Leela Dhyana - The sweetest meditation!

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.

Compassion Personified

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?

Just once...

The Ultimate Insurance

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.

She waits till we call Her...

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....

Bliss: It's upto us to have it

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.

The real vacation - within!

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:

The Road Trip of Life

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

The Great Wall of Logic

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.'

Master - A bunch of paradoxes

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!

In deepest gratitude to my Master...

An Instrument in the hands of the divine!

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.

Back to the cozy rut

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.

Why search when you have found?

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:

Are we really in control?

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 :)

Conflict-free clicks for Jeevanmukti!

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!

Jayanti 2009 - Jeevan Mukti

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:

My Master

Yesterday (23rd December) at Bidadi ashram, the 10-day celebrations leading to Swamiji's birthday started off with great energy and enthusiasm. Today morning when we opened the Dhyanapeetam website, the photos for the first day were put up. Just seeing the photos made me experience the bliss of Nithyananda :)

The Master's blissful smile, the joyous processions of Anandeswara-Anandaeswari, hundreds of people all dancing in bliss around the Master, the Master giving Aarati to the idols and the Banyan tree, the Master blessing each one present with His compassionate touch... everything, just seeing those photos brought a huge smile on my face.

It is hard to put down in words what many of us feel when we get a glimpse of the Master, be it in physical form or in just a photograph or sometimes even in a dream. It does not matter where we are but most of us feel connected directly to Him. There are no words, no emotions, no thoughts. We are. That's all!

I just wanted to pen down my thoughts ...

Even one glimpse of Yours,

whether you are here or there,

we crave to catch, my Master.

That one smile of Yours,

whether you see me or someone else,

we crave to catch, my Master.

One compassionate touch of Yours,

whether you give intentionally or not,

we always want from You, my Master.

Your every word, my Master,

Your every glimpse,

Your every touch, my Master,

Your every hug,

is a sword, my Master...

the only sword, I know

which can cut through my veil

and bring me out of my dream.

Master, whatever You want to do

You please do; I surrender.

But one request to you, my Master,

whatever You do,

merge me in Your dream.

Do we love our nightmares too much?

Every time we conduct the Life Bliss Program, we know for certain that it is the Master who talks, we are just instruments. In one such recent LBP, it was a powerful session about the four states of consciousness that Swamiji conveys very beautifully through a diagram. To listen to the Master explain in His own words, click the video below.



I do not want to dilute what the Master has said about the four states of conscioussness by adding more words. But would like to share with you an interesting conversation that transpired after this session with one of the LBP participants. I was conveying the following point: when we are dreaming, we have no idea that we are dreaming. Only when we wake up do we realise it. Similarly till we wake up to higher consciousness, we do not know that this so-called waking state is yet another slumber. The entire room was silent as each one was intensely listening. Suddenly, one of them said to me straight "What you say is all great, perfect, sounds good.. but tell me this, I am a working father leading a stressful life in office, with deadlines to meet, bosses to please, a family to take care of.. now how does all this philosophy help me? To me, the life that I am leading is reality. How does all this help?"

The same person had melted by the end of the day and was shedding tears of gratitude to the Master for having shown some perspective on many things that lay hidden all his life till then. Anyway, the point I want to make is that we feel spirituality is a philosophy. We feel that it is something told by some Master, limited to some scripture that we place in an altar, or limited to the priests in temples. If we for a moment, believe that there is some truth about it which we can imbibe into our own lives, then we start to see miracles happening. If we are having a nightmare and are suffering as a result of that (by sweating, crying, beating the bed etc) and if someone who is watching us wakes us up out of compassion, what do we do? Ofcourse we would wake up, thank that person for getting us out of the suffering and then maybe even laugh that it was all just a dream that we took so seriously. Is it not?

In the same way, techniques given my enlightened masters are just "wake-up calls" out of compassion, to make us see reality and stop suffering in our 'dreams'. An enlightened master is blissful all the time, because He is not caught in the dream of 'samsara'. He has woken up and watching us go through the nightmare patiently. He wakes up all those who allow Him to. Some people do not want to be woken up. They love their nightmares too much. Then what to do?

A simple 'click' that whatever we see around is just another dream is something that all Masters have said in many different ways. If we trust that there is truth in this statement and contemplate on it, the deeper truths emerge to the surface on their own and show light. In a recent talk that Swamiji delivered at the Life Positive Expo @ New Delhi a few months ago, this is the only solid and crisp message He put forth - "Just constantly remind yourself that whatever you see around is a dream". When Swamiji says that this is a practical technique, not a philopshy, He means it. And we have all seen the power behind each of the techniques that He gives as - powerful weapons that we can use in our lives - and NOT just a fancy theory.

Below is a clip taken from the discourse at Life Positive Expo where this click is conveyed by the Master Himself. Enjoy!

Spirit + Ritual = Spirituality

========================= THOUGHT PROCESS 1=========================

Lets go through this questionaire:

(1) What are our first thoughts when we wake up in the morning on a Monday morning?
(2) What are our first thoughts when we wake up in the morning on any weekday?
(3) How do we feel when it is Friday?


The answers are (for most of us...):

(1) Oh God! Its monday again...
(2) Let me sleep for some more time... or let me go a bit later.. or should I take the day off ...
(3) TGIF (thank God, its friday)


========================= THOUGHT PROCESS 2=========================


Each of us want to live happily. We work because we want to make money and we intend to live happily. We think that working hard or studying hard will give us the happiness that we are looking for. We think getting a promotion in job, getting a higher degree in university, getting a better post will help us live happily, will help us lead a successful life.


================================================================


Aren't the two thought processes that we go through totally contradictory? We want all the wealth in the world; we want to live happily; we want a big post, a big name in the society. We want everything but we are unwilling to put in what it needs to get those. Given an option, most of the times, we want to relax and enjoy but when we are given an option to relax, we are scared about our future, we get frightened to be left behind in the race to the top.


Paramahamsa Nithyananda says, "As a human being, we are gifted with two things - freedom and will. We exercise our freedom in every possible way but we do not exercise our will. We use our freedom to postpone things and relax but we do not have the will to actually sit and work towards what we want."

This is so true. We procrastinate and postpone even our sources of enjoyment. We want everything and we have all the freedom in the world to work towards getting those. But what is missing is our will to actually for it.

We are not intense in whatever we do, that is the problem. At work, which we believe brings us money, name and happiness, we are not intense. We are not enthused enough to really go and work. At the same time, when we are given an opportunity to take a break, we are not intense even to enjoy that. At work, when we go for coffee or tea, how many of us really enjoy that cup of tea and relax completely?

We do not have the will, the intensity and the enthusiasm for anything. Nithyananda says, "Your own lack of intensity and awareness is the main reason for all our stress, worry and all your emotional problems. We blame the external world for everything but the problem really lies inside us."

Nithyananda says beautifully,

"A ritual is a mechanical process till you add spirit to it; then it
becomes a meditation. Similarly, spirituality is all about adding spirit to
life. For most of us life is a mechanical process or a ritual. All we need to
add is spirit to life; then the ritual becomes spirituality."

The meditation and yoga programs like Life Bliss Program (LBP1) and Nithya Yoga, teach only this - adding intensity and awareness, just to enjoy every moment of life. They are not about some mystical stuff labeled as 'spirituality'. They are life solutions to explode in 360 degrees.

Come, enjoy life... enjoy spirituality...

Kalpataru Darshan - His Desire is Our Enlightenment

About 35 people from Singapore had gone to Malaysia to attend a program called the Kalpataru Darshan by the Master Himself. This one day has been the most beautiful day of our lives. Each one of 600 odd people who were present in that hall were touched in one way or the other by the sheer compassion of the Master.

This is a boon-giving day, which the Master started recently. He says:

"I give you shakti, the energy and power to change what needs to be changed in you and for you.

I give you buddhi, the intelligence to accept what cannot be and what need not be changed in you and for you.

I give you yukti, the clarity to know that whatever changes in you and for you it is still a dream, you need to awake.

I give you mukti, the awakening into that Truth, the fulfillment, the purnatva, which is what you really are. "

At the end of the day, we go to Him and ask Him whatever we want. He sits there patiently listening to each and every one and grants what needs to be granted.

Most of us, we had made a laundry list before going on to the stage but when He looked at us like our Mother and asked, "What do you want?", everything dropped. Most of us broke down in His lap and when He hugged us, it felt as if we are back home. The few moments when He hugged us, we experienced never ending joy, eternal bliss, nithyananda.

The experiences that people shared after the program are far too many to quote. Each one had his or her unique experience but the base was the same - experiencing that nithyananda.

One thought bothered many of us while returning back. He came all the way to Malaysia for one single day. He had to go back immediately after so that He conducts the same program on the weekend (20 Nov. was a thursday; He came on wednesday and left on friday). Every weekend since October this year till March next year, He is doing this program.

Why is He is doing that?

He says in the program, "Every desire of ours is leading to fulfillment in one
way or the other, either by having more money, or name and fame. Every desire
has the same goal - fulfillment. Now instead of praying for these small desires
to get fulfilled, desire intensely for the Ultimate Fulfillment itself."

More than us, He is working towards our enlightenment. He wants more and more people to realize themselves. He wants more and more Nithyanandas out there. For us, if we travel from office to home, we get tired. He is travelling every day trying to lift as many people as He can. Speaking to one person tires us, even though we are not listening to him or her attentively; He is really listening, speaking and healing to thousands of people very weekend.

He doesn't have to do that. He can sit happily and enjoy His enlightenment. It is His compassion to help us, to aid us in our enlightenment.

All He wants from us is to be open but many of us are still stuck with our intellect. We see the profit and loss; we do the cost analysis. If a program is charged, why is it charged? If a program is free, why is it free? (He explained that also with a beautiful joke... may be later on this)

For all of us who are on the fence looking at all this with doubts and questions, one thing is certain: we are the losers if we miss this opportunity. We are at loss not He because He neither gains or loses. He will continue with His work of touching people. It is upto us to extend our hand out so that He can lift us. If we hold ourselves back, there is nothing He can do. Like He says, "the dharma chakra, the wheel of dharma, moves on. If you want, you can hold it and you too will move. If you are standing outside, you will stay where you are."

If you have an opportunity, please attend the Kalpataru Darshan. The dates are available at http://dhyanapeetam.org/Web/kalpataru_darshan1.asp.

Its a once in a life time opportunity...

Boundless Joy!

This evening, in a few hours time, a group of 35 of us from Singapore will be traveling to Malaysia to attend a 1 day program tomorrow with Swamiji. The very thought of meeting the Master is something that floods the entire system with bliss, with energy, an unexplainable feeling. Not just for me, but for many people I know. Just talking about the Master is a favorite passtime for many of us and we can easily do night outs with no trace of sleep just talking about Him!

Enlightened Masters like Paramahamsa Nithyananda are embodiments of pure existential energy. When such is the case, talking about them or thinking about them becomes a meditation in itself. We see that our number of thoughts per second just drops and we are flooded with energy. Why does this happen? At the thought level, every word/thought is energy no doubt. And when we are bombarded with too many thoughts, we feel a drain in our energy. However, there is a difference when the thoughts are related to the Master.

This is because the Guru, who is established in existential energy, can straightaway take us to the deepest layer of our being. He is like a bridge between words and wordlessness, between thoughts and thoughtlessness. Especially if we are connected with the Master, then the very thought about the Guru just kills all other thoughts and this sudden drop of thoughts is what causes that flood of energy or bliss. Our deepest layers respond to the thoughts about the Guru, especially when we are connected.

This is the beautiful science behind the Guru Mantra initiation. Recently, Swamiji has started initiating people into Purascharana meditation, which involves repeated chanting of the Guru Mantra. When we constantly repeat the Guru's name, our whole being responds and we become alive. All the negative thought patterns are replaced by the sole thought of the Master. A total reprogramming of the inner chattering by thoughts related to the Master, bliss, energy etc, is like a preparation for the Master to do the ultimate surgery - when He takes us even beyond His name and form. Replacing our inner chattering with words of the Master reminds us more and more of our own core - of bliss.

This links me to what I started off saying - thoughts, words, form of the Master are all like instant energy boosters and those that flood one with boundless joy! That is the main trigger for books like Bhagavatam which sings the glory of Krishna through various incidents in His life. The Master's life is a leela, a drama which He plays so that He makes us connect with Him. And certainly in the whole process makes us have a lot of fun. Thank you Master!

Competition or Cutting Ourselves??

I was talking to a cousin who is just 10 years old. All along the conversation, he was talking about being ahead in his class, about competition in studies, sports and everything. This is not just with my cousin but we find this competition everywhere at every stage.

Right from our childhood, we are taught how to compete. The theory of "survival of the fittest" is engrained in us deeply right from when we start to walk. Sometimes, parents compare infants of same age as to who started walking first, who started talking first, who started crawling first. This comparison, this competition continues till the time we die. We compare and compete with our fellow students when we are young; then with our friends in college; then with our colleagues for position in the society and so and so forth.

What is interesting is that the idea of competition is actually not our true nature. If we leave children in a room, they actually make best of best friends. They play together. They share whatever they have. Only when they start getting condition either by parents or teachers or society, they start competing against each other.

In fact, biologically it has been proven by Dr. Bruce Lipton, an eminent biologist, that biological cells when put in a petridish, come closer and try to cooperate and collaborate to survive rather than competing against each other in isolation. The "survival of the fittest" theory is currently being verified if it still holds true.

When we compare and compete, we are detaching ourselves with the rest of the universe. We start living in a shell that we carve out for ourselves and shield it hard using our strong identity of name and status in the society. The very idea of competition makes us sepearte from the rest of the cosmos around us.

Paramahamsa Nithyananda says, "we are not a wave. We are the ocean itself. Whether the wave is rising or staying up there or falling down, we are a part of the same ocean." Each wave thinks it is different from the others and each wave is competing to rise highest, to be on top of one another. Each wave wants to remain as a wave for as long as it can. But it has to fall back in to the ocean...

The whole point of all meditation techniques that Nithyananda advocates is to help us realise that we are not separate waves but the ocean itself. These meditations help us to shed our competition to stay on top; they help us cut across the shield that we have created because of our own perceptions and merge with the bliss of Oneness that all enlightened Masters constantly experience.

The Super Manager

A person next to me was reading an article - "The Best Manager" from some magazine, which talked about managers of top companies and how they manage people for high productivity.

I was wondering, an enlightened Master like Paramahamsa Nithyananda can certainly give some management tips. He manages each one of his disciples to lead them toward enlightenment.
Each of the disciples is unique, atleast initially. And hence the management job of the Master becomes so much more difficult. He has to design and devise techniques for each one of them, to lead them to the same common goal of enlightenment. Just imagine; managing people to get a balance sheet done in an office takes lot of work from the manager's side. That is the reason there are so many books on "how to manage people." Here, in the master's case, we are talking about enlightenment.

We see that very clearly in Paramahamsa Nithyananda. On each one of His disciples, He works in a unique manner. Each disciple of His is very unique and special to Him. He designs techniques for each one of us uniquely. To intellectuals, He teaches pure advaitha (non-dualism) based on pure intellect. To emotional disciples, He asks to just connect with idols. To being level disciples, He just asks them to be in His presence.

To each one of us, He gives a different technique; either based on gnana (knowledge and intellectual understanding) or dhyana (meditation) or yoga or devotion. The spiritual names He gives are direct indications of each one of our paths. They are techniques He is asking us to follow.

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa devised various techniques for different disciples amongst His monastic disciples. He gets furious at Vivekananda once when Vivekananda meddles with another fellow disciple's path. Similarly, Shiva gives 112 techniques for enlightenment in Vignana Bhairava Tantra and each one of them is catered for different people.

When Master descends on planet earth again, He comes with this sole purpose - to get as many of us enlightened as He can. It is His pure compassion to tolerate our petty desires from hundreds of thousands of disciples. He still extends His hand expecting us to extend our hands and hold His' so that He can lift us. We on the other hand question and doubt the Master just because of our fears, greed and inhibhitions. All we have to do is to be open and extend our hand, and there, on the other side, there is a super Manager who will manage the rest of the process.

And finally, the Master resorts to different managements techniques to each of His disciples only in the beginning, till we fall in tune with Him. Once we reach that state, He doesn't manage with words and techniques. He just Is and we are with Him, experiencing Him, with or without the form.

No more Charlie Chaplins - Why??

Over the years, we have become more and more sophisticated, not just in what we use in the external world but also in our mental setup and thinking. Even things which used to give us sensory pleasures like TVs have become more and more sophisticated now. Now we want dolby stereo effects, home theater effects, high-blast sound systems etc. etc. to please us.

The themes of movies which used to be modes of entertainment have completely changed. There were times when violence was not an integral part of the movies or the sitcoms. They were purely meant for entertainment and nothing else. There were movies dedicated to humor only and nothing else. Now, where are the Laurel and Hardys'; where are the Charlie Chaplins? Now if we want to laugh, we will get an old DVD of these people.

Now, the movies are based on violence or horror or terrorism or some negativity. I was surprised to see one particular week, all the movies that were being screened were horror movies. Once in a while, some comedy or musical pops up but even they have some kind of violence. Very rarely do some movies come with pure entertainment and nothing else. Even cartoon movies, they are getting sophisticated. Tom and Jerry used to potray an innocence. Even their violence was innocence. The cartoon characters now are more humanly. The innocence is completely lost. In fact the newer version of Tom and Jerry itself shows the loss of innocence. We can clearly make out the difference between new version of Tom and Jerry and the old one.

What does all this show? They are not something that we watch and leave. We think they are just some movies or sitcoms. But they clearly show, we have lost our innocence completely. Our innocence, our state of happiness is covered with layers of negativity, fears and greed. And it is our negativities that enjoy the movies or sitcoms or whatever external paraphernalia that we have around us.

Paramahamsa Nithyananda says, "We are embodiments of innocence and pure bliss and nothing else." And we see that in the Master Himself. Many of us have witnessed that child-like innocence in Him.

All we have to do is to hold on to that innocence. Our problems are because of our own sophistication of our mental setup. Our worries, tensions and depression are our own distancing away from our inner core - innocence. All we have to do it is express it and not suppress it in the name of growing up and societal conditioning.

Sanatana Dharma - Perpetual Truths for Peaceful Society

Arvind Adiga, an Indian journalist, is the 2008 Booker Prize winner for his book - The White Tiger. This book basically talks about a servant-master relationship and how this servant goes on to become a successful entrepreneur. The author, Arvind Adiga, in one of his interviews narrates an incident which inspired him to write this novel. He says, 'I was buying furniture in New Delhi five years ago and the storeowner said, `Don't give me cash, give me a deposit of Rs 1,000, and give the rest to the man when he delivers it.' So when the man came to my house -- and he was a very poor man -- he put down the furniture and then I paid him the money. Then he asked for a Rs 10 tip which I gave it him. I was amazed that this man who made a maximum of Rs 1,000 a month or perhaps even less, was taking a bundle of money to give to his master.'

Another point in his interview which caught my attention was, 'And this led to the question why there was so little crime in India compared to that in New York, South Africa and Latin America, where poverty is the leading cause of the high rates of crime. In India, even if there is a phenomenal disparity in wealth there is very little crime due to poverty. The novel began as a kind of an experiment.'

These sounded familiar to me because in one of His talks, Paramahamsa Nithyananda says, "In the US, there is a police station at each every county. Every few miles, there is police check post. In India, forget few miles, sometimes a whole taluk (a block of villages) have one police check post. But statistics say that the crime rate in US is 100 times greater than in India."

That is true. According to statistics, even though there is no one watching each and every village of India, even though people are poorer than people in most developed countries, the crime rate is much lesser in India as compared to developed cities in countries like the US .

Nithyananda says, "The reason is our society is based on santana dharma. Our society is founded on these perpetual (santana) teachings (dharma). When we are internally conscious and aware, which is the basis of sanatana dharma, we do not need some external person or police to tell us what is right and wrong."

This explains why even if a person is in utter poverty in India, he does not take advantage of a situation as was seen by Arvind Adiga in the case of the poor labourer.

All enlightened masters of the Sanatana Dharma have taught one thing through meditation and yogic techniques - how to raise our consciousness. Masters like Patanjali and Buddha have talked about code of conduct, both personal and societal. Paramahamsa Nithyananda says, "When Patanjali talked about yama (personal conduct) and niyama (conduct towards people around you), he talked about a much deeper topic. They were not rules to be followed. When He talked about ahimsa or non-violence, it was not a rule. It is an expression of the heightened awareness or consciousness. When we are conscious, we cannot be violent. We automatically become non-violent."

There are many villages in India where people live based on trust and nothing else. Whether it is money or food or whatever, they build the whole society around them with trust in each other. One person can trust the other only when both of them are ruled by something much deeper. And that string which connects people is Sanatana Dharma.

Nithyananda says, "Unlike police check posts every mile in the US, there is temple at very crossing in India villages and cities. Unlike a Mc Donald's or Burger King's tower at the entrace of every county in the west, there is a gopuram (temple entrance) that welcomes people in every village in India. These temples and ashrams (monasteries) have been the preservers and propagators of Sanatana Dharma, the perpetual truths, to the mankind."

Many people, and ironically mainly so-called modern Indians, either take these for granted or do not see the value behind these truths thinking them to be ancient and irrelevent to the modern world. The very fact that these truths are the basic foundation of a billion people in India shows their relevance in today's age. These truths are ageless, and certainly are not limited to the boundaries of India or Indian sub-continent. The Nithyananda Ashrams in the west are testimony to this where many Americans and Europeas are following and benefitting from these truths through personal transformation. The only pre-requisite is - being open. That's all!

Guru Puja - an Offering of Gratitude to Existence

Paramahamsa Nithyananda gifted Nithya Dhyaan (or Life Bliss Meditation) to the world a couple of years ago. This is a very powerful meditation that puts one in connection to our inner reservoir of bliss and energy. It generates tremendous healing energy apart from the general benefits of wellbeing at the physical, mental, emotional and being levels. There are too many testimonials from too many people if we want to put them down.

The last step of this meditation ends with an offering of gratitude to existence and to the Master, who is an embodiment of the existential energy - Guru Puja. It's a beautiful ritual which one can perform or one can choose to just sit closed eyes listening to the chants in a prayerful mood. To many, this step is the favorite and to many this is what repels them from coming close. This may specially not appeal to the intellectuals as the rationale of this is not apparent at the surface. This post is to throw some light on the science of the Guru Puja.

Unfortunately, although we are exposed to rituals since childhood (especially those of us brought up in traditional Indian families), the lack of awareness or understanding or depth usually is a put off, especially to the young questioning minds. Swamiji says beautifully:

When we infuse spirit to a ritual, it becomes spirit-uality. Without the spirit, even spirituality becomes just a ritual!

What this means to say is that every act of ours can become spirituality when we infuse the intensity and enthusiasm. It could be a small thing like having a cup of tea, if the spirit is there then it becomes a blissful act. Otherwise it becomes another ritual, another chore. Our life becomes monotonous and mechanical.

So, coming back to Guru Puja. What does this ritual do? It's to offer our gratitude to existence for all that we have. We are taught only societal "thank you"s, but when true gratitude oozes out from inside, its a natural expression of the being. This ritual creates the ambience and triggers that expression from within - ONLY if we are open to allow this to happen.

Let me explain to you briefly the meaning of the chants that accompany the Guru Puja. It basically says that we offer our entire mind-body system, part-by-part to existence in gratitude. Since Guru symbolises existences, we invite Him to our core, just like we would invite a guest and offer ourselves to Him. We make the Guru comfortable in the home of our inner space by offering Him water to drink, rinse His mouth, fresh clothes to wear, sandal perfume to adorn Him, food to eat etc.

Inviting the Guru to our inner space is equivalent to invoking the divinity/existential energy/God/cosmic energy that is within us.

Now, you may ask, 'if I have the feeling of gratitude, it's enough; why should I perform the ritual?'. Very valid question. But the problem is that our mind and inner space is so polluted that it easily wanders away here and there not allowing us to even feel the emotion of gratitude intensely. By doing the external ritual, it integrates our actions with our thoughts and emotions. It only adds intensity. This is the reason, we physically offer flowers, fruits, incense etc.

How beautiful! When we are connected to the external Guru, then the Guru Puja can becomes even more beautiful! We can literally experience the Master sitting in front of us accepting the puja. Guru Puja can become an intimate rendesvouz with the Master!

Nithyanandam!

P.S: If you are interested to learn how to perform the Guru Puja in Singapore, do mail in to lifebliss.singapore@gmail.com