Stop connecting with the past or the future

Can you stay 'here'?

Fever - self realization?

This is the zaniest post I have made so far. But I believe moments during a fever leads one into profound thinking and deep understanding. Its surreal.

And no, I am not referring to feeling delirious or light-headed! I am referring to a hard-to-describe feeling.

Similar experience? Please share!

:)

- The one with a 'fever'

Truth be told...

Truth is the foundation of who you were, who you are and who you will be. Nothing changes if you hold on to truth. Understand that you need not impress others or project a different (say 'larger') image of who you are. An iota of lie in your thought, word or action will take away that much from you and who you are.

At a spiritual level, when you are lying, you are moving away from the path - after all, the path is all about understanding the truth in its barest form. Lying is spirituality's biggest enemy.

At a mundane level, lying takes away respect, credibility and trust from you as an individual.

Invest in truth, reap returns through happiness, peace of mind and supreme confidence. After all, its you and the 'real'.

Existence.In the gross form.

Human beings spend a large part of their lives 'reacting' to situations. They think their 'control' of life lies in reacting to the external. Little do they realize that the greatest form of control is the act of observance and that of selflessly doing one's duty. In such a state of existence, one only 'responds' instead of 'reacting'.

Existence then becomes a process of living with awareness, of action and of conserving one's energy in the pursuit of the ultimate truth.

Good and bad.

If everything that happens is a result of Karma, is there anything such as 'good' or 'bad'? Though from a philosophical angle, our intellect might rationalize that there really isn't such a thing since it was 'meant to be', thanks once again to Karma, then the very basis of such an assumption is flawed.

If Karma is the reason why things happen, then it implies our acceptance of a force that unifies actions. Also, its usually during situations that we deem 'bad' when we call upon the 'K' term to fall back on. Which implies there has to be an opposite event/action that qualifies as 'what do you want to call it?' - call it good?

It's all one.It doesn't matter.

This awareness is all you need to get over the biggest problems, ego-confrontations, mishaps, relationship issues, big-small divides, smallness of the mind, anything at all.

If it's all one, is it worth the divide? The spirit is one; only the bodies are different.

Friend, 'spiritual' is your middle name.

1.You don't have to 'be' spiritual. You 'are' spiritual. You only have to allow it to blossom by becoming 'aware'.

2. Spirituality is the greatest gift to overcome any sort of 'problem'. In fact, embracing spirituality makes you stop looking at situations as problems.

3. It makes you aware of the greater purpose of life - self-realization; the so-called 'big' problems become insignificant.

4. It brings direction to one's existence.

5. You develop a sense of balance.

6. You become aware of your mind, your deeds, your words, your actions.

7. The awareness becomes the beacon to your path.

8. Your path becomes your gateway to eternal peace and happiness.

Staying above it.

'Total' awareness takes care of the 'micro' awareness of any momentary situation. One sees beyond the illusion that is blinding the true vision.Awareness is all about becoming aware of one's actions in the context of the bigger picture - of one's journey to the self - the ultimate objective of human existence.

In such awareness,nothing will affect the one who has resolved to go beyond the sporadic calls of fleeting situations. One understands that it's futile to respond without introspecting on the greater impact such reactions could have on one's journey to the ultimate truth.

Work minus the stress

Stress arises when :
a) one does not do one's duty;
b) one is worried about the results;
c) one is concerned about the 'I' who one thinks is responsible for the results;
d) a,b & c.

The key to success in one's work is:
i) performing duty with perfection in execution - you are giving your best shot
ii) without attachment to the very act itself - 'I' am not the doer
iii) and without worrying about the results - i) and ii) will take care of it.

Everything else will follow.

'Om' in a 'coffee'-cup!

Last week, I had the opportunity to visit Thiruvannamalai (the temple, Shri Ramanashramam) and Pondicherry (Shri Aurobindo Ashramam).I was having a cold coffee (sans sugar,of course!) at a beachside cafe in Pondicherry when I noticed a familiar shape that had taken its form on the interior part of the cup.Picture given below. Even the 'chandrakala' has not been missed out! Have a look :)

On the path.

Recently, I was reading the anniversary issue of Life Positive,a magazine centred on spirituality.It had several articles by people on how they came to the spiritual path and the experiences they had.

I found it interesting that I was able to relate many of these experiences.Thought of penning down my personal experience here.

Once you are on the path,you begin to do things that sometimes might be difficult to reason or explain to others. I always had a spiritual bent,but there was no compelling reason for me to wake up one Sunday morning seven years back and declare that I have turned vegetarian,a shock to many who know me as one who could not make it through lunch without a fair share of 'military' food. And yet another day, I stopped using sugar in my coffee; started abhorring leather products; became a minimalist in my needs and purchases;stopped using synthetic products; and a whole host of things that many take for granted.

Though this might sound/look extreme, the joy that the path opens up in you is unparalleled.

So are you on the path? Please share!

Imagine there is no time ahead of you.

That very thought is enough to make you shake off laziness and drive your energies towards your duty and the process of realizing the self.

Enjoy the present moment to the fullest thinking this is your only moment.

Awareness is everything.

Doing one's duty without worrying about the results, facing the obstacles that come along the way with courage and keeping the mind far above the tremors of its continuous agitation and understanding that the ultimate goal in life is to attain self-realization; this is the recipe for leading one's life.

Simple as it sounds,it is difficult to practice these principles in our earthly existence. And the key to making it work is constant awareness. Becoming aware of your supreme purpose in any situation - however good or bad - is the secret to transcending it and going beyond that momentary situation or emotion. Before your bigger purpose and goal, these situations and emotions are minions. Awareness of your ultimate goal is the giant fire that can destroy any situation or emotion without getting consumed with it.

So have you kindled the fire of awareness within you? Make sure you keep it burning with inner determination as the fuel.

How strongly are you anchored...internally?

Have you seen people who are completely wrecked,emotionally?

The reason for this emotional turmoil is that most people look for an external anchor to hold on to. One becomes subject to the ebbs and flows of this external anchor,thereby identifying oneself with it and in the process, forgetting one's true nature.

Only by anchoring oneself internally can a person remain unaffected by the constant change in the depth and fleeting nature of external relationships. Once comfortable with this internal anchoring,a person will be able to handle external relationships with the ease and detachment required to keep oneself totally unaffected.

Relying on external relationships without this internal anchoring is a sure-shot path to emotional wreckage.

Be peace at one's true self first and then one will be at true peace with others.Thereby,one can manage relationships effectively without getting tied to them.

The Mind is the enemy

The mind - all good thoughts and bad ones, wrong notions and unfounded fears, aspirations and desires - float here. The mind never sets you free. It puts you on a roller-coaster ride that never ends. It is this agitated ocean - so restless that if left unchecked, it becomes your greatest enemy.

Take this fellow to task. Each time he taunts you, stare directly back at him and put him back in his place,observe all those thoughts peacefully and let that awareness make you look at them objectively to the extent that they dissolve and melt away.Be dispassionate in this observation process; when you observe, you must not look at them as 'good' or 'bad' thoughts, but just thoughts. And then you will see that,without any effort, they go away.

And when these thoughts go away,thats when your mind attains this deep calmness and peace that is your true nature.Through constant meditation of this kind, you learn to maintain this peaceful state.

Talking!

The very act of talking symbolizes a deep sense of the body and ego. How many times do we use the 'I' word in our daily talks with people? The repeated 'I', 'I','I', in itself breeds strong body consciousness. Sometimes, I think its best to speak little. Those moments bring such joy within us. However our mundane existence makes it impractical and leads us further from the act of silent observance of the mind and its movements; and thereby our ability to watch the 'I'.

Have you tried to become aware of the time we waste in talking about irrelevant things? Or the lengthy path we take to convey something short and simple? I have faced this problem, but am glad that I have become aware of it now. The awareness has brought about a disgust for senseless words and time-wasting talk. It's such a loss of pure energy.

Words are mostly an outward expression of the ego. The deepest silence is sometimes the best form of communication.

From the beginning till the end.

I am using this blog for putting down various thoughts on life,spirituality and an understanding of it from my perspective - as I take a path to discovery.