emerged within me during all these days and today evening. I present them to you as my next post. I am sure you will benefit from this sooner or later in your professional as well as personal life as no one has ever succeeded in true sense without the grind of life. During the grinding, one must endure as it is only through grinding, during testing times that we cultivate and develop the special quality of endurance. So child,

  • Do not be meek, be dauntless. And do not be intimidated by people at all. They may do what they wish, we hold on to our principles and convictions. Right?

Each day brings new challenges. Each day is different from the other. Each day is a test of one’s abilities and sometimes even patience. Each day is a call to prove something. Each day we face a demanding task or situation. Live up to that with a smile on your face.

If we endure, the power of endurance develops and increases by each trying time. It is only through the demanding situations that we develop this power and not by avoiding people or skipping situations.

  • See the brighter side of the dark cloud. Tell yourself that there is always  a brighter side to every difficult situation. Know that after storm comes peace, after night day.
  • It takes some time for the forces in nature to re-align. During difficult climate, we need much effort and skill to understand the reasons causing the stumbling blocks or problems. Try to understand that. It takes time to re-align forces and thereby to bring about positive developments. Changing life-situations means changing the negative forces to positive. It does take time for the negative forces to diminish and positive forces to increase, till then endure. There is a constant play of the flux of these two forces in the universe. Once the delicate balance is again restored, things sort out and we smooth over the problems. During such times

 Take the best and leave the rest.

“Endurance is patience concentrated.”  Thomas Carlyle

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The importance of Yoga in our daily life

#21

(This article on Yoga is of elementary level and for beginners. Please see the footer where you can visit other posts of advanced nature)

Yoga strictly speaking means union with God. The mind through the gradual process of purification and refinement becomes absorbed and unites with the omnipresent Spirit and is then guided by it in all the activities and endeavours of the practitioner.

Broadly speaking, minds are of two types-worldly and unworldly. Most minds are worldly and materialistic in nature but through the regular practice of yoga in daily life, the chakras or spinal centres of energy are cleansed and purified and the mind is enlightened and illuminated. The dormant spiritual energy is awakened and god realization takes place. Higher levels of consciousness and understanding can be reached through this ancient science of god realization. The evolution of the soul accompanies shift in understanding and  quality of actions are refined and so become superior. The life of the sadhak or aspirant becomes useful to the society.

The word Yoga needs to be approached in a holistic manner. It encompasses many aspects like discipline of the mind and body, purification and widening of the mind, a restful mind, acquiring new skills and abilities, higher levels of energy, subtler understanding, achieving great heights in personal and professional work, setting better and higher goals in life and in this way adding a valuable contribution to the wealth and capital of the world in terms of knowledge and services to mankind.

Dear child, so far we have discussed spirituality in the previous posts and as we go along, we are going to delve in a different aspect of yoga today- that of personal grooming and development. Mahavatar Babaji and Nityananda Swami have expressed their wish to us that we all must aspire and develop to our highest potential through yoga and make a wholesome contribution towards our society to make it a purposeful and worthwhile place to live in. The more we develop ourselves, the more we are capable of perceiving the working of God  in our daily life and in this way we are able to serve God.

Did you know that we can either be constructive or destructive in our tendencies at a set given point of time? By being constructive here means that we should make a continuous attempt and effort in increasing the quality and value of our life and get better in our overall personality too. We must aspire to progress bit by bit everyday to develop our mind, intellect and senses to unfold the unused and undeveloped divine qualities lying within us. But the question is how do we do it?

There are many courses, programmes or education programmes available on improving the quality of our life, personality development, grooming, management programmes in our cities to improve productivity, be successful, make profits and gain new insights in gaining access to our hidden potential of the sub-conscious mind etc. But as I understand they do not show very high success rates because personality development should not be superficial. If these programmes only touch and hardly scratch the surface of our psyche, the end results are not satisfactory. The mind of the person involved should change and the person should experience a positive transformation within. The deeper levels and realms of the aspirant should be contacted and he should re-orient his life into upward climb in every sense. The first noticeable change should be in the area of his daily work.

A new thought should bring a change in the manner the person works and the end result must be more constructive, productive and must show improvement in terms of quality and quantity.

It is desirable that the educational programme of development should also have practical application by telling the aspirant ‘how’ to do it through solo and group activities. And only then the quality of performance, tasks and productivity can be expected to be outstanding after attending the programme.

Dear, can you think  and tell me now as to why a fresher in an organization who is so full of promises and brimming over with creative energy and potential becomes de-motivated in 2 years? Surely something must be missing or lacking somewhere, something goes wrong and the performance of the worker or correspondingly for that matter even a  spiritual seeker declines slowly and he loses  sight of his vision?

I have looked around and also searched my answers from my own experiences and found out that some of the reasons for non performance or under performance in material and  spiritual fields also are-

  • A sluggish mind. Make the mind sharp, quick and witty by doing mental exercises.
  • Lack of motivation within. Motivate yourself by getting inspired by great men, being positive in life and generating hope and aspirations.
  • Lack of competence. Keep improvising your existing skills and knowledge and acquire new interests, abilities and talents.
  • Jealousy. It is a destructive feeling and beware of it. Instead think and feel good for others, wish well for all. Do not harbour inferiority complex.
  • Failure to recognize opportunities. Opportunities come in disguise, grab them. Be daunting, fearless and take on challenges. God loves bravehearts. Learn while you move up. Look at the best 10% performers in your field and learn from them by observation and also through the process of asking ‘why’ and ‘how’. Do not feel shy to admit that you don’t know a particular task or thing.
  • Reluctance to work hard, put in extra time and effort. We achieve nothing in life if we do not burn the night oil. While others play and wander and lose sight of their vision, Mandira, my child you please stay focused in your life. Do not splurge your precious time and money in unproductive ways foolishly.
  • Unwilling to accept new ideas, new concepts and thoughts so essential for our progress and growth. Keep the doors of your mind always open as even a small thought by God’s will can change one’s whole life. Do not miss that.
  • Unwilling to learn from past mistakes. Mistakes are great masters and teachers. There are lessons to acquire from them.
  • Not setting goals for achieving material and spiritual success. Nothing great and worthwhile can be achieved without asking yourself what do you want and then setting up those goals for our selves. Make a journal or maintain a diary in which you can write your goals. Once they are achieved, mark them and write new ones.
  • Not practicing Yoga in daily life. We all need a few minutes to de-stress and re- connect with our inner peace after performing our duties and work everyday to replenish our energies. The quality and standard of our work is escalated  by receiving God’s thoughts and  power by daily God thoughts and meditating upon Thee. God is the infinite sea of energy, power, talents and gifts, ideas and inventions as well as creativity. A quiet and calm mind performs better and produces applauding results. One excels in this way. Peace and tranquility are a great source of right thinking which makes us do right actions. Right actions produce right results. Right results or effects makes our life worth living and meaningful.

(Also read related post on practical application of Yoga- How to live today and How to increase your capacity to do work?  Food and breath control,   How to increase the power of your will? Kundalini Shakti-I, Kundalini Shakti-II and Kundalini Shakti-III to lead a yogic life style)

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How to live today?

#20

You know these days we have had many discussions at home about how we can change our life with our own efforts and also by putting up with many twists and turns of our fate. As my thoughts were revelling on these issues, I have been thinking to myself that actually speaking at the moment our future is still at bay and what really matters right now is how prudently we live our today. And therefore it becomes essential for us to make our day to day living worthwhile and meaningful. If we fill up our present day full of practical wisdom, peace and joy then we surely have a wonderful future ahead.

Today is 30th Nov, Swami Nityanand Bhagwan’s birth anniversary. It is my deep desire that I dedicate this post at His benevolent feet.

He has taught me so many things for which I shall be grateful all my life. He guides and inspires my life by telling me what is good for me and what is not, which actions are beneficial and which are to be shunned completely so that I do not have to put up with so much or undergo any kind of suffering. He has revealed to me some important insights into the mysteries of the perplexing human miseries and also the solutions for them which I wish to pass on to you. This is as follows:-

The majority of people in this world are ignorant and  live in the ‘gutter’. Their lives are dark, they do not know what is right for them. They do wrong and suffer and bear so much unnecessarily. Their instincts and behaviour are very similar to that of the animal kingdom. They are unhappy and miserable because they have created that for themselves by doing all kinds of sins. The world is full of miseries and sorrows because men sin gravely. If on the other hand,  if man establishes a world based on self-discipline, tolerance, co-operation, love, peace, brotherhood, friendship, sobriety and self giving, there would be a paradise on earth.

There are 3 types of sins termed as:- paap, maha paap and jaghanya paap.

Sins, grave sins and extreme sins.

Paap are actions such as lying, deceit, deliberate injury or damage to a person, ill-treatment of others, selfishness, stealing, jealousy, repulsion, antagonism, indifference to one’s duties. They can be worldly, religious or spiritual misconduct. Disrespect to elderly, women and guru, violence to children are all sins. They are paap, sins and can be forgiven if one changes his behaviour and moulds his life to that of virtuous living.

Maha paap are those grave sins which are unpardonable- infidelity, treachery, killing,  lying and cheating the poor by usurping their land and depriving them of their livelihood, swindling public money etc.

Jaghanya paap are those despicable acts which are very grave in nature such as annihilation, destroying lives, betraying countrymen and one’s own country, spreading terror by killing innocent people, spying against one’s nation and mass destruction.

When we go against the wish of God and do what one is supposed to shun, there are repercussions in our environment, it impacts the surrounding and on the whole it affects our planet’s ecology and environment. Nature’s fury, catastrophes, disbalance and havoc in the environment is man created and not god created. So each one of us should fulfill his duties by knowing what are the laws of nature, how should we contribute to make our lives and everyone’s more harmonious, joyous and sorrow free. All our attention and energies should be directed to build our lives so that we become useful citizens first and then aspiring spiritual seekers. Our days should be full of attempts to create more powers within and then get an access to the kingdom of God. In brief, our daily lives should be lived in these good ways-

Leave behind your past. Store and remember only the happy moments, good times and wonderful experiences in your mind. Based on these building- blocks of memories, build a new life and advance ahead. Discard the painful, insipid, distasteful and distressing memories of events that took place in the past and throw them out of your system. Selective choice helps the mind to filter out the unwanted and used up energies of past  karmas. Fruits of karmas that we have already lived and what is over and done with should be discarded and expelled and in their place saplings of  radiant beautiful flowers for a lovely garden should be planted now. Do not hold anyone responsible for your miseries and misfortune, just change your perception and outlook towards those  circumstances and move on. In fact, make the most of your misfortune! They are truly blessings in disguise!

Do not have a limited purview of life,  expand your horizon. Transgress your limitations. Human knowledge gained through the intellect and memory has its own limiting periphery. While knowledge that flows from God through telepathy, intuition knows no boundaries.

Through meditation and continuous good acts awaken and develop the quiet voice of God and intuit. There is power in wisdom.

Blocked understanding and tarnished  knowledge gives birth to undesirable traits and tendencies like envy, greed for power and money, selfishness, hollowness of character, stubbornness, argumentative nature, trampling over others etc. Everyday think and ask yourself what new things have I learnt today? What more is there that I need to know? Never stop your mind where learning is concerned. Our mind is like the  large porcelain dish which when kept out in the open will fill up with rain showers by falling raindrops! Collect them!

Improve your existing skills and learn new ones. Be a store house of many talents and gifts and be useful to others. The human skills are given to us to first help and empower ourselves and make our lives better and enriching and then to become a source of help to others. Do not be dependent on others to provide you all the help. Develop yourself to the fullest. Be gifted and let your Spirit shine forth through your work, nature and your attitude!

Set targets and meaningful goals for yourself and chase them till they see the light of the day. My dear girl, it is very important to plan our life. For planning, we need to set our short term and long term goals. Reach out to meet the goals and achieve results as per the chalked out previous plans. Make your plans for future in areas of business and money matters, relations, personal development, career promotions, health as well as your personal life. Once they are met, have another set of goals and chase them. A directionless life has no meaning. A soporific life is not really worth living. To enrich our lives we must have definite chartered plans for today as well as for future. An unplanned life is like a boat sailing without the boatman in deep waters!

Invest time, energy and money in health. Spare some time everyday in body care, good diet and health. It is a very good investment and will always pay back handsomely. A disease-free body with a good amount of stored energy is a pre-condition to achieve our spiritual goals and targets. Attain that. Happiness, calmness, moods and stability of mind is directly dependent on our health. It is a long term investment and its importance should not be overlooked. If you want quality work in your life then maintain good health. It is a vehicle by which we travel to the abode of God!

Worship God in any form- formless or with a form. Do good karmas, acts of kindness and be charitable and always remain unselfish in your motives. Remember that God will always look after all your needs if you care for his other children. Reach out to those who are in distress and are looking for your help. Withhold negative emotions like anger, frustration, despair, agony, doubts, aimlessness, sadness etc and cultivate friendliness, faith, re-assurance, joy and trust in God.

Work hard and work sincerely always in all circumstances, no matter what. God watches over us all the time, people don’t. Offer all your work to God because even work is a form of worship. Pray for others, do good and be good and do good to others always, irrespective of their behaviour towards you. Speak kind words and never use harsh words as injuring others does not solve our problems. Help others in achieving their goals whether material, professional or spiritual. You will in return  get help from God in many quiet and subtle ways. Comfort others and you will be comforted. Help people to tide over their regression, difficulties and rough times during their lean period. Receive their blessings in return as the reward for your good intentions.

If we try to live up to these principles of  life, our each day will be beaming with God’s Grace and we will have a true spiritual life in real sense. If we sow healthy seeds of good trees, the fruit that it will bear will be very, very sweet. Have a refulgent future..

May God bless you!

In Divine remembrance,

Ma.

(If you wish to know and read more about Swami Nityananda of Ganeshpuri, then turn to Ignite the flame of Illumination-I and Ignite the flame of Illumination-II

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How to surmount obstacles-II

#19

Divine intervention at last

My sweet child, I had gone for a YSS weekend spiritual retreat at Igatpuri near Nasik in Nov’ 2004. It was a period of catharsis and I was consumed with a sense of deprivation, grief and loss because of which I had an emotional outburst on the 9th morning as I was unable to find and appoint a divine godhead or a spiritual entity to sort out my life and ease my problems a wee bit.

There was anxiety building up because I was certain by now that I will not be able to sort it out myself and tide over my complicated ongoing  life-crises. I desperately wanted a Guru to hold my finger like a loving Father and make me walk on my path as I knew that the long, slippery and arduous path of emancipation and salvation was impossible to trek alone. I wished to be initiated by someone so that I could start  as soon as possible and reach my destination fast . My frenzied burning desire to find God and then talk to Him directly reached a crescendo and I was inconsolable. I was weeping bitterly in my bed and praying fervently to find my spiritual mentor when just then a very auspicious incident took place in my room in Igatpuri that morning…

paramahansa Yogananda

Sri Paramhansa Yogananda

Divine appearance of the loving Spiritual Master and Yoga expert, Sri Paramhansa Yogananda appeared at the threshold of my room. He was wearing a flowing ochre robe, his curly hair were left open on the shoulders and there was an aura of divinity all around Him. His divine face was full of compassion and genuine sympathy and understanding. Though not surprised, I was relieved to see Him and I was released of ongoing painful agony. I took a sigh of relief as  I was being heard at last and with His appearance at that moment, the feeling of being abandoned in me disappeared like a gust of thin air. While still sobbing, I made a very earnest request  to Him by asking- Who is my Guru?  With a gentle smile, He answered- “The Guru is ordained and appointed by God. I am your Guru.”

I was very perplexed at His reply. How can he be my Guru I thought to myself. During those days, I was practically having so many  visions of Divine beings and of celestial beings of astral world that I was unsure who  would be my Guru after all. I was a bit confused now because I did not know what would become of me if I completely surrendered myself at His sacred feet.

It has been my strong conviction since the beginning that once you appoint a Guru and harbour Him in your heart, we must never step back. It was for keeps. Therefore, I wanted to tread my path very carefully and take one step at a time. All this while I was ruminating over this fact,  when he first looked at me with a fixed gaze, smiled at me cryptically. He raised both his hands in the air to shower his godly blessings and  left me. It took me a while to move my body and think of anything else but him. Anyway, I felt comforted after that and I slept soundly for a few hours in the afternoon and all the emotional exhaustion was washed away. I felt better by evening and wished for good things to develop soon. The retreat got over by Sunday afternoon.

I reached the house from the retreat in late evening that day on 10th November and there was nobody at home. I retired early to bed and I was resting by closing my eyes when…

Effulgent mellow light of pale yellow colours and hues began to scatter everywhere in my room and it soon engulfed me. I was bathing in the warm and yet soft genteel rays of Cosmic Light. I became tranquil and serene while the  mind became tuned in with Supreme Consciousness. I was elevated to very subtle divine vibrations and  there was no sense of body consciousness.  I was transported to a far off  world, far away where there was no pull of gravity. I felt very, very light as though I was floating in the waters of the measureless depth and silence of a vast expanse of an ocean! Everything was quiet there…

I must have remained like this for some time when I saw Mahavatar Babaji’s form appear before my closed eyes in radiant golden light and glimmer. I recognized Him instantly though this was a new phenomenon much beyond my wildest expectations and dreams. I was ecstatic and became overjoyed and I began to stir. As Babaji asked me to lie still with a gesture of his hand,  I recalled and connected myself with the incident of Sri Yukteshwarji who saw Babaji one sunny morning, under the shade of the banyan tree on a river ghat after he completed the book ‘Holy Science’ . Recalling that, I became cautious and remained still and my restless mind was firmly reinstated.

(Chapter 36 of Autobiography of a Yogi) (I later visited this river bank and I have mentioned about it in the post-Expand your Consciousness-II) 

Babaji was wearing an ochre coloured dhoti on his waist which ended on his left shoulder. He was walking  swiftly with a long stick in his right hand on a mountainous terrain while his disciples were following him with quick steps. He approached me and I saw his glowing  face and flowing  shiny copper coloured loose long hair uptil his calves. It was still very difficult for me to believe that He was present there with me in  my room. I thought to myself, “How come of all the people He is visiting me? What good have I done in this life to earn this?  What could be the purpose behind his darshan?”

He came a little closer to me and I could get his  close up view. He had a big, dark black serpent coiled around his neck and He looked like Lord Shiva in the snowy mountains. He eyes were so peaceful and benevolence radiated from his face profusely. His face was extra-ordinarily calm and softness in the form of compassion emanated from it. I tried to absorb and retain this holy picture in my mind very intently. I considered  myself  very, very blessed in those peerless moments of being with God.

He came forward  to pick up the serpent from his own shoulder which He did, and then he flung it towards me. Next moment the serpent was in my neck coiled and sitting up harmlessly with his face upright on my right shoulder. I was very frightened to feel its sensation of  heavy spiral weight over me. The sensation of the coiled big snake was very real- heavy to feel and  soft and slimy to touch. So I lifted my left hand in scare and raised it a bit  to remove it from my right shoulder. Babaji scurried forward and made a firm gesture with His hand not to do that at all and  I obeyed Him.

Then His blessed words began to flow, ” You are very fortunate and truly blessed. You are reaping the harvest of your stock of virtuous acts from the reservoir of many lives. From now onward don’t cry. You have taken my refuge, may God bless you. This is not your house, this is tapa- sthal. (A place where penance is to be done.)  Do tapasya.  Be victorious.” With these kind words and  supreme divine blessings, the exalted Maha Siddha Yogi and Immortal Guru left my place for His abode in the high snow-capped Himalayan mountains through the molecules of ether.

Let me now express myself that apart from feeling exhilarated, I had no idea whatsoever what could be the repercussions and impact of such a great spiritual experience over my life. I was still in disbelief and in a shocking daze. But with passing years the mystery around this experience slowly unfolded and I have understood that the serpent was not an ordinary one. It was a kind of a protective armour in the form of a mythological serpent that Babaji gave me to shield the avalanche of physical, mental and emotional onslaughts and harmful surreptitious scathing attacks from people that I faced and encountered later on. To me, it felt as though the serpent was Vasuki, the king of Nagas, also known as Nagaraj and not an ordinary one. But all said and done, throughout my prolonged illnesses that followed later, I did experience and realize that I was very much protected with Babaji’s intense grace and mercy on me, otherwise I would not have been able to survive the lashing of the whirlwinds of typhoons hovering around me for many years.

I assumed that my difficulties were mitigated and will be over from now onward because Babaji had come and blessed me. But alas no! I was naive in dealing with human life problems of huge complexities in nature. In fact, they worsened and what I described to you in the last post is just a small glimpse of the trying ordeals. In fact, Babaji could foresee my impending upheavals in  future and had come to my rescue and to forewarn me so that I would imbibe his spiritual power and mental strength to put up with all my problems and go through it. And after I saw Babaji on 10th Nov 2004 night, rapid significant developments took place.

Swami Nityananda with his disciple Swami Dayananda Shaligram

Soon after, by Babaji’s invisible will, I and your Papa went to Ganeshpuri in May, 2005, where there are samadhis of Swami Nityananda and his foremost disciple  Dayananda  Shaligram Swami. We visited  Ganeshpuri and found the precinct so peaceful and spiritually charging. The moment my eyes fell on  an old photo of Swami Dayananda Shaligram in his room where He once came and stayed, I traveled back in time and history and recognized Him as my very own and felt a kind of affinity for him. The soul remembers everything even if it means things that happened thousands of years ago. That is ‘smriti‘ as explained in one of the previous articles. The soul has a unique power of retention in the form of  memory and it felt so good to recognize and meet my beloved one from distant past once again!

For me life took a beautiful turn at this juncture and grace and blessings began to pour incessantly in my life after my visit to Ganeshpuri.

With Nityananda Baba’s blessing, my soul’s mute voice began to speak to me and my intuition developed. I could now communicate through the media of telepathy and extra sensory perceptions on various levels in the astral world with the blessed souls. I could now depend on them through my new medium of communication and started being  fearless. I became empowered and charged as there was no confusion and doubt any more. Faith in myself and God was re-kindled and re-established. My attitude again became positive and at last I could see rays of hope at the end of the long, dark dark tunnel. They took up charge of me and my family. Nityananda Baba told me not to worry ever again  as they will carry all my burden. I no more felt abandoned and was relieved that after all I was not alone in this big complicated world. I began to make future plans and self assurance and courage was built up. I learnt many life skills, developed new interests like finance, planning, management, life management etc. I took responsibility and control of all the spheres of my life. I resumed my passion and interest in music, building health, participated in social activities and so on. I stopped looking back thereafter and life smiled upon me when…

One early morning in June 2004,  in my dream I saw Nityananda Baba’s benevolent face, he was smiling sweetly and compassionate love radiated from Him. There was golden aura of light dispersing around him and he called me affectionately with his one hand towards him. I went up to Him like a little girl. He gave me a beautiful smile which burnt away all my sorrows. In his hand were four glittering pens which He very lovingly  handed over to me. I clasped them with my fingers and looked at them with fondness. He then pointed towards a wrist watch tied to his left wrist and made a sign to tell me that there is still time for it and that I should wait. At that time, I had no inkling that one day I will ever write down my very intimate and personal spiritual memoirs as a blog open to all to read. I had my reservations and  inhibitions regarding it from the very start. But as it is their wish that I share the prasad or grace with others,  so be it!

Spiritual-Lessons learnt from life -experiences

Due to man’s ignorance and lack of knowledge of God’s laws of action and reaction, he is unable to distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil and righteous and wrongful actions. He sows all sorts of  seeds of actions in the cosmic universe which sprout  and manifest as harmful reactions in the form of suffering and illness of various types over a long period of time. The type and quality of our actions done gives shape and quality to our present and future lives.

There are 3 categories of karmas inherent in the humans, out of which he goes through one type at one point of  time in his life. They are:-

Inevitable karmas: These are the irrevocable and unpardonable karmas of the past (sanchit karmas) as well as those done in present life (kriyaman). When we have more negative karmas than the good ones at a particular time in our share, we undergo a tirade of rough weather patch and storms. During such times, the Guru comes forward to help the disciple liberate by carrying some of the weight of his excess baggage. Knowing that they cannot be nullified and preempted now and it is in the interest of the disciple to exhaust the bad effects of the actions done in the past. The disciple’s path is cleared and cleaned by this procedure and exercise. The circumstances cannot be altered now but the perception and outlook of the person in concern can be. Hence, the Guru gives his disciple a new mental perception, a new approach to look from at the existing  state of affairs. Big lessons are learnt by grave mistakes of past as now the devotee obeys the spiritual laws with submission and humility. Penance helps in purification of the soul and redemption is the outcome. Peace is inevitable.

Evitable karmas: When the collective karmas are in 50:50 ratio of bad and good ones they are evitable- the number of count of good karmas equals the bad ones in our pool. So when we are faced with hardships, obstacles, sickness and sorrow, the Guru advises us to do good acts like charity, donations, poojas, forgiveness, spiritual practices by which the adverse effects can be either mitigated or minimized. This is a mild punishment for the man. A mild  slap on the cheek so to say and he is released from the karmic ties. He realizes his mistakes and becomes careful for future and understands that it was a warning from the speechless God.

A reservoir of deeply sunken mass virtuous karmas: Towards the end and pinnacle of the human evolution cycle, when all the negative karmas are to be burnt once and for all, a whole lot of seeds of incredible virtuous karmas which are buried deep inside are waiting to rise up and manifest. The devotee is unconscious of this fact while the guru can see it coming with his divine insight. He understands that the impact of mass good karmas have to be taken advantage of.  Depending on the faith and nature of his disciple, the Guru intervenes and shows him the guiding path by hinted suggestions via telepathy, clairvoyance and other mysterious suggestions. By making his dear devotee carry out specific actions of high degree and quality, the good ungerminated seeds are awakened by creating right environmental conditions consciously. After germination and manifestation of meritorious acts, the impact of the supremely good selfless acts are visible in the disciple’s life soon. They come in the form of good health and fortune, overall prosperity and achievements, exceptional accomplishments, fame and popularity, success in material as well as spiritual world and a forward march in spiritual advancement by leaps and bounds. There is no force to stop the disciple now as the forces in nature are with him. The disciple with his new found freedom and self realization dedicates his life and works for his beloved God and is at last free of every bondage and misery. His soul is at last purified and he takes a deep respite.

In practical life this translates as:

  • Take responsibility of your own actions. Have trust in God’s justice. Have unending patience.
  • Endure. Face life. Put up with whichever tests comes to you. Do not try to run away from your destiny. Accept it with a smile.
  • Have faith in God. He listens. He is impartial.
  • Don’t quit. Never ever give up.

Conclusion

Our whole life is a melting pot of a spiral chain of events leading us upwards and towards our goal of God-realisation. Whatever happens, happens for good, it is for our progress. It is with cultivation of our skills and abilities, proficiency and accomplishments that we blossom. By working out our destiny agreeably, we are purified and shine at last. We are ready to seek the attention of God. The blossoms of the sweet flowers of our devotion are then to be offered at the sacred feet of our Guru who opens the door to heaven and God. We enter the House of our Lord and attain indescribable inner peace and Supreme Bliss!

My many, many pranams to all my Gurus and Param Guru Shri Mahavatar Babaji who has given  me refuge, protection, peace, God’s knowledge and salvation. The objective of human life is fulfilled and is being lived with a sense of purpose- of serving God and Gurus. May the fragrance of Divine spread everywhere, everywhere and everywhere!

Om Namo Bhagwate Vasudevaya!

“I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their  principles unto death.”   Leonardo Da Vinci.

Picture of Paramhansa Yogananda: google images

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The way to surmount obstacles-I

#18

At dusk on 1st Nov ’08, for me it was time to remember God. I offered two incense sticks on my behalf and joined my hands with closed eye-lids and stood in front of Mahavatar Babaji’s photo that day in my house. My heart welled up and I was infused with strong feelings of thanksgiving and gratitude towards Him for his limitless love and compassion flowing towards me as always. He has done for me that no human can ever imagine and no words suffice.

A silent selfless prayer emerged from within me when I expressed my wish to Him that from now I want to help others, who like me are facing insurmountable,  exhausting difficulties in their lives currently. In a quick reply He said briefly, “Write the next post on this topic.”

To let you know dear child, I have from the very outset been very attracted to the photo and image of Divine Babaji. His aura, his personage and presence has been very, very mystical and equally magnetic for me. I was amazingly fascinated by his personality, his life and his mission on the earth, not to forget to mention his extra-ordinary, out of this world divine powers when I first read the all time classic, “Autobiography of  a Yogi” in 2002 and many times thereafter. His distinguished and imposing stature had an indelible sketch which got engraved in my mind from the very start. His blissful figure would re-surface time and time again and his remembrance was always very soul- soothing.

Here I stood- my heart melting down in reverence and gratefulness when in a very soft gentle tone He said sweetly to me, “Remember me and my name in any form you like. Do naam jaap. Back in your past you called out to God and chanted His Name so intensely and poignantly that God heard your cry and I gave you sakshat  or direct Darshan. I appear to those who remember and pray to God sincerely for guiding their way and are in need of spiritual assistance and remedy.”

Next I questioned him that why is it that when I look into his gazing eyes I get transfixed? Peace and tranquility enveloped me at this point when in a grave mystic voice he explained, “You have known me earlier too in the distant past in your previous lives. Your faith in me is unshakable and trust complete. You will always recognize me in every form and figure I take because you see me as Spirit and  not a body.”

Mandira, there I stood  enchanted and enamoured when I felt His divine rays of pearly hue reach me and I was encircled by them in my shoulders, neck and arms like a very light stole. My mind became super-sensory towards divine perceptions and I began to gather the showery gentle white and silver rays of Light and  rare jewels of divine words that were arriving towards me from Him. He then slightly touched my mind with His, and a long buried, unread page from the library of my memory was re-opened.  A flash of serendipitous  events raced my mind and I recollected this particular date- 10th Nov, which incidentally falls today. It holds a special meaning for me because it is the date of my marriage and also because of some other significant reason besides that. According to the Hindu calendar, I got married on Tulsi Vivah Diwas, an auspicious day when Goddess Mahalaxmi in the form of Tulsi wedded Lord Vishnu. And today after 30 years, 10th Nov again falls on Tulsi Vivah Diwas. But to tell you more on the importance of 10th Nov in my life, please wait. I will come back to that.

A bizarre turn of events. Stormy patch of life with no end to groaning troubles. No rescue in sight.

Dear readers, a quick glimpse of my personal life account of  my past  needs to be reviewed and re-visited as this throws light on the gigantic spiritual figure- Immortal Babaji. It will also reveal as to when and how I met Him, the crucial situations in which we met and its life-altering significance in my life. This blog on my searching and finding God, our dialogue and the consequent serious thinking as after-thoughts would have never happened had it not been for Babaji. So lets stroll down the alley of my past when…

Those were immensely difficult years. My family had made a recent move to Mumbai in 2001 due to familial and professional reasons. As a result of shifting base, my family had to disjoint. Shortly after moving cities, the three of us found ourselves in three different locations spread across two sub-continents. Ties with extended family were strained, there was a split in the family and no signs of improvement could be seen on the horizon. I found myself alone in a new city without any faintest idea as to what was in store for me. Anyway,

To keep myself occupied I picked up a teaching job in a prestigious school- a profession I love, and am reputedly good at. Inexplicably, I was at the receiving end of fierce competition and jealousy. I frequently found myself at the wrong place at the wrong time and would receive the ire of the management for no fault of mine. Colleagues who were aware of my sincerity and commitment refused to stand by me. I was distraught. This was a profession I loved and was good at but time and again I would find myself into sticky situations that were not my creation. The children I taught  were my only source of happiness during my tenure. My failing health made my situation worse. So much so that I was eventually asked to quit. Life had never meted out such a blow before. I had never been asked to leave a job. The kids loved me, I was good at my work, yet I was asked to go. Needless to say, I was disheartened and shaken up.

My health continued to deteriorate day by day for almost 4 years during which I underwent a minor and an extra major surgery. As it is to begin with, I had a fragile constitution and have frequently battled illnesses and complications of various intensities since I got married. But dealing with illness at mid-life crisis is very different from dealing with it when you are younger and stronger. A third abdominal surgery in one life time is not at all easy to tackle and deal with.  For those four plus something years, in the absence of a family, illness was my only faithful companion. I had a constant mysterious lingering shooting pain in the stomach that couldn’t be diagnosed or treated for a few years. My sinusitis and varieties of chronic allergies flared up with a vengeance. I suffered so many coughs, colds, throat, eye and ear infections that a stage came where I didn’t need to visit a doctor. I knew which medicine treated which illness! There were other health problems too but I suppose I can do without getting into their descriptions. In spite of all these nagging health issues, I was determined and maintained my grit to go about my daily life as usual. I would do house hold chores for a brief time, then rest and then again get back to do another stint at the chores in easy installments! Even when I was working at the school, I would carry on the day on sheer will power of  mind. I learnt to live with the unending pain and uneasiness. I desperately wanted to beat odds and I was firmly determined to make it in life.  Though I  never complained but…

Financial worries plagued me. Our shifting to Mumbai hadn’t been in the best financial conditions- in fact it was at a time where my family’s needs were increasing and incomes were grossly inadequate. At that point in time, the Indian economy was in a sad condition that we were grateful we had a job. I continuously worried about my future and that of my family. I worried about my daughter’s education and marriage. I worried about the physical and mental health of my husband living far away. I worried about resolving many lingering family issues. I worried about my health. To make things still worse, I was surrounded by a set of pernicious people about whom I was unaware. They targeted me surreptitiously which made my life impossible. It was only that much I could take. I was in a flurried state, bewildered, helpless and I touched the abysmal low. But I was not prepared to get crushed under my own load when…

It was in these trying times that I wept and I wept. I had no-one to go to and there was no-one who knew what was happening inside my life. I behaved as if nothing had happened and everything was alright outwardly. I was bereft and very lonely. It was at that time that I took a very conscious decision of turning my mind towards God. I thought to myself, “The situation is already so bad that it can’t get any worse. God is my only saviour. No human being is able to help me.” So I took refuge in God residing in my heart with full trust for shelter and protection. I cried to Him for much needed help and my salvation. I called out to Him day in and day out incessantly. I prayed fervently so that my heart would dissolve and I could forgive those whom I had really loved and received only their indifference, mistrust and sometimes  ill-will in return. I wanted to carry my own karmic burden but was incapacitated. I could not do it alone. I urgently needed a helping hand from God. So, I began practicing naam jap or spiritual chanting. This I could do while I was engaged in routine activities as well. The results were quick for me to see. I began to forgive those people and buried my past  as I understood it is my doing alone and no-one else’s.

I joined Yogananda Satsang Society [YSS]started by Sri Paramhansa Yogananda, learnt the meditation techniques taught there and  practiced meditation every single day- even if that meant I only sat silently in a corner. I read all the spiritual books I could lay my hands on. I embarked on a new spiritual journey with my whole heart, soul and mind. I travelled  extensively to spiritual places, sometimes alone and went on pilgrimages on a limping foot, agony in my stomach and a broken heart! But I made it everywhere. I undertook long journeys in dirty trains to Pondicherry and looked for solace and answers to my reflections in solitude. I walked up the mountains and sacred hills in Tiruvanannamalai and  Badrinath. I walked in sweltering heat and scorching sun, I stood in long, serpentine queues in temples and samadhis, stayed in ashrams maintaining silence in quietude and reflecting on sombre, perplexing topics that intrigued me. My heart would bleed when I remembered the Lord and on some lonely nights, I used to call Him out with a pitched fever and a soft whisper in my heart- “Krishna, Krishna, my Krishna, Krishna… Where are you Krishna?  Krishna, Krishna, Krishna… Listen to me Krishna,  Talk to me, my Krishna, where are you? Krishna, Krishna, Krishna”…In my sleep also this chanting was going on.

I wrote a spiritual diary in which I noted down my learnt lessons of life, divine visions,  realizations, prophecies and saw God’s Glory in them. I did this without a day’s break for more than 3 years. When I was too sick to do anything, I would lay down in bed quietly for hours and prayed emotionally and fervently for God to listen to me. I endured everything. I now perceived all that was happening to me not as a punishment but as penance.

I realized that one finds God through tapas and not by misunderstood outside rituals and ceremonies and flashy devotion. God had to be searched inside, within myself…..I thought to myself.

My health matters could no longer be ignored. I wanted to bounce back with same zeal, determination and exceptional energy. So I exercised 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes in the evening even if it meant 11 o’clock at night with my aching, dead body. I never skipped any energization exercises sessions at home during that period. I read YSS home lessons pertaining to my life stage and circumstances. I did everything that was possible for me to do under the sky,

I did not want people to write me off and the undying spirit in me never allowed me to give up and….

I knew even then that God listens, I knew that God will hear my voice one day, it was just  a matter of time. I knew that it was only God who had all the answers and solutions to my overwhelming troubles.

Then on one memorable night…

(To be continued)

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How to re-create your destiny?-II

#17

Mandira my dear, the festival of delight and light, Diwali is being celebrated everywhere now. There is so much gaiety, cheerfulness and illumination all over. Beautiful colours, sparkling lights and celebration in the air… All this impels me to write something more on illumination of our minds, of our lives, our spirits and therefore today I decided to tell you more on the same continuing subject.

So, apart from accepting our destiny with an open mind, the next related question one would ask is- What more can I do to create my own future? One of the important things to fulfill this objective is to do ‘creative visualization’.

 ( Ref- using-the-creative-powers-of-visualization)

The human mind is usually very confined and limited because we shut the doors of learning ourselves. Quite a quaint feature of human nature, I must say. However, if we take a decision once to take the initiative and have the motivational will to open the mind to new as well as further learning, the mind’s window is thrown open to receive new insight and understanding, ideas and higher knowing.

Creativity is a spark of illumination and resourcefulness of the Divine in us. If we wish to exercise and blossom our creative powers, we ought to first visualize and imagine it in the mind before it can be materialized in the physical world.

Imagination and visualization are the mental powers given to man for manifestation and extension of God’s universe. These powers are like the blue print of a plan of a project whether small or big. So, before something concrete and real takes shape in the physical world, imagination and visualization should happen in the mental world and then in the astral world.

Creative visualization– The ordinary human brain has 3 layers and corresponding 3 levels of consciousness and awareness. They are:-

  • Conscious mind.
  • Subconscious mind
  • Unconscious mind
  • Super conscious mind

Conscious mind- Whatever we see, hear and do during the day through various activities is done with the help of the conscious mind. These activities are carried out by the cells of the lower part of the brain. The nerves ,the communication channels in our body of the 5 senses are involved with this part of the brain and these are connected to the lower chakras or energy centres.

Unless we act attentively and with full awareness, there are no imprints on the cells of the brain, the mind doesn’t form impressions and no grooves are formed. And no specific thought patterns are ingrained in the brain. So every act of ours should be carried out with attention and not mindlessly.

Subconscious mind– It is the next layer after the conscious mind and all the impressions of the sense experiences, material aspirations, mental perceptions, emotional expressions, creative pursuits are stored in the mind as ‘memory’ or ‘smriti.’

‘Smriti’ or memory is Cosmic Intelligence and can be re-awakened by Yoga with regeneration of new cells in the upper parts of the brain by re-charging it with Cosmic Light!

When the chakras of the upper part of the spine and nervous system are activated, lost ‘smriti’ is re-awakened.

Memories of all our lives are stored in the brain and can be recalled during higher stages of meditation, concentration, spiritual practices and Yoga. It helps us to navigate our future path of evolution.

(More about smriti or memory in Kundalini Shakti-II)

Memory is a spark of Higher Intelligence. Scientifically speaking, memory is the impression of the mental, physical, emotional actions and experiences done consciously in our brain.

When impressions are imprinted over and over again by our repeated actions over a long period of time, they become our latent tendencies or ‘sanskaras‘. They are stored in the subconscious mind. New cells are made in the nervous system by which we acquire new habits, talents, skills, creativity, cognition and intelligence. Latent tendencies are deeply rooted and difficult to remove or change.

We act according to the  sanskaras  or the latent tendencies lying in us.

Our actions are induced and propelled by our tendencies of many lives.

Therefore, action or activity and mind or memory are very closely inter-related. It requires a sincere and persistent effort on a very long term basis to change vices into virtues.

By our will, by wise and prudent selection we can recreate our future by activating the dormant, unused subconscious mind. Our subconscious mind is like the ocean of infinite possibilities of untapped positive powers and faculties.

If we continuously visualize a particular thing, feeling  or a thought and wish it to manifest, it will certainly manifest one day. The power of the will, will re-activate the sleepy mind.

Will or ichcha shakti is the current, the force which recharges and electrifies the sub-conscious mind. Where there is will, there the energy flows.

The power of the sub-conscious mind then connects with the constructive, positive forces in the universe and our thoughts, sankalpas, willful aspirations materialize as and when the conditions in the environment are favourable. But for all this, one must have discipline, self-belief, persistence, consistent behaviour and wish for it to materialize with a strong will to support. The spirits must not be dampened.

So dear child, all those good things that we wish to see manifested, must first be visualized and created in the mental sphere. Happiness, a secure future, spiritual advancement, physical and mental beauty, health, intelligence, higher IQ, happy relationships, success and other desires can be materialized by creative visualization.

A fit body, regular meditation, concentration, healthy atmosphere, good nature and amity are helpful in building a vibrant, dynamic and successful future.

Unconscious mind- The lower most layers of the mind is called the unconscious mind. As the name suggests, a human being is unaware of this part of the mind where the memory of first few incarnations is etched. Actions done from this level are repetitive and cannot be controlled. To cleanse this part of the mind of the low quality tendencies, it requires help from a Holy Master who is truly enlightened. Good or bad tendencies are correspondingly ingrained inside. The positive tendencies are put to good use while the negative ones are removed consciously by the Holy Master as sheer grace and unconditional love. Only after cleaning the inner most recesses of the mind, one can penetrate inside the consciousness of God with a purified mind termed as Super Consciousness.

Super-conscious mind- it is the Higher mind or the mind in the highest state of being. This is the fourth dimension. It begins with awakening of intuition. The mind which is super-conscious has very high degree of mental and spiritual awareness. During the higher states of meditation, the mind falls silent and there is complete rest and stillness. The yogi achieves deep concentration on the Atman or True Self and during this time receives the ‘sankalpa’ or the thought from God.

The thought of God or sankalpa withholds within itself locked power and force which is later released and utilized for a noble cause, a great mission or dynamic spiritual work for the society.

This high state of spiritual development is not achieved by mere human endeavour but rewarded by sheer benevolence of God! With purity of mind and a kind heart, humility and devotion it is possible to please God. So let’s all seek and ask for His favour and blessings so that we are able to become the perfect recipient of His boundless love and kindness and re-design our well deserved future.

 (Concluded)

 

Updated on 05-02-2019

————————————-

(For advanced learners)

How can you find God in this life?- I, II & III

Part -II

“Conscious, sub-conscious and deep conscious or unconscious,

Are the three states or levels of a human mind built over many lives and years.

They are formed slowly and gradually as we progress from one life to another.

I researched thoroughly on the formation of mind and perfected it; I have told you before,” resumed the Holy Ancient Sage, Bogarnathar.

Part-III

“The mind or mana is divided roughly into three sections-lower, middle and top.

*On top is the recording of the current or present ongoing activities happening to us.

They are recorded by our senses and interpreted by the ever changing mana or mind.

The recording is first in the senses, then in brain, sometimes called mind, and later in the body of the recipient and finally in mana or manas.

&

“Mind and body are separate, in body is the brain which you call mana or mind erroneously.

Mana is in the subtle body though temporarily situated in the physical body when you are alive, but never inside it.

Its place is near the heart; it constitutes of ethereal layers and is made by food and your thoughts.

It is an instrument to feel, perceive, and even guide and is a force that is to be reckoned with if it is fully revived!

&

The mana can be in three stages- the state of being in the physical world called sthool or physical.

It can next go a bit inside and enter sukshma or feeling, perceiving state and lastly it can go to its foundation- the kaaran or ego state-the ‘I am’ state.

Beyond these three states is shunya or emptiness or void where one meets God in light, peace and knowledge.

&

Top is termed as conscious mind or mana, middle sub conscious and lower is the unconscious.

Everything that we think, wonder, do, act or observe is captured as a movie and printed in the various levels of mana.

Together it is a single unit and the printing on the surface is happening every moment to micro minute or second.

Though one unit, functions of levels are different because time, one’s will power and intensity also matters in its composition.

&

The mind or mana is one unit though, but in fact it is a vast collection of many experiences, actions, resolutions and wills of humans.

It is the biggest power that any human can possess if harnessed and developed and retained well in multiple lives!

 

Revised on 13-05-21

————————————–

# Creativity is a spark of illumination and resourcefulness of the Divine in us

# Imagination and visualization are the mental powers given to man for manifestation and extension of God’s universe

#Smriti’  or memory is Cosmic Intelligence       # Memory is a spark of Higher Intelligence

# Regeneration of new cells by Yoga

# Our actions are induced and propelled by our tendencies of many lives

# Action or activity, and mind or memory are very closely inter-related

# We can recreate our future by activating the dormant, unused subconscious mind

# Will is the current, the force which recharges and electrifies the sub-conscious mind

# Where there is will, there is flow of energy

# Super-conscious mind, the fourth dimension

# The thought of God withholds within itself locked power

 

 

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How to re-create your destiny?-I

#16

(Inside of a Shaligram Stone)

Today afternoon on 10th of Sept, I was sleeping when I was unexpectedly woken up by heavy showers, dark clouds, thunder stroke and lightning. A loud crash of lightning near the hills created an imagery- first of a thunderstorm, deluge, catastrophe and then of the formation of fossils in the form of the spiritual black stone of Shaligram in the Himalayan Mountains. A picture of a special stone like that of Shaligram was produced in my mind and I comprehended that fossils have inert cosmic energy implanted and preserved within them. I focused my entire attention on the sacred Shaligram stone with reverence. Though for once, I was a bit frightened of the loud thunder and lightning in the atmosphere and was in anticipation as to what  would happen next? At that point in time, it dawned on me that lightning, thunderstorm, rains etc. are all forces in nature and they are under the control of one and the same Power and all this must be happening today because of the will of God so why should I be afraid? I assured myself by accepting the circumstances and I soon entered a calm state and my poise and repose was restored.

I also decided to choose this very time to divert and focus my mind intensely on that One Supreme Power, who is the originator and creator of all the forces in this Universe. I took advantage of the extra-ordinary and freaky climatic conditions of that particular day in my favour. I earnestly prayed to that very Supreme Power to illumine me at those momentous seconds so that I could resolve a few life-mysteries and solve some unexplained circumstances taking place in my case presently. I was  desperate to know why a particular set of events were occurring in my life without my control like the unrestrained thunder storms and forceful wind of that day. I had no control on either of them.

Could I stop the events I questioned, can I change the course of my destiny by first taking control of myself, then willingly executing and setting in motion specifically designed set of actions thereby controlling the destiny and thereupon changing my future? This thought and idea was being compared in my mind to that of the forceful river in the Himalayan Mountains which changes its course on the Earth because of some act of nature or by sheer human intervention.

I received my answer instantaneously and the silent Power unveiled its concealed secret shrouded in mystery from humans as a sheer Grace upon me! What an hour! What a glorious moment!

As the waters of rain give birth to new life, my mind too received new knowledge which widened the horizon of my sky-mind! Light of the Cosmic Force flooded my dormant fossil-mind and dissolved the last remnants of the unseen fine specks of muddy dust in the crevices of innermost layers and carried me like the rolling stones with the rushing gush to the roaring sea of limitless knowledge! I was completely soaked in the inundated flooding tides of waters of God’s Grace and pure Cosmic compassion! I was transformed! I was new!  A new opening and complete transformation took place. A new life awaited me!

Today, it is this that I wish to share and distribute with all those people and the readers who have love for God as even a drop of the holy water of sacred knowledge will give birth to new germination of life, a new birth, a new start to them. It is my silent prayer at this pious hour to the Supreme God to bestow on all those readers a new dawn, a new life of higher and deeper comprehension and spiritual understanding in their ever expanding minds!!

I know that my current life situations are the doing of my past life, I continued thinking. The result of my actions are bound to show up and bear fruit, no matter what now or in future. I cannot control the occurrence of them, they are inevitable. So what could be done, what should I do? I wanted to know.

It dawned on me during that brief period that I always have two options at every milestone of my life-journey. I can either accept the circumstances happily or reject them despondently. In fact, the better word would be ‘resist’ and not ‘reject’ as merely rejecting would not stop the reactions or past-life effects to materialize anyway. If I resist my present life situations, there is a turmoil in my mind. Turmoil further creates uneasy, discordant mental formations which will alter or jeopardize my immediate or far off future. So,

a) In this way, I am not covering up my chartered journey and also not burning and exhausting the previous karmas.

b) Simultaneously I am also creating more new mental karmas by rejecting my present life by not owning up my past.

It is for me to now understand and accept that I am taking an incorrect approach in my life in dealing with my current events. And the second possible option is acceptance.

Acceptance with an open mind.

If I accept whatever comes in my life gracefully with an open mind, that means I have no resistance. Absence of resistance gives me peace of mind. Peace is the nature of God. Through peace I become attuned to God. Peace is given to us as a gift from God. It flows like the pure waters of river Ganga in our life as a Grace of God. So if we accept and own up our past life and prior deeds with an open mind today, the doors to the Sweet Divine are made open!

Unexpected descent of Peace and Grace should be viewed as Divine intervention. Recognize that.

Divine intervention is a bigger and higher force than the force of our karmas, the law of cause and effect, reaping and sowing of energies in the Cosmic Universe.

Once we accept our life as it is and do not resist or rebel, we begin to comprehend the subtle, unknown spiritual laws of God operating in our Universe. We become peaceful. We are then empowered by a mightier force of the Almighty.

After submission, we accept the challenging life roles, tasks and duties, hardships, griefs and sorrows. We are also able to invoke superior, unseen, unearthed powers in us by which we can change, re-align and re-structure our future!

Let us re-create our destiny with our own wish, with acceptance through Divine intervention in the form of Peace and Grace!

Peace! Peace! Peace! to you, me and all!!

(To be continued)

 

# Shaligram stone        # Fossils have inert cosmic energy

# Acceptance with an open mind      # Acceptance with an open mind

# Divine intervention

# Laws of karmas            # Re-create your destiny with your own wish

 

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Creating your destiny

#15

Mandira, I hope you enjoyed reading some of my mails published in the previous posts which were written to some of my dear friends. It contained some interesting topics for you.

Let’s now move on with another fascinating and intriguing subject like destiny or fate.

We have at some point of time in our life wondered if there was any control over the events occurring in our lives. Where do they come from? Why some circumstances take place in our life and not in other’s? What should we do when we are faced with formidable life circumstances and how can one face their onslaught, if they are overwhelming?

This post was written by me lying in the bed when I was unwell and recovering from sickness a few weeks ago. I hope it will satisfy some of the commonly asked questions in the minds which we seek and wish to know on our long journey of our life.

The last few days have flown at a  dizzying speed. Everything was moving in the right direction for me. I was in a very good health, enjoying good and restful sleep, eating and exercising well. This showed on my face which was glowing and radiant. I was full of energy and bounce. My mental and emotional health was sound when one fine day I suddenly crashed and I fell ill. I got a fever and felt enervated. I was laid up in bed for two days and was recuperating.

Throughout the resting period, I was in communion with my inner self, talking to my Soul asking questions and receiving replies. Although I was cut off from the outside world, there was a lot of activity going on in my inner world. ‘Life goes on, work goes on, they never stop’ as they say I reflected on it. Life flows continuously like the flowing of the river waters and in our lives activity must go on because work is a form of worship, we worship God in this way too. During my confinement in bed, all these things stated in the following space came in my mind which gave me illumination and a slight  peep into the spiritual laws of karmas.

I realised that-

Our destiny or prarabdh is fixed because of our past deeds and released energies in the Cosmos.

Some circumstances will inevitably take place no matter what. Some of these are pleasant and happiness giving while others we wish to ignore or delete them out of our lives.

So how does one face the concurring circumstances? What should be our attitude towards the continuous inflow of not so pleasant, unpalatable and not so easy life situations?

It dawned on me that working out and living one’s destiny is sadhana and tapasya. Whichever karma comes our way, what so ever life circumstances we have to grapple with, should be accepted gracefully as Prasad of God, as Grace of God, as Kripa. This is wisdom.

Therefore, I meditated and contemplated on these enlightening thoughts for two days while recuperating thereby working out my karmas as well as recreating something wonderful and good for future by visualizing, recreating and re-structuring my future.

My future depends on today. What I create today, I get tomorrow!

Although I had very little energy, but these spiritual realizations which led to new wisdom and deeper understanding of karmic theory generated so much peace and tranquility and in the atmosphere around me that it could be compared to blissful moments of prolonged, deep meditation. I bathed in divine peace when….

It was during this time that I saw a big yantra, a geometrical figure with my inner eye. This is the same yantra which we had seen in the birthplace of Divine Mahavatar Babaji in an obscure village in Tamil Nadu. Attached below are a few pictures of Parangipettai or Porto Novo as it was earlier called.

In the centre of this yantra was a circle. Out of this place, I saw  a high level of energy, in the form of Light, which began to emit and flow towards me. It soon began to enter my body. I felt energized at that very moment and I could feel the distinctive creative powers entering in me. My whole body was completely energized and I felt recharged with subtle divine energies. I was immediately elevated and became very relaxed after this. The tingling creative vibrations entered my every pore thereby not only healing me but also bestowing on me a good amount of creative energy. I very much needed them because of my illness. I was pondering over the fact about how will I be able to write my next article and what should I write?

To create good literary work, one needs to ask God to grant you, shower on you divine creative powers and energy otherwise the work reflects ‘you’ and not the Highest Force.

Just after this interlude, in a divine vision, I saw many words descending like a water cascade from the upper space of the skies. They were falling and entering one by one in my brain like weightless white feathers that float in the atmosphere and fall on the ground very gently. As they were falling on me, a voice whispered, “From now onward, do not write very long articles. The following write ups are going to be shorter but full of power and energy.”

In the evening, I got much better and after having a hot cup of tea, I was inspired to blog. To know  the date, I saw the calendar and I found this saying on it-

“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the aeroplane takes off against the wind, not with it.”

Lesson learnt- So no matter how many times during our sadhana, we are met with innumerable hurdles because of inevitable play of our destiny or some other unknown forces in nature, we must not be afraid to face them. Prarabdh karmas are going to manifest till our last day, they must not deter us in our spiritual progress. We must not lose hope and feel disappointed and therefore not get tired. We must endure. We must go on relentlessly as this is the only way for the human being to overpower the powerful force of the effects of the karmas created by him/her before in the past. Along side,

We must think, wish and visualize positive pictures and images in our mind to create a pleasant and dynamic future.

Whatever is manifested in the physical world is first created in the mental world. All creations are born in the subtle domain first. In this way, we can recreate a better and brighter future of our choice and liking with the power of our will.

This is ‘Selection by Will.’ This is how destiny can be re-created consciously. Everything lies in our hands. We create and build our destiny by overcoming past karmas with submission and acceptance and at the same time creating new, better, refined karmas with positive attitude and creative visualization.

Om shanti, shanti, shanti Om.

 

( Also refer Using the creative powers of visualization)

# Prarabdh karma

# Our destiny or prarabdh is fixed because of our past deeds and released energies in the Cosmos

# Working out and living one’s destiny is sadhana and tapasya’; this is wisdom

# We must think, wish and visualize positive pictures and images in our mind to create a pleasant and dynamic future

# Whatever is manifested in the physical world is first created in the mental world

# All creations are born in the subtle domain first

# Selection by Will

# Destiny can be re-created consciously

# Parangipettai, the birth place of Mahavatar Babaji 

# Yantra, a geometrical figure

 

Revised on 09.05.21

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Kaleidoscope

#14

My dearest ___,

I read your reply several times and wish to say something more on that. I have read my mail to you over and over again and every visit is insightful. The paragraphs are loaded with serious thoughts and contain power and energy in them. There is much depth and practical wisdom in them. I will have to dive into the treasure trove myself and become richer in understanding and knowing. I too, am exploring its depth like any other reader. The more I read, the more I understand.

I have written straight from my heart what the divine message prompted me to say. Nevertheless, while writing to you, I consciously put the essence of my own experiences from the kaleidoscope of my life. That must have added to its impact and so you say that it is a very inspiring e-mail/ write-up.  Thanks a lot for your appreciation.

Remember kaleidoscope? One of my favourite toys of childhood then!

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As a child I had one such fascinating toy. It had pieces of broken glass bangles of green, red, blue, pink, purple colours. All I would do is close my one eye to focus and enjoy the many permutations and combinations those broken glass pieces would form to make varied geometrical designs and art formations and creations. What lovely designs and colours! What joy!

While writing this mail, I see and so I am  drawing a parallel between a kaleidoscope and life itself. Yesterday the subject of the mail was- ‘Using adversity to your advantage’. We can compare our life with a kaleidoscope very well. It is a good metaphor and makes it simpler and easy to understand the underlying principles of life.

We, as children had to turn the toy a little, and lo and behold what a lovely design! Turn it a little more and one got to see another vibrant design on the screen and so on. Now the same thing applies to our life journey.

We walk a patch of our life, there is a design of life-patterns. There is a specific design in our life at a particular junction. One must stop and admire the beauty in the design and pattern and enjoy life at that stage. After a gap of a few months or years, there is again a turn of events in our life and there is yet another design. Life changes constantly to present different hues, shades and colours. These experiences are necessary for the soul on which it feeds and re-invents itself! So welcome everything in life with an open mind, it will profit you.

Another similarity between the toy and our life….

The kaleidoscope has broken pieces of glass bangles in it, at least mine had those objects to create wonderful designs. Adversity can be compared with broken pieces of glasses of the kaleidoscope. If I focus my attention on the beautiful creations of the bangle pieces and not on the broken glass, then there is a complete shift in my outlook. A great sense of wonder and awe grips us if we still see life with the innocence of a child!

The centre of the focus makes the whole difference you see!

So the important thing to be noted and taken care of is where am I looking? What should I see? If my gaze is on the right object everything will fall in place, everything is right in my world. Similarly, it is not the life circumstances that are overwhelming, it is the attitude towards them that makes all the difference! That’s the catch!

If one has the ability and the skill to focus on the right object, then life turns around, it changes. A new meaning and objective is seen. Circumstances do not bog us down. The manner in which I look at my life circumstances makes the real difference.

Look at things the way it should be. Life seems and feels good and we have good reasons to live our lives meaningfully. Life seems to have a purpose then and one can enjoy the bumpy joy ride.

Clear perception, right attitude, clarity in thoughts and fine focus are the keys by which our inner world changes.

It is very important to develop and nurture these qualities in us and we ought to attempt and develop them along the journey. It is up to us whether we see the glass as half full or half empty!

I am aware that there is this power behind me which guides me, prompts me to write whatever I write. Therefore, I am very fortunate that Mahavatar Babaji had asked me to publish my mail, ‘Using Adversity…’  to you as a post on the blog. All of us face adversity at some time or the other in our lives. I will feel grateful to the Divine if a few more people read my mail and blog and get strength and courage to not only face life-challenges but also generate and have grit to overcome the tests and trials of life.

The real test is in overcoming and winning the circumstances thrown at you in life unexpectedly! We shall never succumb to any of these circumstances, we shall overcome.

Today, I have utilized my morning half by communicating my feelings and thoughts to you in an elaborate manner. Time well spent is well earned! Right?

Have a wonderful day, my dear.

With lots of love.

Sarika.

(22.04.2010. I have just begun learning photography these days. On a Sunday evening walk, I captured this image which I think is suitable for this post. Can you see the Sun in between the thorns of Bouginvillae? If you look at the sun, you will not see the thorns and vice versa)

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