Handling Power

Handling Power

Power is stimulant energy; which works like an instant tonic and boosts up self-esteem in people’s mind. As power gives rights and responsibilities both; so a person with power, gets a great opportunity to do selfless service for others.

But problems start with powerful people; when they love to use their rights alright, but forget their responsibilities towards others, and miss the golden opportunity to act for well being of all. 

Power game is seen everywhere. Parents are more powerful then children, teachers are more powerful then students. High ranking officers, politicians, wealthy people, all hold power with different degrees. 

Some earn power with their own efforts, some are born with it, (being born in rich families), and some are lucky to get it by circumstances. When one tastes power, he does not want to lose it. So there is always an element of fear of losing power works in the subconscious minds of power holders. May be that is why, often they grab their rights and tend to be selfish, self-centered and arrogant. They easily forget their responsibilities towards others. Then power loses its shine and glory; and brings sufferings. 

Actually power itself is neither good nor bad. But good and evil results come by the right and wrong application of power. 

Mahabharat points out that, by purifying and strengthening one’s inner abilities, one can learn to handle power better.

To form any perception or to deal with externally acquired power; we use our two instruments, body and its sense organs and mind. Here by using three very significant Sanskrit words, Mahabharat explains, the right ways to handle power. These words are:-

“Mada”, “Dama” and “Sama”. “Mada” means pride, which comes with power and blurs the vision of the power holder, and he does wrong things, which bring lot of sufferings to all.  

“Dama” and “Sama” mean; perfect control over body and mind. It means having perfect control on body and mind one never gets influenced by pride or arrogance, and can discharge responsibilities successfully. To deal with anything successfully, one needs some prior training.

Keeping it in mind, in ancient Indian tradition, Kings always had some spiritual gurus, to guide them in right direction, so pride and power could not distract them from the path of performing their noble responsibilities towards their countrymen. Powerful kings like Rama, Bharata, Ashoka Shivaji and many others are known as “Rajarshi”, which means Royal Sages. They had great power, but they were trained to be mentally detached from pride, greed, and selfishness. Combination of power and rishihood (saintly qualities) made them Rajarshi. With little spiritual training, their concept of “I” expanded, it included all others in it. 

According to Bhagavad Gita, this value oriented attitude, can be developed by all. With little spiritual training,  self control and self introspection one can perform his duties better. Zen monk Thick Nhat Hanh said, “true mental health and happiness can only be obtained, if we throw out the notion of self, and relate to people in the light of inter being”. (The Path of Emancipation)

Today, we see misuse of power in every level of society. Corruptions, oppressions, injustice and exploitations are happening everywhere. Common people are often harassed by high officers, and are forced to give bribes, when they come for legitimate sanctions of some deals. Poor countries are often exploited by rich ones, and constant conflicts and tensions are being created all over the world.

Mishandling of power creates misunderstanding and conflicts, which can be stopped, if we care to develop little Rajarshi qualities in us.

Power gives us a great opportunity to do service selflessly. As a fruit laden tree, always bends down, like that one with power should learn to be humble, and should feel fortunate to get a chance to do something good. 

Bhagavad Gita teaches, one should perform all his duties as a trustee of God, and be humble by realizing that only with God’s will one gets some power and position to serve others. The world is to give. And by giving, one becomes truly rich. This is nature’s law. We see flowers bloom to bring fruits, water evaporates, to come back as rain and make this world green and fertile. Power of love is the greatest power on earth. With the touch of self-less love, all actions become sublime. As Tao wisdom truly says,

 “Mastering others is strength, mastering yourself is true power”. 

In glory of Guru

In glory of Guru

The Sanskrit word “Guru” means the person who dispels darkness of ignorance from our mind. In one famous Sanskrit shloka the Guru is placed at a higher position than God. God, who is the creator, sustainer and destroyer (Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh) is unreachable without the path opened up by the Guru. Hence the immediate and most critical role of the Guru is acknowledged as more important than anything or anyone else. Without a guru’s guidance, one cannot progress on the path of spirituality. When one is blessed by a satguru (true guru) appearing in one’s life, the guru not only takes on the task of guidance but also the karmic burden of the shishya (the disciple). And the momentous task of guiding us from ignorance to knowledge, from darkness to light, and from mortality to immortality is a selfless one.

Through worldly life, our vision generally remains clouded in ignorance under the influence of maya (illusion formed of material energies), and what we take to be real is but a fleeting material manifestation. What we take to be the self is also a similar accumulation of material energies. In forgetting our spiritual nature, we get attached to our false ego, and develop a sense of identity formed of labels rather than the essence of one’s soul and its path. As puppets of material energy, we manifest anger, pride, greed and other soul degrading impulses. When our soul’s multi-lifetime journey gets stuck in the mud of materialism, only a true guru can excavate us, and can get our spiritual wheel moving on the path to liberation. 

We may encounter many great teachers who come into our life to give us knowledge about specific skills that help us make a living, or even become better human beings as we operate in the external world. We respect and acknowledge them as shiksha gurus (teachers of skill-based learning). But a diksha guru is one who sets us on the inward journey of subtle energy realms and like a mirror, brings awareness of our imperfections, and the needs of one’s individual spiritual journey, and then provides us with tools drawn from self-experience and realization that move us forward. Our worldly joy and peace also depends much on our inner stability and purification of our mind. And only a true guru who is self-realized can provide us the training and the tools of inner purification. 

The Bhagawad Gita says that whenever virtue subsides, and wickedness prevails, God manifests from age to age, to establish virtue and to destroy evils (4/7).

The manifestation of God is said to take place in many forms – the concept of avatars is defined as a partial manifestation (anshavatar) or a complete manifestation (purnavatar).  Great gurus such as Parashuram are said to be anshavatars of God whereas Krishna is said to be a purnavatar. So God also manifests partially in the human form of true gurus, who manifest the six Godly qualities of splendor, virtue, glory, opulence, knowledge, dispassion and work as an instrument of God. Paramhansa Yogananda said, “a true guru, who has attained union with God, is qualified to lead others to the goal”. 

Such a guru, by transferring his spiritual energy (shaktipath), can bring in an instant, a spiritually uplifting experience that creates an enlightenment experience for the deserving disciple. 

As it happened in the life of Swami Vivekananda, who was an atheist and a non-believer in idol worship.  As a young man when he went to meet Sri Ram Krishna, with an intension of arguing with him about the existence of God. Sri Ram Krishna could read his mind and so without getting into an argument, wanted to make him experience a state of grace that was available to him. He touched him on his shoulder and in a moment, passed his spiritual energy to Vivekananda who instantly went into Samadhi for several hours. When he came out from his Samadhi, his lived experience of this state of grace transformed his being and through his guru’s grace, he experienced his higher consciousness and oneness with the supreme soul. Later in his life, he repeatedly mentioned that if in all his teachings, if he ever uttered a word of truth, it is not his but his guru’s. Such humility and devotion to his guru was the force for him to do great service for humanity all through his life. Such astonishing experiences have happened in the life of many enlightened souls. But spiritual progress happens only when disciple’s sincere devotion and effort matches with his guru’s sincere responsibility.

As in the originator of the lineage of Paramhansa Yogananda, Babaji had assured Lahiri Mahasaya (Paramhansa Yogananda’s guru), that “like a mother bird guarding her young; I followed you, as your soul sailed over the sea of life and death. And as you reincarnated, grew up, and began seeking God, I was ever there watching you”. 

Describing the sacred guru-shishya relationship, Paramhansa Yogananda said; the spiritual soul contact between guru and disciple is one of eternal, unconditional divine love and friendship, bearing no taint of any selfish consideration. Devotion to guru is not personality worship. We learn to breakdown the ego through the path of devotion. Success of spiritual sadhana depends 25% on devotee’s effort; 25% on guru’s guidance and 50% on God’s grace. 

To find a true guru is a very difficult task. Especially in today’s world, we find an over abundance of self-proclaimed gurus. They pull crowds by showing miracles (siddhis), or promises of liberation. But often they are not liberated beings themselves and are tied to worldly desires of fame and money. Yogananda ji said the path of spirituality is not a path of circus, neither can a blind person can show the path to another blind. So one must be very discriminative in choosing a real guru. 

The tradition of showing respect to guru, is a deep rooted concept in Hindu culture. Every year a day designated as Gurupurnima day (a specific full moon) is celebrated all over India for showing great respect to gurus. 

Devotion towards guru is beautifully expressed in few lines of Kabir’s (a mystic poet from the 15th century) doha (verse). He said “if guru and Govinda (God) stand together, I will bow down to my guru first, as he guided me the way to reach Govinda (God). Thus the path to God realization rests upon the abilities of the guru and the devotion of the shishya – that is a primary step on the path to spiritual enlightenment.

Edited by Prodeep Bose

Luck, Life and New Year

Luck, Life and New Year

We all wait eagerly for New Year to come and to fill our life with good fortune of health, happiness and prosperity. Generally every year we get a gift in a mixed packet, which contains, joy and sorrow, pain and gain, love and enmity etc. But sometimes, unexpected luck appears in life so suddenly that, it makes a story for all of us. And the lucky one becomes zero to hero overnight. 

Young and handsome Ashok Kumar was working as a lab technician in Bombay movies, completely unnoticed. One day when suddenly the leading lady Devika Rani disappeared with some actor, the director Himanshu Rai was put into great trouble. He hesitantly approached Ashok Kumar to play the lead role. That first film of Ashok Kumar, “Jeevan Naiya, 1936”, became such a hit, that Ashok Kumar became zero to hero overnight. 

This sudden appearance and disappearance of luck factor makes life interesting and unpredictable. How and when luck favors, and puts one up and other down in the chess board of life, we do not know. 

Referring about this luck factor, we get a very revealing verse, in Bhagwad Gita :- which says, in order to achieve the goal of all actions we need five causes. “The seat of activity (body), the doer (jivatman), various sense organs, functions of the organs of action, and the presiding deity, the fifth.”.

We may try to do our best in every possible way, but finally the success or failure depends on the divine helping hand, which we call luck, the unseen force. 

According to Upanishad, whatever happens in this world has a solid cause and effect theory behind it. Nothing happens by chance. 

The theory of destiny or luck explained in Bhagavad Gita and Upanishad is very logical, interesting, and based on inner revelations of profound wisdom of ancient sages. 

Our general belief is that, with hard work and with greater skills we can bring success and luck in life. To some extent this theory has some validity, but it does not work always. 

The unknown factor called destiny, or luck is explained in Indian philosophy, as a fruit of our past actions. Our past karma waits for its maturity, and influences our endeavors in present life, at a particular time, in a particular moment to make action a success or failure. Deposits of our past karma, lie deep within, and suddenly come into fruitation, in present life, in a particular time. We call it karma phalam, fruits of action. Karmic energy never gets lost. Unknowingly and slowly it gets matured, and when it appears in life we call it luck. Luck is nothing, but the reappearance of our past karmic account, which we have to pay back and settle, in this life. 

As a seed remains under the earth, hidden and unseen for some time, but carries great potentiality in it. In right time, it slowly appears on the earth, matures gradually, and when times comes, it bears fruits. Those fruits may be sweet and nourishing or bitter and poisonous. It all depends on the inner nature and quality of that seed. What we sow, we reap. The nature’s law is, what we give to life, life gives it back to us in ten fold. So it is always a wise policy, to nurture positive and constructive thoughts, speak only truth and kind words, and do service for well being of all. With that solid foundation of good karma, both our present and future will be secured, happy and meaningful. Opposite situations, like pain and gain, joy and sorrow etc appear in life with a purpose. They come to make us aware about the impermanence of life, and inspire us to act wisely. Then our action can be the path of our liberation. 

Albert Einstein said, “In the middle of every difficulty lies an opportunity”. Only when winds and waves flow high, we get an opportunity, to make ourselves good navigators, who can stay calm, focused and centered, and try to find out a right solution. 

Some struggle is always necessary for our growth and progress. In life when we pay back for our karmic debt, the best way to do it with dignified calmness, and with kindness in heart. Even for the wrong doer, we must be forgiving. Being reactive with anger and aggressiveness, things worsens. By holding back our anger, we feel suffocated. The only way to make ourselves free from all bondages, is to forgive, forget and go ahead. 

We are always being blessed by our creator. To have clean air, water and sun shine, to have disease free body, loving family and friends, to have a shelter and sufficient food to nourish our body; are they not great luck in life? Is it not wise to be happily contented and grateful for what we have, rather being stressed out and run for what we do not have? The lucky star is very much in our hand’s reach. 

We get confused to see, the fluctuation of appearance and disappearance of luck in life.  One can neither be always lucky or unlucky in life. This mixed fortune, can only be explained and linked to our past karmic theory. Only when we connect our present situation to our past karma, we get some convincing answer. Soul is immortal. So when body perishes, the soul carries its karmic result from one life to another. 

But man can be the master of his own life, and can be the creator of his own destiny. By being positive, creative and wise we can change our life and can make it shine like a lucky star again at this moment with our will power. Everything is possible. It all depends on our positive outlook, inner wisdom and strong will power. To be lucky or unlucky, ultimately it depends on our choice. We are the architect of our life and destiny.  

Inspiring Glimpses in life

Inspiring Glimpses in life

Explaining the reason of feeling peaceful energy in holy places, Paramhansa Yogananda said, “There is great value in visiting places, where saints lived. Such places are forever permeated with the vibration left there by the divine souls, who walked those grounds; there vibration will remain, until this earth is dissolved.”

The truth of his saying can be experienced, only when one visits holy places, with unbiased, open and receptive heart. But when and how it happens, is difficult to explain. But the truth is, vibrations of such places can create such powerful impact in mind, which can change perception in seconds.

I had such experience, when I visited the ancient holy city of Benaras (Kashi). With a strong faith to be liberated, people travel from distant parts of the country, just to die in Kashi dham.

After offering puja at Vishwanath temple I decided to attend Ganga arati at Dashaswamedh ghat, in the evening. Every evening that glittering show with lights and chants attracts thousands of people from all over the world.

I was lucky to view that spectacular show, though it was very tough to push through the tremendous crowd. 

After that, we decided to see the beauty of all ghats, city lights, and silently flowing Ganga river in the darkness of night. We got into a boat, which was already full with other passengers.

After viewing the gradual fading lights of many ghats at the river bank, when finally we reached at the last Harish Chandra ghat, it was totally dark outside. There, a complete opposite view drew my attention. I could see, in the total darkness in that silent place, only few flickering flames were coming out from almost a finished burning pyre. Not a single soul was there to witness those last flickers, except a thirsty dog, who was standing nearby, and was licking water from the river bank.

The whole environment threw a magic spell on my mind. In seconds, I was totally drowned into my inner silence. It was so deep, no noise could penetrate it. Sitting with everybody, I was alone in my deep and peaceful silence, totally undisturbed. Later, on my return journey, that inner stability helped me to pass through the same terrible crowd with a smiling face and undisturbed mind. I realized that, it is not the outside situations, but what really matters is our inner attitude and stability, and when that gets reflected outside, it makes outside pleasant or unpleasant to us.

This time while visiting my son in California, I visited two beautiful temples in Encinitus, and Lakeshrine in L.A. both these temples and hermitages were founded by Paramhansa Yogananda to disseminate the universal teachings of Kriya yoga, sacred spiritual science originating millennium ago in India.

Both these places have beautiful meditation gardens, which attract thousands of people from all over the world. In Encinitus the spectacular view of unlimited horizon, where the perfect blending of the Pacific Ocean with the blue sky has taken place, makes one stand still and speech less. Heart fills with reverence and gratitude’s to have an opportunity to view such marvelous painting of God in the vast canvas of nature.

Atop the bluff, Swami Yogananda used to sit and meditate for hours together. When local surfer saw a Sadhu, with a long flowing hair and orange robe meditating there for day and night, they named that point as Swami Point. In this hermitage, he spent many years, in divine commune and expressed his direct experience with God through his writings.

Lakeshrine temple in L.A has its different charm. The shining lake in the middle, with picture perfect swans in it, the whole place looked like a hidden paradise to find peace and clarity. We were charmed to see the beautiful garden landscaped with trees and flowers around the world. Benches dotting the ground, statues of deities from different religions, welcomed visitors of all religion to come, sit, relax, meditate and enjoy moments of silence.

We stopped at the Dutch wind mill chapel, where services were formerly held. We saw the house boat, where master lived and meditated for hours.

As we entered and sat in the small meditation hall, I prayed to feel the presence of master's blessings. Without much effort, my mind calmed down, all diverse thoughts disappeared.  With one pointed concentration, I could feel lightness in my body. As if I was slightly lifted up from the ground and was very slowly being cradled with motherly affection. It was also an unusual experience, of being and not being together. In Banaras my consciousness was withdrawn inside, in inner silence; and here my consciousness was lifted up from the ground reality.  I realized, whether I withdraw myself in inner silence; or fly high in the freedom of bliss, the message is the same.

The message was, to witness and participate with life, not from the worldly plane. Miseries are felt, only when we get sucked in by worldliness. Inner stability is more powerful than situations. Only by lifting our consciousness up in our blissful nature, or diving deep in silence, we realize, life is a passing shadow. Nothing to be disturbed about it, it is like flickering flames, waiting to be blown off by time. I know, those inspiring moments like pole star will light up and guide my understanding through the dark patches of life, and I will successfully share my courage, clarity and confidence with all. 

Attitude of Gratitude makes life beautiful

Attitude of Gratitude makes life beautiful

Gratitude is a sublime, encouraging, and purifying energy that benefits both the giver and the receiver. There is deep desire for appreciation in every heart. When we are appreciated, we feel encouraged and happy; it brings a smile of satisfaction. By expressing gratitude, we open up our hearts and uplift another’s spirit. 

Generally, not being thankful for what we have, we take account only of what we do not have; and make life miserable for us and others. But with a little awareness, we can realize how lucky and blessed we are. The supposedly little things are actually not little at all but the foundation of our existence - beautiful sunshine, sparkling water, clean air, luscious fruits and greens, all that we have is a gift from God that we must be thankful for. Even while facing the trials and adversities in life we must be thankful for being, and to our creator, and it is also through the very same challenges that we become strong, courageous, and compassionate. 

The attitude of gratitude is a deep sincere feeling, far more so than a superficial expression such as “Thank you”. When heartfelt gratitude is expressed through kind words, thoughtful deeds, or with just a warm smile, it touches others’ hearts. 

Every year when Thanksgiving dinner is celebrated with Turkey and other delicious foods, people generally think more of turkey, than God.

Paramhansa Yogananda beautifully said, while munching on the meat, at least thank God that you are not the turkey, to be used for the festivity of Thanks Giving. He said, if we make every day a thanks giving day, continuous contentment will sparkle in our body, mind and soul. 

Life can be enriched, only when we learn to enjoy every little thing and be thankful for whatever life gives us. One day we may look back and realize, those little moments were so precious and significant in life. So we have two choices - wait for some special day to celebrate, or to celebrate each day as a special day by expressing our love, gratitude and good will to others. 

Edited by Prodeep Bose

Material Success and Spiritual Liberation both can be attained through action

Material Success and Spiritual Liberation both can be attained through action

Swami Yogananda advised us to be “calmly active and actively calm” which means calmness should always be maintained while we are in action or in inaction. In reality, generally we associate stress with work, and a relaxed feeling with our inactive state. 

There is a story about a villager who was enjoying his morning nap, lying on a string cot under a tree, while a traveler came and asked him the reason of wasting time like that. He advised him to be busy in action, so that he can make lot of money, buy things and can be very happy. The villager’s reply was, why go through so much trouble to attain a state of happiness, when he’s already there. 

Both of them were right from their own perspectives. One was thinking about being active and that by accumulating more money he can be happy, while the other thought inactive state is the best way to be happy.

According to Swami Yogananda, if we can balance our action and inaction in proper way, with proper attitude, then they can lead us to the path of liberation and joy. He said work should be done as active meditation and the meditative state should be an active inward search to experience our soul consciousness, our blissful nature. They are not separate, but complement each other. One is the inner experience and the other is its outer expression through action.  

But in life, we act mostly out of compulsions, mainly to look after our families, to perform duties towards society and others. We keep ourselves busy in making more money and to accumulate more physical comforts all through our life. But at the fag end of our life, we feel exhausted, and we think, only being inactive we can have some peace. 

We get some very valuable suggestions from Bhagavad Gita (12th chapter) which says, by abiding some spiritual values in our nature we can face life’s challenges with more courage, clarity and confidence. 

By explaining the meaning of “Dharma” and “Amritam” (Chapter 12/verse 20) it says, these two aspects must be observed in our each and every work. 

“Dharma” means, whatever duties we do in life, it should be done with a spirit of well being of all. There should not be any conflict between self interest and other’s interest. “Amritam” means, our inner blissful nature, which can be realized through meditation. When we realize the spark of divine consciousness exists in me and in all, then positive values like compassion, understanding, tolerance etc automatically blossom in our nature, and we can work in peace and harmony with others. 

When work is done only for self-gratification, and excluding the well-being of others, the result can never bring peace of mind. Even the monetary profit which comes along with our selfish work, by nature’s law, becomes the cause of one’s downfall and misery.

The great karma yogi Swami Viveknanda said, work should be done for one’s own spiritual liberation, and for the good of the world (Atmano moksartham jagad hitayaca). By winning over greed and weakness, we should work like a master, not like a slave; and should always rely only on truth, which can strengthen our body mind and soul in a positive way.

By daily practice of meditation, when we make our mind pure, elevated, free from all negativities, we work as an instrument of God, and relate to others also as God’s manifestation. 

Our psychophysical energy, which is our capital resource for our actions, can be enhanced by the application of some spiritual values in our life. 

Today’s consumerist culture is ruining our human values in many ways. It also indirectly brings stress and tension in our daily life. When we want to be rich at the cost of others, or we want to get more comfort by destroying comforts of others, end result cannot bring peace in our life. By nature’s law, ultimately we suffer with the pain and unhappiness we have caused. Being over-powered by greed, anger and intolerance, individuals feel exhausted. They burn their own happiness by the fire of negativities created by them. This alarming situation can be seen all over the world today.

Life also can brighten up, if we take little break, and cultivate some creative  hobbies like, be in nature, or read some inspiring book, to make life more meaningful. It is important to balance work with right kind of relaxation. 

The concept of combining qualitative improvement of mind with quantitative growth and production in work is a necessity in today’s world. 

By qualitative development of human mind, society can be free from violence, crime and war. And if a developing country like India pays more attention on quantitative growth through honest and efficient team work, then poverty, illiteracy etc can be removed from society. By balancing these two aspects through our all action, we all can be true karma-yogi, and also can contribute to society and make this world a more loveable and livable place for all.

Miracles of Mindful breathing

Miracles of Mindful breathing 

To feel freedom, peace and joy is the desire of every heart. 

Many of us go to holy places, study scriptures, follow a disciplined life, just to have a glimpse of enlightenment. But still, generally we remain tied to the realities of our circumstance, and feel suffocated by the daily grind. Buddhist Zen Monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, referring to the effectiveness of mindful breathing says that one can achieve many miracles by practicing it in life. To control our restless mind, mindful breathing is given great importance in Buddha’s teachings, and as well as in ancient yoga scriptures. 

Breathing is a physical process that happens by itself but when it is connected to mindful awareness, it becomes an extraordinary act. One feels at ease, and does everything with a centered focus that comes from a true awareness of the self. 

Mindful breathing works like a bridge between the body and mind; it helps to bring our restless mind into calmness, and also to the present moment. The mind’s usual tendency is to run into past memories or dream of future possibilities. As a result, the power of the present moment slips by, unnoticed. Buddha said, “The past is already gone, the future is not yet here. There is only one moment for you to live, and that is the present moment”.  If we miss that present moment, then we continually miss our life. The simple practice of mindful breathing can also create a feeling of oneness with our surroundings – both people and the environment.  The silence we create becomes nourishing for our body and mind, it gives us joy and happiness. We become fully present, and in doing so, connect with life beyond that which is contained within our body. 

A radiant sunset, clouds floating in a blue sky, a little bird hopping on a branch, or the simple beauty of a blade of a grass sparkling with dew drops are miracles of everyday life that can become a source of joy and inspiration in life. 

The relationship between conscious breathing and the power of concentration is well established and can easily be experienced first-hand. Breath has the power to concentrate life force just as a magnifying glass has the power to concentrate the sun’s rays. The simple act of breathing consciously can burn karma and lead to a purified state of existence. 

Life is a display of a complex patterns of joy and sorrow, gain and loss, light and shade. How much we can transform life’s vagaries into a deeper state devoid of fluctuations all depends on our wisdom and insight – one that is available with our next breath. “Breathing in and out mindfully, becoming fully present, with body mind united – these are the conditions for entering the kingdom of God”. (Thich Nhat Hanh, The Path of Emancipation).

Today many people feel lonely, disconnected and miserable, unable to share their joys and sorrows with each other. Living alone does not mean mental isolation. With mindful breathing one can feel at ease in every situation. Life is uncertain; we never know how misfortunes may come to us or to our dear ones. But if we learn to live in an awakened way, treating everybody with understanding and gentleness, then we will have no regrets when something happens to us or to our dear ones. Being loving and compassionate we have the capacity to lead richer, more meaningful lives. 

Buddha advised us through his beautiful gatha (verse), which says, “We must be diligent today. To wait until tomorrow is too late. Death comes un-expectedly. How can we bargain with it?”

A tree that stands strong in the backyard beautifully teaches us the value and necessity of endurance. Shedding leaves, she bears the harshness of cold winter silently, and without losing hope, waits for the spring to come; when she can manifest her beauty again with abundance of new leaves and flowers. From this inbuilt transformational system of nature, we also can learn to receive, embrace and transform any suffering into the enduring richness of life. But for that we must learn to open our heart and feel our interconnectedness and the oneness with our environment. And it all begins with mindful breathing.

Edited by Prodeep Bose