We Should Obtain Knowledge

Meaning: According to the line of Athervaved 6/64/1 we can receive the message that we should obtain knowledge by our clean deeds which can be explain as — "It is every man's duty to obtain knowledge and live by mixing with others. May all be blessed with good culture? Just our ancestors have been carrying out their duties. Similarly, let us also carry out our duties completely."

Message: The activities of the life of a spiritual person are not based on filling the belly, producing children and desires like the ordinary men who are like animals, but his activities are bright and are inspired by idealism. A spiritual person knows the difference between the body and the soul and believes that the soul is the lord (or the controller) and the body is a means. The person who has clearly understood this aspect gives importance to the thought of the best ways of utilizing this invaluable human life for great projects like spiritual salvation and self-development, while ignoring bodily comforts, temptations for indulging the senses, false acclaim and pomp. If for fulfilling this objective there is a reduction of physical comforts and material wealth, he is not upset even for a moment, because he knows that the body is merely a means. If his privileges are snatched, the door for the upliftment of his soul is opened up. There is greater benefit and lesser harm in that.

A spiritual person follows the ideals of plain living and high thinking. It becomes possible to save the time and money spent in pomp and luxury and spends it for idealistic works of public welfare. The needs, worries, difficulties and troubles of a person are in proportion to his spendthrift and pompous life. The person who reduces his desire for showing off and living a life of great comforts compared to others, will find meaningless his own and his families useless expenditure and pomp. That is why divinity starts with frugality (i.e. spending minimum for only basic needs and for a very simple life).

When a man realizes the above, then he experiences joy only in mixing and living harmoniously with others. He understands others' happiness and sorrows as his own and finds his own happiness in the happiness of others, and sorrow in others' sorrow. His desire sharing his happiness with others and desire for reducing others' sorrow by sharing their troubles takes him to the high level of considering the 'world as a family' as enshrined in the snskrit saying "vasudhaiva kutumbakam". With the sentiments of sympathy, pity, helping others, love and oneness with others, there is an increase in mutual goodwill, affection and the feeling of equality and a heavenly atmosphere is created in the society.

Our rishis had fixed this very ideal for us, which is equally meaningful today. They were making use of their knowledge and intelligence only for societal welfare. Living in thatched cottages and leading very ordinary lives, they used to be busy in making the society happy and highly prosperous. What an excellent way of thinking! They loved to devote their entire lives busily in doing their duty.

We can be men of character only by putting into our personal conduct such excellent ideals of our ancestors.

Walking the Pathless Path

Sometimes a lesson has to be repeated for thousands of years, not because it was not learned the first time but because new people arrive on the scene. The lesson I am thinking of was Siddhartha's a prince on the Nepalese boarder of northern India. He dropped everything and hit the road, becoming the original or at least the most famous dharma bum. He traveled from seeking to master with his begging bowl, he became impressively austere. Instead of a loving wife, a warm bed, and feasts, he tried the opposite; solitude, sleeping by the wayside, and subsisting on whatever scraps of food he could beg for.

It's still an appealing choice, because we equate austerity with virtue. If the stress of a chaotic world is too much, perhaps harmony lies along a different, quieter, moral solitary road. But the moral of Siddhartha's tale led a different way. Leaving home didn't bring enlightenment, nor did austerity, poverty, starving his body, or trying to force his mind to be still. Instead, Siddhartha became someone entirely transformed - the Buddha - when he hit upon a new road, the one called "the pathless path".

The pathless path isn't a straight line; it doesn't even lead from point A to point B. The journey takes place entirely in consciousness. A mind overshadowed by fears, hopes, memories, past traumas, and old conditioning finds a way to become free. This sounds impossible at first. How the mind that is trapped and old conditioning can finds a way to become free. This sounds impossible at first. How can the mind that is trapped by pain also be the tool for freeing itself? How can a noisy mind find silence? How can peace emerge from discord?

The Buddha offered his answer, which is variant on an even more ancient answer from the seers or rishis of Vedic Indian transcend the personal mind and find universal mind. The personal mind is tied to the ego and the ego is forever swinging from pleasure to pain and back again. But If you look at awareness when there I s no pleasure or pain, when the mind is calm while simply existing, a fascinating journey begins. You have made the first step on the pathless path.

This is not to dismiss the other path, the one that takes you away from home into a retreat, ashram, meditation centre, or holy place. They have their own atmosphere; therefore, the mind can breathe a different kind of air, so to speak an air of tranquility and peace. When you arrive at such a place, two things usually happen. You soak up the peace, enjoying the contrast with your busy life at home. At the same time you notice how loud your mind, is how much chaos it has absorbed. So these holy places can only suggest what the pathless path is about.

Kabir sang of spiritual travelers: "There is nothing but water in the holy pools/ I know I have been swimming in them. All the gods sculpted of wood or ivory can't say a word. I know, I have been crying out to them. The sacred books of the east are nothing but words. I looked through their covers one day sideways: What Kabir talks of is only what he has lived through. If you have not lived through something, it is not true."

These lines don't deny the worth of spiritual journeying, but they tell us that there is no substitute for first-hand experience. Where you go to find it is irrelevant. The true seeker after truth discovers, sooner or later, that truth was seeking him all along.

Purified Heart

Meaning: According to the line of Athervaved 5/3/4 — "With a purified heart, and with proper thinking, go on resolving to do honest work. The only objective of human life is to give up bad deeds and to develop good qualities.

Message: Swami Vivekananda has written that, "My ideal, said in a few words is - the human race is to be informed about its divine form and to show men and method of its manifestation in every field of life".

Man is the best creation of God, the Supreme Father and is full of divine qualities. Without constant practice of trying to achieve closeness to God and without experiencing the presence of God during every moment of his existence, neither can one unfold his divine qualities nor is his spiritual development possible. For claiming his divinity is it enough for man to remember God in the morning and evening and forget him for the rest of the day? No, this is not proper. We get a little knowledge by listening to may discourses and advice and from inspiring books, on spiritual events. But after getting the little knowledge, very soon we stray from our objective. We lose again whatever we obtain. Just as the layer of algae covers the surface of water and even after shaking it up, once again it spreads over water's surface, similarly the various types of glamour and temptations all round us, keep us continuously surrounded, and overwhelm again and again whatever we have read and heard. Whenever we listen to spiritual discourses or read excellent books, their effect remains for a little while on us and then immediately starts vanishing.

No, progress of any kind is possible until we spiritualize our daily lives. We have confined God only to the worship-rood. We will have to bring Him our from there into our daily work. The condition of our mind is of one type when we are in the temple and the moment we come out of the temple it changes to a different one. Everywhere spiritual hardships have to be faced because of this dual attitude.

When we constantly experience God, our mind remains pure, and He gives us the capacity to fulfill any resolve that we make. Our mind which climbs the higher rungs of spiritual knowledge does not slip downwards through the outer world's temptations. Then any good thought and resolve approved by discretion, remains firmly planted in the mind and is not forgotten. We cannot benefit at all by mere talks and discussions on principles and philosophy or by false contacts with principles. We must keep our heart in close contact with God by maintaining its cleanliness and purity. In this way desire for gratifying the senses will not be born in our hearts and it will become easy to free ourselves from wicked deeds. With this daily practice only, can we achieve victory over our evil activities?

Mahyum yanjantaam mama yaanishtakutihi

satyaa manaso me astu

eno ma ni gaam katamachyanaahum

vishve devaa abhi rakshantu meha.

(Athervaved 5/3/4)

Man Filled With God's Power

Meaning: According to the line of Rigved 10/137/1, and Athervaved 4/13/1 — "Those saintly persons who uplift the downtrodden and liberate the criminals from sins, are great. Let us be near such great men and cleanse our lives by giving up our faults and wicked tendencies".

Message: It is the natural property of water to flow downwards; similarly it is also the natural propensity of human life to be wrapped up in bad tendencies. If water has to be raised to a higher level, then some special power in the form of a water-pump has to be employed. Similarly human life has to be uplifted forcefully, turning the body, the mind and the intelligence from the mundane to the spiritual. One has to be continuously at it with patience in such efforts. The entry of faults and wickedness, attack of bad thoughts and attraction to sinful acts under their influence is a common process in man's crime. Once in their grip, freedom from them is very difficult. The mind itself goes constantly ahead on the path of downfall under the artificial shine and glamorous spell of sinful acts.

No man becomes permanently fallen by committing bad deeds or a sinful act or crime once. There is no treason for disappointment; the path to progress does not get blocked up because if one path is make constant efforts for uplift with moral forbearance, and make fully sincere efforts for pulling and throwing out the faults and wicked tendencies and bad thoughts and bad culture overwhelming us.

After our moral downfall we become almost disappointed and wrongly believe that now our uplift is impossible and the bad influences that have entered us will go only with death. In fact, such negative thinking displays our ignorance only because it has no basis at all.

Man is neither morally fallen permanently, nor does he die forever, because there is rebirth after death. The all-powerful Almighty God has that power that He provides a new life after the end one life. Sometimes even in this life, he pulls man out of the jaws of death and grants him a new life. Man's should is nothing but a part of the Supreme Father. We too can save ourselves from 'death' in the form of repeated moral-downfalls and give us a new life. We get the capacity for this valorous act only from the strength of the soul. Great sinners and morally fallen individuals become virtuous men through God's grace and instances of Tulsidas, Valmiki and Angulimaal are before our eyes.

The saints, great soul, Gurus, and learned social servants who inspire people to tread the path of moral uplift, possess tremendous willpower and the tremendous power of God's grace. They uplift innumerable morality-fallen persons and even in the final moments of a very sinful man's life, turn him towards spirituality and various deeds. We should try to free us from our faults and wicked tendencies by taking the help of such men who are filled with God's power and achieve our life's objective.

Inception and the Subconscious

Hollywood director Christopher Nolan has stirred the creative world and enthralled fantasy-loving cine buffs by mixing the psychologists' old muse - dream reading - with a high-tech, special effects bonanza called Inception. He has understandably made some compromises with the plot car-chase, shoot-outs, killing et al - to keep the audience engaged while dealing with a complex subject and a mental game which could otherwise have easily gotten swallowed in psycho-technical mumbo-jumbo.

While western audiences marvel at this "James Bond meets Matrix" tale, very few are perhaps aware that Sri Aurobindo the renowned mystic and spiritual master, had spent considerable years through his integral Yoga, probing when he called the subconscient' human mind and came up with some interesting insights on universal consciousness s a whole.

Sri Aurobindo discovered, for example, that there are several realms of consciousness beyond the physical world we live in, and that these planes of consciousness are in fact the other worlds that are as real as we take our own world to be. When one sleeps, he said, the subconscient mind is freed from the shackles of the mind that operates in the physical world, traveling across those other worlds soaking in experiences, both good and bad, that are needed for further consciousness evolution of the individual in the dream state. Our skepticism or ignorance not withstanding, these "other worlds" not only coexist with our physical world but they also impinge on it in myriad ways.

According to Sri Aurobindo, these other worlds are stacked in a spiral of lower and higher levels of consciousness. We have good dreams or nightmares, depending on where our subconscient mind chooses to travel in the labyrinthine spiral, with each level having several sub-levels. Without our being aware, we draw upon these worlds for some of the vilest crudest or most noble and sublime ideas that eventually shape our known world. It isn't surprising therefore those for a Jesus who comes to redeem our world we are also visited by others who wish to subvert and destroy it.

Sri Aurobindo believed - through his own experience Yoga spanning over 40 years - that through regular practice one can raise one's consciousness to various higher levels until one reaches what he called the supra-mental level, the pinnacle of evolution. (He never took others' world for any kind of truth, and insisted on testing it through self-experience). Sri Aurobindo made another profound revelation that unlike what scientists tell us, man is not the pinnacle of Nature's evolutionary cycle. Human beings are transitional being. We will undergo transformation and reach our ultimate evolution level when we reach the highest plane of consciousness. However, we will have to delve deep into our subconscient mind and begin rising through the spiral consciousness to reach the pinnacle.

Sri Eurobond's spiritual Endeavour was not, however, aimed at his own personal salvation. He wanted to share his experience with others and inspire them to follow this path so that would lead to a spiritual revolution in us and usher in lasting peace. He didn't accept the old spiritual belief that one could reach monksha only if one quite this so-called wretched world and ascend to a heaven above. "It is here on this earth that we can create heaven and find release in our own lifetime". He said.

Glory of Our Culture

Meaning: According to the line of Rigved 2/19/7 — ”Those who do not speak improper words, do not accept what is bad, worship excellence and pluck out and drive away untruthful elements, and whose knowledge is satvik they only can be called 'Aapta Purush' (trustworthy person)."

Message: This world is peopled by various types of persons. Some of them have faith only in materialism in life. They pay no attention at all to life's ultimate objective and therefore no conflict occurs in their minds. Unless they experience inner conflict within them, there can be no hope for them. The

'Atma' i.e. the soul wishes to meet the Ultimate i.e. God, but our body is created in such a manner that our downfall starts by merely the attraction of whatever thing our senses come into contact. Nepalese culture is in itself the art of keeping the senses under control.

What is culture? Refinement, removal of dirty material and research within is called culture. Fields are cleaned by removing the unwanted weeds, and then seeds are sowed in it. After that fertilizer is added in the right measure, similarly followed by regular proper watering for nourishment. In the same manner improper thing such as faults and wicked tendencies are removed from man's life and good qualities established in their place. The basis of our culture is nothing but the eradication of bad, wicked tendencies and establishment of good qualities. We should always pay attention not to allow bad tendencies, bad thoughts and sorrowful elements to remain in our lives and always adopt good philosophies, good thoughts and good qualities. This is a continuous, ongoing process and this process must be carried on throughout the life. With the slightest negligence, bad thinking and bad tendencies will once again get a chance to influence us. When this culture becomes a part of our nature, then it becomes automatically as natural as our daily routine, bad thoughts go on diminishing, only good qualities continuously fill the gap and only then human life starts going towards divinity.

Only those persons who obtain this type of knowledge, discard mean viewpoints, resolve to a life of high ideals, they only are called knowledgeable, learned and 'Aapta Purush'. Because of their control over senses, they exercise control over the mind, speech and deed or action, and their own soul restrains them from committing any improper deed. They are quiet, sober, patient and soft-spoken. Such an excellent man by his conduct also develops only divine feelings in the society. In place of mean and rajasik tendencies (i.e. trying to live a life of luxury) he spreads the fragrance of saatvik tendencies (i.e. moral simplicity and moral goodness). With their saatvik knowledge their every deed becomes a symbol of good conduct and others' welfare. They become deserving of reputation and praise and create heavenly atmosphere.

The glory of our culture lies in plucking out bad tendencies from our lives and throwing them out.

Divine and Personal

A person doesn't have life unless he has a personal relationship with God. I am talking bout life that is filled with divine consciousness, and its accompanying joy of living, the joy of the Self Within.

I remember once traveling in a subway in New York, and watching people around me as they started unthinkingly into space, and then picked up their lives again when they reached their destination. How many people's entire existence is like that, as though spent waiting for something to happen. Is this living? Until you have at least something of God awareness, you don't really have life.

The spiritual path is like climbing a mountain, moving upwards for a time, and then descending into a depression, then upward to fresh heights. In our relationship with God, we rise consciously towards Him for a time and then suddenly discover things coming from the subconscious that pull us down - hopefully, temporarily. When this happens, we find ourselves needing to work at getting back. It may seem to us that we've gone backwards. But if were trying steadfastly and sincerely, this very dip of consciousness is part of the overall climb towards Him.

In this divine relationship, you find your inner joy ever increasing. The higher you climb up the mountain of spiritual attainment, the more you feel an underlying current of happiness in everything you do. You feel guided in everything. You find that you have only to ask; and suddenly, you know the answer.

When people ask me questions, and I try to answer them out of my anxiety to help them, I often come up with no answer at all. But then I remember: I'm not the one who has the answers. I then pray. "You tell me what to say". Then, almost always, the answer comes to me immediately.

The more we feel God's presence, the more we find Him playing an active part in our lives. Things that we need are there when we need them. Right opportunities seem to materialize almost as if by magic. Inwardly, we feel an ever-increasing sense of security, happiness, love and joy, until joy itself begins to pervade everything we do.

In addition to prayer and meditation, cultivating a personal relationship with God involves your attitude towards your work, and towards others. It's here that descent into touch with the joy with it is mostly because they have allowed ego to intrude. Real spiritual work takes place inside, in the realm of consciousness. The outward work that you do is secondary. Offer whatever you do to God; to try to serve Him in others - not thinking with you want from Him in return, or what others want from you, but rather what God wants from you.

The essence of spirituality is impersonality - not coldness or indifference, but absence of ego-motivation. Cultivate a direct relationship with God. Not to ask oneself, "What would God think? But what do you think"? This practice brings your thoughts to Him directly, instead of in a roundabout manner. In everything you do, hold the though that He is there, listening to you, guiding you. Share directly with Him everything that you do. This has been called "practicing the presence of God". The more you continue this practice, the more it will become natural for you, and the most rewarding thing you can do in life. And you'll see, gradually, that is really very simple.

Dharmatma Remain Quite

Meaning: In this world dharmatma remain quite. Those who do not harass anyone, they attain happiness by becoming free from fear, by becoming yogis, enlightened, in control of their senses and free from mental agitations. But sinful men, because of their harshness, by putting fear into others, becomes filled with fear, and becomes sorrowful and dejected by foolishly becoming slaves or their senses, and therefore go on wandering into innumerable species of life.

Message: All of us know that bliss is possible only by leading a pure life with truthful conduct. We are also able to hear this emotional advice of our conscience and also understand it, but this voice is drowned in the attractive glamour and clamor of the material world. Those who make constant efforts to listen to this voice, get a momentary glimpse of this inner truth. This happens only when - even for a few moments - the loud noise of the external world is subdued and we do not allow the attraction of the outer world to prevail over us. During such moments we experience that the abundant wealth of the soul is waiting for us and without any reason we are collecting false, deceptive coins (i.e. sins) by wandering without reason in the jungle of bad thoughts, bad culture and temptations. But the irony is that these deceptive coins of the external, material world create so much attachment in man, that he does not even make an attempt to look towards his soul.

Those men who are sober, possess discretion and decide on what is proper and improper, they think "enough of all this material attraction and wandering in the dark. Now let me be serious and obtain that spiritual wealth which is within me (Pt. Sriram Sharma Acharya)." Only with this attitude does man achieve immorality, permanent peace and happiness. That is why when man becomes serious in this thinking and attitude, and then by trying to detach himself from the attractions of the external world, he becomes busy in introspection and self-analysis. He understands that only with the help of discretion one can achieve success in understanding one's real form. Only as a result of discretion we get the knowledge of the ultimate truth. "I (the soul) am Godlike and only the soul is permanent."

We find that in this world most people have a violent nature and threaten and terrorize others. They themselves roam in the darkness of ignorance. Highly unstable, impatient, slaves of their senses, suffering from the punishment for their deeds, they suffer various hardships. But those whose discretionary thinking is aroused, their thinking also becomes pure, conduct becomes restrained and within limits too. Taking interest in religion, they peacefully remain busy in works of public-welfare. They have the knowledge of what is truth and what is untruth; they are patient, sober, in control of their senses, possess good conduct and continuously enjoy heavenly bliss.

Eradication of wicked mental tendencies is possible only by introspection of observation of the self and we must make all the efforts to pull them out by roots and throw them away.

Company with Learned Person

Meaning: According to the line of Rigved 1/89/8, Yajurved 25/21 and Samved 1874 — "In the company of learned men; let us hear beautiful words, see the truth and worship of God, so that our longevity may increase. Let us not speak untruth, nor hear words of false praise, nor see what is bad and let us keep away from adultery."

Message: Why has God made this human body? He has created it for the purpose that we obtain longevity by conducting ourselves like deities. Brahma has decided in advance the life-spam of every creature. Man has been usually granted a life of one hundred years. It is in man's hands to fill his life with happiness and prosperity and by divine conduct, increase his life's spam to over a hundred years or getting trapped in wicked actions, and destroy his life by physical and mental diseases. Of course it is a different story if man's life ends through divine intervention or natural calamities.

Man's body has a natural tendency to be attracted towards bad tendencies, bad conduct and bad activities. Wicked thoughts and similar culture snare a man into their net because of their glamour. Various attractive and intoxicating temptations cheat our physical senses and our control over these senses is lost. Uncontrolled senses cross their natural and required limits and become so willful and lusting after gratification that they create trouble for health and religious conduct.

Control over the senses opens the door to heavenly bliss. That itself is the real worship of God and with that only there is happiness, peace and joy. With unrestrained senses, restlessness and darkness prevails everywhere and man lives in a state of hell-like atmosphere. Every moment of his life, man must give priority to self-restraint and denial to gratification of the senses. Let us use our ears in hearing always good and cultured subjects, and accept only those thoughts which are benevolent, and beneficial to all. With our eyes also, let us see only good things, let us not see what is improper. Let us avoid our total destruction by avoiding looking at obscene, lust-exciting scenes and thinking over such scenes. Let our hands, legs and all the parts of the body do only good deeds in service to others. Merely for our own selfishness, let us not do any improper work on behalf of others. Let us not cause pain to any form of life.

This does not mean that we crush the sensitivity of our senses; it only means that we make their proper and restrained use, resulting in health and strength to the limbs and the organs so that the body becomes energetic, dynamic and lustrous. In this way man becomes long-lived while performing deeds of service to the society.

The mental attitudes given to us by the Supreme Father are all very important and useful. We will be able to lead a happy and peaceful life only by their proper use.

May God grant us the proper to keep our senses under control?

Bhadrum karnobhihi shrunuyaam devaa

bhadrum pashyemaakshabhiryajatraahaa

Sthirairange stushtuvaa ngum

sastanubhirvyashemahi

devahitum hadaayhu. (Rigved 1/89/8, Yajurved 25/21 and Samved 1874)

Simplicity of Life

Meaning: After analyzing what is good and what is bed in this world, let us accept only that which is good. This is the only solution for liberation from sorrow and painful problems.

Message: The only objective of Nepalese way of life, of Nepalese literature (on philosophy and religion) and Nepalese learning is to illuminate the entire path of man's life by lighting the flame of illuminate knowledge within the heart. In this it is expected that with the dawn of knowledge in man's mind, all his deeds must be in accordance with it. The only aspiration of Nepalese culture is that we absorb and imbibe the knowledge - which manifests every moment of our life, whether it is from a blade of grass or the vibration of an insect - and then turn it into a wise deed. Here, the knowledge is not understood to be merely imprisoned in books or confined within temple and hermitages, separate form a man's life. The essence of Nepalese philosophy is gyaanamaya karma, karma Maya Gyana, i.e. 'knowledgeable deed and knowledge in action'.

The Nepalese Vedic knowledge is not merely the deduction of principles to be confined to books only for the pleasure of reading, but it is for putting into action in action in one's conduct and therefore proves useful in every aspect of life. As a result both the material and the spiritual life benefit form this gyaanamaya karma, or knowledgeable deed. Only 'karma' or deed is the character of life, and inaction is the characteristic of the deed. Therefore, an ignorant, foolish and lazy man is inactive and 'deed' although alive.

A knowledgeable man possesses a peaceful and balanced attitude, does not get angry, or irritated. He does not cry and goes on doing his work peacefully and wisely. A knowledgeable man discovers new paths and follows them because he has not kept blindfolds on his eyes and because he hates narrow-thinking. He considers all deeds, which benefit every creature, pure and therefore he measures every deed by the broad outlook of 'aatmavat sarvabhooteshu' i.e. all living creatures contain the soul similar to his. He has equal love for all living creatures and therefore a wise, knowledgeable man deals lovingly with all.

It is necessary to have a harmony between 'gyan' i.e. knowledge and 'karma' i.e. deed. Fro that one must work with firm resolve and stick to the daily routine specially laid down for all of us from early morning till night. We have to create the nature of accepting the good and discarding the bad on the basis of the knowledge of considering the merits and demerits of everything. We have to refine ourselves by insisting on examining even the petty aspects and then only accepting them. Only then the knowledge within our hearts is expressed in our deeds, the brightness of great philosophy and divinity is seen in the life and faults and wicked tendencies dare not come near.

Nectarine peace is showered on our life only with a harmonious blending of knowledge and deeds. Beneficent or harmful aspect has to be decided after deep thinking with discretion about what is moral or immoral, truth or untruth and proper or improper, and after that the decision has to be firmly implemented in our conduct.

Simplicity of life lies in this only and it makes men peace and happiness.

The Spirit of Ramzan

Fasting during the month of Ramzan not only serves as annual training for body and soul - which helps in renewal of life and encourages the spirit of sharing and giving - but also contains all possible attributes which can promote spirituality and human excellence.

The first wisdom to be gained in fasting is taqwa or self-restraint. The Quran states -"O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you that you may (learn) self-restraint" (2:183)

It becomes evident to those who sincerely observe fast that fasting instills the essence of consciousness of the Creator in the courage and guides the seat of our emotions on moral issues. Since fasting helps in conditioning the heart soul and body, it simply leads to tranquility and calmness in the face of adversity. This helps one become patient. Patience is the pinnacle of discipline and spiritual suppleness. Jalaluddin Rumi said: 'Have patience, for that is true worship'.

We acquire habits. Some of these are good habits and some are bad. Take smoking, for instance. It is difficult to kick the habit. But during Ramzan, the roza helps control the urge to smoke. Fasting provides the observer an opportunity in helping control the urge to smoke. Fasting provides the observer an opportunity in helping control or changes fasting. I was a chain-smoker 12 years ago and it was fasting that created in me the necessary level of determination, enabling me to kick the habit forever.

The Ramzan fasting is a sentinel against common prevalent diseases such as obesity and blood pressure, provided the person fasting follows the strict dietary rule; eat during fast-breaking time and avoid overeating. God states…. "Eat and drink, but waste not by excess, for Allah loves not wasters". (Qurn7:31). My blood pressure levels remain absolutely normal during the month of fasting.

Sociologically speaking fasting is an expression of solidarity with the poor by giving generously, with family, friends and society by bonding, praying, fasting and eating together. During Ramzan the family eats together twice a day for a month.

Tajuddin B shu'aib in Essentials of Ramadan, The Fasting Month summarizes the essence of fasting as a tool for reconstruction of our spiritual faculties: "Fasting is a unique form of worship prescribed as part of an over all system of Islam. Its uniqueness mirrors the uniqueness of the human being…. a creature of physical and spiritual parts whose excellence depends on the right proportion of these two parts. Too much of the physical material will ruin man, and too much of the spiritual will too. Fasting orients the observer to the art of balancing the spiritual essentials with physical needs, a vivid proof that there is in all of us the willpower, a pivotal element that controls our actions. This will be needed to help us curb the animalistic tendencies originating from the stomach, in full. It makes us forget about our beginning it awakens the mind and kindles clear thinking and consciousness of Allah. Fasting is the sobering of a mind and reconstruction of our spiritual faculties." I pray that our spiritual faculties get awakened during this month of fasting and we are able to balance the spiritual essentials with our physical needs.

"Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship". (Gautama Buddha)

The sovereign invigorator of the body is exercise, and of all the exercises walking is the best. (Thomas Jefferson)

Health is the condition of wisdom, and the sign is cheerfulness - an open and novle temper (Ralph W Emerson)

Unfolding Of a Raga

The unfolding of the raga's swaras or notes has often been referred to as the unfolding of the 'note' petals of a mystic flower. Which was in fact the layout of musical notes during the days of the Sama Veda?

When the Sama Veda was first composed, it was not sung, but chanted, in what are now the first three notes of the scale: Sa, Re, and Ga. According to the Naradya Shiksha, at some point, to these three notes were then added a fourth fifth, sixth and then a seventh note, to get a complete scale, the three note-petals on either side of the Sa or mystic kernel of the flower. By which the note scheme now consisted of Ma, Ga, Re, Sa, Ni, Dha, Pa - set clockwise, or in the descending order. It was a truly meditative approach.

No matter, how blissful the music then sounded, it was not felt to be very audible, as it could not be heard beyond a point. As more and ore people began to come and listen, musicians looked for ways and means to make the music louder. So one day certain higher-pitched notes were conceived to expand Sa's range further to become more audible, notes Re, Ga, Ma, in higher pitches in the same middle register, and giving them names.

The new string of notes came to be called the saptak or the new seven-note scale, which could be heard loud and clear. However, the scale was so mesmering due to its higher pitch that the notes in the lower register came to be neglected. It was thought that the middle register was the real scale, instead of that which was earlier part of the natural swara-circumference of Sa, which had been the same on either side of the note. Instead of being the gateway to meditation, the Sa became a note only, and the scale came to be treated in linear fashion, instead of what it actually was - a clockwise, cyclic expansion of the Sa.

With the 20th century came the microphone that helped musicians project their music naturally rather than by compulsions of having to shout the notes to have them heard. There was a return - another shift in emphasis - to the natural dictates of the scale of ancient times, a scale that emanated from Sa rather than beginning form Sa.

Ustad Amir Khan would say that the microphone was the most liberating piece of 'musicology' ever invented. Pandit Amaranth declared at a concert in New York, "you need to learn only half the Hindustani raga" - the rest (the second half of the saptak or seven notes) was a repetition. Like the 'loading' sign on the computer before it opens a track to be seen and heard, the Sa was now meditated upon much more than the saptak had ever allowed for earlier. It had returned to its ancient roots. The raga was once again being unfolded petal by petal, swara by swara, to reveal the honey-centure of its mystic flower - which was more in the nature of meditation than singing the saptak, which tended towards linear phraseologies. This was now like Isaac Newton's psychophysical color circle, with its centre of gravity the color white, and its range of seven colors on all sides, the paralleled the seven notes of the scale.

Underlining the new approach. pandit Amaranth wrote in a composition for the raga Vibhas; Bhavana tapas gulab si /Ur kantak bhar / Jagat lubhavana, / Kar sadhana, bharyatana. "O musician in sadhana, be the spirit of the mendicant rose, who with thrones under its throat, brings joy to the world with his bloom".

We have to Accept Moral Good Advice

Meaning: According to the line of Athervaved 10/1/13 — "Man should not delay in accepting morally good advice and should very quickly give up bad deeds."

Message: Some people think that they will never be able to make any progress in spiritual life because they are born with bad tendencies and their life will end in failure only. This way of thinking is completely wrong. We should remove the influence of this thinking by positive thoughts. Just as aw gust of wind lifts up dust particles and also pushes clouds over long distances, similarly by the whirlwind of good thoughts, bad thoughts in the mind must be driven away.

Within every man divine and demoniac tendencies exist and their battle is going on constantly within man's mind. For obtaining petty benefits and in the pursuit of pampering our physical desires, we ourselves strengthen our demoniac tendencies and thereby suppress divine emotions. We must repeatedly think about the divinity within us and go on trying to make it stronger. We must think that purity is our birthright. Man ultimately becomes what he thinks.

It is easy to be born a human being, but man achieves humanness only by strong efforts. We also will require constantly exerting very hard and being constantly alert to make our life pure and cultured. Even the smallest habit becomes a part of our nature as time goes on, and then we have to suffer heavy loss. It is our duty to save ourselves from such harmful excitements.

Our mind is highly mobile. It cannot be trusted even for a moment. Sometimes a bad habit in a subtle way comes in the form of quality, helpfulness and friendship, infatuates us and clouds our mind. If we do not remain alert, then the sentiment of attachment is born, which suppresses the original sentiment of helpfulness and friendship and inspires the person towards greed and selfishness.

For real spiritual life, the requirement is of maximum self-restraint and purity, and one has to pay its price since there is no question of any deal about it. While discharging our deeds of daily life, we have to adopt self-restraint, and only with it is real self-development possible. Many a time we think that if we maintain restraint and purity in mind, in our speech and in our deeds, we will be deprived of much material happiness and therefore we must enjoy in the material world. We are forgetting that real joy is not in unrestrained life but in leading a life of restraint. Man's liking increases in self-restraint through the self-study of morally good books, the company of saintly persons and the advice of learned persons. We should always keep our eyes and ears open and adopt good qualities.

It is possible to give up wicked activity only through self-restraint.

Yatha vaatashchyaavayati bhoomya

renumantarikshaachaabhrum

eva mata sarvam durbhootum

brahmanuttamapaayati (Athervaved 10/1/13)

The Ultimate Victory is Truth and Virtue

Meaning: According to the Athervaved 4/19/6 — "Even thought wicked deeds may be small or big, in the end they destroy the doer and only he has to bear the punishment also.

Message: People resort to untruth as a result of perversities resulting from ignorance, distorted thinking, lack of faith, physical desires, greed, hurry, highly mobile mind etc. There is a tale about spiritual seeker. He cane across an angel and the devil at the same time. The dress of the angel was very ordinary whereas the dress of the devil was very flashy and he was walking in style. The seeker ignored the angel and looking at the arrogance of the devil, surrendered to him. Unfortunately, today we see the same thing in the world everywhere. People are turning their backs to the truth and embracing the untruth. Ridiculing the reality, the people are praising absurd conduct. Today most people have become devoid of intelligence, and people are hanging on to all type of evil deeds.

To call a liar a liar and truthful person requires knowledge patience and self confidence. Where falsehood prevails, the entire structure collapses. Even though initially one may get immediate benefits with lowly and immoral deeds, but because of their bad effort, hatred and derision invariably result and also loss of name and fame.

One sees only all this everywhere in the world today, as if sinful deeds and wicked conduct is the barometer of today's social reality. Only those indulging in every type of wicked conduct are seen to prosper and those maintaining truthful conduct are becoming victims of ridicule, avoidance and punishment. Even their day-to-day living has become difficult. But the reality is that God allows the increase of sins in His creation to a certain extent till the moment is ripe, because then only their destruction is possible. The tree of bad deeds expands quite a lot, but in the end it gets uprooted and falls. Sins are born on this earth, are nurtured in men's minds and very quickly spread over the entire world. It takes a very long time for good thoughts to spread and people also find it very difficult to imbibe them in their conduct. But the speed of the spread of bad deeds is very fast and people are get trapped very quickly in their glamour. Non-religious conduct, darkness and ignorance, gaining from strength, spread in all directions. The darkness of sinful acts becomes so thick that it overwhelms the divine brightness of even divine men and great devotes of God.

At that time only the rare individuals remember the infallibility of divine rules and do not lose even an iota of patience. They understand that sins have increased to the extent required and now the time for their destruction has arrived. The edifice of sins crumbles down under its own weight, and takes the sinner also along with into the dust.

The ultimate victory is of truth and virtue only.

SMS for the Birds

There are psychological moments in life and an insight received in such a moment can change our perspective and transform the quality of life for better, and enrich it.

It was peak summer time. As is and was my wont the first thing I do after rising early in the morning is check my mobile inbox for messages that friends send me, particularly through the night.

There it was, this innocuously simple message which went: "Do you know several thousand birds die each summer for want of water. So, put a water pot in your balcony, terrace or window still. Forward this message to your friends as well."

The sheer simplicity and exhortation of the message subliminally settled in my mind, and set me thinking, of birds and nature. The sight of earthen water pots hung in Hessian baskets, or perched atop balconies swam before my eyes for a moment. Having absorbed the pregnant purport of the message the first thing I did was forward the message, as required, to my benevolent friends. I read this message to my dear wife and children as well.

After handling a few, I could lay my eager hand on not one, but two; one of which I told myself, I would use for bird feed for the added measure, and the other for water as planned.

As I walked back home I stopped briefly to buy some bird feed.

I put out a handful of barley bird feed in to the new earthen pot and poured to the brim water in the other and put both the pots on a particularly wide window still overlooking an abundant tree. Happy at the thought of having been inspired by the message to do a simple good turn, I progressed through my routine, and at dusk returned to check how the birds liked to respond to my gesture.

To my delight, I found the water-filled pot half empty and grains of barley strewn around the pot, testimony that birds had been packing here.

Next morning I replenished the supply with renewed interest and continued the routine for a few days. After which I found to my dismay that the barley bird feed would be left untouched. Perhaps the bird had enough. Don't we get bored of the same fare if given the same thing for days?

For a change, I bought some jowar grains, bigger and easier for birds to pick, I thought. At the end of each summer day, I noticed the replaced bird feed polished off by birds. The sight of the empty bird feed pot because of an SMS. Save my soul, I thought. Yes - that was what it was.

Trees and birds are just part of the big picture of nature which we share with them. We are all interconnected and interdependent. Fed on water and bird feed, the content little birdies have taught me a valuable lesson in the virtues of charity which begins at home, in your heart that has immense potential to save not just the individual soul but that of others as well.

Purify of Soul and Mind

Meaning: According to the line of Samved 353 — "We should purify our soul and mind by accepting good advice of learned men. Our faults and wicked tendencies can be destroys in this way only."

Message: Almost all of us firmly believe that, "I am a body and nothing but the body only/" Because of this believe we are more and more engaged in trying to fulfill our body's desires and in the pursuit of temptations for indulging the senses. In contrast to this, the sages, monks, saints and the learned ones say that after achieving the ultimate knowledge, our thought should be, "I am neither the body, nor the mind, nor the senses. I am sachchidananda (i.e. pure bliss) shuddha chaitanya atma (i.e. pure sparking soul). When the thoughts become so ripe, all round there is cheer, joy and bliss, and sorrow and pain completely disappear.

But for men in this world, it is not possible simply to meditate on the soul, forget the body and suppress the senses. If everyone starts doing this, then life will be difficult. Should only a few persons observe this ideal and the rest lead a hell-like life? No, there is a middle path also and that is to think that, "I am this body and also soul both. Along with the body, we must always remember that a part of the Supreme is always within us as the soul. That soul continuously observes every deed of our body and every thought arising in the mind. This knowledge of the soul is like a control and keeps saving us from bad tendencies and bad deeds.

What a vast difference - whereas an ignorant man, forgetting his soul, is immersed in every type of sinful activity by considering only the bad thinking and the pursuit of wicked culture as his basic aim of life, on the other hand, the man fulfilled with self-knowledge adopts only good thoughts and good moral culture, himself becomes excellent and also takes the society on the path of uplift. The soul of such a man is pure, and his mind becomes clean and pure by becoming free form wicked tendencies. Although he uses the means of the material world in his daily life, he uses them only for minimum requirements with the sentiment of ''tyaktena bhunjitha" - i.e. use with the spirit of self-denial and keep the remaining for others in the world. Such men also use their senses with restraint and therefore, although living in the material world, thy enjoy heavenly bliss.

This type of knowledge is obtained through the advice of learned men, study of good books on religion, morality and spiritualism, and contemplation of the Veda-mantras. With the viewpoint of "I am the soul", life becomes enlightened, wicked tendencies automatically disappear and their place is increasingly filled by good qualities.

This is an excellent means for achieving life's objective.

Aa no vayo vayaha shayum

mahaantum gahyereshihaamugrum

vacho apaavadhihi. (Samved 353)

Prophet Said Be Realistic

When the prophet of Islam started his mission in Mecca, during the first 13 years he had to face severe opposition from leaders of the Quraysh tribe who ruled Mecca. To counter the atrocities committed by the Quraysh, Umar Farooq, the prophet's companion, sought permission for an armed conflict with the Quraysh. But the prophet was not in favor of confrontation. Conflict, he realized, would have been counterproductive in this case. The prophet's Mecca strategy was based on realism is an essential par of the teachings of Islam.

There are two ways of dealing with a problem. One is planned action after due consideration. The other is impulsive action driven by emotion, without a thought for possible consequences. The prophet followed the first; he avoided confronting those hostels to him and migrated from Mecca to Medina.

While in Medina, the prophet dreamt that he and his companions were performing Umra in Mecca. Prophet Muhammad and his followers set out on a peaceful journey to Mecca. When they reached Hudaibiyyah near Mecca. The Quraysh stopped them. All this point, the prophet started negotiations for peace with the Meccans. The Hudaibiyyah pact, a 10 years no-war pact, was signed between Muhammad and the people of Mecca. One clause laid down was that the prophet would not enter Mecca. He had to return to Medina from Hudaibiyyah. The conditions he'd agreed to were disadvantageous to Prophet Muhammad and his companions, but he realized the importance of a treaty that guaranteed peace in the region for a decade, and enable him to teach Islam unhindered.

A non-confrontationist approach was preferred. The prophet was a stronger believer of status quo- not just accepting a situation passively but taking action of an exalted nature. Controversies are sorted out. At this stage, the unwise think that if they surrender their prestige will suffer. However, a wise person refrains from entering into any further conflict, as that only results in greater losses. With an unemotional approach and reasonable thinking both sides can move away from the point of conflict and find ways to resolve the issue. The prophet did exactly that. He removed away from the area of conflict and diverted his energies to the peaceful propagation of Islam.

The prophet firmly believed that one should not react impulsively to a problem. It's better to find a way our using the opportunities available. Even if one has to accept all the conditions of the opponent, to begin with it might be pragmatic to do so.

After sorting out controversial issues, one can strengthen oneself to the point where the equation of power changes and the issue gets resolved without any conflict. This is what the prophet did a t Hudaibiyyah.

After he returned to Medina, two years later, as a result of his preaching, there was an enormous increase in the number of his companions. And when the Meccans violated the pact, the prophet marched with his companions peacefully towards Mecca. The peace treaty gave the prophet the opportunity to strengthen himself. Seeing the increased number of his followers, the Meccans embraced Islam without any bloodshed.

It's in nature's scheme of things that where there are problems, there are also opportunities. Success can be attained simply by availing of those opportunities. But people generally get entangled in problems thinking that unless hurdles are first removed, the journey ahead cannot be undertaken.

Keeping Good as Our Witness

Meaning: According to the line of Ribved 7/89/3 — "Keeping God as our Witness, let us accept our faults, wicked tendencies and wicked deeds so that we may not be lax in eliminating them. Our only prayers to God should be, 'O God! Drive away our wickedness"

Message: We sleep daily for 6-7 hours, which means that we remain awake for 17-18 hours daily. Innumerable thoughts arise within us throughout the day, and we talk quite a lot and also carry out the prescribed work. Let us take any one exclusive day and think over what all we thought, spoke and did. If we analyze, look within ourselves and do a little close observation, we will come to know how much unnecessary talk was made and how many abusive words and bad thoughts came in our minds. Then we will realize that most of the speech and thoughts were wicked, foolish and faulty. With only one day's self-analysis our attitude will be, "I was immersed in so many wicked thoughts and bad deeds and unnecessarily lost one day of my invaluable life." To save ourselves from such wasteful mental attitude we must obtain the help of God, and every day, every moment we must trust in God.

If we understand God as our friend, companion and well-wisher by believing in His omnipresence, then we will not feel shy about finding out our faults and accepting them. HE knows everything, sees everything, and then why hesitates before Him? At that time one does not feel ashamed to admit," How foolish I am that although I know and understand, even then I am not doing my expected duty, but doing the opposite. I know that I must not do this, but am still doing it. I am not able to fulfill any good or auspicious resolve, because mentally I become very weak. Some good thoughts arise to my mind, but because of the fear of people's ridicule, I am not able to even start any action on them. I also understand what I am expected to do. He tells me that I am going on the wrong path but I am so weak that I continue walking on the opposite path".

When such feeling becomes profound, then the spiritual strength of giving up the faults and wicked tendencies is achieved. In identifying one's own mistakes, accepting them and hating oneself for them, one gets that drive inspiration which liberates us from the wretchedness, incapacity, weakness and lack of mental brightness. Then that all knowing, auspicious and powerful God fills us with His brightness. By taking shelter under Him, by confessing sincerely one's bad tendencies and actions before Him, and resolving not to repeat them in future, that just pitiful God forgives us. Then He changes this life which earlier experienced failure at every step, and makes it complete with peace and happiness. Our bad habits leave us, bad thoughts and bad culture start running away and our life becomes meaningful.

The easiest way of eradicating our mistakes is to confess them.

good path by giving up bad habits.

Meaning: According to the line of Athervaved 2/11/1 — "All deeds, good or bad are done by man only. Mental weakness is a symbol of man's ignorance. Willpower must be achieved for obtaining excellence. This is possible only when man goes towards the good path by giving up bad habits."

Message: The mind rushes towards material subjects with great intensity, but it is extremely necessary to pull it back from there. Once it is stopped, it becomes quiet and pure. As long as it is possible to runs the mind back from the external (material) world, the mind will not run after sensory subjects. When the mind will completely withdraw from the external world, only then will we be able to achieve the ultimate objective.

Is it really possible to withdraw the mind from the external world? The common man has to live in the material world only, then how can it be possible to be completely separate from it? There lies the difference between the common man and the 'gyani' or the wise, knowledgeable man. Although the knowledgeable man carries out his duties in the material world, he does not get trapped in its temptations, but the common man despite making efforts is not able to free himself from them. Here, there everywhere he lives in the jungle of sensory, mental objects. There is no end to the existence of material world for man, so what is the meaning of 'withdrawing form the external world'? Its meaning is that we should discard our ignorance and become a 'tyagi'. A wise, knowledgeable man has a spiritual viewpoint. Even though he lives in the material world capable of influencing his mind in numerous ways, he destroys the attack of temptations by his power of discretion.

We must pay careful attention to our senses and guide them in every way. Innumerable dirty activities already exist within our minds; we must destroy them and also replace the dirty activities with good activities. We must accept only the good habits from the external world. Most people usually think that they do not have good habits and that their mind is adopting only dirty activities. But this thinking of theirs is completely meaningless and is a sign of their ignorance and weakness. The man usually commits mistakes and he himself has the power by which he can eliminate them. God has given limitless power to man to free himself from bad habits. If he really wishes to free himself from personal wickedness and addictions, and make efforts then nothing is impossible for him.

It is true that habit is our second nature, but there is an even bigger truth which can make it ineffective. If habit is our second nature, then we must be having some first or original nature. Basically we are all of a divine nature. If we are adopting only unclean thoughts because of the body's desires, then it is also the truth that by nature we are divine and divinity is our brightness. We must develop this positive thinking and conquer our bad habits on the strength of excellent thoughts.

Face to Face With Fear

A woman dreams every night that she is being chased through an old haunted house by a huge, hideous monster. Night after night, it endlessly chases her, coming so close that she feels its icy breath on the nape of her neck.

Then one night, thought she runs madly, the monster corners the terrified woman. Just it reaches out to tear her apart, she turns around, finds her voice and screams, "what are you? Why do you chase me? What will you do to me?"

At that the monster stops, straightens up and with a puzzles expression, shrug and says, "How should I know? It's your dream."

The Tibetan Buddhist teachings of chogyam trungpa state plenty that in order to experience fearlessness, it is necessary to face our fear; in fact, "the essence of cowardice is not acknowledging the reality of fear". In his Shambhala teachings he holds that discovering fearlessness comes, paradoxically, from "working with the softness of the human heart".

We open ourselves vulnerably to what were afraid of and learn from the challenges and lessons it brings.

Fear has many names like dread, worry, panic, anxiety and it manifests itself in varied ways as in avoidance, procrastination, perfectionism, judgment, control, agitation and violence. Fear usually prevents us from living up to our true potential. Whether we are afraid of the dark, of being abandoned, failure, commitment, flying or public speaking, fear can affect nearly every decision we make.

In 'Embracing Fear', psychotherapist thom Rutedge tells us that sometimes fear is part of the problem - but when we are really paying attention, fear is usually part of the solution.

We easily forget that fear is an essential part of our nature; an alarm system, there to get our attention, to push us out of harm's way. So we need to learn to distinguish between unhealthy or neurotic fear that holds us back, and healthy fear that helps us to move on. Unhealthy fear is persistent, exaggerating and even inventing potential dangers; healthy fear stands guard responsibility, informing us immediately of real danger. While unhealthy fear nags us endlessly about everything that could possibly go wrong now, tomorrow, the day, week, month or year after or years later even, healthy fear inspires us to do what can be done in the present.

It is only through facing, exploring, accepting and responding to fear that we free ourselves from its paralyzing grip. If befriending or embracing our fear seems too much, then as a first step, one can simply acknowledge it: Yes, I feel fear. I recognize it, but I do not have to be led by it.

We can also work with our fear by recognizing it as a sign of the inner work we need to do. What is this fear waking me up to? What am I being asked to develop in myself? What old habits and reactions must I abandon or transform?

What scares or threatens us can easily cause us to become aggressive and selfish, to react in violent ways, to step off the path. Most spiritual traditions teach us that fear is measures and work with it to grow in understanding. On the way to achieving compassion or equanimity or peace or fearlessness, we are called upon to face and get to know that which is disturbing, threatening, disagreeable or fearful; only then can we reach and experience what those end states really are.