One day a teenage boy was reluctant to watch
the Discovery channel on the insistence of his father. He was watching a movie
of his favorite actor just when his father came up and sat beside him. The son
thought his father would raise an objection and
switch the program; but then, the father patiently waited for the movie to end.
This seemed like a big surprise to the boy and he happily beamed towards his
father. He was expecting an objection, but what he got was a friendly company.
Then the father went through the program guide and switched the channel to Discovery. There was this program about the history of shipbuilding, its evolution process, and how a huge luxurious cruise liner, which also happens to be the biggest ship in the word, is built. The program was detailing about its luxuries and how the engineers faced serious obstacles during various phases of designing and how they overcame those hurdles.
As that specific cruise happens to be the epitome of luxury, naturally, the boy was fascinated to travel in it one day and was watching the program now curiously. He was also requesting his father to get the family onto the ship during the summer holidays. The father waited till the program completed. He observed that his son effortlessly drifted into the world of imagination about his journey on the ship, while he was watching the program. Once the program was finished, the son asked the father; “so when do you think we will sail on that ship”?
The father quickly replied, ‘once we too overcome the obstacles that those engineers have overcome, my son’. The son was puzzled and replied – so do you mean we will build that kind of a ship just to sail in it?
The father smiled and said, No son. But did you notice how a series of inventions have led to the building of that great ship. First, for the ship to sail faster, they invented turbine using the Archimedes principle. Then, they invented effective means to counterbalance the weight while providing enough usable space in the ship. They invented a new design that negated the resistance of waves by studying the patterns of the waves. This, according to me, was the breakthrough. You see, the waves of the ocean have a crest and trough and these not only give the ship the enormous resistance but also make the ship goes up and down. So, they went on to design in such a way that the effect of the crest and trough cancel each other. Then, they invented the bulbous bow to counter balance the resistance in the front by counter negating the frontal resistance of water. In order to stabilize the ship from the rough waves of the ocean, the engineers thought through a lot and effectively used the gyroscope to balance it. Here too, is an interesting phenomenon. The rough waves of the ocean make the ship wobble a lot and this makes everyone sick on board. With the effective use of gyroscopes, when the ship tilts to the right, the gyroscope immediately tilts to the left and vise versa to as to give it balance. They also worked hard to get the engine power effectively flow to the turbines. And then, finally they worked on the safety of the ship and improved it by leaps and bounds, which is by far better and secure than any other ship in the world today.
Son, do you remember the song that I keep humming regularly, “meri naiya paar laga de”.
We in our life are also like a ship travelling on the ocean of this Samsara. As the best luxury cruise liner could only be possible with the evolution of shipbuilding, similarly the evolution of our ship with its components called Mind, Emotional mind, Intellect, Discernment, and Atma have to be evaluated to make our life a luxurious cruise to sail along the Samsara. In fact, it is not only the evolution of these parts that matter but also their alignment, which is very very important.
Our aspirations, desires, and wants stem from our mind. Everybody has desires, but only a few can fulfill them because of their evolution and alignment.
Then the father went through the program guide and switched the channel to Discovery. There was this program about the history of shipbuilding, its evolution process, and how a huge luxurious cruise liner, which also happens to be the biggest ship in the word, is built. The program was detailing about its luxuries and how the engineers faced serious obstacles during various phases of designing and how they overcame those hurdles.
As that specific cruise happens to be the epitome of luxury, naturally, the boy was fascinated to travel in it one day and was watching the program now curiously. He was also requesting his father to get the family onto the ship during the summer holidays. The father waited till the program completed. He observed that his son effortlessly drifted into the world of imagination about his journey on the ship, while he was watching the program. Once the program was finished, the son asked the father; “so when do you think we will sail on that ship”?
The father quickly replied, ‘once we too overcome the obstacles that those engineers have overcome, my son’. The son was puzzled and replied – so do you mean we will build that kind of a ship just to sail in it?
The father smiled and said, No son. But did you notice how a series of inventions have led to the building of that great ship. First, for the ship to sail faster, they invented turbine using the Archimedes principle. Then, they invented effective means to counterbalance the weight while providing enough usable space in the ship. They invented a new design that negated the resistance of waves by studying the patterns of the waves. This, according to me, was the breakthrough. You see, the waves of the ocean have a crest and trough and these not only give the ship the enormous resistance but also make the ship goes up and down. So, they went on to design in such a way that the effect of the crest and trough cancel each other. Then, they invented the bulbous bow to counter balance the resistance in the front by counter negating the frontal resistance of water. In order to stabilize the ship from the rough waves of the ocean, the engineers thought through a lot and effectively used the gyroscope to balance it. Here too, is an interesting phenomenon. The rough waves of the ocean make the ship wobble a lot and this makes everyone sick on board. With the effective use of gyroscopes, when the ship tilts to the right, the gyroscope immediately tilts to the left and vise versa to as to give it balance. They also worked hard to get the engine power effectively flow to the turbines. And then, finally they worked on the safety of the ship and improved it by leaps and bounds, which is by far better and secure than any other ship in the world today.
Son, do you remember the song that I keep humming regularly, “meri naiya paar laga de”.
We in our life are also like a ship travelling on the ocean of this Samsara. As the best luxury cruise liner could only be possible with the evolution of shipbuilding, similarly the evolution of our ship with its components called Mind, Emotional mind, Intellect, Discernment, and Atma have to be evaluated to make our life a luxurious cruise to sail along the Samsara. In fact, it is not only the evolution of these parts that matter but also their alignment, which is very very important.
Our aspirations, desires, and wants stem from our mind. Everybody has desires, but only a few can fulfill them because of their evolution and alignment.
The very moment we have a desire, our emotional
mind creates enough and more resistance, just like the ocean waves do with the
ship. We then think that we can`t overcome the hurdles and feel the task is
impossible to achieve and conclude that it is not what we can do. You see,
there are so many people who blame their incompetence on the world, situations,
or even the God. The resistance of the emotional mind can only be handled by
making the structural design changes in our mind’s thought waves, which are
similar to the ocean waves that hit the ship and attempt to stop it from moving
forward. First, the design correction was done at the back end and then the
front end. Similarly, we also should first make corrections to the internal
thought patterns and then to the external influences. This is because, most of
the external influences are only because of our internal thought pattern
anomalies.
My son, everybody thinks and wants to have happy life all along. This is not at all practical. The great Siddhas always perceived change as the movement of opposites. Until otherwise there is darkness, you cannot appreciate the light. Until otherwise there is a down phase, you cannot appreciate the upward growth phase of our lives. We need to remember that in the absence of opposites, our identity ceases to exist. But, with the balance of opposites, we always be in bliss. It is not the resistance or difficulties that trouble us, but it is the false expectation of not having resistance or difficulties in our endeavors that trouble us. One who does not stand strong and work to change the design and pattern of his mind, tends to always fail before his adversaries.
Then, we need to use the gyroscope of our lives as the intellect. Until otherwise it tilts and continues to rotate in the right direction, our life can never be stable in the ocean called Samsara. As the gyroscopes installed in the ship control the steadiness of the ship, so does the intellect in us. It actually helps us lead a steady and balanced life. But, the question is, are we exercising it in the right direction? Scientists say that nobody has ever used their brain more than 10%. So, the real question is, are we using it at least 10% to improve us? Are we gyrating it to understand the all-round view of our life?
Simultaneously we need to work on the safety and effective flow of the engine power to the turbine by working on our Viveka, the Discernment (Judgement). This actually aligns the fundamental particles called mind, emotional mind, and intellect to the main engine of ourself called the Atma.
The Atma, which is the very basis of our existence, expands its consciousness and helps us get wherever we want, but only on the platform of a perfectly aligned mind, emotional mind, and intellect by the power of discernment. Generally, the power of this eternal Atma or God is usually wasted in us for the lacking of this alignment. My son, no matter what an excellent power source we have in the sun, unless you tap it efficiently it is useless. God or Atma can never help us until we help Atma or God help us. You see, how often we let down God or Atma in our lives and finally cry and get angry at God for not helping us in life.
My son, the quality of our life in the ocean of Samsara is directly influenced by the quality of the cruise ship called our character/personality that we build. Currently, our poor quality alignment attracts only poor quality cruise liners.
The son, being very good, attentively listened to his father. He was silent, but his mind was flooded with a series of thoughts. He also realized the difference in the thought process between his father and himself. While watching the program, the boy was only dreaming about the voyage while his father was introspecting and comparing it with his life. The very viewpoint differed a lot.
The boy finally said to his father, I realize that we both viewed the program with a different sense of perception. The father lovingly smiled at the son and said, look son, my sense of perception was different than yours, because of the underlying passion to work upon self to make myself a better person. The more we are passionate, the more we can progress in life. Young boys of your age should first develop that strong and towering character with a burning passion to excel within themselves.
Remember son, the heights of successes you scale in your life is directly proportional to the strong and tall character that you build. In each one of us there is a leader, who can shine like a flawless diamond, waiting to be unleashed. In everyone of us, down the lane, there is this better I am that is eagerly waiting to meet the I of us and only when they meet, we know what we are worth.
One should introspect the life experiences and learn from it and make corrections accordingly. Your ship’s design is never perfect, you should keep improving it and make it more and more luxurious. You know, a diamond is never shining when available in nature. We need to cut it, sharpen it, and polish it. Sailing in the ocean is unavoidable! And an inefficient design of the ship can only give you uncomfortable jerks all the time. It’s the same ocean for all. So instead of blaming it to waves, the wind, and calling the ocean cruel; you should make your ship luxurious enough such that you sail smoothly despite these factors. Similarly, instead of blaming it to situations, the people, and the God; one should review his thought process and make corrections.
Life always works along the lines of the Law of Opposites. If we need to sail in that luxury cruise, we need to leave the very luxury of lazing around and work towards changing our situation so that one day we are able to afford that journey.
That hit a chord in the son’s mind. He rebuked saying, why is that whenever I ask you something, you always give me something to work upon?
The father patiently replied, because that is the way of God, my son.
You see the quote hanging on the wall ‘I Asked God’
I asked God for Strength...
And He gave me difficulties to make me strong.
I asked God for Wisdom...
And He gave me problems to solve.
I asked God for Prosperity...
And He gave me brain and brawn to work.
I asked God for Courage...
And He gave me danger to overcome.
I asked God for Love...
And He gave me troubled people to help.
I asked God for Favors...
And He gave me opportunities.
I received nothing I wanted...
And I received everything I needed!
The son realized the truth and the idea behind his father’s approach. But, still he somehow could not control his frustration and asked his father, - Can you finally tell me what do you want me to do now?
The father said, I am not asking you to do something ‘now’ son. I am asking you to build a quality of introspective thinking and analyze what you see, what you hear, and what you experience. To make the most out of your life, you need to make every little moment count in your life. Make your experiences a learning instead of neglecting or forgetting them as simple life situations or even regret about them as it is said, “failures are the stepping stones for success”. Whenever you see anything best around and desire to have it, also think more about what you need to do to get there. Think whether you are really making enough efforts to be deserving in life. This kind of self-introspection and self-aligning will help you meet the goals and lead you to a successful life.
My son, everybody thinks and wants to have happy life all along. This is not at all practical. The great Siddhas always perceived change as the movement of opposites. Until otherwise there is darkness, you cannot appreciate the light. Until otherwise there is a down phase, you cannot appreciate the upward growth phase of our lives. We need to remember that in the absence of opposites, our identity ceases to exist. But, with the balance of opposites, we always be in bliss. It is not the resistance or difficulties that trouble us, but it is the false expectation of not having resistance or difficulties in our endeavors that trouble us. One who does not stand strong and work to change the design and pattern of his mind, tends to always fail before his adversaries.
Then, we need to use the gyroscope of our lives as the intellect. Until otherwise it tilts and continues to rotate in the right direction, our life can never be stable in the ocean called Samsara. As the gyroscopes installed in the ship control the steadiness of the ship, so does the intellect in us. It actually helps us lead a steady and balanced life. But, the question is, are we exercising it in the right direction? Scientists say that nobody has ever used their brain more than 10%. So, the real question is, are we using it at least 10% to improve us? Are we gyrating it to understand the all-round view of our life?
Simultaneously we need to work on the safety and effective flow of the engine power to the turbine by working on our Viveka, the Discernment (Judgement). This actually aligns the fundamental particles called mind, emotional mind, and intellect to the main engine of ourself called the Atma.
The Atma, which is the very basis of our existence, expands its consciousness and helps us get wherever we want, but only on the platform of a perfectly aligned mind, emotional mind, and intellect by the power of discernment. Generally, the power of this eternal Atma or God is usually wasted in us for the lacking of this alignment. My son, no matter what an excellent power source we have in the sun, unless you tap it efficiently it is useless. God or Atma can never help us until we help Atma or God help us. You see, how often we let down God or Atma in our lives and finally cry and get angry at God for not helping us in life.
My son, the quality of our life in the ocean of Samsara is directly influenced by the quality of the cruise ship called our character/personality that we build. Currently, our poor quality alignment attracts only poor quality cruise liners.
The son, being very good, attentively listened to his father. He was silent, but his mind was flooded with a series of thoughts. He also realized the difference in the thought process between his father and himself. While watching the program, the boy was only dreaming about the voyage while his father was introspecting and comparing it with his life. The very viewpoint differed a lot.
The boy finally said to his father, I realize that we both viewed the program with a different sense of perception. The father lovingly smiled at the son and said, look son, my sense of perception was different than yours, because of the underlying passion to work upon self to make myself a better person. The more we are passionate, the more we can progress in life. Young boys of your age should first develop that strong and towering character with a burning passion to excel within themselves.
Remember son, the heights of successes you scale in your life is directly proportional to the strong and tall character that you build. In each one of us there is a leader, who can shine like a flawless diamond, waiting to be unleashed. In everyone of us, down the lane, there is this better I am that is eagerly waiting to meet the I of us and only when they meet, we know what we are worth.
One should introspect the life experiences and learn from it and make corrections accordingly. Your ship’s design is never perfect, you should keep improving it and make it more and more luxurious. You know, a diamond is never shining when available in nature. We need to cut it, sharpen it, and polish it. Sailing in the ocean is unavoidable! And an inefficient design of the ship can only give you uncomfortable jerks all the time. It’s the same ocean for all. So instead of blaming it to waves, the wind, and calling the ocean cruel; you should make your ship luxurious enough such that you sail smoothly despite these factors. Similarly, instead of blaming it to situations, the people, and the God; one should review his thought process and make corrections.
Life always works along the lines of the Law of Opposites. If we need to sail in that luxury cruise, we need to leave the very luxury of lazing around and work towards changing our situation so that one day we are able to afford that journey.
That hit a chord in the son’s mind. He rebuked saying, why is that whenever I ask you something, you always give me something to work upon?
The father patiently replied, because that is the way of God, my son.
You see the quote hanging on the wall ‘I Asked God’
I asked God for Strength...
And He gave me difficulties to make me strong.
I asked God for Wisdom...
And He gave me problems to solve.
I asked God for Prosperity...
And He gave me brain and brawn to work.
I asked God for Courage...
And He gave me danger to overcome.
I asked God for Love...
And He gave me troubled people to help.
I asked God for Favors...
And He gave me opportunities.
I received nothing I wanted...
And I received everything I needed!
The son realized the truth and the idea behind his father’s approach. But, still he somehow could not control his frustration and asked his father, - Can you finally tell me what do you want me to do now?
The father said, I am not asking you to do something ‘now’ son. I am asking you to build a quality of introspective thinking and analyze what you see, what you hear, and what you experience. To make the most out of your life, you need to make every little moment count in your life. Make your experiences a learning instead of neglecting or forgetting them as simple life situations or even regret about them as it is said, “failures are the stepping stones for success”. Whenever you see anything best around and desire to have it, also think more about what you need to do to get there. Think whether you are really making enough efforts to be deserving in life. This kind of self-introspection and self-aligning will help you meet the goals and lead you to a successful life.
2. The most important qualities one must develop
to prepare oneself for true spiritual evolution are mental and emotional
discipline.
Remember, the 4Ds and the 4S that I always talk about. I reiterate, the 4Ds are: Determination, Discipline, Dedication, and Detachment. The 4Ses are: Sacredness, Secrecy, Silence, and simplicity. About these, I think you remember me detailing at great length.
If we think that prayer to god or guru and meditation are sufficient, then we are all still in the thick veil of ignorance.
If Guru is the messenger, then the instructions and values he teaches are his message. THE ONLY WAY TO HAVE THE GRACE OF THE MESSENGER OR THE GURU IS TO LIVE BY THE MESSAGE. We cannot violate the Message and think that the messenger will save us, if we plead with Him. In fact, by violating the message, we render the messenger helpless. Even if you are a maths teacher’s son, if two plus two is written as three, you are wrong. Even if you know nothing about the examiner, if two plus two is written as four, you are right. Even those who do not know who God is, and those who do not believe in the existence of god will still be crowned by his grace as long as they live in alignment with the order of existence, which is what every scripture is all about.
The question is, if praying to Krishna and “taking his name” was enough, then why did god take the effort to narrate the 18-chapter Bhagawat Gita.
Calling oneself a seeker does not entitle one to the grace of the guru. “TAKING THE NAME OF THE GURU THREE TIMES ALSO DOES NOT ENTITLE ONE TO THE GRACE OF THE GURU.” I said the help will reach if you do so, but if you are unworthy or lazy enough to just take the name and do not try to align your mind to your soul, then it surely will get back. (Remember, I told you this maybe a 100 times. I am just repeating as I still find some of you making the same mistake.)
Any seeker who has internalized the Message and lives his life in alignment to those doctrines will alone earn the grace of the Lord. If you just read the scriptures, call yourself a seeker, or a student of a certain master without internalizing the teachings, then nothing good happens to you.
Please don’t be under the impression that if you praise the guru or post something in his praise, he will fall for you. The God, the Gurus, and the scriptures will only show grace for what you are worth.
Your cunning attitude in the guise of innocence cannot work in your favor. Work is worship. Work to attain grace. Develop the 4Ds and 4Ses. Don’t assume Gurus or God to be your servant to service you in spite of your unworthiness. There are no free lunches in the universe.
The message is simple and clear: God does not work for you, but he works with you. His design is such that the only way he can work with you is when you live aligned to the order of existence. The more and more you are aligned to the order of existence, the greater and greater you experience his grace. Grace is simply a spiritual reward to your aligning yourself to the order of existence. Suffering is simply a spiritual feedback that you have because somewhere you lost your alignment with the order of existence.
Remember, the 4Ds and the 4S that I always talk about. I reiterate, the 4Ds are: Determination, Discipline, Dedication, and Detachment. The 4Ses are: Sacredness, Secrecy, Silence, and simplicity. About these, I think you remember me detailing at great length.
If we think that prayer to god or guru and meditation are sufficient, then we are all still in the thick veil of ignorance.
If Guru is the messenger, then the instructions and values he teaches are his message. THE ONLY WAY TO HAVE THE GRACE OF THE MESSENGER OR THE GURU IS TO LIVE BY THE MESSAGE. We cannot violate the Message and think that the messenger will save us, if we plead with Him. In fact, by violating the message, we render the messenger helpless. Even if you are a maths teacher’s son, if two plus two is written as three, you are wrong. Even if you know nothing about the examiner, if two plus two is written as four, you are right. Even those who do not know who God is, and those who do not believe in the existence of god will still be crowned by his grace as long as they live in alignment with the order of existence, which is what every scripture is all about.
The question is, if praying to Krishna and “taking his name” was enough, then why did god take the effort to narrate the 18-chapter Bhagawat Gita.
Calling oneself a seeker does not entitle one to the grace of the guru. “TAKING THE NAME OF THE GURU THREE TIMES ALSO DOES NOT ENTITLE ONE TO THE GRACE OF THE GURU.” I said the help will reach if you do so, but if you are unworthy or lazy enough to just take the name and do not try to align your mind to your soul, then it surely will get back. (Remember, I told you this maybe a 100 times. I am just repeating as I still find some of you making the same mistake.)
Any seeker who has internalized the Message and lives his life in alignment to those doctrines will alone earn the grace of the Lord. If you just read the scriptures, call yourself a seeker, or a student of a certain master without internalizing the teachings, then nothing good happens to you.
Please don’t be under the impression that if you praise the guru or post something in his praise, he will fall for you. The God, the Gurus, and the scriptures will only show grace for what you are worth.
Your cunning attitude in the guise of innocence cannot work in your favor. Work is worship. Work to attain grace. Develop the 4Ds and 4Ses. Don’t assume Gurus or God to be your servant to service you in spite of your unworthiness. There are no free lunches in the universe.
The message is simple and clear: God does not work for you, but he works with you. His design is such that the only way he can work with you is when you live aligned to the order of existence. The more and more you are aligned to the order of existence, the greater and greater you experience his grace. Grace is simply a spiritual reward to your aligning yourself to the order of existence. Suffering is simply a spiritual feedback that you have because somewhere you lost your alignment with the order of existence.
