*POINTS TO PONDER*

'No matter what good karmas yield what pleasures or what bad karmas yield what pains as their results, conquer the might of both of them by drowning the mind in your own 'Self', the supreme Reality- Ramana Maharshi

(GURU VACHAKA KOVAI: 693)

'SELF-REALIZATION'- The state we call realization is simply being oneself, not knowing anything or becoming anything. If one has realized, he is That which alone is, and which alone has always been. He cannot describe that state. He can only be That ~ Ramana Maharshi (GEMS)

The state we call realization is simply being oneself, not
knowing anything or becoming anything. If one has realized,
he is That which alone is, and which alone has always been.
He cannot describe that state. He can only be That. Of course
we loosely talk of Self-Realization for want of a better term.
That which is, is peace. All that we need do is to keep
quiet. Peace is our real nature. We spoil it. What is required is
that we cease to spoil it. For instance, there is space in a hall
(room). We are not going to create space anew. We fill up the
place with various articles. If we want space, all that we need
do is to remove all those articles and we get space. Similarly,
if we remove all the rubbish from the mind the peace will
become manifest. That which is obstructing the peace must
be removed. Peace is the only Reality.
Mukti or Liberation is our Nature. It is another name for
us. Our wanting mukti is a very funny thing. It is like a man
who is in the shade voluntarily leaving the shade, going into
the sun, feeling the severity of the heat, making great efforts
to get back into the shade, and then rejoicing ‘At last I have
reached  the  shade,  how  sweet  is  the  shade!’ We  are  doing
exactly the same. We are not different from the Reality. We
imagine we are different, i.e., we create the bheda bhava(the
feeling of difference) and then undergo great sadhanas to get
rid of the bheda bhava and realize the oneness. Why imagine
or create the bheda bhava and then destroy it?
It is false to speak of realization. What is there to realize?
The real is as it is, ever. How to realize it? All that is required
is this: We have realized the unreal, i.e., regarded as Real what
is unreal. We have to give up this attitude. That is all that is
required for us to attain Jnana. We are not creating anything
new or achieving something which we did not have before.
The illustration given in the books is this: We dig a well and
create a huge pit. The akasa(space) in the pit or well has not
been created by us. We have just removed the earth which
was filling the akasa there. The akasa was there, then, and is
also there now. Similarly we have simply to throw out all the
age-long samskaras(innate tendencies) which are inside us.
When all of them have been given up, the Self will shine alone.
Effortless  and  choice less  awareness  is  our  Real  State.
If we can attain It or be in It, it is all right. But one cannot
reach  It  without  effort,  the  effort  of  deliberate  meditation.
All the age-long vasanas(latent tendencies) carry the mind
outwards and turn it to external objects. All such thoughts
have to be given up and the mind turned inward. For most
people effort is necessary. Of course, everybody, every book
says Cm>ma-yIR(summa iru- be quiet or still). But it is not
easy. That is why all this effort is necessary. Even if you find
one  who  has  effortlessly  achieved  the mouna (silence)  or
Supreme State indicated by 'Cm>mayIR', you may take it that
the effort necessary has already been completed in a previous
life. Such effortless and choice less awareness is reached only
after deliberate meditation.
The books no doubt speak of sravana(hearing), manana
(reflection), nididhyasana (one-pointed  concentration), 
samadhi and sakshatkara(Realization). We are always the
sakshat(Real) and what is there for one to attain after that?
We call this world sakshat or pratyaksha(directly present).
What is changing, what appears and disappears, what is not
sakshat, we regard as sakshat. We are always, and nothing can
be more directly present than we, and about that we say we
have to attain sakshatkaram after all these sadhanas. Nothing
can be more strange than this. The Self is not attained by doing
anything other than remaining still and being as we are.
We say that what we see with the eyes alone is pratyaksha.
There must first be the seer before anything could be seen.
You are yourself the eye that sees, An>tmIlak>k] (andhamila
kann) the ‘Infinite Eye’ referred to in Ulladu Narpadu (Reality
in Forty Verses).
People are afraid that when the ego or the mind is killed,
the result may be a mere blank and not happiness. What really
happens is that the thinker, the object of thought and thinking
all merge into the one Source, which is Consciousness and
Bliss itself, and thus that state is neither inert nor blank. I do
not understand why people should be afraid of that state in
which all thoughts cease to exist and the mind is killed. Every
day they experience that state in sleep. There is no mind or
thought in sleep. Yet when one rises from sleep one says, ‘I
slept happily.’ Sleep is so dear to everyone that no one, prince
or beggar, can do without it.
When we have vikalpas(false concepts) and are trying to
give them up, i.e.when we are still not perfected, but have
to  make  conscious  effort  to  keep  the  mind  one-pointed  or
free from thought, it is 'Nirvikalpa Samadhi'. When through
practice we are always in that state, not going into samadhi and
coming out again, that is the sahaja(natural) state. In sahaja
one always sees oneself. He sees the jagat(world) as swarupa
(Reality) or Brahmakara(form of Brahman). Eventually, what
was once the means becomes itself the goal, whatever method
one follows. Dhyana(meditation), jnana, bhakti and samadhi
are all names for ourselves, for our Real State.
Knowing one’s Self is only being one’s Self, as there is
no second existence. This is Self-realization.
You may go on reading any number of books on Vedanta.
They can only tell you ‘Realize the Self’. The Self cannot be
found in books. You have to find it for yourself in yourself.
The Lord whose home is the interior of the Heart-Lotus
is extolled as the Lord of the Cave. If by force of practice the
feeling ‘I am He, I am the Lord of the Cave’(Guhesa) becomes
firmly established, as firmly as your present notion that you are
the ego is established in the body, and thus you stand forth as
the Lord of the Cave, the illusion that you are the perishable
body will vanish like darkness before the rising sun.
The true karma, yoga, bhakti or jnana consists in finding
out who it is that does the karma, or seeks reunion through
yoga, or feels separation from his Lord, or is in ignorance.
All these do not exist without the ‘I’. So to remain as the ‘I’
is the Truth.
If we regard ourselves as the doers of action we shall also
be the enjoyers of the fruits of such action. If by inquiring who
does these actions one realizes one’s Self, the sense that one is the doer vanishes and with it all the three kinds of karma
(viz. sanchita, agamya and prarabdha*). This is the state of
eternal Mukti or Liberation.
Our Real Nature is Mukti. But we imagine that we are
bound  and  are  making  strenuous  attempts  to  become  free,
while we are all the time free. This will be understood only
when we reach that stage. We will be surprised that we were
frantically trying to attain something which we have always
been  and  are. An  illustration  will  make  this  clear: A  man
goes to sleep in this hall. He dreams he has gone on a world
tour, is roaming over hill and dale, forest and country, desert
and sea, across various continents and, after many years of
weary and strenuous travel, returns to this country, reaches
Tiruvannamalai, enters the Asramam and walks into the hall.
Just at that moment he wakes up and finds he has not moved an
inch, but was sleeping where he lay down. He has not returned
to the hall after great efforts, but is and always has been in the
hall. It is exactly like that. If it is asked, why being free we
imagine we are bound, I answer, ‘Why being in the hall did
you imagine you were on a world adventure, crossing hill and
dale, desert and sea?’ It is all mind or maya.
The dyads or the pairs of opposites, such as pleasure and
pain, and the triads, or such differences as the knower, the
known, and the process of knowing, depend on one thing - the
ego. When one seeks for that thing in the Heart and finds out
its Real Nature they will vanish. Those alone who have found
out the Real Nature of the ego have seen the Reality. They will
have no more doubts or anxieties.
There  is  no  knowledge  apart  from  ignorance,  and  no
ignorance apart from knowledge. That alone is jnana or real
knowledge, which when inquiring to whom this knowledge
or ignorance arises, reaches that Source which is the Self.
The thought ‘I am the body’ is ignorance. That the body
is not apart from the Self is knowledge. The body is a mental
projection. The mind is the ego, and the ego rises from the Self.
The body thought is distracting and strays away from the Self.
For whom is the body or birth? Not for the Self, the Spirit. It is
for the non-self which imagines itself separate from the Self.
So long as there is the sense of separation there will be
afflicting thoughts. If the original source is regained and the
sense of separation ends, there is peace. A stone picked up from
its place and thrown up into the sky has no rest till it comes
back to earth. The waters of the sea evaporating and rising
into the sky as clouds find no rest till they come back as rain,
and finally rush back to the sea. The ego can have peace only
when it merges back into its Source, the Self.
Seeing God in any form and speaking to Him is as real as
your own reality. In other words, when you identify yourself
with the body in the waking state, you see gross objects; when
in the subtle body (the mental plane) as in dream, you see
objects equally subtle; in the absence of all identification, as
in dreamless sleep, you see nothing. The objects seen, bear a
*The three kinds of karmas are: prarabdha,being that portion of one’s
past karma to be worked out in the present body; sanchita being the
outstanding balance of past karma, and agamya being the karma that
will bear fruit in future births.relation to the state of the seer. The same applies to visions of
gods. By long practice, the figure of God as meditated upon
appears in dream and may later appear even in the waking state.
There was a saint by the name Nam Dev. He could see,
talk and play with Vithoba, the God of Pandharpur. God had
to teach him that that was not enough, and one must press on
further and realize the Self where seer and seen are one.
Vision of Siva: Vision is always of an object. That implies
the existence of a subject. The value of the vision is the same
as that of the seer. The nature of the vision is on the same plane
as that of the seer. Appearance implies disappearance as well.
Whatever appears must also disappear. A vision can never be
eternal. But Siva is eternal.
Viswarupa  darsana (vision  of  the  cosmic  form)  and
Viswatma darsana(vision of the universal self) are the same.
Such darsana is not by eyesight or in any gross fashion. As
there is only Being, without a second, anything seen cannot
be real. That is the truth.
The moral behind the story of Ashtavakra and Janaka is
simply this: The disciple surrenders himself to the Master.
That means there is no vestige of individuality retained by the
disciple. If the surrender is complete, all sense of individuality
is lost and there is no cause for misery. The Eternal Self is only
happiness and that is revealed.
The  whole  of Vedanta  is  contained  in  the  two  Biblical
statements ‘I am that I am’ and ‘Be still and know that I am
God’.
There is a state beyond our efforts or effortlessness. Until
that is realized, effort is necessary. After tasting such bliss
even once, one will repeatedly try to regain it. Having once
experienced the bliss of peace, no one would like to be out
of it or engage himself otherwise. It is as difficult for a Jnani
to engage in thoughts, as it is for an ajnani to be free from
thought.
Any kind of activity does not affect a Jnani. He remains
ever in eternal peace.
Ishta Devata(deity of one’s choice) and Guru are aids,
very powerful aids on this path. But for an aid to be effective
requires your effort also. Your effort is a sine qua non. It is
you who should see the sun. Can spectacles and the sun see
for you? You yourself have to see your True Nature. Not much
aid is required for doing it.
First one sees the Self as objects, then one sees the Self as
void, and then one sees the Self as the Self; only in this last
case is there no seeing because seeing is becoming.
The more we control thought, activity and food, the more
we will be able to control sleep. But moderation ought to be
the rule for the sadhak(aspirant), as explained in the Gita. As
explained in the Gita, sleep is the first obstacle for all sadhakas.
The second obstacle is said to be vikshepa, or the sense objects
of the world which divert one’s attention. The third is said to
be kashaya or thoughts about previous experiences with sense
objects. The fourth, ananda(bliss), is also called an obstacle,
because in that state a feeling of separation from the source of
ananda, enabling the enjoyer to say, ‘I am enjoying ananda,’ is
present. Even this has to be surmounted, and the final stage of
samadhana or samadhi has to be reached, where one becomes
ananda, or One with the Reality, and the duality of enjoyer and
enjoyment ceases in the ocean of Satchidananda(ExistenceConsciousness-Bliss) or the Self.
The power of a Jnani’sSelf-Realization is more powerful
than all occult powers. To the Jnani there are no others. But
what is the highest benefit that can be conferred on ‘others’ as
we call them? It is happiness. Happiness is born of peace. Peace
can reign only when there is no disturbance by thought. When
the mind has been annihilated, there will be perfect peace. As
there is no mind, the Jnani cannot be aware of others. But the
mere fact of His Self-Realization is itself enough to make all
others peaceful and happy.
The following extract from a letter of the poet Tennyson
to B. P. Blood was read out in Bhagavan’s presence: ‘… a
kind of waking trance I have frequently had, quite up from
boyhood, when I have been all alone. This has generally come
upon me through repeating my own name two or three times to
myself, silently, till all at once, as it were out of the intensity of
consciousness of individuality, the individuality itself seemed
to dissolve and fade away into boundless being; and this not
a confused state but the clearest of the clearest, the surest of
the surest, the weirdest of the weirdest, utterly beyond words,
where death was an almost laughable impossibility, the loss
of personality (if so it were) seeming no extinction but the
only true life’.
Bhagavan said, ‘That state is called abidance in the Self.’

'The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali' (Chapter One). Yoga is the inhibition of the modifications of the mind.Then the Seer abides in Itself. At other times the Seer appears to assume the form of the modification of the mind.

1. Now then Yoga is being explained.

2. Yoga is the inhibition of the modifications of the mind.

3. Then the Seer abides in Itself.

4. At other times the Seer appears to assume the form of the modification of the mind.

5. There are five kinds of mental modifications which are either painful or painless.

6. They are Real Cognition, Unreal Cognition, Imagination, Deep Sleep and Memory.

7. The sources of right knowledge are direct perception, inference and scriptural testimony.

8. Wrong knowledge is a false conception of a thing whose real form does not correspond to such a mistaken conception.

9. An image that arises on hearing mere words without any reality as its basis is verbal delusion.

10. Dreamless sleep is the mental modification produced by the condition of inertia as the state of vacuity or negation (of waking and dreaming).

11. Memory is not allowing an object which has been experienced to escape.

12. These mental modifications are released by practice and non-attachment.

13. Exertion to acquire a tranquil state of mind devoid of fluctuations is called practice.

14. Practice becomes firmly grounded when well attended to for a long time, without break and in all earnestness.

15. The consciousness of self-mastery in one who is free from craving for objects seen or heard about is non-attachment.

16. When there is non-thirst for even the gunas (constituents of Nature) due to realization of the Purusha (true Self), that is supreme non-attachment.

17. 'Samprajñata Samadhi' is that which is accompanied by reasoning, reflection, bliss and sense of pure being.

18. By the firmly convinced practice of the complete cessation of the mental modifications, the impressions only remain. This is the other samadhi 'asamprajnata' or non-distinguished.

19. Those who merely leave their physical bodies and attain the state of celestial deities, or those who get merged in Nature, have rebirth.

20. Others (who follow the path of the prescribed effort) adopt the means of reverential faith, energy, repeated recollection, concentration and real knowledge and thus attain 'Asamprajnata-samadhi'.

21. Yogins with intense eagerness achieve concentration and the result thereof quickly.

22. The time necessary for success further depends on whether the practice is mild, medium or intense.

23. Or, by the devoted feeling of the omnipresence of God (Ishvara) samadhi becomes imminent.

24. Isvara is the supreme Purusha, unaffected by any afflictions, actions, fruits of actions or by any inner impressions of desires.

25. In Him is the complete manifestation of the seed of omniscience.

26. Being unconditioned by time He is Teacher even of the Ancients.

27. The sacred word designating Him is Pranava or the mystic sound OM.

28. Yogins repeat it and contemplate upon its meaning.

29. From that comes realization of the individual self and the obstacles are resolved.

30. Disease, languor, doubt, carelessness, laziness, worldly-mindedness, delusion, non-achievement of a stage, instability, these (nine) cause the distraction of the mind and they are the obstacles.

31. Mental pain, despair, nervousness and hard breathing are the symptoms of a distracted condition of mind.

32. The practice of concentration on a single subject is the best way to prevent the obstacles and their accompaniments.

33. By cultivating attitudes of friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and disregard toward the wicked, the mind-stuff remains its undisturbed calmness.

34. By exhaling and restraining the breath also the mind is calmed.

35. Or the concentration on subtle sense perceptions can cause steadiness of mind.

36. Or by concentrating on the supreme, ever-blissful Light within.

37. Or by concentrating on a great soul’s mind which is totally freed from attachment to sense objects.

38. Or by taking as the object of meditation the images of dreams or the state of dreamless sleep the mind of the Yogin gets established.

39. Or by meditating on anything one chooses that is elevating.

40. When the mind develops the power of stabilizing on the smallest size as well as on the greatest one, then the mind comes under control.

41. Just as the naturally pure crystal assumes shapes and colors of objects placed near it, so the Yogi’s mind, with its totally weakened modifications, becomes clear and balanced and attains the state devoid of differentiation between knower, knowable and knowledge. This culmination of meditation is samadhi.

42 The samadhi in which name, form and knowledge of them is mixed is called 'savitarka samadhi', or samadhi with deliberation.

43. When the memory is purified, the mind appears to be devoid of its own nature (i.e. of reflective consciousness) and only the object (on which it is contemplating) remains illuminated. This kind of engrossment is called 'Nirvitarka Samapatti'.

44. In the same way, 'savichara' (reflective) and 'nirvichara' (super or non-reflective) samadhis, which are practiced upon subtle objects, are explained.

45. The subtlety of possible objects of concentration ends only at the undefinable.

46. All these samadhis are 'sabija' (with seed), which could bring one back into bondage or mental disturbance.

47. The undisturbed flow of the ultra-meditative (Nirvichara Samadhi) causes Subjective Luminosity.

48. The knowledge that is gained in that state is called 'Rtambhara' (filled with truth).

49. The knowledge based on inference or testimony is different from direct knowledge obtained in the higher states of consciousness.

50. The impression produced by this samadhi wipes out all other impressions.

51. When even this impression is wiped out, every impression is totally wiped out and there is 'nirbija' [seedless] samadhi.

*POINTS TO PONDER*

The relation between the Self and the body or the mind may be compared to that of a clear crystal and its background. If the crystal is placed against a red flower, it shines red; if placed against a green leaf it shines green, and so on. The individual confines himself to the limits of the change ful body or of the mind which derives its existence from the unchanging Self. All that is necessary is to give up this mistaken identity, and that done, the ever-shining Self will be seen to be the single non-dual Reality.
~Ramana Maharshi.

'GRACE AND GURU'-Contact with jnanis is good. They will work through silence~ Ramana Maharshi- 'GEMS'

I have not said that a Guru is not necessary. But a Guru
need not always be in human form. First a person thinks that
he  is  inferior  and  that  there  is  a  superior,  all-knowing,  all
powerful God who controls his own and the world’s destiny
and worships him or does bhakti. When he reaches a certain
stage and becomes fit for enlightenment, the same God whom
he was worshiping comes as Guru and leads him onward.
That Guru comes only to tell him, ‘That God is within yourself.
Dive within and realize’. God, Guru and the Self are the same.
Realization is the result of the Master’s (Guru’s) grace,
more  than  teachings,  lectures,  meditations,  etc. They  are
only secondary aids, whereas the former is the primary and
essential cause.
Guru’s  grace  is  always  there. You  imagine  it  to  be
something somewhere high up in the sky, far away and which
has to descend. It is really inside you in your Heart, and the
moment,  by  any  of  the  methods,  you  effect  subsidence  or
merger  of  the  mind  into  its  source,  the  grace  rushes  forth,
spouting as from a spring from within you.
Contact  with jnanis is  good. They  will  work  through
silence. A Guru is not the physical form. Hence His contact
remains even after the physical form of the Guru vanishes.
After your bhakti to God has matured you, God comes
in the shape of a Guru and from outside pushes your mind
inside, while being inside as Self He draws you there from
within. Such a Guru is needed generally, though not for very
rare and advanced souls.
One can go to another Guru after one’s Guru passes away.
But after all, Gurus are one, as none of them are the form.
Mental contact is always the best.
Sat  Sang means  association  with  Sat or  Reality.  One
who knows or has realized Sat is also regarded as Sat. Such
association is absolutely necessary for all. Sankara has said,
“In all the three worlds there is no boat like sat sang to carry
one safely across the ocean of births and deaths.”
Guru not being physical, His contact will continue after His
form vanishes. If one Jnani exists in the world, His influence
will be felt by or benefit all people in the world, and not simply
His immediate disciples. As described in Vedanta Chudamani,
all the people in the world can be put under four categories:
The Guru’s disciples, bhaktas, those who are indifferent to Him
and those who are hostile to Him. All these will be benefited
by the existence of the Jnani- each in his own way and to
various degrees.
From the book, Divine Grace Through Total Self-Surrender
by D. C. Desai, Bhagavan read out the following quotations
by Paul Brunton for our benefit:
“Divine Grace is a manifestation of the cosmic free will
in operation. It can alter the course of events in a mysterious
manner through its own unknown laws, which are superior to
all natural laws, and can modify the latter by interaction. It is
the most powerful force in the universe.
“It  descends  and  acts  only  when  it  is  invoked  by  total
self-surrender. It acts from within, because God resides in the
Heart of all beings. Its whisper can be heard only in a mind
purified by self-surrender and prayer.
“Rationalists laugh at it, and atheists scorn it, but it exists.
It is a descent of God into the soul’s zone of awareness. It is a
visitation of force unexpected and unpredictable. It is a voice
spoken out of cosmic silence - It is ‘Cosmic Will which can
perform authentic miracles under its own laws’.”
In truth, God and the Guru are not different. Just as the
prey which has fallen into the jaws of a tiger has no escape, so
those who have come within the ambit of the Guru’s gracious
look will be saved by the Guru and will not get lost; yet, each
one should by his own effort pursue the path shown by God
or Guru and gain release.
Each seeker after God should be allowed to go his own
way, the way for which he alone may be built (meant). It will
not do to convert him to another path by violence. The Guru
will go with the disciple in his own path and then gradually
turn him onto the Supreme path at the ripe moment. Suppose
a car is going at top speed. To stop it at once or to turn it at
once would be attended with disastrous consequences.

*WORDS OF WISDOM*-~ Swami Chinmayananda

The Lord is ever with you.
Your anxieties and fears are veiling Him from you. He is so near to you that you cannot see Him.
You are in Him - with Him - at Him.
You are He alone!
~ Swami Chinmayananda

GREAT Quotes of 'Swami Sukhabodhananda'

GREAT Quotes

of

Swami Sukhabodhananda

Swami Sukhabodhananda  is one of the Great Indian Spiritual Masters of our times. His LIFE PROGRAM is Unique in its spiritual experience and its lessons for worldly success both. His other programs are also marvelously structured and are suitable for both spiritually oriented Individuals and also for those aspiring for worldly success.

His Books are a real pleasure to read and highly illuminating. They are  a MUST READ for learning LIFE’S LESSONS in the most effective way.

Here are some of his Beautiful quotes. As You can see – these quotes are as much intended for daily life, as they are – for spiritual path.

You will enjoy each quote. But please read, and re-read  till the intent gets into your mind and heart.

1.    When God gives us problems, it is to humble us and not to tumble us.

2.    Pain is a gift from the divine to look into what is happening more deeply.

3.    You should be the master of the mind rather than mind being your master. You should use the mind rather than let the mind use you.

4.    Mind creates misery by its desires, expectations, anger and jealousy stimulated by unnecessary comparisons.

5.    When one is alert, one can transform poison into medicine.

6.    A noisy and pushy mind leads one to a state of unhappiness.

7.    In a seed, there is an infinite capacity to grow. Infinity exists in a finite seed. A seed planted becomes a tree. From a tree again there is a fruit, from a fruit there is a seed, from a seed a tree, so in a finite seed there is the infinite capacity to grow.

8.    Worry is a form of identification. It is useless. Unfortunately many of us think it is right to worry about someone we love. This is madness in motion. Give up this voluntary form of suffering.

9.    Learn to be a witness to your thoughts and feelings. In the witnessing consciousness, there is no identification with anything. Identification leads to misery.

10. Can you dwell a little more on the inner world, the mind? Generally, we are present physically in a place while being psychologically elsewhere. Outer seeing makes you see physically where you are. Inner seeing makes you see psychologically where you are.

11. There is no greater force than awareness. When one increases awareness, even a poison can turn into a medicine and with no awareness a medicine can become a poison.

12. There are differences in a relationship. Do not give too much of importance to them. Give importance to your love and commitment, to your commonality, like you enjoy the joy rides in an amusement park, even though it appears scary. It gives you jitters but still you enjoy. Enjoy your relationship.

13. Negative emotions poison life. Like avoiding poisonous food, avoid negative emotions. Like how you are very alert when you see a poisonous snake, be very aware and alert of negative emotions. Let them come, don’t identify with them. Don’t participate in them.

14. If you go on comparing, life becomes miserable. If somebody is better than you, learn from them; enjoy others’ success. No one can have all the good qualities. Someone will always be better than you at some level. Do not whip yourself with this comparison.

15. The Gita encourages us to be calm and serene irrespective of the situations that we face in life. Only such an individual is closer to enlightenment who remains calm. The greatest discipline is in keeping our minds calm in spite of external turbulent situations. This is the core teaching of the Gita.

16. A Zen Master was asked about the secret of his being always happy. The Zen Master replied, ‘When I wake up in the morning, I ask myself whether I want to be in - heaven or hell? Then I decide to be in heaven. The moment I decide to be in heaven, I create heaven in every moment of my life.’

17. The choice in our life is either we come from commitment or complaint. We have to decide that. Invariably we find people who are powerful are those who operate from commitment. And those who are powerless, always operate from complaint. One’s state of being will be powerful if one operates from commitment.

18. Another dimension one needs to add is to operate from selflessness. When we do something that is selfless, we find unknown forces mysteriously strengthen our hands. Pathanjali, a great Yogi says, ‘Do something good … be in the path of goodness, and… you will find forces that mysteriously help you.’

19. Understand that you are the creator of your suffering. This understanding will help you dissolve suffering. An unhappy person in heaven will convert even heaven into hell; a happy person can convert hell into heaven.” So, change is not required anywhere except within oneself.

20. There are two types of sufferings :- • Legitimate; • Illegitimate;  Legitimate suffering is sorrow that is proportionate to the situation. For example your son dies in an accident. This sorrow is valid. But if you continue worrying for more than one or two years, then there is a psychological aspect to it.  To handle legitimate sufferings, one should understand that such suffering is the result of your past deeds…Illegitimate suffering is suffering that is not proportionate to the situation. For example, somebody calls you a fool. You brood over it for days on end. It is this suffering that one can end through right thinking.

21. When your suffering is due to Karma, your past deeds, you have to understand that you are only repaying your debt.

22. Surrender is a leap from the ordinary to the sacred; from the logical to the cosmic. Surrender is like opening the third eye….

23. Surrender is in the realization that God gives me what I need more than what I want. Surrender is trust. Surrender is being open to life.

24. Mostly, tensions emerge from the way your mind languages your experience. For example, a student runs several miles and enjoys running but when it is made a punishment, running creates tension. Where does the tension come from? It is through the interpretations in one’s mind.

25. Observe a surfer…. the stronger the waves, the more does he enjoy it. He decides that he is going to enjoy the waves while surfing. When waves are strong, he is totally present in the moment. There are no interfering thoughts in him. In such space something in him makes him very alive to the life around him.

26. Learn to be in the present. Be aware of the present in total. There is joy being in the present. Do not get lost either in the past or future.

27. Learn to live from the ‘higher self’ and not from the ‘lower self.’ The ‘higher self’ encourages you, as it is filled with positiveness. The ‘lower self’ is an interfering self. It discourages you. It acts more like an obstacle.

28. Can my house be like that of a rich man? Or can my house be better than that of my neighbour? You are always lost in comparison. But life is simple. Ambitions make it complex. Only if you stop the greedy game of going ahead of others, can you be happy.

29. A meditative attitude is very different. Meditation awakens your awareness. Once your awareness is of high order, you realise the foolishness of comparison. You would not allow others’ success to define your failure. You would see the beauty of ‘what is’ and not get lost in ‘what should be.’

30. You would see the uniqueness of yourself. Everyone is unique. Everyone is incomparable. You would learn the art of seeing beauty even in imperfection. You would participate in the miracle of life than being busy in judging life. You would listen to the music of life. You would listen to the mantra of life or the song of life. Your listening would be with your heart. Without this inner and outer, music will not be heard. With this, your perception awakens to newer heights.

31. Commitment is the language of the wise; complaint is the language of the fools. Commitment is a responsibility and also includes accountability. In life, one should be responsible as well as accountable. Generally one takes responsibility without accountability; this weakens one’s being.

32. We have both - an actor and a thinker in us. Every time we lie, the thinker warns us that we are lying and the actor asks us to shut up and continue telling lies. In such a state, there is a split in our being — between the actor and the thinker. It is like riding a chariot with two horses, with the horses going in two different directions. Commitment creates integrity. In this state, it is easier to bring forth the excellence in our lives.

33. Excellence happens when there is love to grow and contribute.

34. Creativity occurs primarily through the power of intention. Intention is like sowing a seed in existence. Allow it to germinate. Allow the forces of nature to nurture life.

35. Commitment also involves dropping illusions. We do not see the world as it is. We see the world projected through our verbose minds.

36. When you are unhappy, there is a pay-off, People give you sympathy. When you are happy, you have to pay a price…. people feel jealous of you.

37. Since childhood you play this racket of getting attention. As you grow up this game continues. Have you seen beautiful girls? They tempt men and when a man falls for them, they push him aside and thus feel strong. This is called the ‘kiss me off racket.’ Men also use anger as a racket to protect their inner wound. Anger in such a case becomes a defence mechanism.

38. Rackets are manipulative games to seek attention. They are types of mental sickness. One’s psychological immune system becomes weak. Hence, one is prone to the path of wrong, like when one’s body’s immune system is weak; one is prone to an infection.

39. Become aware. Each time you are miserable, it is your choice. This is your game. You have some hidden agenda. If you see the foolishness of the hidden agenda, then you will drop it. It is like being tempted to eat excess sweets, but the moment you know it is harmful; you will not be tempted to eat them.

40. Buddha, Krishna and Jesus can still be communicated to, if only you are more meditative. Their ‘presence’ is never destroyed. Lord Krishna in the Gita says, ‘They are fools who consider me to be only the body.’ All great masters can be connected to, if you are more meditative. You need not be frustrated if you can’t meet your master. Be in silence. Ask your question in that space of silence and you get an answer not from the mind but from the beyond. You have to experience this. This is not a matter of logic; it is a matter of experience

41. Do we have likes and dislikes or do likes and dislikes have us? As unconscious beings, likes and dislikes control our lives. Conscious beings are masters of likes and dislikes. When likes and dislikes are under your control, they will serve you and in such a state, you are not messed up. Likes and dislikes are not the problem. However, do they control your life, or are you controlling them, is the real question.

(V.Vijayamohan)