Laughter

It is said laughter is the best medicine of life.It increases longevity, improves relationships ,and makes one feel and look good. A child's laughter always brings heavenly joy to all. It reflects children's inner purity, unconditional love and complete trust to all. As we grow old, we loose that precious magnetic smile, which bridges the gap between all adversities. Our mechanical smile becomes sometimes commercial, calculating or even sarcastic to inflict pain to others. As we are all aware of the health benefit factors of a good laugh, we do not want to loose it either. Medical research proves, many serious ailments are caused by our bottled up emotions.So to release such emotions, often people join laughing clubs, where they practice loud belly laughter every morning. Though I am not very sure about it's positive effect, but surely such hilarious laughter can cause much damage to the eardrums of a passerby. I remember, my dog used to protest it vehemently with his equally louder barking every morning. Narrating the method of how to retain our sunshine smile, Paramhansa Yogananda said, the remedy lies in reforming our own attitude. He said, harbor no anger, or malice of any form in your mind. Others meanness should not affect our resolution to be kind. We do not need others certificate to be cheerful.He said, the best way to be ever happy is to seek God,s love through meditation.Then all enmity dissolves, we can love every body and can have a sincere smile always on our face. It reminds me of a king,s story,who had all the wealth, but had no smile on his face. When no medicine or funny story could cure him, an advice came from an old man. He said, A King must wear a shirt of a happy man, to charge his depleted energy, and then only his smile will be back on his face. So immediately the kings men were active in searching for a truly happy man. They saw some people were interacting with others very cheerfully in a busy market. They stopped and asked them the cause of their cheerful smile, they truthfully said,their smile is commercial, which helps to catch customers , and they can make good money. Being disappointed when the kings men were about to return, suddenly they noticed a strange looking, bare bodied sadhu with a beaming smile, sitting on a rock and was resting. With much hesitation, the kings men stopped, and asked, sir, you look a very happy soul. Our sad King has been asked to put on a happy man,s shirt to be cured from his melancholic nature.So will you please lend him one of your shirts? The sadhu had a good laugh, and said, I wish I could give one, but sorry, I do not have any shirt. The story ends, but puts us in a dilemma. The dilemma is how to retain our million dollar smile, which nobody can rob.The answer is very simple. Paramhansa Yogananda said,resurrect yourself from the littleness of life. Let your mind wonder in the pure and simple thoughts and be with the infinite. Then the magnetic smile will be ever with you, and will bring sparks of joy in every heart.

A whisper from the autumn Leaves

A whisper from the autumn Leaves

I love to see autumn leaves falling to the ground. A sudden gust of wind makes them rise and fall like a little tornado, rustling together as they do. While green, they draw life energy from the sun to nourish the tree. And when their task is done, they depart gracefully without a fuss. Then again, with the arrival of spring, new leaves come to adorn the empty branches with fresh green. 

Old leaves fall to bring new leaves, flowers blossoms to give birth to fruits. The tree gives shelter and shade to so many homeless birds and tired travelers. While standing in the sun, rain and cold, all through, they do their duty silently, as it their life’s mission is only to give not to take. This silent yet constant cycle of coming and going in nature inspires me to do life’s duty silently, and without any expectation of appreciation from anyone.

Ancient Indian scriptures compared human life with nature - a tree with its fruits, branches and flowers. In Bhagwat Gita’s 15th chapter, we find a unique and unusual metaphor of an inverted Ashvatta tree, which is upside down with the roots above and branches and leaves below.

In reality, such a tree does not exist, but it can be seen as the reflection of a real tree on the calm surface of a lake. The metaphor is for itself, whose physical manifestation is a reflection of a deeper self, the roots. Through this metaphor, physical life – leaves and branches are shown as a reflection of the source of creation, the roots, and making that connection, as the eternal purpose of life. Both theists and atheists have expressed the same understanding in different ways. Tagore, the modernist voice of Indian spiritualism describes his connection to God in is poems from Gitanjali; “Your wish resonates in my life in strange manifestations. Despite being king of kings… you came in various guise of captivating manifestations.” On the other end of the spectrum Stephen Hawking, the late renowned physicist says; “We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special.” 

All worldly manifestations that we perceive with our senses look so real. We spend our life, to get permanent happiness and security from this impermanent world and soon to realize the empty hollowness of it. So Bhawat Gita says; “remove the ignorance of taking unreal as real, by cutting the make believe reflection with the sword of knowledge, detachment and determination.”

Yogananda said; “though this cosmic movie of delusion came from God, but He did not intend that we take it as real.” He also said; “just as the worldly man living under the thick leaved tree of sense pleasure and egotism does not perceive the skies of liberating cosmic consciousness, a sincere devotee by discrimination and the practice of yoga strikes a mortal blow to material desires.”

Our karmic entanglements that brings us back to the circle of life and death, again and again, are beautifully compared with the lower branches of the Asvatta tree, which when touching the ground make become the roots for another new plant. Leaves that draw energy from the sunlight compared with Vedic hymns, which can show us the path of liberation, and enlightenment. 

But surely, life is a journey that has a purpose. One that can create joy and lead us to the right destination when one learns to understand the connection of the present with the eternal purpose of being. The river must flow to meet the ocean but all through its journey it helps plant life blossom, quenches the thirst of all creatures, and enriches life for those who encounter it on both its banks.

The time to be inspired by the silent song of nature and live for a greater cause is always now. Cracking the hard shell of self-centeredness, we may follow the path of unity shown by Rig Veda. In the pithy phrase of ‘Sangacchadwam  samvadadwam’ it encapsulates the connection between action, word, and intent; “May you move in harmony, speak in one voice; let your minds be in agreement”

Edited by Prodeep Bose

Mystery of karma

Karma is like an unfathomable tip of an iceberg. Even the doer does not know much about its consequences.We all appear on the life,s stage for a short time to play our roles.According to our different inherent tendencies, we  act differently towards situations and others.Mostly we work to meet our bodily needs and to fulfill our worldly desires and so on.
Leaving the innocent  period of childhood, our active life starts, as we grow up, earn money for a living, to look after our families, and to perform responsibilities towards others in societies etc.Gradually with declining of age, working  ability slows down.We look back, and think about our gain and loss in life.Those thoughts may bring a smile of satisfaction on our lips,  or a sad  repentance, and a few extra wrinkles on our forehead.It all depends on the quality of our thoughts, actions and speech performed in life.There is a beautiful saying," life is to give not to take," I wish this wisdom should strike our head and heart early in life, so that we can remain ever cheerful.
All eastern philosophy, like Hinduism,Buddhism or Jainism, they all believe in deep rooted consequences of karma.They may be called as a cause and effect theory, as law of karma or more scientifically it may be referred as law of attraction.But they all mean  the same, and that is, what we sow we reap.Our karmic ripples never get closed down in  one life.Karmic trends and imprints get carried over from past to present, and from present to future  life also. We may forget about them, but they never  forget us. And  whenever  we are reborn,  our past  karma,past thoughts and habits create our present  physical form and personality  traits, and make our destiny in present and in future also.
We grew up, hearing beautiful proverbs like, speech is like an arrow, once it comes out, it can never be brought back. Or think before you act, not after.They all point out at the unfailing consequences of every action, and warn us to be aware before we act.
Eastern philosophy devides life,s  achievements into four sections. First comes Dharma (moral and ethical values) ,second is Artha(economic prosperity and achievements), third is Kama ( as a householder fulfilling responsibilities, worldly desires, and relationships with others.) .And last comes Moksha, which means to be liberated from karmic bondages, and be a liberated soul.
Dharma , the right conduct is referred first, because it is believed that , life's actions have deeper significance,than just  eat, drink and merry. Though it does not negate the concept  of comfortable good living, but it only says , achieve everything through righteous ways. All actions must be done  in the limit of morality  and decency. Otherwise, when wealth , prosperity , relationships  are gained in an unethical ways , they bring lots of sufferings in this life, and also block our good fortune  in future life, because we can't escape  from  the results of our wrong deeds, and have to pay back to the karmic account with heavy interest.But when life's achievements are gained through right actions,with good  intentions and for well being of  all, then those actions can be the stepping stones for our liberation.
This message is very relevant today.Modern  life  is becoming too unsatisfactory. Too many desires ,more nice cars, new dresses, entertainments and more worries. When we get to much attached  to worldly desires, we create more sufferings for us and for others.
So all realized souls tell us to be free  from those so called necessities. Life is impermanent. Any moment we maybe forced to leave this body by disease or misfortune. We are born alone, die alone, and carry the  consequences  of our  good and bad karma alone, to experience heaven or hell in next life.
Life gives us a free will and an opportunity to purify our mind and to elevate life with good karma. Buddha  showed us the path to make mind peacefull, and how to be aware in present moment through meditation. Peaceful mind acts rightly, but never reacts. When a seed of anger or hatred  comes up in mind , acknowledging its presence, a peaceful soul  can let it go, and watering the seeds of compassion and forgiveness he can do good karma.
Following Buddha,s teachings with conviction , we all can purify our minds and can be free from karmic bondages.
Paramhansa Yogananda summarized the karmic th eory in these few lines."Do not depend on death to liberate you from your imperfections.  You are exactly the same  after death as you were before. Nothing changes.If you are a thief, or a liar, or a cheater before death, you don't become an angel merely by dying. If such were possible, then let us all go and jump in the ocean now, and become angels at once! What ever you have made yourself thus far, so will you be here after. And when you reincarnate, you will bring that same nature with you.To change you have to make an effort. This world is the place to do it . "

Magic of Vedic Mantras

New year is the time, when we look forward to enrich life, not only by exchanging gifts , but also by exchanging new ideas. Life changing new thoughts can open up the horizon of our out looks. If we understand  some powerful Vedic thoughts,  they may help us to deal with life in a more harmonious and balanced way. Such thoughts are certainty most welcomed in today's world, when in the midst of all opulence and comforts , human soul is crying for something more real and enduring.This is the right time to welcome some perennial wisdoms from eastern traditional  paths.Unlike academic philosophy , the perennial philosophy , is based on spiritual practice  and moral discipline, leading to a personal experience and realization of great sages, saints and enlightened beings.Their findings are preserved in ancient spiritual scriptures, (Veda, Upanishad, Bhagawad Gita), in Sanskrit.
Theses eternal truths (Maha vakyas) are very inspiring. One such truth says, " Listen, you are all children of God. You are immortal and blissful souls ", (Shrinwantu Vishwe Amritasya Putra).Tha same Vedic truth is also expressed in a little different way,  which says, "Thou art That ", tat tavm asi.
Both these statements  speak of the relationships between individual souls and Supreme Soul.Explaining them in a more lucid way, Aldous Huxley said, "Atman, the individual self is one with Brahman, the Absolute principle of all existence, and the last end of all human beings, is to discover the fact for himself, to find out who he really is. "
Modern man  feels miserable and helpless, with diseases, anxiety and finally with fear of death.These hallucinations can be removed , and one can be fearless, just by realizing that, man is not body, his body dies , but his soul is immoral and divine.
Another such powerful statement which can counter today's religious fanaticism says, "Truth is one, sages call it by different names "(Ekam sat vipra bahuda vadanti), Today we see, in the name of religion, so much of bloodshed, and wide spread hatred  all over the world.To remove such ignorance from human heart ,how beautifully Bhagawad Gita , with its all embracing approach says, "In whatever way, people are devoted to Me, in that way I manifest Myself to them". It says religions are like different roads to the same goal, so how does it matter, if someone takes some other route to reach the same goal.
Today the need of the moment is not one religion,but mutual respect and tolerance of the devotees of
different religions.
These eternal truths are like burning torch, which should be handed over from one generation to the next generation.Hurdles can be over comed by remembering the inspiring message of swami Vivekananda, "Arise,Awake,stop not till the goal is reached" .

Paths are many, goal is one

Dilemma of human life is beautifully expressed in these few lines of Tagore,s poem. "The sun, moon, the Stars hurry  across the sky.Restless river runs towards the ocean, why don't you compel my life run regularly in search of the ocean of nectar?"(gitanjali).This is the urge of every human heart. In life, we all want to touch the shore of peace and happiness, but do not know  how to reach that shore.
In nature, plants, animals all are blessed with a programmed goal in  life, except human beings.Even endowed with superior intelligence, and will power, human beings are most miserable creatures on to this earth. Like hungry souls, remain ever dissatisfied.
We all are searching paths to be happy, peaceful and liberated. Paths  shown by enlightened souls are many and varied in nature, but they all aim at the same goal. And that goal is to have liberation , through self realization. They say, our worldly sufferings and joys are projections of our own mind. And as soon as we purify our mind from all delusions( attachments, aversions, body consciousness etc.)  and ignorance , our inner divine soul  shines with joy and peace , and reflects inner peace all around.

Bhagawat Gita refers about three main paths, they are  Gyan yoga, Bhakti yoga and Karma yoga.( path of knowledge, devotion, and selfless actions.) Teachings of Gyanyoga yoga  is found in the early Upanishad. This path aims at the realization of the individual self ,s oneness with the Supreme self, Brahman.Advaita philosopher Adi Shankara, gave primary importance on the path of knowledge. Here the devotee realizes, that he is not his body, senses or mind, he is only a divine soul, one with Brahman, who is beyond name and form, who is impersonal and every where.Shri Ramakrishna  described it through a story of a salt doll. When the salt doll went to measure the ocean, it melted and losing its identity became one with the ocean. Same thing happens to a Gyan yogi, he loses his identity and becomes one with Brahman in samadhi. But to worship God as unlimited, unmanifested 

consciousness is very difficult to follow.Unless body consciousness is totally given up, one can not reach the point of samadhi.  

The path of devotion or  Bhakti marg, is a sweet and simple way to worship God. Here God is worshiped with a form and a name. Devotee turns his body consciousness towards divine, and what ever he does , he does it to please God, with whom he establishes a loving human relationship. He may worship God as his friend, beloved , child or as a servant.By loving surrender, the devotee  brings God  very near to his heart. An important part of Bhakti marg is chanting and dancing with God,s name. It started with Maha prabhu  Sri Chaitanya, who was born in 16th century in Bengal, and later got much prominence  byKrishna bhakta swami Prabhupada, who was the founder of International society for Krishna consciousness.Chanting purifies mind, brings great joy and attracts others to the Divine.This path is said to be very suitable in present time (Kali yug) , when people are more attached to worldly things.
About the path of action (karma yoga) ,Bhagawad Gita says, "your work is your responsibility, not its result. Never let the fruits of your action be your motive, nor give into inaction. Set firmly in yourself, do your work, not attached to any thing. Remain even minded in success and in failure.Even mindedness is true yoga".( chapter 2, verse, 47-49). In this path,  a karma yogi, does selfless service  for wellbeing of others, and action becomes the mode of his prayer.
The great karma yogi, Swami Vivekananda asked us to take the position of a giver in life. What ever is needed, love, help,service or encouragement, we must be ready to give our service unconditionally.

By giving , one becomes richer.Every thing comes in life, when following a spiritual path, we awaken our sleeping soul, and fill up life with self conscious activities.Buddha also said, Nirvana can be achieved by giving unconditional love, compassion and forgiveness to all.

Spiritual paths  never propagate to renounce worldly duties, or to deny life,s gifts. They teach us ,to perform all duties with perfection, with right discrimination  and to  be the master over our body, mind and senses, so that we do not harm or pull down others by our actions.
 To balance life , with efficiency and detachment, with good will and with purity of mind, is the teaching of spiritual paths.One may chose his path ,which suits his nature and tendencies, and should follow it with utmost sincerity and dedication.
Life is uncertain, every moment is precious. Keeping those inspiring words of Swami Vivekananda, in mind, "Arise! Awake! Stop not till the goal is reached," we all can proceed towards the goal of life, and also can help others to evolve.

Mind, misery and mindfulness

"There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart,s desire, and the other is to get it."This famous saying of George Bernard Shaw is so relevant today. All through life, we are all running to get our heart,s desire.That can be a Andy car, an attractive partner, a beautiful house, a high position or something else, and the list goes on. If we do not get it , we feel angry, frustrated and blame others.  If we get it, we do not want to lose it, and that probability makes us anxious and fearful.Buddhist scholar Atisha advised, "you will have to depart leaving every thing behind. So do not get attached to any thing." Buddha realized , the root cause of human sufferings originate in our own disillusioned mind.Out side situations may trigger our delusions more, which are already present in mind. So the only remedy is to make mind free from all delusions.
Buddha said, ignorance, desirous attachments and anger, from these three main delusions, all other delusions , like pride, jealousy etc.come up.Ignorance is not to know the truth. Life is impermanent.But an ignorant mind  does not want  to believe in that truth , and wants to cling to life with desirous attachments. Or seeing the difference in outer manifestation, often we forget our inter connectedness. The life energy , which flows through all living beings, manifests it self in many forms.But ignorant mind  ignores that truth, becomes self centered, and selfish and brings much sufferings in his and in other,s live,s too. How delusions bring gradual down fall in life, is clearly described in Bhagawat Gita."Attachments breeds desires, from desires anger is born. Anger leads to delusions, from delusions memory gets clouded, which destroys intellect.When intellect goes, one is ruined, (chapter 2/ verse 62'63). Buddha said, happiness and sorrows are state of mind. By over coming mind ,s delusions one can be ever peacefull.
But deluded mind thinks, inner peace comes from out side, through favorable situations or from people. So without correcting his or her own deluded mind , he tries to fix outer situations or tries to change others,which is not possible. So problems never get solved. It reminds the story of a foolish King, who wanted to cover the earth , to be free from dirt. The problem was solved by an old, wise man .He advised  the king , just to cover up his own feet with a pair of shoes. This advise is applicable in our life too. To find peace and happiness , we must change our own mind, and not to waste our valuable time and energy in trying to transform others.
Buddha,s instructions are simple, powerful and scientific. He said, always to watch one,s own mind very carefully. When ever an unpleasant feeling comes up, one must know, that is the beginning of some delusion anger, attachment, aversion or some thing else. Before that feeling gets strong, one should take a few deep breaths, to calm down his or her mind. Then recalling the fault and danger of being angry, one should try to change the direction of that destructive energy, in a more constructive way.Many unpleasant situations can be avoided by one,s skillful and timely intervention.By practicing values like patience, forgiveness, and compassion , one can open up his or her heart to others, and can accept situations more peacefully.
But that does not mean that, one should not take practical steps to improve the situations. But to expect that, ever thing should happen according to my will, is also not a very practical and wise expectation. We are not in control, of what happens to us , or we can not stop unwanted things to happen in life. But just by taking care of our own mind, and by controlling our thoughts, action and speech, we can elevate life and also can help others to evolve.
Our patient acceptance also help those, with whom we are being patient.Not being judged and being accepted , they may relax and come up to our expectation , with their good qualities.
Actually we should be thankful to our problem makers,  because for them we try to develop our inner strength and stability. Challenges inspire us to develop our  inner potentialities. With inner stability, one becomes calm, composed, and dutiful, never gets over whelmed in gain and victory, nor does he break down in loss and defeat.
Buddha,s mindful meditation helps to calm down mind effectively.Sitting straight, concentrating on inhalation and exhalation one can be still in body and mind, and also can be thought free and peaceful.Slowly the thought of "I" and "Mine" disappears, mind expands and embraces all with loving kindness. Thoughts may come like passing clouds. But as the sky remains unaffected by passing clouds,so is the meditative mind remains undisturbed by thoughts and remains ever peaceful. Simple and beautiful advise from Buddist scholar Atisha is for every body. He said, "All ways keep a smiling face, a loving mind , and speak truthfully with out malice." 

A Story of two friendly birds

A Story of two friendly birds

At some point in life, one question invariably comes in every mind; and that question is, “what can be the best way to deal with life?” To counter uncertainty of life, should I only accumulate more and more material possessions to safe guard myself? Or renouncement is a better option? Some people will prefer the middle path, may be that can be a better decision. Our ways may differ, but our aim is the same. We all want to be happy peaceful & secured. We may go on experimenting with many different paths; though success is not always guaranteed.  

In our ancient scriptures, often we find, difficult questions are answered simply through some attractive stories or through some similes. There is a Upanishadic story of two identical birds, which answers the above mentioned complex question in a simple but in a little mystical way.

The story says; two identical and friendly birds, are sitting on a same tree, one on a higher branch and the other one on a lower branch. The bird on the upper branch, is sitting peacefully, and watching everything around him. He looks calm, non-judgmental, relaxed and happy. But the other bird on a lower branch looks much disturbed. He is busy in eating sweet and sour fruits, which is making him happy and sad by turn.

Though he wanted to have constant joy, but the fluctuation in his emotions made him miserable. 

Being exhausted, he looks up. He finds his friend on the upper branch looking relaxed, happy and peaceful. He comes close to him. And a strange thing happens. Being very near to him, he finds lights coming out from his friend’s feathers, are being reflected beautifully in and around his own body; and making him instantly happy, cheerful, and relaxed. With this magical change he finds peace & realizes his inner identity with his friend. 

The message of this story is, to find true happiness in life, we must realize our oneness with our creator; from whom we come, by whom we are sustained, and finally who lovingly takes us back on his lap. Temporary activities of impermanent life have some relative value. They serve purpose in two ways. Firstly they satisfy our physical and worldly needs. Secondly, if they are performed with a pure mind, and good intention, then they can help us to evolve towards higher dimension.

Bhagwad Gita says, human beings have two dimensions; one is called para prakriti, which is our higher nature of intelligence & consciousness. This is very powerful & subtle energy. The other is apara prakriti, our lower nature, which connects us to the sensory world. They are inferior, because without support from para prakriti (consciousness & intelligence), they cannot be sustained, they are meaningless. Like body without soul, or matter without spirit have no meaning. All our worldly duties can bring freedom of joy, only when we constantly try to establish our inner connection with our creator through our worldly activities.

We create misery in life, by separating ourselves from our creator. Creator is not separate from his creations; he manifests in various ways through his creations. Being in body consciousness, when we forget our spiritual nature, our oneness with God, and take this impermanent world as the only truth, we feel miserable and make our dear ones miserable too. As Tagore said. 

“You lay buried in my heart, 

I failed to see you.

I cast my eyes out word,

Did not look within.” (Amar hiar majhe)

This impermanent life, is a play of light and shadow, joys and sorrows. They come and go. Paramahansa Yogananda said, “The inner fountain of our ever joyfull nature, only can make us happy; and which can be found through regular practice of deep meditations”. Many great philosophers, poets, yogi’s expressed the same truth in different ways. Buddha said,  Buddha nature is present in all; and anybody can have realize  his Buddha hood, by his own sincere efforts. Uttering the truth of Upanishad, Karma yogi Swami Vivekananda said, “Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity within by controlling nature external and internal.”

One may ask, in life, we have to work, make a living, and discharge our responsibilities. And when we work, interact with others, opposite feelings (like pain and gain; joys and sorrows) are bound to come up.   

 Bhagwad Gita says, we should not give up action, but must bring a change in our attitude. Mind must be trained to be stable, free from attachments and aversions. Unless mind is free from these delusions, we can never find truth. We can never be happy in worldly life, or in spiritual life. When work is done with pure intensions & with proper discriminating power, then work is sure to become sublime and will lead us to the path of freedom. 

Shri Rama Krishna, beautifully compared life’s activities with a boat, which carry us over to the other shore. The boat can cross the river safely, if there is no hole in it, and water cannot come in. Like that with perfect control over body and mind, one can cross the river of life, and can reach the shore of enlightenment safely. As Yogananda truly said, Roam in the world as a lion of self control, see the frogs of weaknesses do not kick you around.