422. Emotional Decisions or Rational Decisions which is better???

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/self-improvement/emotional-decisions-or-rational-decisions-which-is-better

After losing the game of dice Pandavas were to spend12 years of exile and the 13th year was to be spent incognito. Spending 12 years in forest Pandavas disguised as commoners and decided to stay in Viratanagara, capital city of Matsyadesha. They claimed that they served Yudhistira but after the dice game they have been wandering and looking for jobs. 

Yudhisthira introduced himself as Kankabhatta and was appointed minister in the court of King Virata. He played game of dice with King who also had the liking for the game. Bhima called himself Vallala and took up the job of a cook. Arjuna used his curse of becoming eunuch by name Brihanalla, and taught dance to Uttaraa, the daughter of King Virata. Nakula was appointed as the caretaker of the horses in the stable while Sahadeva became the royal cowherd. Draupadi in the name of Sairandhri served as maid to queen Sudeshne.

When everything was going on well Kichaka, the brother of queen Sudeshne cast an evil eye on Draupadi.  He proposed her to marry him and when she refused he brought her to the palace of Virata and insulted her in front of the assembly. At the assembly Bhima who was present gets up with rage to go and help Draupadi, but Yudhisthira signals him to sit down.

At that time Yudhisthira seem to be calm while Bhima was extremely angry. Practically Yudhisthiras calm could be justified, but Scriptures says “upholding wife’s dignity is supreme” and it is the duty of every husband to protect his wife. Here we find Yudhisthira as if not concerned at all while Bhima if not stopped by Yudhisthira would have killed Kichaka for misbehaving with Draupadi.

But the situation was so that if Bhima had killed Kichaka their identity will be revealed and they would have had to go on exile for another 12 years and one year of incognito. This was the reason for Yudhisthira to remain silent at that time. Bhima did not care about all those he was only concerned about protecting the modesty of Draupadi. If Yudhisthira had not stopped Bhima Pandavas would have had a momentary victory, but doomed Hastinapura to be ruled by Duryodhana for yet another 13 years.

Evil does not play fair and it provokes the good to make an emotional decision so that it can have the advantage. Emotional decisions happen very fast and are more prone to errors. Often we make emotional decisions without understanding and then try to find a rational reason to justify that decision.

Are rational decisions better than emotional decisions then???? No, not always, emotional decisions are signals from the subconscious mind that provide link to what we really prefer. They take us away from the decisions that could be self-interest or self-centered.

A person from India landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City and calls up his friend living in Hudson. He thought of surprising his friend in U.S and so did not intimates about his visit to U.S. The friend in U.S thinks that his friend is playing a prank. After much of convincing by the Indian friend he believes him and asks him to catch a cab from the airport and gives him directions to reach home. The Indian friend is crestfallen he expected his childhood friend to drive him home after all it was 10 years since they had met personally. He hung up the receiver and called a cab. The wife of the American friend feels that her husband should have driven to the airport and received his friend personally. American friend says to her, “Oh, look I need two hours to reach the airport and to bring him here another two hours, well he can catch a cab and be here by two hours. I am a person who makes rational decisions.”

These are the times when emotional decisions should be preferred over rational decisions…There is a need to evaluate the situation by our intellect and go for the decision emotional or rational which ever might be appropriate…..Am I right??????

420. I AM 420………………….!

http://www.speakingtree.in/spiritual-blogs/seekers/self-improvement/i-am-420

The offenders in our country who cheat are booked under the section INDIAN PENAL CODE (IPC) 420, hence it has become routine to call one who is non-reliable as 420. The offender is booked, taken to the police station and produced before the judge. Looking at the intensity of the crime judge delivers the verdict so that the offender will know about his wrong doings and correct himself and try to live a life of high merit. 

It is so very nice that our system gives space for an offender to correct himself. The system tries its best to bring the offender to the mainstream and help him. But how will I correct myself from Self cheating which does not allow me to excel? What is the verdict against Self-Deception?  Professional and Personal lives are the two tight ropes that I walk on in my life span. I am the best judges and I do treasure this feel. In professional life I tackle the situations very well by using my skills or by resorting to be shrewd to other. After finding success there I try to apply the same in my personal life by pampering my ego which make me adamant, stubborn and ignorant. Ego dwells and swells in my mind. It starts to cause Self-Deception. 

When I was a toddler there was no sense of “I”ness in me. I used to cry when hungry and my mother would feed me and I would feel contented and sleep peacefully. As I grew I started to identify myself with the toys I had. I would say “that is my toy” the self deception started like a sapling from there. Though at that time there was no intellect to help me to say that it is a toy and it was brought for money from my father from a shop and it could have been someone’s if his father had brought it. Amazingly that toy which was my possession unfortunately joined the set of unused goods in the backyard of my house when I was not interested in it anymore.

This yearns to look for the entertainment outside me started from my young life due to lack of knowledge. Intellect started to guide me when I reached certain age, but unfortunately the ego which is inflated talks loud and would not let my mind to heed what my intellect says. My mind with the support of ego reduces my sense to behave as slaves. Now even when my intellect advice my senses that the happiness got from the external objects are not permanent my sense would join hands with my mind and go after the worldly objects. The words of my intellect fell to deaf ears since my mind had completely surrendered to my ego. Ego has convinced my mind so much that it would not believe my intellect and think what my ego was saying was right.

My ego is the master of Deception and Self-Deception. It uses deception to fool others and self-deception to fool my mind. It creates illusion and cheats my mind to believe that it is Self. It is has convinced my mind to ignore common sense and embrace nonsense by wearing a mask. It persuaded my mind to wear blinders and selectively disregard facts which would encourage my mind to search for the answers for question such as “Who am I”?

Throughout my life this “I” is doing the untrustworthy deeds to my mind and misleading it. It is evading my mind from the path of Truth. It has to be booked under the section INNER PERSPECTIVE CODE (IPC) 420 and made to know its wrong doing and correct it. Ego has to be replace by love. Chief Justice Intellect should protect the client, mind from going too far beyond the reach.

This incidentally happens to be the 420th blog ……………..!    

419. If you Love your job there is no need to separate Work and Family Life…..!

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/self-improvement/if-you-love-your-job-there-is-no-need-to-separate-work-and-family-life

In this rat race most people wait for the weekend to enjoy life after slogging for five days. Though it may seem an exaggeration, some even spend a good part of their life looking forward to retirement to start enjoying life. Why are we so? Was it not our mistake to have misunderstood our elders who had said “work to live” Our elders actually meant “to live one has to work”. Have we not committed a blunder in understanding it as “we have to work and not live”?  From such a notion after getting a job that idea has further reinforce in us as many companies treat the employees as a part of production line rather than individuals.

What if we could love our jobs? This attitude will induce zeal in us to wake up every morning wanting to go to work, because we feel we are associating ourselves in creating a better world. This approach will stop us from distinguishing between work life and personal life and wasting away a good part of our life.

An IT employee hired a carpenter living next door to fix the furniture at his office. The job would take a month to be finished and the carpenter would require three of his helper to finish it. The IT employee drove the lot in his car to the office and would bring them back in the evening after work. He found the team very happy even though they face problems in their work and earn less that what he does. One evening he asked the carpenter the reason.

“I find that tension in my work is too much for me. Ours is a stressful job and our company also enrolls us to stress relief courses conducted by Life Coaches every quarterly yet we are not as happy as you are. Work tensions are not to be taken home is what we are told. We are asked to separate work life and family life. Many of us have a “TROUBLE TREE” in our compound where we hang our problem before entering our home and pick them up again every morning as we come here. This is the idea given by one of the Life Coach in one of the sessions. This proposition worked only for few weeks and then it was the same as it was earlier. I think being happy is inversely proportional to what one earns.” said the IT employee.

“Sir, it is a wrong impression to say that all those who earn good are not happy I have seen many of my colleagues who are not happy and surrendered themselves to alcohol to find one. And I have seen many corporate employees leading a happy and peaceful life. There is no need to separate your work life and family life. I love my work and I think of it even when I am at home with my wife and children and in same way I love my family and I think of them even when I am at work. If you love your work it will never cause stress in your life. Yes, I too have heard that it is always better to separate your work life and family life, but I ask why you should one do so. Simply love what you do and see the difference. More importantly I have seen you guys love the money your job fetches you than the job itself. This shows you are more interested in take home pay than your work. You need a Life Coach to guide you on how to live, but to me Life is the Coach that is guiding me to happiness.” said the carpenter.

Wasn't the carpenter right??????

418. Nobody knows Everything, but Everybody knows Something…..!

Nobody knows Everything, but Everybody knows Something…..!

There is a word “Collective Intelligence” which is a form of Cosmic intelligence distributed among all mortals that is frequently enhanced and harmonized in real time so that the result is an effective mobilization of skill among humans.  My initial idea is based on the notion that since the Cosmic intelligence is distributed among us, No one knows everything, but everyone knows something. So in the sense knowledge resides in humanity. No one can say he is Omniscient. Collecting this distributed intelligence is spiritual wisdom. So a serious seeker has to develop the “Madhukara Vritti” (job of the bee) and collect the vast wisdom by drawing the nectar of knowledge from each individual.

To collect it one has to accept the fact that he does not know all. The problem is that one does not accept that there is much more that he needs to know. Not only those who are ignorant but also those who are well versed in the subject, fail to know that not all is known. Upanishad says the knower of all is the one who know that he does not know. Humbly if one say that he does not know there is a flow of knowledge towards him from all directions. The stand that one takes which make him the knower of all will seldom help him to move forward. The stagnant water always stinks it is better if one is in the flow, to be in the flow one has to surrender to the currents without resistance.    

Once while travelling through a village, the great Tamil poet saint Avvaiyar noticed a jambu fruit tree. Looking at the rich ripe jambu fruit she had a liking to relish them. But the fruits were too high up on the tree far from her reach and her age prevented her from aim stones at them.  Fortunately for her she spotted a young cowherd boy on the tree. She asked him to fetch her some fruits.

The young boy asked “Paati (Granny) Do you want hot jambu fruits or cold jambu fruits?”

Avvaiyar who was a knowledgeable scholar herself was taken back by the words of the little guy. She wondered if there could be two kinds of jambu fruits hot and cold. She shouted at the little guy not to be smart as she knew very well that there was only one kind of jambu fruit she used to eat since her childhood.

But the young chap insisted her to let him know which she would prefer hot ones or the cold ones. This was too much for the old women. The little guy asked her if she did not know that there are two kinds of jambu fruit? The old lady did not want to show that she did not know about the two kinds of jambu fruit in the tree. She pretended to know about them and she asked for “Cold Fruit” and when the boy dropped some of the fruits from the tree old woman picked up one ripe fruit and began to blow air over it to shake off the sand; it was then, the boy confronted her: “You asked for cold fruit. Why are you taking hot fruit and blowing air over it to make it cool? There are no hot or cold jambu fruits it was ripe and unripe ones, the ripe one would gather sand around it while the unripe one does not. Avvaiyar immediately recognized that this was no ordinary boy who had come to teach her a lesson in humility. Then she sang composed a song in the honor of the boy, the boy revealed himself to be Lord Kartikeya.

Humility is the key that opens the Golden gates of Spiritual palace.

Humility is necessary to gain access to collaborate and get the collective intelligence in any field. It is not a crime to say "I do not know" .......................what say?? 

417. Lip movements of “Colourful” and “I Love you” are same!!!!!

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/faith-and-rituals/lip-movements-of-colourful-and-i-love-you-are-same-294444

Lip movements of “COLOURFUL” and “I LOVE YOU” are same!

Try silently mouthing the word “Colourful” before a mirror you will notice that your lip movement seems to be saying “I Love You”. This season of spring seems to be saying I Love You by scattering so many vibrant colours. Every flowering plant, shrub and tree competes with each other to say it in a very colourful way. The new leaves sprout out flashing in gentle green colour. Nature is at its best in this Vasanta Ritu (Spring Season).


Legend says the lighting a bonfire is to commemorate the burning of Kamadeva (God of Love & Beauty) by Lord Shiva. After the death of His wife Sati, Lord Shiva went into deep meditation. Knowing this the Tarakasura obtained the boon that he should be killed only by the son of Shiva. Shiva at that point in time had no son. Sati had died and although she had been reborn as Parvati, she had not yet married Shiva. Indra sends Kamadeva to nudge Shiva out of meditation. Kama shoots an arrow of wild flowers at Shiva. The infuriated Shiva opens his third eye and reduces Kamadeva to ashes.


In this mythological story we need to go in depth to understand the quintessence behind it. Kamadeva, the desire is the son of Vishnu and Lakshmi, Vishnu is the Manas (Mind) and Lakshmidevi is the Chita (Memory). Desire is born with the union of mind and memory hence it is their son. Desire is projected as necessary evil. Desire is not needed to propel the wings of creativity. Many years back I used to think that it is desire which drives me to work in that direction and takes me to success, but as I understood that Lord Shiva with the wisdom eye burned the desire to reduce it to a body-less love I understood that pure intention coated with love is more than sufficient for me to drive to do some good work. 

How could a desired intention be converted into lovely intention? Just as the gold ore is smelted in furnace to obtain pure gold so has desire burnt to transform it to love. By burning the desired intention using Jnanachaksu (Third Eye/Wisdom Eye) and making plans and working efficiently without desire it turns out to be a lovely intention. When I have a lovely intention to work the result will be good since I do not have any desire but only my intent is to work. The difference between desired intention and lovely intention is like living to eat and eating to live. Though both sound similar they are entirely opposite in practical life.


Our mind is habituated to creating new desires every now and then. Like a person addicted to drugs we have been addicted to desires, we cannot live without them and hence we call it a necessary evil. When it is an evil why should it be necessary? We need to make ourselves free from this necessary/unnecessary evil. For this we need to burn it with the use of our inner sight.


Let my Parama Guru Lord Shiva burn and convert that necessary evil to lovely intention to all of us. I take this opportunity to wish all my fellow beings a SAFE, COLOURFUL and HAPPY HOLI.....!!!!!!!

416. To be a Circle without Circumference..........

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/science-of-spirituality/to-be-a-circle-without-circumference

The train had just picked up speed and two friends one a successful business man and the other working for a corporate company were talking about the identities they possess in life. While one suggested that he could be identified by his relationship with others like son of so and so or husband of so and so. The other felt that it was a common identity which almost every individual had and there was nothing more zeal to it. He said that the identity of a person lies in the profession he is in. Like he is the C.E.O of so and so company was better that the identity of relationship.

Apart from these two friends there was a ex-military man who was hearing the two friends conversation and he said, “The true identity of a person would be not by the relationship or by the career, it is what he gives back to the society which matters a lot for his identity. So personally I feel that one will be identified by what use he is for the society.”  The two friends agree to the military mans views and said that service to society is better than a proficient career which is better than relationship for a person to be identified by other. The three people with three different views on identity started to relate with one another about their differences of opinion.

The three men were so involved in their discussion, exploring and sharing, that they were unaware of an old man sitting near the window listening them. The Ex-military personnel asked the old man what his thought over the discussion was. The old man scratched his chin and said, “All the three of you are wise to give your bit of explanation on your views, but I would like to ask you a question.” All the three nodded and were ready to take the old man’s question.

The old man asked, “Can anyone of you three locate the center of a plot which has no boundaries?” All the three were confused “What has this question got to do with the subject of discussion?” they wondered.

One of the friend said, “Dada ji, if there is no boundary it is impossible to find the center, but how is this question related to identity?”

The old man said, “The center which I am asking is the identity that you are discussing, while the boundaries are me and mine. These two namely "me and mine" bind the self to the limitations of a boundary. Just imagine what would be your identity if you do not have the boundary of self and ego? When you think yourself to be unlimited, you cease to have an identity and without identity you are infinite. Isn't it?”

The retired soldier asked, “What is so special about being a person without identity?”

The old man further explained, “With the curiosity of knowing and anxiety to represent that identity, what most probably happens in a conversation or discussion is that this identity contaminates the purity of connection between the people involved in conversation. The identity mentioned here is irrelavent but has so much power that it creates obstructions in grasping the theme of the subject and cause rift between its counterparts. Is such a thing really necessary? Identities are not a boon but a bane for a person who wants to reach his destination. Your identity is for other to recognise you not for you to boast about it, If you really want to excel drop the TAG attached to you. If you draw a circle on a piece of paper the circumference is the one which decides the boundary of the circle, If there is no circumference the space within the circle melds with the rest of the space on the paper thus becoming one entire image creating a whole entity at the end rather than a separate individuality." 

All the three men started to ponder on the words of the old man who slowly stood up to leave the compartment as his destination arrived.

415. CHANGE: If unable to Apply on self, Accept it in Others!!!

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/self-improvement/change-if-unable-to-apply-on-self-accept-it-in-others

“Times change, seasons change and so do people change; move on by accepting those changes, Dude.” said a friend to other. Pat came the reply from the other, “Just because it is hungry a lion does not eat grass, why should I change?”  

From the age old days one thing that has never changed is the approach on CHANGE. Yes, a lion does not eat grass when it does not find a hunt, but brother it is not adapted to eating grass and its inner anatomy does not accept it also. But as humans we have adapted ourselves to live anywhere and in any conditions. We are curious beings who do not want to accept any change just like that and most importantly if it is altering our notion of comfort. It is the traditional attitude of "we cannot adapt to any change" that is not letting us to change. And those who have accepted the change have made it so loud that it is avant-garde to the eye of a conservative. Maybe this could have made them to rethink about change.

Amazingly a shift from lower level to higher level or from higher level to lower level both is termed as change. Change is definitely essential as it is a natural phenomenon, but is it a change for better or bitter is the million dollar question. As a civilized person one has to change for better. Every single individual is not the same as he was a year ago; there will be some change in him in various ways. One cannot expect other to change for better as what is better for one might not be so for the other individual.

Every one should and will agree that when a change is needed there has to be one. Change happens when one immensely want it to happen. In a corporate office if a new team leader wants to bring some changes, it is possible only if all the thinking minds involved there also agree. In this case change is consensus and is possible only when there is harmony. If the team leader has to bring in the change that is in his mind, he has to cash on those who are not happy with present circumstances and look out for those who are dissatisfied with the current turn of events. Because it is these people whom he can bank on to get a vote for a change. Nevertheless there has to be a point or purpose for a change.

Modesty to accept change in my self and in others is very much vital in a society like ours. Every change that happens might not have a positive turn, if it does have a positive turn it is very good if not it should not matter much to me. After all change is the subject matter of an individual’s mentality. I can only ponder upon the pros and cons of the changes that happen because of me, I do not have any say-so on other person’s changes but just except to accept them and move on.       

I need to change when I have to and let other too and accept them anew. If I keep this attitude then for me the change in me and in other will be a blissful experience. When I get up early in the morning it will be a new day which was not the same as the one which was when I had gone to sleep. 

414. Happiness can be felt if the Chatter of Mind is ignored!!!

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/self-improvement/happiness-can-be-felt-if-the-chatter-of-mind-is-ignored

Everyone on this earth plane wants to be happy. There is no one who would welcome miseries even though they are inevitable. There is no one who can deny about happiness. Amazingly only a few will say they are happy while the majority of the lot say they need to be happier. Is happiness so eluding, why is it that everyone cannot be happy?


Could it be so because there is no limit to being happy? Let us start from when we were studying at school; we were told that if we study well and get good marks we will be happy. After school when we were in college it was a good job which could make us happy. With a good job it was promotion which could bring us happiness. Promotion, success, marriage and children take the position to make us happy. But none can retain happiness to long time. 


Where is happiness? You ask a middle class office clerk he imagines his manager to be happy while his manager thinks his area manager is happy and area manager assumes his regional manager to be happy and the regional manager believes his C.E.O to be the happiest person C.E.O always feels his competitor is a happy man.


Some feel that rich and poor divide is the hindrance to happiness. They say if an oyster can make a poor man happy it is the pearl that could bring happiness to a rich man. But in both the cases neither of them will be happy because oyster and pearl are something that is outside. Happiness is something which is within if it has to emerge out the chattering of the mind has to be ignored. Can the chatter of the mind be ignored? Yes it can be. The chatter of the mind is because of external distraction like comparison with others. As we are living in a society where the means is “Survival of the Fittest” we are used to getting rattled by the developments outside. With our attention on other we have failed to notice happiness within.    


Once a traveler came riding on a horse to a village well. The water from the well was drawn by using oxen which revolved around the well using buckets and Persian wheel. The traveler wanted his thirsty horse to drink the water from the well. But the bucket attached to the Persian well was making too much noise and the horse was frightened and it would not come near the well.


The horseman requested, “Can’t you stop the wheel for a moment so that my horse can drink water?”


The villager said, “Sir, if the wheel is stopped the water does not come up.”


The traveler asked, “Is there any way out?”


The villager said, “You need to get the horse used to the noise and make it come near the well. There is no other way”.


We cannot stop the chatter of mind and nothing is lost even though we can be happy. Happiness within can be felt if there is chatter of mind but it has to be ignored tactfully ................... Right ??????????  

414. You are Atma……. but which????

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/god-and-i/you-are-atma-but-which

Atma is Consciousness and it has to have a prefix so that it is comprehended better. We have two words in Sanskrit with Atma as suffix one is Jivatma generally defines as Individual Soul and the other is Paramatma which is the Super Soul. Some claim that the Jivatma and Paramatma are absolutely one and the same whereas others claim them to be different. Which is true??? The truth, however, is that the Jivatma and Paramatma are two different entities which are similar in their Qualitative Natures but distinct in their Quantitative Function.

Jivatma is the part of an individual that has dharma, obligation, and incurs debts, throughout the lifetime and then it is reborn into whatever shape will help it to repay its karmic debts. Paramatma is eternal essential nature in the individual and the higher most part of the being. It is impersonal, formless, and not an individualized thing. It is same for all and shines over all, just as the one sun shines over everybody on this earth. Paramatma in me is the same as in that of in the stockbroker on the Wall Street, New York city or for the matter the Bushmen of the Kalahari. In fact, there is no such thing as “my Paramatma” or “your Paramatma” because IT knows no separateness.

Most commonly these two words Jivatma and Paramatma are used interchangeably because the subtle shades of meaning vary according to different philosophies as both terms refer to life and the invisible internal force that makes us humans. But Jivatma is that which is resides in a body which already has a moral compass because of the presence of Parmatma as Antaryami. Jivatma can be inside a body or disassociated with it; it can also inhabit plants, animals, and other aspects of nature. Mundaka Upanishad explains the difference the jivatma or the individual soul and Paramatma the super soul are compared to two identical birds sitting on the same branch of a tree. One of them which is refered to as individual soul is eating the fruits from the tree while the other which is super soul is just witness to the activites of its friend. Jivatma which is overwhelmed by the reaction of its enjoyment has forgotten its real identity and is busy with its fruitive activities of the material aspects. Paramatma the one who is transcendentally situated is not lured by the fruits.

Lord Krishna answers Arjunas query on the qualities of a Steadfast Person by saying, “If the seeker divests all the unwanted desires he has in his mind and if his Atma (Jivatma) is satisfied by the Atma (Paramatma) in him, then he is automatically a sthitapragna, one of steadfast.” There is no excuse in this day and age for our confusing over Jivatma and Paramatma when the difference and distinction between the two has been so clearly and definitely explained and shown in the esoteric spiritual teachings of the world.The confusion is only by the play of words……. Am I right???? 

413. We all are Basically Good…..!

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/self-improvement/we-all-are-basically-good

I am confident that there is an intrinsic goodness in all of us as we are Amritasya Putra (Children of Immortal Bliss). I cannot figure out a bad person, to my knowledge I have not found a single person who is wicked throughout his life span. While most of them agree with me, some rubbish my thought by saying I am raw or immature or yet to have a bad experience with people. I do not agree with their notion about people, as I feel the goodness or wickedness depends just on the situation the person is and also on the way the other person makes of it; for example Prince Duryodhana who would not spare five villages to his cousins Pandavas, amazingly made Karna the King of Anga to see that he equals the status to Arjuna to participate in the skill test. Though Duryodhana took the advantage of the situation for Karna he was a savior. If only Duryodhana had made an attempt to wake up the dormant goodness in him forever he would have been a fabulous hero. Alas! He failed to do so.   

The only prerequisite to awaken the goodness in me is just a will to transform. If I get a hint that there is a need to change my behavior I have to go for it. There is goodness in me which I need to give a bit of consideration. How is it possible for me to know that my behavior needs a change? Well, there is no yard stick to make an evaluation in this regard. But then there is one way of knowing if my behavior is right, I would not be flocked with people all the time if my behavior was not acceptable by them. Fortunately there is always a chance for me to better myself, if this was not true the social and spiritual organizations would not have been wasting its time and energy visiting prisons to help rehabilitate the inmates.

Change in my behavior is nothing more than just a shift of my identity from Ego to Cosmos. It is as simple as that and is termed as Self-Realization; it is not a difficult task at all. By careful observation I have realized that Ego will not easily let go its identity. Ego has its recognition with my body in the form of name and fame, which was conferred by ego with the help of my five sensory and five motor organs. The more name and fame ego has fetched to my body, the more it thinks it is invincible. It will end up achieving anything by hook or crook and it is here the goodness in me is pushed into a dormant state.

With this position eventually ego ends up defeating itself and making blunders all the while. I need to realize the blunders in the path and try to reverse them. Acknowledgment of the blunders is the start of the return journey towards Self which has no name or fame and is a very enchanting experience. This is where I have to give in to the Self and get transformed and goodness in me is awakened. Being good hence takes no effort and it does not require enrolling to a course or joining some ashram, it is a simple function of a steady mind getting aligned with the Self. When this alignment takes place there is silence of the mind. There is a long gap between thoughts and it is here goodness rouses and is felt in me and even others around me can feel it. 

412. A woman called Dr Cherie and her thoughts......

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/self-improvement/a-woman-called-dr-cherie-and-her-thoughts

Dr. Cherie Carter Scott (known as Dr. Cherie) born May 30, 1949 in Long Branch, New Jersey, is the author of several bestselling self-help and life-coaching publications. Her theories explain our attitudes and behaviour with a special clarity, and provide a practical guide to self improvement.

When you were born, you didn't come with an owner's manual; but if there are guidelines life work better. This is a section of her book “If Life Is A Game, These Are The Rules”

 
1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it's the only thing you are sure to keep for the rest of your life.

 
2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called “Life on Planet Earth.”Every person or incident is the Universal Teacher.

 
3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of experimentation. “Failures” are as much a part of the process as “Success.”

 
4. A lesson is repeated until learned. It is presented to you in various forms until you learn it: then you can go on to the next lesson.

 
5. If you don't learn easy lessons, they get harder. External problems are a precise reflection of your internal state. When you clear inner obstructions, you’re outside world changes. Pain is how the universe gets your attention.

 
6. You will know you've learned a lesson when your actions change. Wisdom is practice. A little of something is better than a lot of nothing.

 
7. “There” is no better than “here”. When your “there” becomes a “here” you will simply obtain another “there” that again looks better than “here.”

 
8. Others are only mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another unless it reflects something you love or hate in yourself.

 
9. Your life is up to you. Life provides the canvas; you do the painting. Take charge of your life, or someone else will.

 
10. You always get what you want. Your subconscious rightfully determines what energies, experiences, and people you attract; therefore, the only foolproof way to know what you want is to see what you have. There are no victims, only students.

 
11. There is no right or wrong, but there are consequences. Moralizing doesn't help. Judgments only hold the patterns in place. Just do your best.

 
12. Your answers lie inside you. Children need guidance from others; as we mature, we trust our hearts, where the Laws of Spirit are written. You know more than you have heard or read or been told. All you need to do is to look, listen, and trust.

 
13. You will forget all this at birth.

 
14. You can remember any time you wish by unraveling the double helix of inner-knowing.

411. Infomercials has made us feel that a lot of things are needed for survival…..

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/self-improvement/infomercials-has-made-us-feel-that-a-lot-of-things-are-needed-for-survival

An advertisement of an item which I do not have is so depicted with the help of models that it creates a sense of incompleteness in me. It mesmerizes me to believe that if I did have that product my life would become so much better and the problem which I had been facing because of its dearth will be solved. Was I brain washed I sometime wonder?

Advertising has been called an art form, freedom of speech, propaganda, healthy capitalism and what makes the world go round. But the most powerful element in advertising is the “truth” which is lacking off late. This lack of truth has reduced the level of advertising to consumerism. Consumerism is the cause for materialism and hoarding. Consumerism interferes with the workings of society by replacing the normal logical desire for an adequate supply of life's necessities with those which are purchased with little utility. This has in-turn encouraged the corporate world to cash on by producing and marketing those which was already available naturally, amounting to capitalism.

There are about a hundred beauty products that are advertised every day which has wiped of the use of turmeric as an anti-septic, anti-bacterial and to curb the growth of excessive facial hair. About a decade or two home remedies would work wonders but though it has not lost its effect now we live in a world where one finds it easy to press a tube rather than make a paste of turmeric rhizome. Neem leaf was used to clear skin but now for those in the cities it has been difficult to find a neem tree. Aloe Vera which can be planted in a small pot also does not find its relevance as there are extracts of it marketed in tubes.  

In electronic gadget sector also we find the same I sometime wonder how I could have manage my factory delivery schedules without a mobile about a decade back. Though a mobile phone was introduced just to make and receive calls now it is marketed more like a camera, mp3 and mp4 player and personal computer. Earlier marketing and advertising were used as a tool to sell a product now they have become instruments of milking money out of rich. In a simple cookery show the host insists on the same brand of oil or ghee that has sponsored the show, this is height of inception.     

This blog does not stand against marketing or advertisement but does want to look at the way it is used to enhance consumerism. There are many products which do not really need their service like for example food products which should have been our personal choice. But then, here is the egg first or hen first situation, is it the personal choice or the advertisement impact. Question is that are we capable enough of thinking for ourselves or do we have advertisements and marketing people telling us what to buy? The information on the product has given way to Infomercials era of advertising where in the brain wash happens. This is an aspect of consumerism is what I feel has to be avoided. A person has to make an informed decision to buy something on his own. There is no harm in buying a product he needs but with the world being as manipulative as it is, it is hard to find anyone thinking of buying a product he needs. Added to all these there is brand name which make one impulsive to buy. Consumerism on its own is not dangerous but consumerism of our thoughts is………What say?????

410.Use of Intellect is better than applying Conditioned Mind!!!

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/self-improvement/use-of-intellect-is-better-than-applying-conditioned-mind

Science says we all are evolved organisms and initially we were complex chemical combinations from which we became single-celled, went on to become multi-cellular creatures then fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals to ape-like ancestors and finally Homo sapiens that we are today. Accepted that we have evolved as the Darwin theory has explained. We need to know what is that which takes us to a level higher than animals. Man is considered a social animal. What made him be social animal???

We have many things in common with animals like the way we eating, commuting, reproducing, and protect ourselves. One more extraordinary trait is the fact that animals are conditioned by their environment and by experiences. Just imagine how an angry and vicious animal can be trained to be gentle at the hands of a ringmaster. Though the natural instinct of a few animals is to behave wild, man has conditioned them to be his slave. And while animals some have this adoptive mind which needs no one to interfere like for example it took thousands of years for the giraffe species to have long neck so that they can eat the acacia leaves on the tree tops. It was the adoptive mind at work. But having said that animals can use their conditioned and adoptive mind to better their live only in four features namely food, shelter, sleep and procreation. It does not and cannot use its mind to go beyond these.

We humans have intellect (Buddhi) along with mind (manas) which can be used to change the way we live and excel from one position to the better. When I say to live a better life it is not life of comfort, an animal with conditioned mind is able to find means to make its life comfortable. The intellect has to be used to understand things in spiritual aspect. Intellect is an ability to choose Shreya (beneficial) against Preya (pleasant). If we can use our intellect to choose then we can strengthen it by having confidence on it when a choice has to be made. All we need is awareness to choose our intellect instead of our conditioned mind or adaptive mind.

Is Intellect different from mind then???? Yes, if intellect is the program the mind is the processor. Intellect is higher than mind if the intellect is the boss the mind is its secretary. Mind provides all the necessary inputs for the project that is imagined by intellect, suppose the intellect has decided to go to a place the mind provides the route and the means to reach the same.

Often conditioned mind is mistaken as intellect. When we see animals which behave extraordinary we say they are intelligent but they are either using their conditioned or adaptive mind. If they were intelligent they would have started to think like we human about emancipation. It is unfortunate to see some humans also use conditioned mind and adaptive mind instead of the unique faculty called intellect. Conditioned mind is limited and it is like uploaded non-writable files while intellect is infinite with lots of writable files which can be uploaded or downloaded.


A conditioned mind is a small package of typical thoughts. When a conditioned mind seeks answer to questions it has to search for answers within that small package since it cannot go beyond it. Intellect can provide answers to any of the questions the mind puts to it simply because it is connected to something which the mind cannot comprehend to. Reading scriptures and knowing about them is in a way conditioning of mind but with those input if we use our intellect we will know the essence and significance of what the scriptures say, so that we can put those to use in our daily life. Intellect is sharpened by the unconditioned UNIVERSAL CONSCIOUSNESS.

409. What is the Name of the God????

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/god-and-i/what-is-the-name-of-the-god

 

To get some water to drink I need to ask for “Neeru” in Karnataka, “Tanni” in Tamil Nadu, “Vellam” in Kerala, “Neelu” in Andhra Pradesh, in the Hindi heart land “Paani”,  to one who knows English “Water” and finally a scientist understands it as two atoms of Hydrogen and one atom of Oxygen. That is not all the water which is in my glass in a liquid form becomes solid ice when I freeze it and vanishes as vapour when I heat it. A commonly needed water has many names and forms.

 

Now if water which is visible to naked eye has so many names what would be the state of Absolute which is neither visible nor comprehensible? But humans have given it names and forms, while a Hindu wants Him to be in solid form as Ice he finds Him in an idol. For a Christian He is in the liquid form like water flowing in everyone’s heart similarly for a Muslim He is like vapor formless present everywhere as moisture and mist. There is no doubt that all of them were addressing the same Absolute but in a different name and form. When this was so, from where did the fundamentalist attitude creep in?

 

It all started when people under the umbrellas of different religions foolishly started to project their God to be superior to those believed by the others. Unfortunately what they fail to realize is that just as water is same though it is called differently in many languages, God is same to all of them. Every individual has given a name and has recorded a form of God according to his own interpretation. Well, many a times God can be in human form also ask the near and dear ones of the patient who is wheeled into the operation theater the Doctor is God to them at that very moment. For a person starving to death the hand that offers a loaf of bread is that of Gods.

 

Rig Veda says there is only One Truth which is addressed by different names by various individuals. Rig Veda had anticipated that at some point of time there would be difference of opinion among people hence it had categorically stated that it is possible for human race to live in harmony even if they call the same Truth in different names.  Now the issues to be addressed is not in calling that Truth in a different name which religion has induce but to stop thinking that the Absolute is different for different religion and the foolishness in thrusting the superiority over others.

Water is the same in all language and its relevance is in quenching my thirst whether the person who hands it over to me calls it Neeru, Tanni, Vellam, Neelu, Paani or Water……. Isn't it????