Here, we share with you straight from our hearts our personal encounters and experiences, views and perspectives on life and beyond, and how they have transformed after meeting Paramahamsa Nithyananda! It is an opportunity to say Thank You to our Master for the most beautiful journey that we have embarked on - the journey within! - Ma and Sri Nithya Arpanananda
"Vasudaiva Kutumbakam", this is how Swamiji described the organizers' meet that was held in the ashram on Sunday. There was something special about this organizers' meet. Usually it is attended by organizers from ashrams around India. But, thanks to Inner Awakening program, organizers from countries around the world were all assembled in the hall along with the Indian organizers. This rarely happens. The 1000 over centers (including ashrams) were represented on this one single day.
One statement that was so blissful to hear from the Master was this:
"You see: here there are people from different countries, cultures, traditions. People with different academic and economical qualifications have come here for a common cause. Someone who does not understand English at all is sitting comfortably with those who understand nothing else but English.
This is what I call Vasudaiva Kutumbakam."
It was such a blissful moment for us to see that all of us had no barriers between us. There was one common thread running within us - Nithyananda, the Master who has taught us how to be in eternal bliss every moment.
Tens of thousands of people saying one thing: I have forgotten the last time I was in low mood or depressed, is a testimony to the deep inner transformation He has made us undergo. He has shown us how to live and this congregation was our gratitude to Him.
Devotion to the Master has bound us as one single entity. Love for the One who taught us how to be in eternal bliss (rather than just giving us bliss) has strung us into one garland. Thank you, Master for every thing.
I will leave you with this video on how our inner transformation directly leads to Global Peace.
After a long break, we're back. Sincere apologies to our readers for the spell of absense. After an exciting 2 days of Swamiji's program in SIngapore, we're now at Bidadi Ashram, our home. You will see more regular updates from us henceforth about our experiences here and the exciting things that are happening.
So much to say, yet nothing to say - that's how I feel if you ask me to explain what it is like to be in Bidadi Ashram. The rich Vedic lifestyle at the Ashram makes us wonder whether we are living in the 21st century or in the Vedic age, thousands of years ago. A few words in attempt to capture the Ashram lifesyle - refreshing early morning sessions at the break of dawn with Yoga, meditation, puja (prayer) and Sanskrit chanting, traditional costumes (of sarees, dhotis), ananda seva (blissful service), deities in breathtaking decorations at the temple, moments of deep reflection under the ancient banyan tree, guidance of a living enlightened Master, sattvic/Yogic food, international family with people from all sorts of backgrounds and cultures living blissfully together, dips at the healing pond with energised water, library with rich spiritual literature...... literally a Vedic renaissance happening right in front of us! And what a blessing to be part of it.
Let me tell you an incident which Swamiji speaks about in one of the discourses.
'A young devotee came to Swamiji for some counseling. He was telling the Master about how much he likes a girl and the girl is not reciprocating. This has become the biggest problem in his life. He has not been able to do his work. He is constantly thinking about that girl etc. etc. The Master was just listening to the whole thing.
After a few minutes, someone called this person and informed him about some litigation problem with his house. For the next few hours, the devotee was making phone calls and busy resolving it and after he was done with it, he went to the Master. Swamiji told him, "Did you see what was happening within you? Few hours back, the biggest problem in your life was your love life and in the last four hours you did not even think about it." '
Swamiji says, "All our emotions, our thoughts are just like waves. One thought or emotion comes like a wave, to be swept away or absorbed by a bigger wave."
If we look back into our lives, all our emotions or thoughts are so momentary. Be it worry, stress, guilt, pain or happiness, everything comes, stays in our inner space for a short while before being engulfed by a stronger emotion. Within a few minutes, we would have gone through a big rollercoaster of emotions. Every emotion seems big and important till it is escapes into another emotion.
It is amazing how we constantly want to hold on to these thoughts and emotions. Swamiji says, "By nature, we are actually renouncing every moment. We renounce thoughts and emotions every moment."
The problem is we choose to create, maintain and destroy thoughts. Instead of just watching them and letting them go, we go into the dustbin and pick the rags saying, 'Oh, this a good rag. Oh this is bad one.' We fail to see that every in the dustbin is still waste and of no use.
Swamiji's technique of unclutching is all about watching and witnessing our emotions and thoughts rather than connecting them to form a long convoluted chain.
Imagine the liberation one can have if we can just relax and watch those emotions/thoughts just like a movie. Enjoy these video:
I am not from Mumbai. I had never been to Mumbai but I just love the city. The whole city of Mumbai is in floods now. And its not just this year, but every year when the monsoon hits India in the month of July, Mumbai is drowned. Whether it is a chaiwallah's (tea selling vendor's) shop on the road side or the posh bungalows of some of highest tax paying actors like Amitabh Bachchan, everything is flooded with rain water. Not just Mumbai, every place in India it is the same.
But life goes on in India... When I was going through some of these news articles, its just too amazing to see people having a cup of tea with their pants rolled up till their knees and sitting in a coffeeshop with rain water till their knees. Its just too amazing to see the spirit of people pulling bicycles with one hand and holding their sandals in the other; to see people hanging on to the holding rails of the crowded subarban railway trains of Mumbai and the train cutting through flooded railway tracks.
Whether it is rain or terrorism or earthquake, cities like Mumbai have shown that - life just goes on.
Yeah, many people might be cribbing about the poor infrastructure, hygiene etc. etc. but there are many more people who just take life as it comes. That is the beauty.
When we went for Varanasi trip with Swamiji, we were all waiting for train from Bhubaneswar to Kolkata at Bhubaneswar station. The train was delay by about two hours. We all (300 of us) sat down on the railway platform. Swamiji also happily settled down on platform with a turban on his head and asked us, "How many of you are irritated with delay and this waiting?" He paused for a while and said, "Even if you are irritated, nothing can be done. Just relax and enjoy."
Swamiji says, "We can always see things in two ways. One: we can see what is wrong, how things can go wrong and always be engulfed in fear and worry. Second: we can see everything that is happening as auspicious and just flow with whatever is there in this moment."
Our fears arise because of our expectations and fantasies about what is really there in this moment. Those people in Mumbai can feel terrible about the whole thing by seeing how their expectations and fantasies are not being met. Or, they can be just flowing with what they have right now.
Living life by the moment and strongly believing what is happening is auspicious is the best possible option that any of us has. In fact our fears due to our fantasies and expectations always creates a thread of negativity constantly running in us. If we see in our lives, even if something good (according to our definition) happens, the first thought that comes is that of fear as to how long will this happiness last. It is not about gratitude or pure joy; its about fear. That negativity in turn attracts negative events in our lives. This becomes a vicious cycle.
It need not be as big as our homes getting flooded. It can be as simple as some issue at office or home. We have the right to decide: do I want to get worried and scared, or shall I just see what really is there and work on it. The choice is ours. Enjoy this video
Swami Vivekananda in one of his speeches once said "I am one of the proudest men ever born , but let me tell you frankly .It is not for myself , but on account of my ancestry .The more I have studied the past , the more I have looked back , more and more this pride come to me , and it has given me the strength and courage of conviction ,raised me from the dust of the earth , and set me working out that great plan laid out by those great ancestors of ours."
The Vedic culture that many Indians take for granted sometimes is one of the most precious gifts we are born with, as Indians. We simply take for granted the spiritual atmosphere we are brought up with. The chants that reverberate in many Indian homes, traditional sarees worn by the elderly ladies in the house, the kolam on freshly watered frontyards (designs made with flour), the fresh mango leaves that are used for decorating the entrances, the prayer alters/rooms dedicated for prayers, the evening bhajans that are played during sunset.... we take all this for granted.
It's not just taking it for granted, many so-called "modern" youth even dislike all this, in the name of blind belief or "too traditional!". Probably it's because the modern minds do not understand the science behind all this or probably because the western comforts seem too luring in front of these traditional rituals.
It is however interesting that the west is now slowly openly acknowledging the ancient Vedic wisdom. When a bunch of US guys started selling bottles of energised water in the brand name H2OM (more about H2OM here), then the word is all awed by it, including media and impactful channels like Time. In the link above, you can even see a list of celebrities posing with the bottles of H2OM water. They even have different bottles for energising different "Chakras". This is based on the scientific studies by Dr. Masuro Emoto on the effect of chants and other emotions on samples of water.
Now, if we sit back and see - the Kumbha Melas (the largest gathering of humanity on Planet Earth that can be captured by satellite images) have been happening from thousads of years based on the same concept of water being energised by the vibrations and energy of many spiritual masters meeting on the banks of the holy rivers. Infact this is why rivers like Ganga, although polluted externally are still considered "holy" and daily prayers are offered to them. Swamiji is restoring this lost spirit of the Vedic lifestyle back into the world. He says "Bharat (India) is not just a geographical piece of land, but a lifestyle. So all those leading this lifestyle are Indians". True to His words, He is giving an opportunity for people from various countries and backgrounds an opportunity to experience and live this beautiful Vedic lifestyle that is slipping away from our hands. In His recent stunning program Life Bliss Engineering (LBE), one can see young pariticpants from world over enthusiastically participating in a range of activities starting from Vedic rituals, Sanskrit chanting, Vedic Astrology, Yoga to learning how to wear the Vedic costume of saree/dhoti, making flower garlands for deities, putting kolam etc. They are taught not just the science behind each of them, but are made to experience these truths in the energy field of living enlightened master. They are not mere rituals but techniques for enligthenment.
When we visited the Bidadi Ashram for Guru Purnima, we could see the faces of the LBE participants glowing and radiant, soaked in bliss. If you get a chance to attend the next LBE, please don't miss it. More details about the LBE program here: http://www.dhyanapeetam.org/web/international_LBE_1.asp
Last weekend, the Nithya Youth group in Singapore had it's first activity - 'bowling in bliss' by the beachside. After the bowling was done, the group sat down and each one started to share his/her experience with the master. It was such a treat to see each one narrate their stories with the master with a sparkle in their eyes and a smile of gratitude.
Nobody was ready to leave. After the experience sharing session, we sat talking about the master for hours and nobody was bothered about looking at the watch. This is our favorite meditation - to talk about the Master and His glories. When the divine lands on planet earth, that too with such energy, grace, majesty, innocence, compassion, mysticism, and much more.. that too all of these together.. who can resist talking about Him? I can't recall how many night outs we have done just talking/listening about our beloved Swamiji, especially when we have special visitors from the ashram.
I would like to share a very sweet incident that happened during the NSP program that we attended with Swamiji recently in Malaysia. One of Swamiji's senior disciples was sharing miraculous experiences with the master as experienced by the many devotees worldwide. It was so amazing to listen to each incident - how the divine has rescued so many lives in so many mysterious ways. Not only that, how the divine has showered out of compassion on so many souls... it was very touching to listen to the whole narration. Everyone in hall sat there melted, listening with awe.
All this was happening during the breaks as the main sessions were conducted personally by Swamiji. Now, it was time for Swamiji to arrive into the hall, but the intense narration of the Master's glories were going on inside. Swamiji sent word that He will be arriving soon, but the disciple whom He sent also sat in the hall enjoying the master's glories. Vat to do! Now, Swamiji had no choice but to open the door to enter the hall. He later jokingly shared with us how He had opened the door to enter, but then the Master Himself decided to quietly listen to the leela - the glories of the divine expressing though Him. :)
(This also goes to show how He Himself does not connect with the body, but to the cosmos which is expressing through the 6-feet frame of Nithyananda! When He said that, it reminded us of an incident in Ramana's life, when he used to join his own devotees singing the glories of Ramana. When asked, He used to reply 'Why are you reducing the infinite energy Ramana to this body? Just like my devotees are enjoying Ramana's glories, I am enjoying too!'. )
The Bhagavata is the beautiful narration of the glories of Krishna and about the incidents in Krishna's life. For those connected to the divine in Krishna's form, it can be the sweetest thing ever to just meditate on the divine stories - Krishna as a child, Krishna as a cowherd, Krishna as a beloved to the Gopis, Krishna as a friend to Arjuna, Krishna as the savior to Draupadi. One experiences the peak of the various bhavas, divine emotions when listening to the these incidents.
Just like that, we are all witnessing in our own eyes, the divine singing and dancing with all of us, expressing its full glory in multi-dimensions. We now understand the ecstacy that the Gopis used to experience just by the very thought of the master. Thank You Swamiji for being with us, We absolutely love you.
The last one week has been one of the best times that many of us here in Singapore had ever experienced in our lives. Two bus loads of people attended the second level meditation program - Nithyananda Spurana Program (NSP) conducted by the Master in Malaysia. To say, "We were completely blown away in bliss", is an understatement. Each one of the 65 people and the rest of the 500 other people who had come to attend NSP, some of us second timers in NSP, were lost in ecstasy. Nithyananda's energy possessed us for those four days in the midst of beautiful tropical rain forests of Bukit Tinggi in Malaysia. The bliss is still ringing within us.
The meditations were like nuclear missiles thrown at each of us. Every session ended with deep silence in our inner core. Every statement made by the Master pierced through each one of us, such were the strength of His words. And these are not words. When I say there was silence, there was utter silence. After some specific meditations, it was as if everything has been churned within us, inside out. Every thing seemed new and fresh.
NSP is a program when the Master works on each one of us to erase our samskaras or engraved memories. He lets us see for ourselves how our samskaras are living our lives and how they ultimately take charge during our death also making it a painful process. This is the program where the Master helps us take charge not only of our lives but our death also. He gives us a new life.
Swamiji says, "Even if you don't attend any other program, it is ok. But attend one NSP. That will do its work. After that even if you don't remember me or meditation, you will leave peacefully. If you meditate, you will live and leave blissfully."
At the end of the program, there was only one thing that was on our minds - what compassion. What is the need for Him to do all this? Why should He spend His energy and time on our enlightenment, on our liberation? Why should He constantly remind us of our true nature?
It is His compassion. The all-compassionate Cosmic Mother is expressing through that six-feet frame called Nithyananda. She wants us to reach Her. She wants us to understand She is always with us and She is expressing through Nithyananda.
Swamiji made a beautiful statement during this NSP. He said, "I use this body to connect with you. You also use this body to connect with Me."
Our intellect of course will start its process - questioning, doubting, thinking, speculating. For once, if you drop it and look in, you will see for yourself: why millions of people who are with the Master are so blissfully dancing; why inner core of millions of people is unperturbed by the external roller coaster?
There is always some kind of fear associated with spirituality and meditation. Many people just don't talk about it; these words are tabooed just like the word - death. If I try to bring up this topic with some of my friends, they simply change the topic. They do not want to even speak about it, forget even thinking of trying some meditation.
Why is that so? Many of us have notions about spirituality and meditation. They have been associated with renunciation, people leaving homes and becoming wanderers and sanyasis.
Actually our fear is not about spirituality or enlightened masters. I know of many people, who enjoy reading spiritual books but when it comes to applying them to their own lives, they just back off. That means spiritual truths actually echo with us; they have to because they are meant to echo with everyone's being.
If that is the case, why the fear?
Our actual fear is that of our identity. Spirituality shakes the roots of our notions about our identity. All along our lives, we have been made to believe by society, parents, friends, school, teachers etc. that we are this, we are so and so, we should have this, we should do this ... Spirituality shakes this very belief. Our identity which was based on the external objects be it animate like our family, or inanimate like our possessions, is questioned by spirituality and enlightened masters.
The same is the case with enlightened masters. We resonate with the truths uttered by the masters but there is a deep sense of fear, especially with living Masters. History shows how people condemned masters when they were in their bodies. Buddha was stone pelted, Ramakrishna was called a mad man, Jesus was crucified ... But now, Buddhism is a religion, Ramakrishna Matt is one of the largest spiritual organization ... We fear loss of our identity especially with living masters as they can straightaway work on us.
Paramahamsa Nithyananda says, 'Spirituality is all about exploding in 360 degrees, in all your dimensions. It makes one tap all the energies present in oneself to enjoy both external and internal worlds. It takes away your false identities and lets you realize your true identity - bliss. An enlightened master is an instrument to show you that truth. The body language and the life of an enlightened master radiates that energy.'
From experiences of thousands of disciples of my Master, including my own, what Nithyananda says is the truth. Spirituality makes life a beautiful process every moment. Just remembering these spiritual truths and the face of the Master pulls us out of low mood (if any) and keep us alive and bubbling with energy. Our Master has given us a glimpse that we do not need these external entities to define us and our state of being. He has shown us that we are "bliss" irrespective. He has surely shaken the roots of our false identity and shown us our core.
What insurance company, which million-dollar job, which millionaire... can guarantee me this life-long bliss??? Think over it.
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa very beautifully quotes a story of a little child busily playing with its toys. The mother knows that even if she calls her child at this point, the child would not bother, because the toys are most dear at that point in time. The toys are the very life of the child. The mother gets busy in the kitchen and doesn't even see the child, because she knows the child does not need her attention. But she waits for her child to call her.
After a while the child gets bored with the toys, it starts to look here and there in search of the mother. Now the mother throws a glance at the child. After a while, the child gets very anxious that it can't find its mother and starts to wail and cry its heart out. Of course, this time the mother comes running and carries the child in her arms.
He goes on to say that this is exactly how our relationship with God is. When we are busy with our toys, we can't be bothered about God or enlightenment. Well, like Swamiji says, instead of small toy cars, we are busy with biggers ones, that's all! Money, bank balance, car, house, family... these are the toys we get immersed in, so much so, that we forget our Mother. We cry over these toys, get stressed up, worried and what not!
She knows that if she comes when we are busy playing, we will only treat Her as a disturbance. So She waits patiently for us to look at Her.
After many lives, when these toys no longer interest us.. when a sense of understanding dawns upon us that we have been playing with the same toys, life after life... a sudden awakening happens.. to search for Her, to search the divine. Because that is where we belong, that is whom we should be calling upon. But until we are ready, the Mother leaves us alone. She knows we don't need Her :)
Sometimes, the Mother out of Her compassion sends a wake up call because she knows that if she leaves us alone, we will take ages to realize that we have been caught up with the toys! She sends living enlightened Masters again and again to wake us up. This awakening or realization is the greatest gift one can ever have!
Imagine the freedom that results when you realize that you have been crying over something so vain, so petty! Suddenly all the so-called worries, sorrows drop, because we now know the space we came from. We now understand our true source, our true nature.
Thank you Master for bestowing this awakening on us. What compassion! Blessed are we....
Recently, I received an email from a friend of mine showing pictures of pollution of river Ganga. He was asking the question - "How can people go and take a dip in this and consider it holy when it is so polluted?"
Last year I was on a pilgrimage to North India with our Master. We went to Dakshineswar, Varanasi, Allahabad and other places which are on the banks of Ganga. We took a dip in Ganga and also collected a good few ml of Ganga water in a small plastic bottle (the normal 250 ml disposable water bottles). I got back home and placed that bottle in our meditation room and forgot about it.
This was a 15 day tour and after fifteen days when I got back to my office, I saw that before leaving for the trip, I had left some drinking water in my water bottle (Nalgene brand, considered one of the best water bottle makers) on my desk. And now it had caught green algae.
This year in April, when I was shifting home, I removed that small plastic bottle with Ganga water and saw that the water intact: no algae, nothing.
I remember seeing a similar thing in many places. Ganga water never gets affected, however long you keep it, in whatever container you keep it.
Science is still unable to understand how this is possible. It is still trying to find out, how despite being one of the most polluted river, the water seems to be unaffected even after keeping it for such long periods of time. How is it that thousands of people take bath and do what not in it, and yet nobody seems to be affected.
Some questions have no logical answers - river Ganga is a perfect example and testimony to this statement.
Paramahamsa Nithyananda says, "You might have heard about Dr. Emoto's experiment where he used to emote some emotions to few ml of water everyday and at the end on crystallization, emotions like love and gratitude showed beautiful crystals but ugly emotions showed ugly crystals.
"Imagine, on the banks of these rivers, hundreds of thousands of masters, sages, seekers and devotees are constantly radiating positive emotions that of gratitude and love. Chanting is done on the banks of these rivers. These chants have positive vibrations. They are constantly being radiated in and around these rivers. If one person's thoughts for few minutes a day can affect few ml of ordinary water, imagine the effect of hundreds of thousands of peoples' thoughts 24x7, 365 days a year on these waters."
Such is the effect of our thoughts. They are the ones that decide how good or bad our outer world is. We come across people who are living with bare minimum things in their lives, yet living a contended life. But most people despite having everything and that too in excess are always in depression.
I remember of another incident in this regard. Two friends of mine attended the same program in India. One came back and said, "It was such a big pain. Everything was bad, the accommodation, the food... it was so hot, it was so smelly...." The other said, "Amazing... I can't comprehend the amazing organization of the event. Everything was perfect. For 3000 people, they did everything so perfectly.. food, accomodation .. everything."
The same external event but two different reactions. Paramahamsa Nithyananda says, "Your inner blueprint decides your outer world. If you are blissful inside, you will see everything as bliss. If you are struggling inside, if you are violent inside, everything outside looks violent and ugly."
Our awareness to look into ourselves decides the external world outside us. It could be blissful, ever compassionate and pure Ganga or dirty and polluted Ganga - it depends on us (our blueprint) how we see it.
In the previous post, we wrote about the holiday our friend was going to embark on, full of uncertainties ahead. In this post, let us see why we like to take holidays in the first place. Nowadays, it's trendy to be planning out vacations to exotic places with family/friends and hence the number of travel fairs, budget airlines, newspaper ads etc etc. What is it that makes us feel drawn to the idea of a "vacation"?
The first sad truth is that we are looking at the slightest opportunity to run away from our life, our daily routine. We have become so mechanical with our lives, we literally treat our body as a machine and each day as just another day. No wonder it feels "the same old job", "same old house", "same old family" etc. We have lost the essence. We have become dead. We have stopped seeing each day as a fresh day, each moment as a new moment. This is why we have lost the spirit to live our lives and it's no wonder we want a break.
As our Master says, when we infuse "spirit", even a "ritual" comes to life, this is "spi-rit-uality". Without the spirit, even spirituality becomes just another ritual.
Secondly, our true nature is that of freedom, without any bondages, without any conditioning, without any limitations. We are limitless energy, boundless joy, infinite bliss. But because we are forcing ourselves to live in familiar thought patters and societal conditioning, we have gradually started to identify ourselves with that solid and bounded mind-body system. When we visualise a large beach or a vast valley amidst huge mountains, our heart jumps with joy because our inner core connects with that vastness. The bounds are broken.
Another important thing, in a vacation, nobody knows us, nobody recognises us, our societal labels have no meaning. That is why we look out for a vacation where we become "nobody", because deep down our true nature is that of emptiness. We are nobody.
Deep down, we want to be away from our labels, because that is not our true nature. But again and again, we are pulled to it because we think that is what defines us. This is the conflict we go through all the time. As as result, even when we are there lying at the beach, this conflict haunts us. We are there worrying out work, home etc. As Paramahamsa Nithyananda says "worrying at office is called work, worrying at home is called home-work and worrying at a beach is called vacation!".
The best part is that a true vacation is something we can take within us, not at an external beauty spot. Imagine being 24 hours in vacation in our inner space, unclutched by all the nagging thought patters, worries, fears etc. That is what Swamiji called living enlightenment. With the grace of a living enlightened master, this is very much possible. That is the only reason masters have descended, to remind us of our infinite possibilities. Let us all take a vacation in our inner space and relax into it. Happy holidays! A related video in Swamiji's own words below:
April 10-12 is a long weekend here in Singapore because of Good Friday and we generally don't spare such precious long weekends in Singapore :) People are busy packing their bags to go to nearby Malaysia or Thailand for a trek in the jungles. So a friend of mine was saying, 'Dude, I won't be here for the long weekend. I am gone for a long drive with a group of friends to West Malaysia.'
I asked him if there were any particular places that they were going. He replied, 'Nope! This time its more of no-planning trip. Just go wherever, eat wherever and stay wherever types!!' ... He paused and then said, 'it sounds fun to me...'
It surely is fun. I agree with him totally. No planning as to where to pit-stop, where to eat etc. Just go, enjoy the traveling part and take the trip as it comes.
I was wondering, if a two-day trip can be so fun, by offloading the baggage of planning, just imagine how much more enjoyable our 60-70 years of life can be if we just flow with life?
Why can't we have the same attitude towards life? Instead, we plan and plan and plan... continuously, we keep planning not just about our life but about one generation behind us and one generation ahead us.
The answer is simple! We are scared about the insecurities of life. We do not enjoy our life simply because of our fear and greed: fearing the insecurities and greedy about our own expectations from life. We do not enjoy the path - the process of life. We think we will enjoy the goal, when it is reached but before it is reached we have already exhausted all the energy to enjoy it by constantly psychologically worrying about our fears and expectations about the goal that we have set. And after that goal is reached, there is another goal that awaits us.
Nithyananda says, 'When we live in utter insecurities of life, we are a seeker. That is why my parivrajaka, wandering days were one of the best parts of my life.'
When we live in utter insecurities of life, we just flow with life. We plan but chronologically only. We will not have an opportunity to psychologically worry about it because we are too busy enjoying and celebrating the path; then the path itself becomes the goal. Our fears and expectations keep our joy away from us.
The main difference between the road trip of my friend and our life is that my friend is already prepared to take on whatever comes his way as auspicious (mangalatva); either a tent in a jungle or a posh luxury suite; either food or no food. And hence he is saying the trip is going to be fun. There are no expectations or fears whatsoever. If there is any trace of either of them, one would certainly back off.
When it comes to one's own life, it is too far fetched to accept that insecurity for 70-80 years. Actually, even for one or two days it becomes difficult to accept because we are conditioned about our lives. We are conditioned by society, parents, friends etc. as to how one should live.
The irony is, all those from whom we learn to live are themselves most of the time living a life of total internal chaos.
When we surrender to the Existence, the Existence takes care of us... and this the truth. There are enough number of testimonials from people who believe in this to testify this, myself being one.
And you know what! When we surrender, the Existence always gives a lot more, many a times what we wouldn't even have dreamt of, both in our outer world and our inner world. And It also gives us the intelligence to be completely unperturbed whether that outer world is there or not there ...
Thank you Swamiji for giving us this shakti (energy), buddhi (intelligence), yukti (understanding), bhakti (devotion) and mukti ... liberation
During my piano class, I was discussing about one of the American Idol contestants with my music teacher. I was telling her about how this particular contestant, though visually impaired, so skillfully plays the piano while singing and is already in the Top 9.
To this my teacher replied, 'See, you don't need your eyes to see the notes and play beautifully. Though we think having eyes is gift for us to see and play, it actually is the biggest obstacle because when we have eyes, we only read the notes and play the notes, and not the song. We are so worried about the notes, the tempo, the notations etc. that we lose the beauty of the song, the emotion everything is lost because we are too busy reading everything with our eyes.'
This conversation reminded me of Swamiji's words, 'Our intelligence or logic is the greatest gift for human beings and it is also the biggest obstacle.'
As humans, we are different from other species because we have intelligence; we have mind; we have consciousness. We can do when we want to do something. When we are hungry we can choose to eat or not to eat. When we are sleepy, we can choose to sleep or stay awake. We can make conscious choice. We have that freewill.
Though I have written about this in our other posts, this is something which I come across everyday - how we make use of our freewill to decide things.
At a deeper level, as humans we have all the energy to go beyond this mind-body system, to merge with the Ultimate Consciousness, to realize we are one with the Ultimate Consciousness. Paramahamsa Nithyananda says, 'I am telling you, 'You are enlightened', then why don't you believe it? An enlightened master's words are always true and I am telling you like every other enlightened master born planet earth that you are already enlightened. All you have to do is to believe that you are enlightened.'
We choose to not believe the truth that every enlightened master has been saying for ages and ages, in all those thousands of scriptures, from all over the world. We choose to use our freewill to be with our mind which is always pulling us from the Ultimate Truth.
Our intelligence which can be used to every outer world comfort has become the greatest impediment in our progress in the inner world...
Simply because we think we are the most intelligent by suspecting each one of those masters who try to show the Ultimate Truth. We think we are most intelligent. Even the greatest of the intelligent scientists, Einstein, says 'Where Science ends, Spirituality begins.' Are we more intelligent that Einstein?
An enlightened master only helps to pull us out of our ignorance, which we mistake to be our intelligence. Paramahamsa Nithyananda says, 'Use your intelligence when required. That's all! Rest of the time, relax from it into your consciousness.'
Like He says, 'Its upto you whether you want to choose your mind/intelligence or choose Consciousness.'
A young face with timeless wisdom Sometimes a child, sometimes a mother Sometimes a friend, sometimes a father And sometimes indeed a Zen Master
He puts us into utter insecurities But immediately He assures us He's there Utterly relaxed yet what a cutting gaze He's ruthless out of pure compassion
When the Zen Master raises His stick Just peep into His eyes and see the oozing love Every word is a sword to cut the tumor A sword filled with love and grace
He is fullness personified He is emptiness personified He is established in the present He is established in eternity
He's a bunch of paradoxes Cannot comprehend using logic For He is beyond all of that He is beyond the beyond!
Yesterday, during a conversation, the word "instrumental" was casually used. Suddenly, a click happened to me and I thought "instrumental" is such a beautiful word. If we really contemplate on it, it has the whole essence of Karma Yoga in it - doing all the work we need to do in life, but with no ego of 'doership'; when this happens, we just become an instrument in the hands of the divine. The divine energy flows through us, guiding us at every step. There is no "I did this", "I did that.." simply because we are just a dummy instrument that He uses.
I remembered Swamiji's discourse on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3. Swamiji beautifully shared "Solid bamboo is used for carrying the dead... but if the bamboo is hollow, then it can even be used as a flute in the hands of Krishna! Our whole life then becomes a divine song that Krishna plays using the flute" How beautiful I thought. If only we allow Krishna to pick us up in His hands! If we constantly remind ourselves that we are hollow, we are pure emptiness, we are nobody, then indeed we allow that emptiness to happen inside us.
This is easier said than done because the notion that we are running our life has become too deep in us. As Swamiji says, although we think that things happen because of us, it is never the case. Because the truth is that things happen inspite of us! The reason why many of us suffer from shoulder pain after a day's work at office is simply this - we have taken the whole load of our life on us. It has become a strong conditioning that it is our hard work in life that is making us survive. (Enjoy a video below where Swamiji talks about the myth of hardwork!)
Many times, this is the case even when it comes to volunteering for the mission. In my own experience, I can see so much of that "burden" dropping from me as I become aware of who is bearing the weight. Swamiji always says the mission can mould us and that is really so true. He says if you all can put aside half an hour a day, not more, to just do any work without expecting ANY form of return, then we are indeed working towards our inner growth. We are indeed becoming instruments in the hands of the divine for that half an hour. Normally, there is a constant subtle current of "who will notice my work?" or "what will I get out of this?". For that half an hour, let us consciously park that thought aside and involve our whole being in doing something without any expectation.
If we slowly expand that half an hour into our whole day, then we stop being driven by fear or greed. We start to express a new dimension within us which we are never used to. It's a space where there is only fullfillment and hence no expectations. Our whole day then just becomes a beautiful expression of fulfillment.
Last week I happened to bump into one of my ex-colleagues who had previously attended our Life Bliss Program (LBP), but who had been out of touch since then. When I asked him how things were going, he expressed how stressful work has been. He went on to say how he has been so busy with work and family that he has had no time to meditate or keep in touch with our group, although he has been meaning to do so.
Then I recollected that during his LBP, he had been one of the most inspired. I remembered clearly his remarks to the acharya "Oh whatever you are saying resonates so much with me. Thank you so much. I suddenly see that there is more to life than what I had been living! Tell me how do I progress on this path" etc..
Not just with this colleague, but this is the case with many. Just soon after the program, they see a new dimension opening up within themselves. Suddenly they feel they have solutions with them for ALL problems in life. Suddenly they see a new flood of energy happening inside and they resolve to apply all that was taught during the program to their lives. But somehow, after a few days, they are back into the rut, back into the same old stressful life, the same old tensions, the same old ratrace, the same old lifestyle.
Why?
When we attend a powerful lifechanging program like LBP, various "clicks" are communicated. The feeling of "Yes, how true!" or "My God! So much that I was unaware of, now it's clear..." starts to work inside the system. This is what our Master calls as Initiation. Now, once we are initiated, once we have the sparks of clicks ignited inside us, we really do not need to do anything else. We just need to ALLOW those sparks to become into a flame, then into a fire till it burns away all that needs to be burnt inside. We have to only allow and nothing else. We just have to cooperate with the clicks, the rest will happen on its own. This is what Swamiji calls as "tapas" or penance.
Invariably, after programs like LBP the realization that there is something beyond happens to everyone. The divine energy makes Her way inside every participant through the various openings created through meditations or the powerful messages. Almost everyone realizes that the life they are leading is a fake one. But... we choose to go back and hold on to that artificial life of ours, inspite of knowing that that is not reality. Once we return to our routine life, we start to gradually feel that the problems, the stresses are more real than any spirituality. This happens when we descend to lower planes of energy, settle into our cozy comfort zones.. and choose not to apply the clicks. We literally stop the clicks from working on us by not remembering to apply them. If we really muster courage and decide that we will truly experiment with the clicks and allow them to work, then certainly nothing can stop us from going towards the Truth. The problem is we love our fake life. We are only constantly escaping from the Truth. That is why we put spirituality in a cozy compartment and choose not to look at it.
Let us not comparmentalize spirituality and our life and give lower/higher priority to either. Let us realize that spirituality and our life are not different. Our life is spiritual by its very nature, only we should understand it. Let us not give excuses and run away from reality. Let us have the courage to experiment. Let us not postpone experiencing the Truth. Let us not get caught by the illusion that our ratrace is more real than God. Let us celebrate that we have a living enlightened Master who can actually show us our true nature. Let us allow Him to work on us. Let us be open. Let us all embrace reality and open doors to eternal bliss. Let us have the courage to live the truth.
Enjoy a video below where Swamiji talks about the courage needed to experiment with the clicks and how they are vital for a seeker's growth.
A few weeks ago, we visited the house of a devotee to perform the Sri Vidya Puja at his place. While we were setting up for the puja, he was showing us his 'spiritual' collection. A huge book shelf in the living room had books by all Masters one could think of. He also has a little corner where he does his meditation and daily prayers, where he had kept souvenirs from various ashrams, holy places. He was reading our selective passages from different books to us in the context of a few conversations we had.
It was an interesting experience for me as I was for the first time meeting someone whom Swamiji calls a 'professional seeker'. It was amazing how he was quickly referring to various sources and quoting lines. Later after the puja, this gentleman shared with us how he feels so touched by Swamiji after he met Him. But he expressed how he is undergoing a big confusion in his life as a seeker with so many masters, so many different methods, so many different ways of expressing the truth. Although he was now clear from within about that special connection he shares with Swamiji, he was going through a painful dilemma about whether he should choose to go with just Him or whether it is okay to have many Masters.
This reminded us of what Swamiji beautifully clarifies in one of His discourses on seeking (watch below), that at the initial level, when the seeking is first triggered in a person, a seeker is encouraged to explore. If every Master is a garden, then he should visit as many gardens, pluck those flowers he likes and make a garland or bouquet for himself. This is a good inspiration in the beginning because the spark of "seeking" that has just been triggered is fanned in the process of searching various sources.
However, once we have found the click with a particular Master, then there is no point in continuing to search. The Master warns that if we are really serious about finding out the truth, then it is the intensity that matters (Here are our previous posts on intensity of seeking). And for this intensity to happen, He says drop all else once the connection with a Master has happened. Just dive in with all heart and soul. There is no logical explanation to feeling connected with a Master. An intense connection with the Master is a gift of Existence. Something much deeper than our logical analysis guides us towards him.
And when this happens, and we drop all else and go to that one Master with all conviction and trust, the true miracles start to unfold. Otherwise we will just be wasting our time with analysing, criticizing other Master or passing our judgements/opinions about them. If we are smart enough we will realize that none of this analysis is actually going to help us progress spiritually.
An enlightened master's touch can do much more than what a thousand meditation sessions through one's own effort can do. Such is the compassion of the master. But to avail of this grace, one has to be open. When we trust the Master and are ready to receive, it's only then we are truly open. Master is like a river who has abundance. It is upto us whether we want to go to Him with an empty teaspoon or an empty mug or an empty bucket or an empty reservoir! If we are really smart, we would consider building a dam!
Here is a discourse where Swamiji clarifies this beautifully in His own words:
Currently, every country is talking about economic downturn. Everyday we keep hearing about retrenchments, people being shown pink slips etc. Many banks and companies are closing down. We are all on high-alert. Many of my friends have been having sleepless nights thinking about their jobs. There is a certain eery stillness around.
If we look back a few months ago, before the talks about economic downturn and subprime markets etc. started, we will see a totally different picture altogether. The spending power of a working individual was higher; he was happy to spend on holidays or buying a house. He was comfortable to get a new car and do up his house. Now over the last few months, the picture is no longer the same. There was time when the real estate market had more buyers than sellers; the housing price rocketed up. Now, the picture is totally different. In Singapore, landlords are willing to waive off large sums of money (called cash over valuation) so that they can sell their property, but even then they are finding it hard to get a buyer.
Till a few months back, we thought we were all powerful. We thought we had everything in control. We had planned for years in front of us - a nice house, a big car etc. etc. Each one of us thought we are the king. We have all the strings of our lives right in our hands.
Suddenly, we now feel everything is slipping away from our hands. We are holding on tight and expecting and praying everything will become safe for us. Many of us are praying, "let me not be the next in line..."
This post is not about highlighting the negativity that is already in abundance around us right now. This is not one of those hundreds of "Cope with the Downturn" kind of articles. It is about the truth which enlightened masters have always been talking about.
The greed that was before and the fear that is now, are because of our concept of reality and life. We are very strongly attached to our material possessions, our name, our fame, our life. It is our strong belief that we are all powerful and we are incharge, makes our entire world shake when the slightest of the breeze blows. We are very serious about all this which we call as reality. If the something wrong happens in our dream, we don't care about it once we wake up.
All enlightened masters have talked about one truth - what we perceive as reality is also another dream. Paramahamsa Nithyananda says, "Understand that every dream is made up of the same things as what you think is reality - the same materials, the same emotions, the same stuff. When we wake up, we don't care about what happened in the dream. Then why can't we do the same thing with what we see as reality? All we have to do is to internalize that what we think as reality is also another dream. All we have to do is wake up from this dream also. That is enlightenment."
Our greed and our fear are because of our attachment to our possessions - material, emotional and even spiritual. Our attachment is because we perceive something as real and something as dream. When we live in a complete unclutched state, as Paramahamsa Nithyananda puts it, we constantly imbibe the truth about reality and dream. All we have to do is constantly remind ourselves of the dream we are seeing. The non-attachment is a liberating feeling. Paramahamsa Nithyananda says, "When the non-attachment happens, then whatever happens around you, you will take it as auspicious. There cannot be any suffering, only bliss."
Difficult it may sound, but we surely can try right!! We certainly won't lose anything :)
Our beloved Master Paramahamsa Nithyananda uses the word 'click' often. He defines a click as a revelation that happens in our inner space; a sort of explosion of clarity on listening to certain truths, a feeling of "Ah Yes, How True!" from deep inside. He infact says the process of initiation happens through these clicks in a disciple. It is these clicks that are like sparks that eventually catch fire to burn the thick forest of ignorance that lies inside. Here is a video on clicks and initiation:
25th December was celebrated as Acharyas day as part of the 10 day Brahmotsavam celebrations culminating with Swamiji's Jayanthi on 1st. That day Swamiji addressed all His acharyas in a conference at the ashram. He said very beautifully that if we scan our inner space, we will see that there are 3 types of clicks.
The first category is those clicks which would have experientially created an impact in our lives and we know for certain that they work. Personally, I experienced many such clicks for the first time when I attended the Life Bliss Program. Starting from insight into our engraved memories and how we give power to them, understanding about being in the present moment and how it can help us improve our work efficiency etc etc. Those clicks which we have internalized experientially are like weapons that we readily use to raise ourselves out of low mood or depression or worry or fear... they are like instant solutions.
There is a second category of clicks which we know work, but we need to put in a certain effort each time we try it. Then there is a third category which consists of those clicks that the Master has given us but which really haven't clicked in us. Swamiji said that as Acharyas it is very easy to be talking about the clicks in the first category, but when it comes to the second or the thrid, it will be transparent to the audience that the experience is yet to happen.
He went on to say that if we constantly keep experimenting with the clicks, we suddenly see that many clicks would have moved from the second category to the first, and from the third to the second. We eventually reach a point where all clicks have become an experience in us. We reach a space where there are no conflicts in the clicks inside, here there is no inner chattering.
That is the point when we start to radiate Jeevanmukti, living enlightenment. To live all clicks in a conflict free manner and to radiate that experience of the Truth that has happened inside. So, let us all keep experimenting with all the clicks that have been gifted to us by the Master and allow the explosion of inner clarity to happen. The Master, out of His compassion and grace has blessed planet earth to enter a new cycle of divine consciousness (in His Jayanthi message). Let us be one amongst those radiating Nithyananda and living Jeevanmukti!
From 23 December to 1st January, there were celebrations in the Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam ashram in Bidadi, not that it is any different during the rest of the year :) This part of the year, one can tangibly feel the energy of the place with eternal celebrations (nithyotsava) happening every corner of the ashram. We were fortunate and blessed to attend some of these days. People from all over the world had come to attend the birthday celebrations of our Master.
It was such an amazing experience to meet people from across the world and the only thread that runs common in all of us is - Nithyananda. Each one, whether an Indian or American or Chinese, greets "Nithyanandam" with a blissful smile on the face really meaning the word "Nithyanandam", eternal bliss.
We got to meet some people whom we know only by name or email. When we got to meet them in person, it felt as if we have known each other all along; it is not the first time we are meeting. The reason, our Master, Nithyananda runs through all of us.
Durin the 10 days, the Master dedicates each day to each of the pillars of His Mission, one day for His ashramites, one day for His devotees, one day for His healers, one day for His acharyas and so on. Each day was special. Starting from welcoming Him from the entrance of the ashram, the procession all the way to Anandeswara-Anandeswari temple and Banyan Tree, the aarati at the temple, fire walking, the messages by Master, the cultural programs, the blessings and darshans, everything were special.
Each day, the Master showed a different bhava, a different energy. On the youth day, He was young like a child. It was hard to believe that He is the Master, 32 years old. He was like a child, innocently dancing to the tunes. He was like a friend, dressed beautifully in short white sherwani with a turban. On the contrary, on Acharyas day, He was dressed in saffron robes. He was the Master guiding us; He was intense.
Every day, to every one, His only message was - Living Enlightenment - Jeevan Mukti. He initiated everyone who came on His birthday to Jeevan Mukti. He ignited the spark to live enlightenment. In His message, He says, "It is high time to raise human consciousness; it is late in fact." All He wants is more and more enlightened beings, He wants each one of us to experience and express our enlightenment. He wants us to get ourselves out of miseries which we have created ourselves. Even living our desires, He wants to us to live them with fulfillment, otherwise the list of desires will grow to a never ending list.
He is on fire. In all His recent messages and programs, the core idea that He is initiating people into is - living enlightenment, living with fulfillment - jeevan mukti. From a few years back, when we used to see Him talk about getting rid of worries, getting over our mind, He is now taking us to a different level altogether - towards enlightenment. No more, He is giving sugar candy to people. Now He is seeking only seekers, only those who are seeking enlightenment. He is making it clear in public the real purpose why He has taken the six feet body that we fall in love with.
He has made it loud and clear - come and be a jeevan mukta. Now, it is upto us to either go for It or stay in our cozy comfort zones. The ball is in our court ...
Lastly, please do not miss the Jayanti message here:
