What is Spirituality?

Spirituality takes us beyond our ego-centered lives by expanding our hearts with compassion towards all

Spirituality lies beyond the material world of proof, beyond what can be measured or counted. It is made up of the inner life, the realm of belief, mystery, and faith. And yet for all the mystery that surrounds it, spirituality is vital to our well-being. It is the foundation of our most closely held values, the seat of our trust and hope.

Spirituality brings purpose and meaning to life, and as we develop it we grow in wisdom and love. We begin to experience a sense of awe, a sense of connection to all of life, and a deep reverence for the Divine. We find ourselves moved to prayers of gratitude and moments of spontaneous worship. Spirituality calls a human being to a life of trust and service.
When our spirituality is nurtured and vibrant, we’re connected. This connection is both a sense of relationship to the Creator, Great Spirit, or God, as well as a relationship to all people and to Mother Earth. Spirituality takes us beyond our egocenterd lives by expanding our hearts with compassion towards all.

I have observed that spirituality forms the framework of many persons orientation to life; it does not dwell in a realm apart. It is not an extracurricular activity. Spirituality involves a reverent attitude towards all things because it awakens us to a divine presence in all things. In this way of seeing and being, all things and persons are interconnected and interdependent. In the Sioux native language, the word for the Great Spirit is Wakan, which means ‘the great mystery.’ Yet this spirit, full of mystery, is every bit as real as the visible, tangible world. It is important to differentiate spirituality from religion. Some people have rejected religion in order to escape what they consider to be oppressive rules and regulations. In the process, however, many lose the great gifts of joy and compassion that spirituality brings. Religion and spirituality are related and intertwined, but they are not the same. A person may experience spirituality without being a member of any specific religious affiliation, and even the most religious person may feel spiritually bereft.

The true purpose of religion is to enhance spirituality through ritual and practice. This is accomplished when a person approaches his or her religion as a way to enter the great mystery, to become aware of the sacredness of all life. Religion can become a barrier to spirituality when it insists on narrow, judgmental dogma, and estranges its followers from a sense of connection with the Divine. Religion serves us best as a vehicle to nourish and develop our spirituality. It is possible, however, to get too caught up in the vehicle, the religious practice, while losing sight of the destination, spirituality, which is communion with the Divine and compassion for all.

For modern, academically oriented professionals, like physicians and health care workers, spirituality is often a difficult subject. Our training is framed by science. In Western culture especially, we depend on logical, analytical, and rational approaches, and for good reason.

These approaches have successfully ushered in a host of life-changing improvements in health care and technology. While honouring science and the mind, our cultural tendency urges us to devalue belief and mystery, but the result is costly: We’re left spiritually starved and out of balance. Some of life’s most difficult questions are the spiritual ones. What is the purpose of life? Where does real meaning come from? What is of real value in our lives? If there truly is a God who loves us, how could there be so much suffering and unfairness in the world?

Part of our addiction to the busyness of life is an attempt to prevent ourselves from thinking about our mortality, the inevitable fact of our own death. But when we keep ourselves too busy to consider the purpose of our existence, our lives cease to have meaning.

Strangely, it is only when we fully accept the reality of our mortality that we truly begin to live. This is the point at which we begin to enter into and learn about the spiritual dimension of our humanity. As French philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin remarked, “We are not physical beings having a spiritual experience, but spiritual beings having a physical experience.” Our spirituality is our true essence. It is that part of our life which relates to our soul, which from a spiritual perspective is connected to the Divine.

Love Yourself

When we look at having supportive, loving relationships in our life, why not start with ourself

Relationships are how we relate to others. We have a relationship with everyone that we know and who is close to us. This is not reserved for our family or someone who we are involved with. Every interaction we have with another is the act of relating. If we have a problem relating to others, this affects our ability to have supportive relationships. We have to ask ourselves if our relationships are supportive and if they are not, then ask ourselves why they are not. Everyone wants the perfect romance or marriage, but not everyone looks at the mechanics of how to have one. If we fail to have supportive relationships in our life, how can we have the perfect relationship?

Lets look at what is a supportive relationship. The word support is very important. It means that our interaction supports another. This means more than supporting another in their decisions or actions, rather through the act of supporting, we honor and validate who the other person is. In turn, this validates who we are. Both are supported, no one loses, no ego’s involved, and in so doing, we honor the relationship. This is what it means to have a supportive relationship. This is the desired goal. Now, how do we accomplish it?

There are several reasons why we may have problems relating to others. One primary reason is our behavioral patterns. These patterns are developed over a course of our lives. It starts when we are children, through to our adolescence, and by the time we are adults, we have established our behavioral patterns for our relationships. We can have both positive and negative behavioral patterns. What causes negative behavioral patterns? If we look at a person’s life, we can readily see which is negative or positive behavior. But we may not easily see the cause of the negative.

The cause usually resides in the past in which a trauma or an event occurred that effects how we behave in the future. If that event occurs again, or if something happens currently to cause us to experience that trauma again, that is when we respond to it. Situations can act as triggers, which may cause us to react to the person that is involved in the situation. This causes a negative behavioral pattern. Until we can identify the problem, we are powerless to do anything about it.

Whatever the situation was to trigger a reactionary response, the cause must be discovered in order to heal the original fracture. In Shamanism terms this is called a Soul Fracture. A fracture of the Self. Each self is part of the whole which comprises the soul. Soul Fractures occur for a variety of reasons and may or may not relate to this current lifetime. Traumas have occurred in past lifetimes that may or may not have been addressed. The Soul holds the body of these life experiences. Furthermore, the life process itself can be very painful for some. Past experiences that have dishonored, or invalidated who we are, cause us to close ourself off even more. These experiences build up over a matter of time and unless a clearing occurs, emotional or physical problems may develop.

If a problem has been identified, what can we do about it? One can try to clear it themselves, or one can go to a practioner who is adept at doing clearings. In order to clear, one must identify the original cause that created a behavioral pattern. Then, move through the experience of that situation, and experience the emotions that we have associated with it. Then, we must have closure or completion. This means completing it anyway that we are able. As long as, we feel that we have a sense of completion for the experience.

So, after we have identified the cause and received closure or completion, then we let it go. This does not mean to forgive or forget, that is not what it is to release. The act of releasing is our readiness to heal. Only after the experience has cleared can healing occur.

The healing process is a time when we must be very loving to ourself. If we beat up ourself about the experience that had caused us harm or our past reaction to it, then we cannot heal. In being loving to ourself, we validate what we had experienced at that time and our emotions for it. Our emotions are always valid. So it’s important for us to do this self validation in order to heal.

Love is the energy that helps us to heal, whether we give this love to ourselves, or we receive it from another. When we look at having supportive, loving relationships in our life, why not start with ourself ? Because that is where love comes from. This is what transforms our relationships and our lives. We must love the self first. And we cannot do that until we have healed and become whole.

Forget About Knowledge: Just Be Yourself

How can I be myself if I don't know myself?

Whether you know or not, you cannot be other than yourself. To be yourself, knowledge is not needed. A rosebush is a rosebush. Not that the rosebush knows that it is a rosebush. A rock is a rock. Not that the rock knows that it is a rock. Knowledge is not needed. In fact, it is because of knowledge that you are missing being yourself.

Knowledge is creating the problem. The rosebush is not confused. Every day it goes on being a rosebush. Not even for a single day does it become confused. It does not start some morning growing marigolds; it goes on being a rosebush. Knowledge is not needed for being. In fact, you are missing your being because of knowledge.

I was reading about a certain man named Dudley: To celebrate Uncle Dudley’s 75th birthday, an aviation enthusiast offered to take him for a plane ride over the little West Virginia town where he had spent all his life. Uncle Dudley accepted the offer.

Back on the ground, after circling over the town 20 minutes, he was asked: “Were you scared, Uncle Dudley?” “No”, was the hesitant answer, “but i never did put my full weight down”.

In an airplane, whether you put your full weight down or not, the weight is carried by the airplane. Whether you know yourself or not is not the point. Knowledge is disturbing you. Just think if there was a rock also on that airplane with Uncle Dudley, the rock would have put the whole weight down. Uncle Dudley is unnecessarily worried. He could have rested, he could have relaxed just like the rock, but the rock has no knowledge and Uncle Dudley has knowledge.

The whole problem of humanity is that humanity knows, and because of knowing, the being is unnecessarily forgotten.

Meditation is how to drop knowledge. Meditation means how to become ignorant again. Meditation means how to become a child again, a rosebush, a rock. Meditation means how just to be and not to think.

When i say to you to be yourself, i mean meditate. Don’t try to be anybody else. You cannot be! You can try, and you can deceive yourself and you can promise yourself and you can hope that someday you will become somebody else, but you cannot become. These are only illusions that you can go on having. These are dreams. They are not going to become realities ever. You will remain yourself whatsoever you do.

Why not relax, Uncle Dudley! Put your full weight on the airplane. Relax. In relaxation, suddenly you will start enjoying your being, and the effort to be somebody else will stop. That is your worry how to be somebody else, how to be like somebody else, how to become like a Buddha, how to become like Patanjali. You can only be yourself. Accept it, rejoice in it, delight in it. Relax.

Zen Masters say to their disciples, “Beware of Buddha. If you meet him on the way, kill him immediately”. What do they mean? They mean there is a human tendency to become imitators. There is a book, Imitation Of Christ. In a way, that title is very symbolic. It shows the whole mind of humanity. People are trying to imitate, to become somebody else.

Nobody can become a Christ. There is no need. Existence will be bored if you become Christ. It wants somebody new, something original. It wants you, and it wants you to be just yourself.

It's all in your mind

To get more prosperity in your life you should affirm that you are prosperous.

How would you feel and act right now if you had everything you wanted? Well, let’s just pause for a moment and visualize this: right now, see yourself acting as if you did have everything you wanted. See yourself acting in that way; capture the feeling of completeness and satisfaction that you would have. Luxuriate in that thought... What a wonderful feeling that is, and it is possible!

But let’s first ask ourselves how do we manifest prosperity? It is a fact that prosperity begins in mind. First as an idea, and then it comes into form. Thoughts are things and your thoughts create your reality. This, then, is absolutely true and in exact correlation with having enormous wealth and prosperity in your life. You can only have things that are in harmony with your thoughts. The great spiritual truth in regard to our wealth and prosperity is that God is the source and substance of your supply and people are merely channels! Well, it’s true on this human plane that it is people who hire us for our jobs, give us our paychecks, our bonuses and the like, but it is God that is the one true source.

When you are aware of this wonderful spiritual truth and incorporate that into your consciousness, you will begin to stop holding onto people, jobs and things so tenaciously and fearfully because they actually represent only one of many, many channels available to us. Stop giving your power away to these people and things and affirm, “This or something better.” Ease up. When we meditate and pray for more wealth and abundance in our lives, we don’t necessarily know where it’s going to come from and we don’t need to know.

To get more prosperity in your life you should affirm that you are prosperous. For those of you who are not familiar with affirmations or why they are important to your success, just think of them as positive statements that we can use to change our mind, belief system, attitudes and actions and therefore get the results we want. A fabulous affirmation for prosperity would be: “By day and by night, i am being prospered in all my ways!” Another great affirmation is, “I am now, in the process of attracting greater abundance, prosperity and success into my life in everything i am undertaking!”

Each one of us has the gift of free will or the freedom to think whatever thoughts we choose to concentrate on most throughout each day. Ask yourself right now what thoughts are you concentrating on right now? Are you thinking about prosperity and success in your life or are you thinking about lack and limitation? Your environment and your feelings will let you know exactly what you are thinking because they are an exact replica of your thoughts and beliefs. It’s true that no one can think of prosperity all day long and we are all in agreement there. As Emerson said, “A man is what he thinks about all day long.” Your primary thoughts, the ones you concentrate on most, will be what you will see in the people you attract to you as well as in your life circumstances. One of the most popular sayings is ‘change your thoughts and change your life,’ but, of course, Rome wasn’t built in a day! It will take time to replace your habitual thoughts that are negative to more positive ones, but you can do it!

Domenic Polifrone once said if we wanted a new car that we needed to go down to the showroom and test drive it. He said it didn’t matter if we didn’t have one penny in the bank. Just go down to that showroom, get behind the wheel of that car and test drive it! Get a few brochures to keep. See and feel yourself driving and owning this beautiful, new car. Get into the consciousness of “i am prosperity and i am in the process of buying and owning this beautiful, new car!” Try it. This experiment works! Your mind is one of your most prized possessions. It has been said that you are the architect of your life.

Ask yourself right now what kind of life are you building for yourself ? A magnificent life or a limited life? Everything that has been available to everyone is also available to you. There is a wonderful quote which underscores this fact. He said, “No one is superior to what you might become!”

Start knowing that the potentiality of one is the potentiality of all. If anybody has wealth you can have wealth; if anybody has a beautiful home, you can have a beautiful home. Life is a state of consciousness. “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Change your consciousness and change your world.

Spirituality is finding noble purpose

Happiness is a reflection of being positive and there's need to highlight positive news.

DOES leading an ostentatious life impede the quest for spiritualism? Can the two co-exist? Or are these two concepts in conflict? I believe leading an austere life is an easier path to obtaining the larger goal of living life for a greater good. Ostentation makes one turn towards oneself; look inwards, forgetting the greater good. As long as a person remains oriented towards a noble goal, I believe it doesn't matter what kind of lifestyle a person lives. What do we really mean by spirituality? To me, spirituality is about finding a subliminal purpose, a noble purpose in any important thing I do. Spirituality is finding a purpose beyond the mundane, beyond the easily achievable goals and targets.

Every human being has a special mission in their life. When that is fulfilled, it brings joy. I believe my purpose in life is to be useful to those around me. Happiness is interlinked with positive feelings. Happiness, for me, is to see the eyes of those around me light up with pleasure. So many good things happen, but they get lost in the negativity which surrounds us. We are enveloped by events and news, but what gets highlighted daily is negative news, which makes people depressed and unhappy. I think we should begin each day with good news. What would I choose? To me events which are very positive make good news. Economic growth of the country, showcasing the best of human spirit, the good work done by politicians — such news brings happiness to people. People are happy when they see that the events around them can make an impact on a larger chunk of society. Events and news must have an impact for people from all over the country and from all vocations — mothers, housewives, politicians. That brings happiness to people.

The film Chak de India brought happiness to a large number of people. The Chak de experience shows that youngsters want to see India do well, to win. They want a country that is disciplined. That makes people happy. People are happy when meritocracy is rewarded. It makes me happy when all the wonderful lessons life teaches us are conveyed succinctly.

Did you choose your life, or did life choose you?

Not many of us end up where we plan to be. But, is it such a bad thing for plans not to work out? There is no clear answer to this.

HOW many of us can honestly say life has gone exactly per plan and is what we always wanted it to be? Ask around and most will tell you the same story - how they spent a lifetime planning for a career and when it came to the crux, they realized it wasn't something they wanted after all. Or, sometimes what you plan just never works out. How many brides and bridegrooms have had last minute change of hearts?

Did former model and now roadside derelict Gitanjali Nagpal imagine in her heyday that she would be walking the streets in a short while? She possibly planned to be where her contemporaries Sushmita Sen or Aishwarya Rai Bachchan are today.

But, wait a minute. Did even Sushmita and Aishwarya meticulously plan the lives they are living today? No, it doesn't seem so. Sushmita apparently had limited her choices to poet, doctor, linguist, journalist or being a Mother Teresa, and Aishwarya wanted to be an architect! And while Ash's life may well seem every girl's dream come true, her own littlegirl dreams were of blueprints and buildings rather than the Miss Universe crown and Bachchan bahudom!

True, not many of us end up where we plan to be. Consider this. Saif Ali Khan wanted to be a lead guitarist or cricketer; Juhi Chawla, a classical singer; Akshay Kumar dreamt of being a martial art instructor, while Rahul Bose wanted to be a professional rugby player. Both singer Mukesh and director Subhash Ghai nursed ambitions of being leading men! They are not living their lives as they planned them; rather life overtook their plans!

We all know that the last thing Sonia Gandhi ever wanted to do in life is what she is doing today with great élan! None of people's plans for their lives seem to work out. These people did not choose their lives; instead those lives chose them all!

But, is it then such a bad thing for plans not to work out? There is no clear answer to this, though it does feel good to know there's someone out there ready with Plan B! Sure, you may find this scary when you consider cases such as Gitanjali's. On the other hand, Aishwarya and all the rest have not just got a better deal than they planned for, but also seem quite content with lives they never dreamt of giving themselves. Maybe they are even grateful their original plans went awry! I mean, imagine 'Mother Sush Teresa'! Or Ash raising buildings rather than razing hearts!

Does that then mean any planning for the future is doomed to failure? And that one shouldn't plan at all? Not really. The problem is not with the planning; it's with the acceptance. The acceptance of whatever life unfolds for us. Problem is most of the time we are all expending energy trying to fight reality… we just don't accept things as they are — instead, we keep hankering after what could have been or what we had wanted!

Sometimes we get so pigheaded about these things that even when we can clearly see what has unfolded is far better than what was planned, we refuse to be happy. Zen masters nail it right when they say the problem is that most of us tend to go through life doing whatever we do just because circumstance or Destiny have made our life what it is today. They advise you to take your life in control immediately with even the smallest of changes and make the best of what you have.

In short, even if it isn't what you had planned really, make it a life that you have designed, rather than the one that fell to your lot. Do a quick reality check and adapt to Plan B rather than keep bemoaning failure of Plan A. Believe it, more often than not, it works out for the best…

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

As You Breathe, So Shall You Live

The simplest way to build a harmonious relationship with life is to develop a loving, joyful and a friendly relationship with your breath. Understand your breath, its ways of working and develop a friendly relationship with it. Breath is the carrier of vital life force within us that makes our body-mind organisation function and survive.

If you look at breath as life itself, your landscape will change. The love, sanctity and value you give to this great spontaneous phenomenon called ‘breathing’ will tend to completely change the way you breathe. Then if you breathe slowly, just 20 times with a smile, your eyes closed, you will experience deep within a feeling of joy in all those organs where you perceive the smooth touch of breath.

When you look at your breath as if it were your constant and unfailing friend, that quality of relationship brings about a profound change in any breathing method you practise. You will soon realise that the way you breathe, is the way you live. This is how complex life turns simple.

Eight factors that change your relationship to life with reference to the way you breathe are: the flow of breath you allow in your body, the pace with which you breathe, the rhythm you follow, the number of times you breathe or frequency of breath, body posture you hold while breathing, vibrations you produce, the attention and serenity with which you breathe, and finally, your sensitivity to experience the touch of breath in every organ it touches as you breathe.

The way you learn to synchronise all these aspects into one compact process of breathing is what will change your relationship with your body and mind. It is simply profound as well as profoundly simple.

You will begin to like yourself as you feel the pleasing, calming sensation deep breath brings about. You will experience a deep sense of undisturbed peace within. When you pay attention to the beauty with which life rests within you, for the first time, you will experience what it is to feel alive.

Our relationship with breath tends to be simple, direct and proportionate. So if you breathe slowly and attentively you feel the touch of breath as you breathe in and out. You will experience a deep sense of peace. If you breathe with great satisfaction, you will feel the grace of life. When you breathe selectively into each of your organs like kidneys, intestines, heart or head and feel the touch of breath, you will experience great healing. How many times you breathe and how regularly you do it directly decides the proportion of well being you will feel.

If you think of life as a great struggle, or the world as a battlefield where you have to compete with and overcome others, you will turn yourself into a warrior who has no room for peace or reconciliation in life. Then if you seek freedom or happiness, you will look for it beyond this life, not while you are living. The world that appears outside you is in fact a reflection, a mirror image, of how you feel within.

A simple way of changing the way you feel is to learn how to change your relationship with life in your daily half-hour breathing session. You will soon experience that as you breathe, so shall you live.

Move With The Flow, Learn To Let Go

We tend to cling to every object in our lives. We hold on to our profession, relationship or possession as if our entire world depends on them. We are so busy clinging to our own lives, that we have forgotten to live with the flow. We are afraid to move ahead, afraid to let go.

Life in essence is like an unobstructed, unrestrained, uncontrolled flow of a river. Life flows at its own pace and the ultimate source of all our pain and sufferings is our tendency to cling to and obstruct the flow. Professional life stagnates, relationships are broken, possessions are lost; all because we refused to let go when we were actually required to let things take their own course.

Why do we cling? We cling because change scares us; we cling because we are afraid to face the unknown, to face challenges; we cling because we feel secure if the status quo is maintained; we cling because we refuse to believe that life can never be static; because we refuse to accept the transience of everything; we believe that everything is in our hands. We do not have enough faith in life and that higher force which is omnipotent and omnipresent. In the chaos of existence, we have lost touch with our higher self. Most of us lead a life which is similar to that of a child who is lost in a crowd, separated from his guardians. He has nobody to place his faith on. He is afraid, insecure, suspicious about everyone and everything.

We live under the false illusion of having everything under our control. The spirit of getting things done becomes a problem when we continue to cling on even after we have exhorted all our efforts. We are overwhelmed by a sense of despair and disillusion when things move beyond our control. It is at this stage we need to learn to let go. Several times relationships are broken just because we tried too hard to make them work. We didn’t give the breathing space they required to grow. We didn’t let go and let them take their own course.

Professionally or personally, once all the efforts are made towards achieving a goal, we must learn to let go and let life take the best course. It might or might not be of one’s choice, but if we have faith, we will realise that it inevitably is the best course. We need to believe that forces above us are far better equipped to make judgments for us. We must learn to have faith in their judgment. Letting go, however, does not mean turning into a fatalist. One cannot sit idle in life and expect life to take care of itself. Karma, the fulfilment of one’s duties is the ultimate objective of all human existence and if we fail to fulfil our duties towards life, life inevitably fails us.

When God gives us dreams, He shares them with us. Whatever we consider our dreams, are actually His dreams and He gives us the capability to realise them. The part we are required to play is to ensure the optimum usage of the capabilities bestowed upon us. And once we have played our part with utmost honesty and effort, we need to let go, step aside and let God step in to fulfil our dreams. After all, they are His dreams, too.

You Are Not Alone

Every day our interactions with others balance our sense of self with the rest of the world around us.

We hear things such as someone is “on a path of self-destruction” or acts as “his own worst enemy.” Rarely do we hear accolades of emotional rebirth or those rising from adversity or overcoming obstacles. We need to turn our attention and focus to different routes of growth, different methods of self-evolution and I invite you to consider the use of words both actual and coined for the exploration of this phenomenon we call spiritual growth. Destruction — the all-too familiar phrase used tirelessly by our culture to exemplify a person not acting in his own best interest. Perhaps we recognize behavioral patterns which provoke weaknesses or a propensity for failure, or perhaps we point our ever-judgmental fingers at others in order to avoid pointing them at ourselves. When we notice the self-sabotage at work in someone else, it’s only because it’s all too recognizable in our own experience. Nonetheless, destruction surfaces when the demons of fruition of effort begin to rise from the fire of impossibility. We tend to destroy our opportunities through various methodologies which some call coping mechanisms and continue down the spiral staircase of failure. As social beings, we adapt to our environment. In doing so, we select the best part of ourselves to demonstrate our competency to the world as a productive member of society. Perhaps we adopt a likeable laugh or a pleasant appearance to fit in with our immediate social strata. Or, sometimes we may change the language we use to fit in with smaller groups of people who can easily relate to the colloquialism. Undoubtedly, aware of our socio-structions or not, we all mold ourselves into an acceptable façade for the approval of our society at large. While some consider this malleability as selling out or even as disingenuous on it’s face, it remains something we rely on for our survival in a world where adaptation ensures survivability. The other day, I told a friend, “I’m on a fast path of self-construction!” I’m not tearing down anything as with destruction, I’m working with. “Con” means “with” or “together” and our common use of construction conjures up images of building and civil engineering. Why not engineer a new life for yourself ? Work with the structure you already possess and build a new “you” that is positive and makes the best and most of your talents and abilities. When you engage in a process of “with” you cannot simultaneously be destructing anything. Take a look within yourself. In what ways do you put your finest qualities together to create something even greater of yourself ? In what ways do you make the most of your lesser characteristics and work with your strengths to present to the world a surprising, revitalized “you”? When we build ourselves and our lives using affirmative elements, we can bask in the shining accomplishment of a newly created self, standing tall in the world and strong in foundation. Move forward with only the best ingredients of thought and action you can gather and your prostructive efforts will reward you. Like it or not, we don’t go through life alone. We may think we do, but every day our interactions with others balance our sense of self with the rest of the world around us. Sometimes our partners help us to co-struct something far larger than the relationship at hand. Together, we can work toward common goals and build even greater contribution to the world. For example, the labors of Marie and Pierre Curie co-structing their efforts bore scientific breakthroughs which changed the world. The ebb and flow, the Yin and Yang of forward momentum and symmetry allow for a dynamic thread of energy which weaves the cloth of creation that cannot be sewn solitarily. Yes, “two heads are better than one,” but any size group, working in unison holding similar visions with focus and balance can produce exponential and extraordinary results. Consider the many ways — and every way — you’ve structured your life and even when you’re presented with circumstances that don’t fit into the blueprint of your imagination, you’ll never know how they’ll benefit you until you build your life around the impossible to manifest the reach-for-the-sky edifice of you!

Stress out

How stress can affect your body, mind and soul?

YOU can’t hold it and yet it manages to stifle you with its monstrous power. It is a catalyst that can induce a host of ailments in one’s body, mind and soul. We are talking about stress. Not just cardiac ailments and heart attacks, u n h e a l t hy stress, if unchecked, also gives rise to Generation Rx.

Many school children suffering from burnouts due to acute stress, thanks to the competitive academic atmosphere and the constant pressure to live up to their parents’ expectations. Consequently, they are more prone to mental ailments like depression and withdrawal symptoms. Given the intense pressure in one’s life due to blind ambition and reckless consumerism, today there are more Type A personalities in the world. These people are aggressive, irritable and frustrated, and are more susceptible to the pitfalls of stress.

Stress can cause very serious medical ailments too. “For the last five years, there has been a significant increase in the incidence of tuberculosis in the young adult population. And worrying is one of the main causes for it.”

It’s not only the indigent population, but even people working in places like IT, call centres and media, who often deprive themselves of proper food, sleep, exercise and sunlight, are falling prey to TB. “About 80 per cent of them are in their twenties. They mainly suffer from tuberculosis of the lymph node seen in the neck. Add to that the latest fads, specially among young women — to go on a diet, thanks to the proliferation of careers (modelling, anchoring, jockeying, acting) that, while giving an image boost, busts the immunity mechanism”

How most people think ailments like asthma and respiratory problems are primarily courtesy pollution, but in reality, stress is as much responsible. “Suppression of emotions and lack of love and protection, another evolving urban feature causing stress, also results in the incurable but treatable autoimmune disorder like systemic lupus erythematosus (where immunity turns against parts of the body it is designed to protect). A spurt in skin diseases like psoriasis and allergies like eczema even among kids and an increase in the gastrointestinal disorders like peptic ulcer and irritable bowel syndrome (constipation alternating with diarrhoea) are also fallouts of stress”. Today, even young women (18-25 years) are suffering from polycystic ovarian disease, a condition linked with stress. It makes them prone to infertility, mood swings, weight gain and irregular cycles. Then there is obesity, which can be stress-related and can lead to further stress. Stress also aggravates conditions and ailments like acne, alopecia areata (bald patches seen as young as eight-yearolds), hair-fall, breast cancer and muscular spasm.

So, don’t give in to stress, no matter what. There are ways galore to keep it at bay and deal with it on occasions it gets to you.

From dharma to karma

A clear conscience and being able to go to sleep peacefully at night is what matters most to this corporate honcho.

I believe that happiness and spiritualism cannot be a quest in itself. God expresses Himself in all his manifestations. I see God in the bartender who uses all his skills, diligence in serving his customers and making them feel happy and satisfied. In accomplishing his job sincerely, he has served God. Even a simple gesture of following the traffic rules, which prevents accident, or giving way to an ambulance carrying a critically-injured, is an act of God. The diversity of this world observed in all the flora and fauna is God's creation. Walk through a garden; observe carefully. What do you see? Simple acts of pollination, flowering of buds, metamorphosis of a larva to a splendid butterfly — a whole eco system in balance. No human mind could have conceived these millions of creations, with their endless possibilities. What do you call that? Call it what you may — God, supernatural power, but there is no denying the existence.

Our ancient scriptures say that there are four stages of life everyone has to go through —
b ra h m a ch a r y a , grihistha, sanyas, and vanaprastha. There can be no r e nu n c i at i o n (tyag) without i n d u l ge n c e (bhog). Only a person who has seen and indulged in all the pleasures of life can give it all up. We have to go through all stages and live to the fullest. And here I do not mean to sound like a hedonist. In Sarat Chandra's Last Question seeing young boys observing hard penance, the female protagonist questions why is it that these children of a very tender age have to undergo so much hardship in observing brahmacharya? Those who never had any happiness in life, can they ever give happiness to others? Instead of superimposing brahmacharya on them, why not leave them to live a normal childhood?

Trying to be rigid and drawing lines between materialism versus spirituality is an exercise in futility. I think I could be wearing designer clothes, watches, vacationing at exotic places and yet be spiritual. I believe that the more one runs after happiness, the more happiness will elude him. Happiness is an elixir that has to be sieved from our everyday existence. It cannot be a goal or an end in itself.

I personally would not put any representation of God or any religious symbol in my brief or toilet seat for the same reason as I would not do that with, say, my parents’ pictures. It is a question of respect and not any rigid dogma. Spirituality means following my dharma through my karma. Dharma is that essential quality without which an object or a being loses its existence or its characteristics. If I have a sweet, can I ever explain to anyone how sweet that is? Or if my hands were to get scalded, can I ever measure the intensity of pain? That is the
dharma of a sweet or the fire that hurts me. Similarly, my dharma or passion in life has been to nurture entrepreneurs through partnership. That is what I have strived to achieve all my life. My karma leads me to live a life where I am accountable to myself for all my deeds, being able to look myself in the eye straight up in the mirror without any guilt pangs, having a clear conscience and being able to go to sleep peacefully at night. Beyond that, I don't dwell on spirituality much.

Sense and Spirituality

The knowledge of your own spirituality can open doors to places you never thought were possible.

Being spiritual or not spiritual isn’t an option. You were born spiritual and everything you do is spiritual. So what is the deal with trying to be spiritual, trying to find your path of enlightenment? I believe we are programmed to believe we are not spiritual unless we have a religious belief. For centuries believers in organized religion have been trying to recruit non believers and convert them to their faith. The bottom line for them is it’s simply good business and nothing else. Long before there were institutions of worship, there were millions of people who were very aware of their own spirituality and they understood the connection between themselves, others and their environment.

Although many of us are not aware of our spirituality it doesn’t mean we are not spiritual. It is spirit which moves the body, that knows it’s alive and its connection to the environment. Awareness of this is what most people are lacking. The benefits of knowing ones true nature or spiritual connection are many.

If you lived in a dry land and everyday was a great effort to find and gather water, would it not benefit you to know that by digging below your feet you would find all the water you could use?
If you were homeless and you spent your days sitting on the same corner begging for food, would it not benefit you to know that there is a free soup kitchen only two blocks away? If you were in the market for a new car and your local dealer did not have what you were looking for, would it not benefit you to know that in the next town, they have the exact model you’re looking for?

Knowledge is power; the awareness of one’s own spiritual nature is power. The most amazing thing is we do not have to do anything or look anywhere to be spiritual. We simply have to know we are already there. The benefits of this knowledge are infinite opportunity to experience anything we desire. Would this knowledge serve you to know you can have abundance, good relationships, love, or anything you desire simply by knowing that you can?

The knowledge of your own spirituality can open doors to places you never thought were possible. The big difference between believing and knowing is in knowing you already have it, you are already experiencing it. In believing or having faith that you will have a thing, it is something that may occur in the future. In knowing you are the spiritual one who will create what you wish to experience, you have access to immediate delivery and it is not incumbent upon the whims of someone or something else.

The greatest secret to the benefits of spiritual awareness is the power that it holds. Thinking, believing, trusting or having faith that you are spiritual does not take you there-it is the awareness of being spiritual which makes it so. It’s within the acceptance of being this power that you are able to use it. Humanity knew this a very long time ago, but gave up the responsibility for it because it feared its own imagination and the awesome limitlessness of its capabilities.

Power is non-power unless it’s used. The responsibility for this power was too much for primitive man. Instinctively man still knows his connection to this power that never went away. He chose a life of limited power and a lifetime of trying to find it. Man generally fears to think too big. He is still very primitive in his thinking and his concerns are with himself and his little empire. There are other places, other realms yet to be discovered that will require him to be more powerful. Until he is ready to claim back his spirituality and power he will never leave this earth.

The good news is that you can have it all now through complete acceptance of what you truly are. Spirituality is worthless until you know its value and place in your own awareness. As you read this, you would have a greater understanding of why you do not have complete authority over your life or have limited power.

You would know why things do not always work out the way you want them to that you have accepted less because you are not ready to accept what is already yours.

How To Hit A Century In The Game Of Life

The century mark is considered a landmark achievement. Scoring a hundred runs is cause for celebration in the game of cricket just as in life. We are blessed with bountiful nature. We enjoy its fruit almost effortlessly.

Once we analyse the process through which this production crystallises, it is astonishingly intricate. There is essentially something wonderful about what we receive from nature.The human body is like entire creation. It is Brahmand simulated.

The human body is composed of millions of cells, containing the building blocks of life. The tool of knowledge unfolds the complicated and intricate nature of cells. Think of a million groups, each one composed of a million subgroups. Human existence is regulated by minute living organisms and therein lies great philosophy.

The human body is often described as a vessel and it is so if we look at its innumerable contents. Scientists estimate that the number of cells in the human body could tot up to several trillion. Human lifespan depends on the health of these cells. Medical science makes it clear that longevity can be compromised by tension and stress.

The Ishopanishad in its second shloka enunciates that one can aspire to live for a hundred years if one so desires. But for this, you need to adopt certain practices. It emphasises that right living is the only way to achieve this.

Selfless actions generate healing energy and minimise damage to the cells and in this manner they ensure longevity. When the body is stressed by selfish pursuits, a chain reaction develops that hampers normal functioning of cells. This shortens their lifespan.

The human body is like a supercomputer with bionic chips at work. Overloading the body with selfish pursuits impairs functional efficiency. Too much clutter consumes and diverts valuable life-giving energy and this adversely affects not only the lifespan but also quality of life. Selfless action makes one’s life transparent which ensures that we remain free from unnecessary tension and stress.

The Upanishads make it clear that we are evolved, involved and ultimately dissolved by Brahmn. The existence of Brahmn is unitary but its forms are countless. Longevity is ensured if we use the energy available judiciously.

Solar energy is responsible for sustenance of life. Intrinsically, food and oxygen are fuel. Not merely this, even provocative thoughts, strong desires and selfish actions act as fuel that erode the lifespan. Righteous life and transparent living are lowenergy fuels but they sustain life in a dignified and durable way. Right living is therefore crucial to achieving a long life.

Irresponsible living is the breeding ground for ego which is high-energy fuel that burns the body rapidly. Yoga can be fruitful only if the body is kept pollutionfree. Purity can only be achieved by a transparency which is the product of right living.

The human body has evolved in a manner that equips it for survival. However, the body is highly sensitive and if we treat it carelessly and roughly, we would not only weaken it; we would also be compromising the mind since the welfare of one contributes to the welfare of the other.

We need to treat our bodies with care. You have every chance to hit a century or to achieve Shatayu, the coveted hundred year-mark, provided you live a holistic life of equipoise.

Seven Candles Of Unity To Spread Eternal Light

All prophets were sent down to earth for a single purpose. They were made manifest so that the world of man could become the world of God... so that the nether realm becomes the Kingdom, darkness becomes light, satanic wickedness becomes all the virtues of heaven, and unity, fellowship and love be won for the entire human race. Prophets were sent so that organic unity reappears and the bases of discord be destroyed and life everlasting and grace everlasting become the humanity’s harvest.

Look around you. You will find that unity, mutual attraction, and gathering together engender life. But disunity and disharmony spell death. When you observe and consider all phenomena, you will see that every created thing has come into being through the mingling of many elements. Once this collectivity of elements is dissolved, and harmony of components is disturbed, life is wiped out.

In cycles gone by, though harmony was established, owing to the absence of means, the unity of all mankind could not have been achieved. Continents remained widely divided. Even among the peoples of one continent association and interchange of thought were not possible. Since then means of communication have multiplied. We can travel to any land, associate and exchange views with its peoples, and become familiar, through publications, with the conditions, religious beliefs and thoughts of all men.

Similarly, all members of the human family, whether peoples or governments, cities or villages, have become increasingly interdependent. Self-sufficiency is no longer possible or even expected, as political, commercial and industrial ties unite all peoples and nations. The bonds of trade and industry, of agriculture and education, are being strengthened every day. Hence the unity of all mankind can be achieved. Verily this is one of the wonders of this wondrous age. The age of discovery and light unfolds a fresh marvel every day. Eventually it will be seen how bright its candles will burn, spreading light everywhere, dispelling darkness and ignorance.

Behold how its light is now dawning upon the world’s darkened horizon. The first candle is unity in the political realm, the early glimmerings of which can now be discerned. The second candle is unity of thought in world undertakings, the consummation of which will ere long be witnessed. The third candle is unity in freedom which will surely come to pass. The fourth candle is unity in religion which is the cornerstone of the foundation itself, and which, by the power of God, will be revealed in all its splendour.

The fifth candle is the unity of the nations — a unity which in this century will be securely established, causing all the peoples of the world to regard themselves as citizens of one common fatherland. The sixth candle is unity of races, making of all that dwell on earth peoples and kindreds of one race. The seventh candle is the unity of language, the choice of a universal tongue in which all peoples will be instructed and converse. Each and every one of these will inevitably come to pass, inasmuch as the power of the Kingdom of God will aid and assist in their realisation.

Beyond The Obvious

Much of the conflict in our lives stems from the belief that our subjective stories are immutable truths.

Have you ever been mesmerised by the multiple images of a kaleidoscope? Or had your attention captured by the many facets of a beautifully cut crystal? Perhaps this fascination comes from the realisation, on some level, that what at first seems to be a distortion of reality, can in fact be a truer reflection of it.

“Reality" can be seen from as many different perspectives as the kaleidoscope's images. Much of the conflict we experience in our lives stems from our belief that our subjective stories, interpretations or judgments of "reality" are immutable truths. One relatively simple way to reduce the conflicts in our lives is to step back in any given situation and ask ourselves what really happened.

What are the objective facts, apart from our judgments and interpretations? Like opening a Russian matrushka (box), which reveals a seemingly endless stream of smaller boxes, or peeling an onion, we need to peel down to the core, to the actual event stripped of our subjective story about it for a detached view of an event tells a much simpler story than the overlay of our judgments does. As far as the world is concerned, a blizzard is just a blizzard. To a diehard powder hound it's heaven; to a fair weather skier who has to shovel the walk it's less than ideal. Meaning comes from our judgments and beliefs, or the stories we tell ourselves about our experience. These in turn determine our reactions. It's often difficult to differentiate between the "facts" and our overlay. Here are a few examples. You're calmly swimming in the ocean when suddenly you see a large form moving toward you. What's your first reaction? If you think it's a shark, you'll most likely panic. If on the other hand, you think it's a dolphin, you may be elated at the opportunity to swim alongside it. It is critically important to understand the essence of that form coming at you, so you can act appropriately, rather than react instinctively based on misinformation or misjudgments.

The framework or context in which we place experiences is another way we give them meaning. Santa once had a reindeer named Rudolph who just happened to have a rather shiny, glowing nose. Now to Rudoph, who was teased incessantly by the other reindeer, his nose was a problem, at least until the context shifted. One very dark, stormy Christmas Eve Santa needed him. Rudolph's nose, in a different context, made him a hero. There's a wonderful story of a grandfather who takes his twin grandsons to a stable. They walk into a stall filled with manure. The first boy is repulsed, wanting only to get away from the sight and smell of the fresh manure. The second boy begins dancing around happily. When his grandfather asks him why he seems so happy, his response is “ With all this manure, there must be a pony around somewhere." Our lives would be much simpler if in the midst of our "manure" we were able to look for the pony.

In a similar vein, we often make assumptions that we fail to check out, and which, quite often, turn out to be wrong. As Alice said, "Things aren't always what they seem". A whale is not a fish. A peanut is not a nut. And a tomato is not a vegetable. Your thoughts create your reality. It's a good habit to stand back from a situation and ask yourself, "What if my assumptions are wrong?" Few of us are able to look at things objectively in the midst of an emotionally charged conflict situation, but it's a goal to strive for. By peeling things back to a reality stripped of judgments and stories we allow ourselves the freedom in each moment to consciously choose how we both act and react. The goal is to be the driver of our actions, not the passenger.

When a conflict arises, ask yourself what actually happened. Strip away your judgments and interpretations. Pretend you’re a director trying out different ways to present the same story. Try telling it from a different perspective - anger, blame, indifference, responsibility, compassion or maybe just humor. You may find you see things in a very different light.

When we change the context in which we place events, the meaning instantly shifts. The glass really is half full and half empty. So work on consistently framing your experiences in ways that are empowering for you and others.

Go With The Flow

Holding on has a way of dampening the spirit and moving you away from being in harmony with yourself.

A friend of mine has always said that there is nothing in life more constant than change. The more i learn the more i have to agree with my friend that, indeed, life is always in a constant state of flux.

If there is this movement all around us, we have the opportunity to change in response to it. But the truth is that sometimes we are resistant to doing things in a new way and it is hard to let go of ideas, relationships, and the way things have always been done. It is even harder to let go of fear, anger, hurts and the resentments we carry.

When i think of letting go, i can’t help but think that if i have something to let go of, then i must be hanging on to something. The question itself seems to ask us to name it, the very thing we are holding on to.

Sometimes we know exactly what it is as we have a long standing relationship with it. We might have even carried it from our childhood to adulthood. Whatever it is that we carry with us, we have the tendency to keep building on it, giving it more and more power until it becomes almost too big to look at. Certainly this is not a conscious act on our part, but one that happens outside of our awareness until we are faced with something that makes us look at it. People often talk about dealing with the issues of their life when faced with an illness.

Eastern medicine looks at the emotional life of the person when assessing their medical condition, knowing that when we hold on to emotions, it shows itself in the physical body. Many believe that disease is really dis-ease with the emotional aspect of ourselves and literally being out of harmony with our emotions. Whether this is your belief or not, holding on has a way of dampening the spirit and moving you away from being in harmony with yourself.

I know for myself, i came to adulthood with a lot of ideas about who and what i was based on what i had been told. I had been taught how things had to be and the rules i needed to abide by to succeed in the world; only to find out later that these ideas, beliefs and all the emotions around them did not fit me. I was surprised to find that what i came to believe about myself and life had driven my life in a way that kept me from getting what i wanted. It was with this awareness that i had the capacity to change it, if i let it go. In the process of letting go i could make room for something new to come in. You don’t have to have something from your childhood to get familiar with letting go.

The process of life itself gives us a steady stream of opportunity. In particular, i remember what it was like when my children got on the school bus for the very first time. All the parents were at the bus stop, many with fear and apprehension, unsure about this first big step in letting go. Now my youngest son has graduated from high school and will attend college in a far away state. Again i stand in this place of letting go. At first it does not feel all that different from that day thirteen years ago when he boarded the school bus, but i know that i have learned a lot about letting go. I also know that life will continually remind me in case i forget that it is a necessary part of life. It is vital to us to learn how to let go so that our burden does not become too heavy to bear.

The more i have looked at my life, the more i realised that change is ever present and life is a constant process of change, making peace and letting go. I understand that this is not always an easy process but i have learned that it is even harder to hang on to it. When we let go, we energetically make room for something new to come into our awareness. Letting go of what no longer works is a wonderful freedom that allows us to imagine something else. And every time we can imagine something else we have a universe of possibility that opens to us.

It makes me wonder who we could be if we were willing to let go of the things we are carrying. How would we participate in the bigger picture for our life? What if we could start each day with a clean slate? The native Hawaiian people practise something called Ho’oponopono, which means to ‘make right.’ Each evening they close their eyes and practice the gentle art of letting go of everything from the day. How might you find your own centre of peace if each evening you could let go of the day? Understanding that as you do this, you are making room for new possibilities to emerge. Blessings to you as you learn that letting go is a process for life.

What’s Your Purpose of Life?

In order to discover the true meaning of your soul purpose, it is imperative to reassess what it means to be human.Life has a purpose for us, a purpose that refuses to be ignored and makes us ache with such longing for fulfillment. We come into physical being to fulfill that purpose. And life within us yearns for us to return to the whole that is life. Everything plays a part in fulfilling life’s purpose. Nothing exists without a purpose and that purpose calls until we respond. And when we do respond to the call of purpose, we enter into a sacred dance with life.

Purpose is the energy and consciousness that exist within a seed that compel and guide it into a beautiful flowering plant, given the correct nourishment. It is the meaning and worth within the seed that mature into a fruit bearing tree, and every type of seed has a definite purpose. The purpose of an apple seed, for example, is to grow into an apple tree and produce apples. It cannot produce cherries or watermelons or anything else.

The human soul is also such a seed. It is, however, a God seed. Just as with the apple seed, a god-seed cannot grow into anything but a god tree whose fruit expresses the totality of divinity. How much of what you know to be divine within you are you cultivating now? And how far will this go? Just as a single apple seed can produce apples as well as entire orchards for centuries, a single human soul can grow to heal and enlighten generations of humanity.

There are many varieties of apples but they can all become apple trees. Some are grown in private backyards whereas others are grown in large orchards. In the same way, each of us is a unique human soul and we will fulfill our purpose in diverse and original ways. Yet, we all have the same purpose for being here: to realise, through fully incarnating as a human being, all that is God.

What does it mean to realise god? It means to make God a reality in our being, in our consciousness, and in our living. But what is this God that we need to make real? I personally like what the Sufis say about God: La illaha illa illah hu, or there is nothing but God. God is infinite, eternal and immoral. Yet, the moment we ask anything of God, He not only provides, but also becomes the very provision and gives Himself to us. He is limitless but makes Himself limited so that we may touch Him, see Him, know Him. He is all-powerful, yet He makes Himself helpless so that we can give help, helpful so that we can receive help. God is all-knowing and everywhere.

To the extent that you impose your controls, limits and conditions upon the free will of Divinity, in yourself or in others, God will be you in your life. The more you relinquish those conditions you place upon free will, the more you will be God in God’s life.
Purpose is the asking: We are the answer: We are spiritual beings learning to become complete human beings. Far from being a liability, our humanity is truly our grace and fulfillment. When you view yourself as a kind of failing and say, but i am only human, you not only demean your worth but you also insult all that is sacred. In order to discover the true meaning of your soul purpose, it is imperative to reassess what it means to be human. For it is only through your humanity that you can fulfill Divine Will.

If purpose is such a sure thing, why does it so easily elude our grasp? Even those who seem to live with great purpose can have difficulties defining exactly what it is. Knowing one’s purpose in life is not an intellectual matter; its power and meaning are experienced within. To get a clearer sense of purpose, let’s look at it on a personal level as well as on a cosmic scale.

Imagine that you finally accomplish a difficult task, realise a longheld dream, reach a hard-won goal, create a masterpiece or finish a magnum opus. You are done! Or are you? What more could you want? The want has been satisfied. Now, you have. When you are completely fulfilled, what naturally arises is the sharing. The sharing is not a separate action, but the giving that effortlessly radiates out of being.

Now, imagine being all knowing, all powerful, all loving, all creative. There is nothing you don’t know, nothing you can’t do. In your limitless ecstasy, celebration explodes out of your in an infinite variety of forms. A universe is created that follows your laws and fulfills your divine commands. An omnipotent, omniscient and immortal being containing the infinity of life, you created all that is. Complete in every way, free and self-fulfilled, what more could you possible need or want? Only one thing: To share that living and joyful creation.