Get out of that Frame

We are never without an identity. In the system in which we are living, there are set patterns of life. Yogi, doctor, master, genius, this, that....., you are choosing your identity, so good, choose any identity, have full faith in that. If you feel like you are an artist then be an artist, never doubt your identity. Ninety percent of people have identity but no faith in their identity, and they confuse themselves and have a miserable life.

We should have the courage to break the system and discover a new identity in which we have faith. Then you can create better possibilities for life. Everything is in your hands; you have to decide what you want.

First of all understand your life, value it and then make your life useful, purposeful. If the definition of your life is limited your life will always be limited; if your definition of life is vaster, without boundaries or frames then you can live without limit. Every day, write your definition of life and in a few days that will give you a complete picture of you, you can check your frame - or whether your picture is frameless.

Due to our ignorance we create frames. A framed life is never happy, never satisfied because we really belong to the frameless source. If our life belongs to the frameless source, how can you confuse it in a frame? Can you capture the whole of the ocean in a cup?

Our ideal identity is no identity - to become zero, to live with zero identity. We worship those who have attained this state. Either acquire a zero identity, or become everything. Never identify yourself with one thing, you are all. Either identity with nothing or identify with everything, never be in-between. That is the faith you should have in yourself.

Faith is an important tool in life. Consciously or unconsciously we are living every moment with the help of faith. Take, for instance, the fact that this very moment you are perhaps seated on a chair - you have faith that the chair won't break. Or if you are seated beneath a tree, you have faith that the tree will not fall on you. If you had any doubt you would not sit on that chair or under the tree. Faith is there, even if you are not aware of its presence, but blind faith sometimes becomes an obstacle to progress on your path. Hence take care not to let your faith become a rigid one.

Listening to the soul is one way by which faith grows. The other way is when your consciousness grows - for then, your faith changes. Today you have faith in the tree. In 10 days your understanding becomes deeper and changes your faith completely. You may think the tree is hollow inside and so may not have as much faith as before.

Faith makes everything possible; this is the work of faith. You just have to be determined about something, have full faith and then faith will take you where you want to go; if you have determination and no faith then you will not reach anywhere, so this is the power of faith.

First have faith in yourself, with whatever identity you are living have full faith in that. If you have no faith in yourself, faith in the Divine alone will not work.

Flow of Water

The Ganga River originates in heaven. Its fall is broken by the head of Shiva, who stands on the Himalaya Mountains; otherwise the shock would be too great for the earth. But Shiva’s goddess-bride is displeased. Fly then where Ganges o’er the king of mountains Falls likes a flight of stairs from heaven let down. For the sons of men; she hurls her billowy fountains. Like hands to grasp the moon on Shiva’s crown and laugh her foamy laugh at Gauri’s jealous frown….. If thou, like some great elephant of the sky, shouldst wish from heaven’s eminence to bend and taste the crystal stream, her beauties high – as thy dark shadows with her whiteness blend – Would be what Jumana’s waters at Pryaga lend. Kalidas

Guru is the expression of enlightenment, pure knowledge, the field of all possibilities, and the field of infinite correlation.

The master helps the seeker in his own invincible ways, which have no parallel in the ways of the world. But if the aspirant is to be the recipient of this help, he must make a real effort to surrender himself to the Divine will of the Master

What is the nature of Guru’s grace? It is beyond thought and word. Then how can it be said that the devotee realizes his true Being by virtue of the Guru’s grace? It is like the elephant which wakes up on seeing a lion in its dream. Even as the elephant wakes up at the mere sight of the lion, so too is it certain that the disciple wakes up from the sleep of ignorance to the knowledge or Real. It is true and certain.

Face to Face with Fear

A woman dreams every night that she is being chased through an old hunted 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, though she runs madly, the monster corners the terrified woman. Just as 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 puzzled expression, shrugs and says. “How should I know? It’s your dream.”

The Tibetan Buddhist teachings of Chogyam Trungpa state plenty that in order to exercise 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 we are afraid of and learn from the challenges and lesson 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 Rutledge tells us that sometimes fear is part of the problem, sometimes fear is the problem – but when we are really paying attention, fear is usually part of 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. Everything that could possibly go wrong now, tomorrow, the day, week, month or year after, 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 to be ‘met’ if we are to understand it in any measure ands 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 and states really are.

Excellence in Life

Meaning: According to the line of Athervaved 9/15/20, has explained about the excellence of the human beings. The line says us that - O men! Just as the cow by eating hay and drinking clean water, gives to the world the excellent materials like milk and ghee (butter-oil), similarly you too oblige the world by taking 'saatvik' (simple) food.

Meaning: The cow has been considered the most pure and venerable in the Nepalese religious scriptures and ahs been kept on a pedestal, and the protection of cow, cow-rearing and maintenance and worship of the cow has been given the maximum importance. The human race gets mother's love and loving help from the cow only. For man's health and protection, cow's milk is an excellent and nutritious diet. No other diet contains the number of useful minerals, salts, disease-resisting and strength giving elements as found in cow's milk. According to the text of Ayurved, cow's milk is the best from every view-point, physical, mental, and spiritual. It is a saatvik drink and its use increases spiritual qualities in man.

The cow gives us not only milk and ghee (butter-oil) but also dung and urine which are very good antiseptics and fertilizers. After cow's death, her skin is very useful as leather. In this way the entire life of the cow is spent in benevolent service for the progress of man. The best example of 'plain living and high thinking can be seen in the life of the cow. Her requirements are the least and yet she does maximum good to the world.

If man too would adopt these ideals in his life, this earth would become heavenly. Simplicity is meals and moral simplicity or moral goodness are most important in this. We must always kpay attention to the fundamental questions of what to eat, how much to eat, when to eat and how to eat? Eating a meal is a very pious responsibility of man. This is a 'yagiya prakriya' in the God-given body to make it strong and taking food is a 'pavitra yagya-karma' (pious ritual of yagya). When putting food into the mouth, we must have the same feeling of excellence, ,purity, and cheerfulness that we have in our mind when gibving 'aahuti' (offering) into the holy-fire of the yagya. Food and drink taken with this sentiment increase spiritual qualities in the body. Even insufficient and simple food when taken with love and contentment, becomes like nectar. Clean, simple, 'saatvik' and fresh food is beneficial for our body, mind, intelligence and the soul. The intelligent person's way of thinking is 'we eat to live, not to live to eat. We must not eat merely for the sake of taste'.

In this way with 'saatvik' diet, the resolve for observing 'Brahmacharya' is easily carried out. Each pore of his body is filled with joy and enthusiasm and the person develops the courage to offer his body, mind and money fo rdoing good to others.

Only the 'saatvik' diet is the basis for excellence in life.

Dialogue of the Wise

Interfaith dialogue in our time is going beyond the first step of appreciating other religions to a growing recognition that the religions of the world have much in common. The Christian participant may find something in Islam, for example, that can deepen his or her Christianity, and the Muslim participant may find something instructive from the teachings of Buddhism. The common ground between religions becomes more apparent as the dialogue partners penetrate beneath superficial disagreements in doctrine.

Without proverbs (traditional wisdom), language would be but a skeleton without flesh, a body without a soul.

The superior man acquaints himself with many sayings of antiquity / and many deeds of teh past, in order to strengthen his character, thereby.

The huge treasures begin valued at more than Rs one lakh crore found in sree Padmanabha Swami temple in Thiruvananthapuram were the "exclusive property" of the Tranvancore royal family that dedicated their kingdom to the presiding deity of the temple. Kanchi Sankarcharya Jayendra Saraswati said, "The treasures were offerings made by erstwhile rulers to the temple, hence the recoveries belonged to the royal family"

The greatest treasures are those invisible to the eye but found by the heart. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The love, kindnesses and value we have given authentically to others will be our remaining treasures at the end of life

Fasting of the body is food for the soul. As bodily food fattens the body, so fasting strengthens the soul.

Fasting daily rituals, and austere self-discipline -those who keep the practice of these, are rewarded with less than a shell