Self Created Cage

If you clearly examine our present times, people are fancied by the idea of becoming rich, gaining power and having popularity. But in reality all these ideas are created by whom?

All these are created by the people and now they are chasing their own fancied ideas.

Does the pursuit of these goals have any true meaning?

Is this life?

Is it worth wasting our valuable life chasing artificially created desires?

When we were born we had nothing. We came empty handed. When we die we will have nothing. We go empty handed. And in this short life the basic necessity that a person requires is food to fill his stomach, few clothes to cover his body, a small place to live. Keeping apart what people's beliefs are if you see in reality these are the only few basic essential requirements that a person requires for his survival.

Why should we not live in contentment with just enough to fulfill reasonably the few needs imposed by nature, devoting the time we could save thereby to the acquirement of assets of a permanent nature, which would be with us forever, a lasting ornament to the unchanging eternal Self in us instead of serving merely to glorify the flesh?

The real measure of a man's wealth is what he has invested in eternity

Think about it.

Is this all there is to life - going to work, making money, eating, watching TV and sleeping?

Or is there some thing we are missing or we are not seeing and we are ignorant.

What is the difference between us and animals then? Are we not living blindly like animals in our self created cage?

Photo source: courtesy h.koppdelaney @ flickr.com

Authored by GANDHARV

           

Stress Buster

Simple Technique to calm your mind. Every effective stress buster.


The technique mentioned below acts as a foundation for all other breathing techniques. This technique is also called slow deep breathing or full breathing or complete breathing.


Sit comfortably in a cross-legged position on the floor or lie flat on your back in the Corpse pose. Place a cushion under the buttocks if you need more support when sitting on the floor. Hands may be relaxed by the sides or you may place one hand on the abdomen and the other on the rib cage to check that you are breathing correctly. Inhaling slowly through the nose, feel the abdomen expand first, then the rib cage, and finally feel the air filling the upper chest. Your abdomen will automatically be drawn in as the ribs move out and chest expands. Slowly exhale, emptying the lungs from top to bottom. Your shoulders and head should stay essentially in the same position throughout; don't raise your shoulders on the inhale or slouch forward on the exhalation. Your inhalation and exhalation should be about the same length of time. Do not hold your breath either at the top or the bottom of the breath but make the transition smooth. Repeat five times.  


Benefits: This is the technique you will probably use most often to combat the tensions and stress in your life. You can use it anywhere, anytime to calm your mind and help quiet physical responses to stress - rapid heartbeat and breathing, and tense muscles. Use this technique to center yourself before your meditation and before asana practice to make them even more effective.


Note- You can also sit on chair but remember that your back should be straight.

Super-natural

What seems obvious is not always the truth. Often truth lies concealed in the shadows, just out of reach of our keenest gaze.

Everything is Super – natural in its true form, only we are not aware of this.

People have coined the term supernatural since they don’t understand the laws behind it. A farmer who sees a mobile for the first time and comes to know that he can talk with people in distant lands through the mobile it is a supernatural thing for him. He feels it is a miracle. Similarly an advance science can be supernatural. This world is full of mysteries.

What is not a mystery? Birth is mystery. Death is a mystery. Laws that govern are a mystery. Life itself is a mystery.

Gravity always existed before man discovered it and it continues to exist even if man were to forget it. Just like gravity existed even before its discovery, similarly are the laws governing the universe. They exist irrespective of man’s discovery. These laws don’t depend on any person’s belief or perception. They are the building blocks of nature. They bring order in chaos.

Just like there are natural laws similarly there are spiritual laws. Everyone is aware of natural laws up to some extent but very few who have tried and explored the nature of their Self have discovered spiritual laws.

Now you must be wondering what this spiritual law is and why it is necessary for us to seek to know them.

The laws that govern the spirit are known as spiritual laws. It is necessary for us to know them because we are spirit embodied in this body. Our body is just a vehicle. Just like we change our clothes when it is dirty similarly we change our body when the body loses the capacity to hold the spirit or when the spirit finishes its allotted life span in that body. Spirit is also known as soul or atma in a living being. All the knowledge that a soul has learnt in its long journey (many lives) is stored in it. There are ways to access this knowledge. It is for this reason that knowledge of Self is known as Mother of Wisdom or it is also known as Brahmavidya, by realizing which, it changes his/her life forever.


Authored by GANDHARV

Self Excellence

On this path effort never goes to waste, and there is no failure. Even a little effort toward spiritual awareness will protect you from the greatest fear.

--Bhagavad Gita

Every person goes through different stages of transformation and understanding. Just because a person does not always behave in a mature manner does not mean he is immature and dull. Every person has the power in him to change himself. He has the power in him to learn from his mistakes and implement them in his life. He can become a good person. He can become a pure soul – a holy soul. He has the ability to master himself to self perfection. Self mastery is the key. Meditation is the way. This world is like a playground where we give our best performance from the learning’s that we have acquired in our journey. There is nothing in life which can stop a person from realizing the true potential of what he is.

There is a saying that goes “Anything in life that is really worth is worth working for”. Every person gets what he seeks if he really works towards it. Listed here are a few pointers towards working on self-

1. Listen, keep your mind open to all ideas and what others have to say, reason it and take your own individual decision.
2. Express your thoughts only when required and think clearly before you speak or any action (Action – consequences).
3. Continuous sharpening of communication skills helps to express clearly and put your point across.
4. Consciously self introspecting about the actions and speech and working on building good and noble character traits.
5. Don’t advice until asked for.
6. Don’t expect others to behave the way you want. Value and respect their feels and their way of life. Don’t try to control other person’s life for your desires or expectations. His/ her life is their own and has the freedom to lead it the way they want it.
7. Should not have an attitude of “I know everything”.
8. Work on self mastery, to have complete control on one self’s thoughts and emotions. Don’t work for self excellence because you want to show off in front of others or because others want. Do it because you want to attain the highest perfection and want to be the purest of purest soul. 

Authored by GANDHARV 

Love & Smile

We should not differentiate between people based on the work they do. He may be a CEO, software engineer, a clerk, peon or a toilet cleaner - at the end of the day each person is a human being. Everyone should be treated equally without differentiation.

GOD sees people as they are inside, not for what they do.

This world is a beautiful creation, where it is meant to be filled with love and happiness. Love is the very nature of the soul. Without love the soul dies and the world would too.

Every person wants to be loved. When you love a person without seeking anything in return or without any expectations, such a love is said to be unconditional love. Here you love a person because you love. When you do this and when you smile everything changes around you. You create a strong vibration of love and positive field around you. People start responding to you nicely, nature starts responding to you. It has been found by scientists that even plants respond when you love the plant and nurture it. And if you have pets you can understand what I am saying.

You feel good when you love whole heartedly. At the same time when people reciprocate you feel overjoyed but we should not worry about whether they reciprocate or not.  One day or the other they will reciprocate. This is the beauty of love. Have you ever wondered why people like to love small babies and to play with them? It is because babies smile and love everyone around them without differentiation.

Authored by GANDHARV

The 4th State

Dream is such a beautiful phenomenon - when we dream we don’t realize that it is not reality. We only come to know this when we wake up. In that state we experience and act as if we are living that particular dream. Each night we don’t go to bed with a story in our head, but our mind is so creative it creates a new story each time we go to sleep. Some dreams are pleasant and some may be scary. It is a world of its own reality. This is just a clue from nature how reality can alter and can make a person believe what he is experiencing as reality.

How many people have tried to figure out the secrets of Maya of this very existence and have found the truth of reality?

When we start to discover our self and world of reality in which we are living we come across so many questions and one gets lost in them. One such fundamental and curious phenomenon we experience is the states of reality. We all are aware and have experienced 3 states of reality namely, dreams, deep sleep: no dream state and waking state. Almost all our entire life, at any point of time, we can be found in either one of these three states. We would not have given much thought to it and would be busy in the daily rat race of life: Eat- Work – Sleep

Our scriptures say there is one more state of reality: Super conscious state. Westerners call it as Christ consciousness and easterners refer it to as Krishna consciousness or Awakened state or Transcendental consciousness. We are not "consciously" aware of this fourth state in the normal course of living. However, in certain moments that can only be described as sublime, we get a hint of this fourth state which exists within us, which is all ours to explore.

It is also called “turiya” experience of pure awareness.

“The fourth state of consciousness is beyond the states of waking, dreaming and deep sleep and stringing together all the states; the Metaphysical Consciousness distinct from the psychological or empirical self; the Saksi or witnessing consciousness; the transcendental Self”.

                                                                                                            --Wikipedia

Yoga is meant to lead a person towards this direction, to experience the Truth as it is. Experience is the only direct way of understanding the truth. Without experience everything seems like a concept or a notion. The question here is how many are ready to come out of the rat race of life and know for themselves the reality of truth? If they are not experiencing this state of existence then they are missing the truth of life.


Authored by GANDHARV

Character

A man shapes pottery as it turns on a wheel

Native American Pottery

Creating a vessel from clay is an ancient art. Since the beginning potters have come out with some priceless vessels that have withstood the test of time. Each step in the overall pottery process is an art in itself, the glazing process, firing techniques, preparing the clay and shaping process. Now you must be wondering why I am talking about art of pottery making? Character is similar to this process. It is how we mould our self to become perfect.


It has been said that CHARACTER is the foundation for all true success. A person may have money, position, or power, but unless he has "good" character he or she is not considered to be truly successful.

So, in the full knowledge that there may be other just as valid lists of character traits, I am presenting below one list that has been very helpful to me.

List of Character Traits

1. Alertness - Being aware of what is taking place around me so I can have the right responses.

2. Attentiveness - Showing the worth of a person or task by giving my undivided concentration. 

3. Availability - Making my own schedule and priorities secondary to the wishes of those I serve. 

4. Benevolence - Giving to others basic needs without having as my motive personal reward. 

5. Boldness - Confidence that what I have to say or do is true, right, and just. 

6. Cautiousness - Knowing how important right timing is in accomplishing right actions. 

7. Compassion - Investing whatever is necessary to heal the hurts of others. 

8. Contentment - Realizing that true happiness does not depend on material conditions. 

9. Creativity - Approaching a need, a task, or an idea from a new perspective. 

10. Decisiveness - The ability to recognize key factors and finalize difficult decisions. 

11. Determination - Purposing to accomplish right goals at the right time, regardless of the opposition. 

12. Diligence - Investing my time and energy to complete each task assigned to me. 

13. Discernment - Understanding the deeper reasons why things happen. 

14. Discretion - Recognizing and avoiding words, actions, and attitudes that could bring undesirable consequences. 

15. Endurance - The inward strength to withstand stress and do my best. 

16. Enthusiasm - Expressing joy in each task as I give it my best effort. 

17. Faith - Confidence that actions rooted in good character will yield the best outcome, even when I cannot see how. 

18. Flexibility - Willingness to change plans or ideas when necessary.

19. Forgiveness - Clearing the record of those who have wronged me and not holding a grudge. Letting go.

20. Generosity - Carefully managing my resources so I can freely give to those in need. 

21. Gentleness - Showing consideration and personal concern for others. 

22. Gratefulness - Letting others know by my words and actions how they have benefited my life. 

23. Honor - Respecting each other 

24. Hospitality - Cheerfully sharing food, shelter, or conversation to benefit others. 

25. Humility - Acknowledging that achievement results from the investment of others in my life. 

26. Initiative - Recognizing and doing what needs to be done before I am asked to do it. 

27. Joyfulness - Maintaining a good attitude, even when faced with unpleasant conditions. 

28. Justice - Taking personal responsibility to uphold what is pure, right, and true. 

29. Loyalty - Using difficult times to demonstrate my commitment to those I serve. 

30. Meekness - Yielding my personal rights and expectations with a desire to serve. 

31. Obedience - Quickly and cheerfully carrying out the direction of those who are responsible for me. 

32. Orderliness - Arranging myself and my surroundings to achieve greater efficiency. 

33. Patience - Accepting a difficult situation without giving a deadline to remove it. 

34. Persuasiveness - Guiding vital truths around another's mental roadblocks. 

35. Punctuality - Showing esteem for others by doing the right thing at the right time. 

36. Resourcefulness - Finding practical uses for that which others would overlook or discard. 

37. Responsibility - Knowing and doing what is expected of me. 

38. Security - Structuring my life around that which cannot be destroyed or taken away. 

39. Self-Control - Rejecting wrong desires and doing what is right. 

40. Sensitivity - Perceiving the true attitudes and emotions of those around me. 

41. Sincerity - Eagerness to do what is right with transparent motives. 

42. Thoroughness - Knowing what factors will diminish the effectiveness of my work or words if neglected. 

43. Thriftiness - Allowing myself to spend only what is necessary. 

44. Tolerance - Realizing that everyone is at varying levels of character development. 

45. Truthfulness – Walking on the path of truth. 

46. Virtue - The moral excellence evident in my life as I consistently do what is right. 

47. Wisdom - Seeing and responding to life situations from a perspective that transcends my current circumstances.

Authored by GANDHARV