Our own relationship with God

“Sir, do you know God?”, asked a curious seeker to a Saint.

With a pleasant smile on his face, the master replied, “Son, which God are you talking about? The God that lives in heaven up there or the God which is inside you or the God which is omnipresent or one of the God out of 360 Million Gods that our culture believes in or the God that other cultures believe in?”

With a confused face, the seeker raised his eyebrows in curiosity and gave a blank face. With a heart filled with compassion, the Saint continued,” Son, the word God doesn’t refer to something that can be easily conceived by any one of the five human senses. Hence, unlike other words that we use during communication, word God has its own meaning for each one of us. The meaning is subjective in nature and is dependent on the subject who is using this word.”

“There are two kinds of people in this world – the believers and the seekers. The first kind, just believe on the description given by a prophet or a messenger of God or by the parents or by the priests or by the society. With those set of preconceived notions and assumptions, such believers keep on strengthening those assumptions on the name of sect or religion. They form their own beliefs about God, in fact, I would say they borrow their beliefs from others and then keep on building upon it. Most of the people fall into this category. In the past, so many saints realized the great relationship with the Supreme being and attempted to describe to others. Believers totally believed those Saints and thought that we just have to follow them, imitate them and their words are the only way to realize the God.”

Living in Body consciousness vs Soul consciousness

On the last day of a spiritual retreat, Baba addressed a small group of devotees.

“We are not humans striving to have divine experiences, in fact we are all divine having these temporary human experiences. We are the Truth, we are the Sat-Chit-Shant Anand swarup pure Aatma (we are the eternal-Conscious-Peaceful-Blissful pure soul). This little change in your thought process will lead you a long way in your spiritual pursuit. Most of the seekers pursue their spiritual journey with an understanding that we are human and we need to strive to have divine experiences or divine blessings from God. This is body-consciousness. When you reverse this thought process and pursue the spiritual goal with an understanding that you are a divine soul and you have just worn this body temporarily to have some human experiences, then you begin to live in soul consciousness,”

True independence

US celebrates their independence day on 4^th of July. Indians celebrate their independence day on 15^th August. Similarly most of the countries in the world celebrate freedom in one form or other. The celebration of freedom signifies the deep inherent desire of every human being which doesn’t want to be controlled by any restrictions. Many of the fortunate societies have attained freedom from dictatorship or imperialism or other forms of suppression. But, let’s talk about the true freedom for an individual being.

The importance of rituals

A businessman invited the holy man during the inauguration prayer ceremonies on the opening ceremony of a new factory. Usually Baba don’t accept such invitations, but looking at the faith and devotion of the invitee, Baba agreed. On the day of Yagna ceremony, Baba reached before time and sat on the side quietly, while observing the happenings all around. At the set time priest came and performed the Yagna rituals while chanting Sanskrit mantras and left. Everyone left after a while, but the Baba keep sitting in his own bliss.

Once everyone left, the businessman came and sat next to Baba. Baba asked, “So, how did the Puja go?”

With a satisfying smile on his face, the invitee replied, “Sir, I am glad it is over without any hindrance. Everything went as per the plan. Now I feel relaxed.”

Baba started laughing and said, “Son, the purpose of this puja was to introduce you to the ever present peaceful blissful Divine within, while performing the puja. But it seems you are more peaceful after the puja. I have observed that before the puja and during the puja, you were quiet tense – ensuring all Samagri (materials required for Puja) is available, flowers are placed in correct manner, guest are being taken care of and other formalities. Priest came and chanted a few mantras on your behalf, performed all the rituals and you are thinking puja is done. Have you ever thought, what is the real purpose behind it?”

Deep Sleep and Meditation

A true seeker always keeps alive the spirit of inquisitiveness. One always wonders how is it that we feel rejuvenated after a few hours of deep sleep. What exactly happens during deep sleep? How is deep sleep different than dreaming state? Several people have researched about these questions in the western world and have written multiple books, but none of the theory could fully satisfy all the questions around the deep sleep.

All the theories to explain the workings of deep sleep  begins with an assumption that this world is real and we go to a state of deep sleep and then come back to this world. But the Yogis and Rishis of India says that it is the other way round – the deep peaceful, restful and blissful state of consciousness, that we call deep sleep, is the reality. Because of our body-mind-sense complex, the virtual multi-dimensional reality appears to be the real world temporarily and then again we go back to our original state. This world is what appears to be true temporarily because of the sensations carried by our five senses to the mind, and then it disappears.  In the middle, sometimes the mind keep working even without the active sensation from the senses and we call it a dreaming state. Eventually, after some time, even the mind settles down and we again enter into deep sleep. The seer, the consciousness, is always present.

Only your experiences comes for your rescue

A true seeker is a scientist of inner worked. He has to research on his own to find the presence of the true divine within, to realize the highest form of peaceful happiness within. One cannot be just dependent on the research performed by others or just read thesis written by others for the art of inner exploration. Learning from other’s experiences will help you, but totally relying on the experience on others won’t bring you closer to your own real Self. Inner divine exploration is more of an art rather than science. But it is very logical in nature and hence referred to as science also.

A master observed that a disciple has a lot of potential, but he is always engaged in reading scriptures, memorizing the hymns from the holy books and trying to impress others by rephrasing the knowledge that he gained from other sources. He observed that disciple is hardly spending any time in seclusion, sitting in meditation and performing Self analysis. Out of compassion, one morning master called the disciple to his room and said, “Son, sit here close to me. I want to tell you a story.”

For a true seeker, it’s light everywhere!

“Dear Sir, please guide us so that we can also see the divine presence of the almighty everywhere, just like you,” requested a seeker.

With a pleasant smile on his face, the holy man started with a short story, “It was dawn and darkness was about to engulf every corner of the house. The master of the house called the servant, Ramu and instructed, 

“just go with these lanterns in every corner of the house and place it where ever you see the dark.” Ramu placed the lantern on his head and went from room to room and returned after a while. “Sir, there is no corner in the house with darkness. The whole house is already lighted up.”

“Similarly, son, the true seeker can see the presence of divine in each and every being while carrying the lantern of divine inner wisdom. Because of the presence of the lighted intellect, a true seeker never judges others. In fact, he tries to see the presence of divine, positive qualities in others.”

Sab jag Ishwar roop hai, bhala bura nahi koi I

Jaisi jiski bhavna, tesa hi fal hoi II

Whole world is manifestation of the God, there is no good no bad, 

As is your attitude, so is the results of your actions (on your inner existence).

Treat your stay in this world like a hotel

Saints are filled with compassion and always try to give easy keys to open the inner locks. A holy Baba visited a village and villagers offered him to live in a Dharamshala (olden day’s hotel). That evening all the villagers gathered around the holy Baba with an expectation to hear a few words of wisdom.

Pleased with the service and love offered by the villagers, the holy Baba said, “Let me give you an easy key that will help you alleviate your seeking to next level and will enhance inner peace.”

The villagers sat down quietly and with inquisitive ears started listening to the Saint. Baba said, “Treat this world as if you are visiting a huge endless hotel and you are renting it for a short while. One day, we all have to leave everything and move on. While living in this hotel, we can make use of all the facilities with gratitude, but nothing belongs to us. We cannot even carry a small needle with us to the next journey. We can mingle with other companions, but always remember that they are also the travelers like us. We are staying together for a short life, and then everyone will move on to their own journey.”

Natural means of a healthy body and happy mind

A seeker of true happiness treats the body as a temple of the divine spirit. A healthy body helps in keeping the mind happy and a healthy mind keeps the body healthy. Along with this, a healthy body and a happy mind, together helps the being to realize the divinity within.

God has provided us with a lot of natural means to keep the sanctity of this bodily temple. The body is made up of five basic elements – earth, ether, water, fire and space. The sages of India realized thousands of years ago that by maintaining the proper balance of these five basic elements, one can live a healthy and happy life. Let’s analyze how easily we can make use of these natural health tips for leading a happy life.