Have a sound bath

Apr 30, 2010, 12.00am IST

Dilip Nadkarni.

I remember that day in the second year of my MBBS course when I was studying Pharmacology. Countless drug names had to be learnt by rote along with information of their actions and side effects.

Time was short and the pressure, enormous. To de-stress I tried taking a nap, but woke up with a horrible dream that I had missed the examination. Pacing the floor, I chanced into my parents’ room, where my mother was practicing Raag Kalavati on the harmonium. I felt that the melody was familiar, somewhat similar to that of a Hindi film song. I asked my mother if I could try my hand at the musical instrument.

The moment I touched the keys and pulled the bellows of the harmonium, a fantastic feeling of calm filled me. My mother taught me the basic sargam and I got hooked. After an hour of experimenting and playing staccato notes, I knew I had found my stress management tool for life. Yes, that hour spent in the company of the musical instrument had driven away all the exam stress. I was refreshed and ready to face any challenge in Pharmacology.

From that day onwards, I would take regular breaks from my studies and play the harmonium. After a week of trial and error I finally got the basic notes of the song “Kahe Tarasaaye Jiyara ... ” based on the raag Kalavati. Then on, the harmonium has become an integral part of my life. All the fatigue of the day, laden with surgeries and clinics, vanishes after a session on the keyboard.

In many clinical studies music ranks as the Number One stress buster. Whether it is listening, learning or performing, music has the capacity to produce calm and peace. Listening to the right kind of music at the right volume can be beneficial to mind and body. One can reach a meditative zone listening to music. Listening to soft music set to a tempo lower than 72 beats a minute, can induce deep breathing and a lower heart rate, consistent with relaxation. Music can act like a “sound bath” and help you wash away all your worries.

Learning to sing or to play a musical instrument can have therapeutic benefits. When you are in the process of learning the intricacies of melody and rhythm, you are completely in the moment. As you start developing “an ear” for music, you begin to enjoy facets of music you never thought existed. And when you workout a musical phrase or improvise a tune, it works wonders for your self-esteem.

Some composers are convinced about the use of Binaural Beats to provide stress relief. They say that when musical sound is presented to the two ears at separate frequencies, it influences the brain in creating a sense of relaxation. The difference in the frequencies is very small and hardly perceptible even to a highly trained ear. Binaural music also termed “digital drug” helps you enter theta state of mind. This type of music helps your brain release "happy chemicals" -- endorphins, encephalin, endogenous opiates and serotonin. More research is needed to confirm the efficacy and safety of this genre of music.

I am now convinced that music has “pharmacology” of its own. In fact music is one of the most efficient mood elevators and tension tamers and it is easily available.

(Excerpt from Calm Sutra, the Art of Relaxation, a Times Group Books publication.)

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Reaching for higher ground

Apr 29, 2010, 12.00am IST

Farida Khanam.

What is spirituality, or, rabbaniyat, to use the Quranic term? It is the elevation of the human condition to a plane where the mind is focused on the higher, non-material realities of a godly existence.

The one who gives all his attention to worldly things and who centers his attention on mere appearances is regarded as being material-minded. Conversely, one who rises above material things or appearances, who finds his focus of interest in non-material things, is regarded as being spiritual or godly. The latter is one who follows the injunction of the Quran: ‘Be devoted servants of God’ (3:79). That is, one who lives a God-oriented life.

Spirituality can answer the questions, ‘Who am I? What is the purpose of my life? What is the creation plan of the Creator?’ A seeker is able to find true spirituality by finding rational answers to such questions, whereby he receives spirituality at the mind or thinking level. True spirituality is based on contemplation and reflection, it is an intellectual activity. When the seeker discovers the truth, his life enters a new phase -- that is, building his personality according to spiritual principles. This intellectual journey is two-fold, one is to solve the riddle of why human beings undergo negative experiences in this world and the other is to offer positive solutions. It addresses the paradox of human beings having been given the freedom to make their own moral choices, and their frequent misuse of this freedom -- a course of action which causes them to repeatedly face situations in which people do each other harm; losses are incurred because others’ injustice; severe provocations are suffered because of untoward experiences. At such times spirituality helps us to convert negativity into positivity.

Rabbaniyat provides us with the right philosophy of life. It is a guide book, leading us out of the darkness of ignorance, and ushering us into the light of reality. Spirituality is our helpful companion in times of difficulty. It saves us from succumbing to adversity. It is the art of crisis management, from which we derive intellectual inspiration when in need. Everyone is in need of spirituality, whether rich or poor, powerful or powerless. Spirituality provides a man with a starting point for life. Anyone who is deprives of spirituality will also be deprived of this starting point.

The spiritual path enables us to see things that remain invisible to the physical eye. It enables us to learn lessons from the past and see the future in the present. It is the source of human progress.

Repeatedly, we find occasions in life, when we feel helpless. It is when we feel that life has become rudderless and without direction, that a spiritual savior holds out hope, as a source of courage and conviction.

How is that one who seeks out the divine and who treads the path of enquiry is able to acquire superlative human qualities? The answer is that the ends of a seeker and what he seeks are inseparable from God who is the source of all goodness. God is thus the source of inspiration for everyone.

Spirituality produces God-oriented thinking in him. His life thus becomes a God-oriented life. This is what makes a spiritual person unassailable. A spiritual person enters into such profound communion with God that he becomes very powerful indeed.

(The writer teaches at Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi.)

www.cpsglobal.org

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Last days at Mahakumbh

Apr 28, 2010, 12.00am IST

MURALI KRISHNAN.


Flicking away his dreadlocks, Guru Dattatare Vijayate lights up his chillum, a marijuana pipe, and blows a conch shell. He is a Naga Sadhu or Baba, one of India’s naked ash-smeared holy men who only appear in public during the Kumbh Mela.

Usually, these followers of Shiva live in caves in the remote Himalayas. They have matted hair, smoke marijuana and lead a life of austerity, which includes religious worship, meditation and yoga.

Guru Dattatare Vijavate says the drug helps him concentrate better. He is a member of the Juna Akhara, the largest of 13 sects, and has travelled a great distance to take part in the festivities in Haridwar.

One of the reasons for the festival is also to induct aspirants, he explains. “It takes 12 years to become a Naga Sadhu, for which you have to perform severe penance. Currently, we have 130,000 saints in our fold. We are Dattatare saints and we travel. We smoke marijuana so it can mystically transform into psychic and spiritual power and we live in the Himalayas in the summer. We need money for our marijuana as we need to meditate.”

Naga Sadhus have never compromised on their spiritual beliefs and rites, which have not changed over the centuries. They practice three types of yoga, which help them survive low temperatures. The cornerstone in their lives is restraint - both in food and thought.

The Naga Babas are also a warrior class, divided like an army regiment. The trident, sword, conch shells and the chillum are what they carry to symbolise their warrior status.

Tim Baba originally hails from England and is also a member of the Juna Akhada sect. “I first came here 18 years ago and found Bhagwan. I found out that Bhagwan is one. One world, one people, one God. All religions lead to God. God is Truth. Kumbh is Kumbh, many people coming forever for God. Good energy everywhere, bad energy everywhere. This is the world.”

Most Naga Sadhus leave their families at an early age. They give up creature comforts and sever all ties. They prefer to stay away from the scrutiny and glare of the media as well as from tourists and devotees. Their reputation of being volatile and unpredictable helps keep people away.

During the indoctrination process, they only wear a loin cloth and after taking the pledge of sanyaas or renunciation at the Kumbh Mela, they give up clothes for the rest of their lives.

“Ever since I was a child I have been undergoing sacrifices to become a Naga Sadhu,” says Naga Nirmal Babu, who is 30, and has been a member of the sect for five years. “Only through service to my guru have I managed to become what I am now. Through his blessings, I have managed to reach this stage. My soul is clean and that is important.”

The lives of India’s holy men vary. Some live in religious hermitages and temples in the midst of major urban centers, in huts on the edges of villages, or in caves in the remote mountains. Although history has already produced many changes in India, the life of Naga Sadhus is likely to remain the same.

Source: Deutsche Welle

Vaishakha Purnima Snan, last auspicious bathing date of Maha Kumbh 2010

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Sex and salvation

Apr 27, 2010, 12.00am IST

DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE.

Salvation is the destination. Love is the way. However, sex provides three interesting detours – procreation, recreation and creation – on the path for one who wants to be God!

Recently a swami from south India was caught on camera in what the media calls a ‘compromising position’ with a couple of women. There was a public uproar and he has since been arrested. The swami, in his early thirties, would have gotten away with what is perhaps the result of a hormonal surge had he not vowed to be, well, a swami. Literally, a swami is someone who is a ‘master of his senses’. Popular culture tends to look up to a saint or swami as some kind of divine entity.

Strangely but true, there is very little room for sexual adventure on the path to salvation. Yet, Nature wholeheartedly designs a 30-odd-year-old man’s body for what Nature needs to do: propagation of the species. Nature puts forth several smart promotional schemes to get this job done through its species. The physical and physiological pleasure associated with the sex surge is the soft packaging for the hard nuts and bolts reality of giving birth to a baby. It is difficult not to be seduced by this pleasure when all our senses converge to draw us to it. Leonardo da Vinci puts this across from the artist’s perspective: “The art of procreation and the members employed therein are so repulsive, that if it were not for the beauty of the faces and the adornments of the actors and the pent-up impulse, Nature would lose the human species.”

When the contraceptive pill arrived, sex evolved from the basic need of procreation to sex for recreation. The inventive human mind was apparently able to checkmate Nature’s ploy of painful procreation by recreating the pleasure of sex without producing a result. This is somewhat like sniffing around in a pastry shop with the intent to do just window-shopping. Nature made sure that the residue of recreational sex remains as sensory impressions in the mind in the form of vasanas – burning embers waiting for the next gust of passion to flare up. These vasanas are potential desires that incarnated themselves at the opportune moment.

The real challenge for human evolution was then to put out the embers of vasanas that transported sex in the head from where it actually belongs. This challenge of transforming sex-for-procreation into sex-for-recreation has been productively met by saints, explorers, artists, writers, inventors, innovators and wealth creators. They lifted the sexual energy from their thoughts and emotions and expressed them in their creative works. While saints like Buddha, Krishna and Christ created new maps of human consciousness; explorers like Galileo and Columbus redrew maps of our physical world.

On the path of salvation celibacy is not a prerequisite but a consequence – an effortless by-product of creativity. Celibacy is a kind of flowering of consciousness and not a moral given, as most sermons would have us believe. It is easier to cover a raging fire with a piece of cloth than to contain libido with sermons. A celibate is like an austere tree in winter that has seen the whole cycle of life from seeding to flowering and stands to rejoice as an enthralled witness in having completed the cycle of creation. The human consciousness scripts the whole journey from being the creatures of sex to the Creator Herself. The “fallen,” swami, like any one of us, is somewhere on the path. I would just let him be.

(The writer is director, IIM. successsutras@gmail.com )

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Music as expression of knowledge

Apr 26, 2010, 12.00am IST

SUBROTO ROY.


What we know could be approached in four ways: introverted, ambiverted, extroverted, and what I call ‘ultra-extroverted’.

The introverted perspective relies on our intuition, and knowledge in this manner is achieved through practice of ashtaanga yoga and japa. There is minimal dependence on the senses. The senses fall silent, as they become part of knowledge itself. The light of knowledge also annihilates thought.

The ambiverted state of being is when the seeker depends more on her powers of reason. She enters a state of partial introversion as well as extroversion and the senses might merely serve to testify a truth of the world outside or within. In the extroverted method, the seeker fully relies upon her sensory perceptions, especially of the material world, though the purpose could be transcendental. Here, sounds, visuals, odour, taste, touch or all of these play a role. These are all materials but they might give abstract insights or even enable Self-realisation.

Finally, the ultra-extroverted method is one that does not rely upon sensory perceptions for collection of physical data and uses instrumentation as perhaps more efficient and accurate extensions of our senses. This is the positivistic determinism of the physical sciences. The data so collected is interpreted with reason and logic.

It is futile to determine which is the best method because what is knowledge to one may not be even worth pursuing for another. A yogi might find the efforts to land on Mars meaningless and would rather look within. He might want to know realities that the scientist might call subjective experience, and so useless.

Music is one way in which all four methods are used. It is hard to find a person who does not like music and hence music is an effective unifying force. While theorising on music, we seldom find scholars disputing the essential goodness in music although there may be debate over its substantive and formal issues. Music is accepted across cultures as a method of accessing innermost sources of beauty and then relating them with the outside world to accomplish articulation.

When a singer, for instance, has not expressed her music, musical sounds are forming in the realm of her consciousness and she is in an introverted state while listening with her inner ears. The more clearly she hears the inner sound, the closer she is with anaahat naad or the unstruck sound. Here her sense of reasoning is minimal.

When she expresses the svaras she is actually depending on her senses and physical organs to bring out the sound for all to listen and appreciate which is somewhat like science; meant to be demonstrated and replicated by all. She is now dealing with her own aahat naad or physical sound, yet using reason to a greater extent.

Simultaneously, the singer also gets in touch with the instruments outside her body to further tune her own vocal chords so that her articulation is agreeable. Now she establishes a coherence of an-aahat naad and aahat naad using her intuition, senses, and external instruments. All this entails a greater use of reason and logic.

She finally deliberately makes full use of her reasoning faculties to articulate an agreeable exploration of beauty while she is immersed in the melody and affords extempore improvisation, intermittently taking a dip into the infinite beauty within. This entire process of knowing through music comprehends all the above methods discussed. Krishna says in the Bhagavat Gita: “Among the Vedas I am the Sama Veda.” Sama Veda is the first successful human effort to formalise and theorise music and it is the string that binds the other three Vedas together.

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Scriptural psychotherapy and happiness

Apr 25, 2010, 12.00am IST

Hasmukh Adhia.


Explaining the last chapter of the Uddhav Gita, which is part of the Srimad Bhagavatam, Swami Visharadanand of Prashanti Kutiram, Bangalore, commented that Indian scriptures give deep insights into psychotherapy: “All unhappiness is born out of psychological condition of mind called vritis or modifications.” Four such conditions of mind are: spardha or competition, asuya or jealousy, tiraskar or hatred and ahankar or ego. These four vritis destroy our happiness.

Normally, competition normally occurs among equals. Jealousy is felt towards those who are thought to be better off than or `superior’ to us, and hatred or contempt is directed towards those we think are `inferior’ to us. Ego is in respect of self. Ego is a feeling that I am someone special.

What is wrong in competing; doesn’t it lead to progress? Swamiji replied: Competition brings about the attitude of ‘doing something only to win’ rather than ‘excelling to bring out your best potential’. When ‘winning’ and not ‘doing the best possible’ is the attitude, it may also lead to use of unfair means as also compromise on quality of work input.

Jealousy is a counterproductive attitude of mind because it prevents a person from seeing good qualities in another person. If someone is wise, a jealous person may think he is a hypocrite, and so not learn from the other’s virtues. Hatred and contempt are also negative emotions. Ego makes you do things only to win approval of others. If such approval does not come once in a while then the mind is disturbed and that makes an egoistic person very unhappy. “When all others appreciated my work, why did that fellow not do so?”-- This is a typical reaction that prevents one from experiencing peace and happiness.

What, then, is the solution for removing such negative emotions from one’s mind? One must feel samatvam or oneness to overcome competition, jealousy and hatred. And one must understand the true nature of atma, that is, sat-chit-ananda, to overcome the ego. The same atma is the indweller of the body of all other persons, whose outward forms may be different. If you understand the real nature of atma as the creator of this entire Universe, where is the need for you to feel superior or inferior to others and be egoistic? Also, where is the need to get approval of others in order to be happy?

It is not easy, however, for everyone to remain with this understanding of soul-consciousness versus body-consciousness. What then is the way out? The Uddhav Gita gives the road map to reach this stage. First of all, you have to keep doing your given duty to the best of your capacity without ulterior motive, ego or ‘doer-ship’. This is the path of Karma Yoga. This then will lead to purity of mind which is absolutely essential for enlightenment.

After achieving a near-pure mind you could get on to the path of devotion and trust in God, known as Bhakti Yoga. Soon after that you might spontaneously begin to feel the oneness of all beings and supreme love for all, which is the ultimate bliss that one could ever hope to achieve in this world. It is a state of long lasting bliss which can also be carried forward from this birth to the next birth also, as promised by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita.

(The writer is a member of the Indian Administrative Service.)

http://www.adhia.org

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Power to heal and renew

Apr 24, 2010, 12.00am IST

CHRISTOPHER MENDONCA.


The Sacred Tridium of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter has its roots in the celebration of the Passover by the Israelites 12 centuries before Christ.

Memorial for the Hebrew means making present in the “now” the event that took place years ago, not merely in the sense of remembering it, but believing that what happened then happens even now, in our very midst with the same intensity with which it first occurred. The ‘symbols’ of yesteryear become the ‘reality’ of today, albeit in a different setting.

Deliverance from slavery, passing over from one form of existence to another, crossing over and making it to the other side against all odds, are all a reminder of the presence of the same power that allows the event to be repeated. For Christians, these days are a celebration of deliverance from enslavement to the ego, passing over from the ‘death of the self’ to the new life of the true Self. The journey to the Promised Land that took 40 years is a symbol of the lifelong resistance we face as we make the journey in our own lives. But Easter is the assurance that we will make it to the other side.

In Hebrew thought and culture the individual and nature are meant to be in harmony in the Original Plan of God. Easter comes to us as God’s gift in the person of Jesus who exercises the fullness of Divine Power by healing at all levels – cosmic, physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual. Christians believe that Resurrection of Jesus makes us partakers of that very power. We are called to share this gift with each other to participate actively in this process of renewal and re-creation, first of all by healing ourselves and then making this the starting point of healing all around us.

We do not ourselves heal others. Rather we allow ourselves to become channels of the healing power of God with us and in us, enabling it to be effective at all levels. But it is given to us in freedom. The power of the Risen Lord, real as it is, does not take away our freedom to reject it.

Why are we so often unable to heal our sicknesses? Why is it that new form of diseases surface and hold to ransom large sections of the population even as we have made staggering advances in the field of medical science? Why are we so often incapable of healing broken relationships? Why does peace so often elude us? All our efforts at building a better world, of establishing a society free of violence and war, of living together in peace and justice and love will come to naught if they are not at the same time linked to our own progressive “Passing Over” from the Ego to the True Self.

The celebration of Easter is more than a Christian Festival; the Passover goes beyond the boundaries of Judaism. It is an invitation to every individual to delve deep into his own contemplative tradition and encounter there the power that raised Jesus from the dead, the power within us that is the source of healing and renewal. Precisely because of Easter, together with us ‘the whole of creation still retains the hope of being freed like us from its slavery to decadence, to enjoy the same freedom and glory as the children of God’.

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Voice that transcends your vocal chords

Apr 24, 2010, 12.00am IST
BINDU CHAWLA.



Your voice could help you establish a direct connection with the Divine.

In Hindustani music, this is called sakshatkar . It is the development of a voice that sings using the halak or full breath rather than the vocal chords alone.

This is easier said than done. Singing aa-wise, mouth opened in the aakaar is to be replaced by singing haa-wise, mouth opened to the haakaar , so as to open the voice channel and make space for the breath to flow without constriction or congestion. For the sound must travel from the umbilicus, and through the entire thoracic sound box, before the vocal chords and the mouth will articulate it. In gharana language, this is the cultivation of the halak awaaz , the voice of egolessness, or the true voice.

In the Indore gharana, voice culture begins with a unique preliminary exercise. The student is asked to sing the Haa, not the Saa, after inserting, between the front teeth, the bone between the two knuckles of any finger of the hand. This is done to measure how wide the mouth has to be opened throughout. Care is taken to make sure that the voice moves through the tract without hitting the sides of the thoracic cage, so as not to pick up any kind of materiality. With long hours of practice the voice unites with the naada , the sound of timelessness that lies at the innermost recesses of each human being, and runs through all of God’s creation. An easy way to hear naada externally is to put your ear to the heart of any large seashell – the strong sound of the ocean running through it is this sound of the naada .

In earlier days when there were no tanpuras , ustads would have four to six disciples around them singing the Haa- Saa, to provide the pitch or drone for their singing, which later came to develop into the four- or six-stringed tanpura , now commonly used in the singing of classical music. Though it has a material body, the tanpura is actually an abstract instrument, the symbolic sound of your own naada that helps you tune in with yourself when you sing.

Indian voice culture includes vocalism known as the gamak , developed by using the breath rather than just the vocal chords, which is also developed through the halak . In Living Idioms in Hindustani Music, Pandit Amarnath says gamak comes from the root gama , meaning to acquire pace. Referring to a movement in which each note begins from the note preceding it, this vocalism fills out each note with a heavy, rich and rounded quality of tone. The word comes from garmana , i.e., to heat up – when the note gains momentum by the energy of the naada , and comes to life. The swaras or notes themselves are the stirrings of the naada .

It is only when the student is established in the Haa-Saa, that he is guided into singing the notes with gamak , for this is how all classical music will be sung.
When naada speaks through the voice, it endows it with a spiritual character. Ordinarily the speaking voice is both congested and constricted, but even so, all voices have it in them. Some realise the naada , others don’t. The voice that does, acquires an eternal beauty, a honey-like intonation, a deep layer of peace, and the hush of eternal silence. This is the saintly voice, deeply consoling, the voice of a realised soul.

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A reclusive centaur became a healer

Apr 24, 2010, 12.00am IST

MARGUERITE THEOPHIL.


Illness is almost always seen as a wicked intrusion, whether it is something that appears out of the blue, or is caused by less than wholesome lifestyle choices.

One way we are invited to look at serious illnesses or accidents is as a ‘sacred messenger’. Now that might seem really odd. Illness as a sacred messenger is one that brings in its path experiences, insight and knowledge we could not have achieved in any other way. When we accept its message, it alters us from inside out; connecting us with a life path beneficial to ourselves and to all we connect with.

If this is true for patients, it is even more relevant to doctors and healers - who have been or will be patients themselves at some point of their lives. But when these people come through on the other side, they bear the gift of being ‘Wounded Healers’. Though modern psychologists following C G Jung popularized the notion of the wounded healer, the concept goes back to Plato, who held that the most skilful physicians, rather than being models of good health, are those who have suffered from all sorts of illnesses.

As always, the Greek myths provide us with valuable lessons. The story of the centaur Chiron, half man, half horse, is instructive.Unlike other centaurs that were a rowdy lot, indulgent drinkers, often given to violence, Chiron was intelligent, gentle and kind. Abandoned at birth, he was adopted by the sun god Apollo, who reared him and taught him all he knew. Chiron was once wounded by a poisoned arrow from Hercules’ bow, but did not die, since as his father was the god Kronos, he was immortal. This ‘gift’ now became his curse, and he was doomed to suffer excruciating pain for the rest of his eternal days.

Chiron became a recluse, withdrawing to the mountainside to tend his wound and search for release from his suffering. While he could not find his own cure, he became wise in the use of all forms of healing herbs and compassionate to the suffering of others. He welcomed, treated and brought comfort to all who suffered in any way. In fact, from Chiron’s name is perhaps derived the French word ‘chirurgie’, or ‘surgery’ in English.

For priests and ministers of the church, often referred to as ‘doctors of the soul’, Henri Nouven’s message in his hope-filled book, ‘The Wounded Healer’ offers a radical interpretation of modern priesthood - ministers are called to identify the suffering in their own hearts and make that the starting point of their service. They must be willing to go beyond their professional, somewhat aloof role, leaving themselves open and vulnerable, as fellow human beings with the same wounds and suffering as those they serve.
We need to stay mindful of the fact that as wounded healers, we become transformed when we understand that while our wound may be completely personal and uniquely our own, it simultaneously is a shared, universal, non-personal process. We heal ourselves, and others from our wounds. Identifying ourselves as wounded healers teaches us that it is only by being willing to face up to, consciously experience and go through our physical, psychological or spiritual wounds that we receive its blessing. To go through our wound involves saying ‘yes’ to the mysteriously painful new place in ourselves the wound is sure to lead us to. Going through our wound, we can allow ourselves to be re-created by it and to be of wholesome service to those who seek healing through us.

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Prayer for common benefit

Apr 23, 2010, 12.00am IST

Paulos Mar Gregorios.

Prayer is like breathing. Without breathing, we cannot live ... Prayer is communion with God; we become more like God, more loving, wise, powerful, kind and good. We are cleansed of the accumulated impurities ...

Prayer is not only asking God for things ... the relationship is valuable in itself, as in all true love. Does not God know what we need, even before we ask him? Why does He want us to ask? God wants that our will should not incline towards negative desires, but desire the good with deep yearning. God said: ‘Let there be light’, and there was light ... What God willed became reality. We must also acquire the capacity to will the good, and it will happen as we desire. When we are delivered from selfishness, pride, and negative desires, our prayers will become more like the creative Word of God. By prayer we do change reality ... But this power is not available to us until we become more godlike. That is why the prayers of saints are more effective than our own.

In unselfish prayer, the first focus is God – His name, His kingdom, His will. The second focus is other people. Only in the third place should we ask things for ourselves.

Prayer can achieve ‘miracles’ of healing and transformation that cannot be explained by medical science. Prayer is also subject to certain laws. In prayer, we are never alone. In group prayer, we commemorate all those who are members of the Body of Christ. This is why we commemorate the prophets, apostles, the blessed Virgin Mary, martyrs, saints, great teachers and all the faithful, departed and living.

Prayer has to be learned. It is like swimming. When you are first thrown into the water, you may sink. By repeated practice, one acquires the skills of remaining afloat. Some people are more skillful swimmers because they have learned the rules and acquired the skills by constant practice.

The first rule in prayer as in swimming is not to give up just because you do not succeed in the first three or four attempts. Prayer is a spiritual skill to be acquired by constant practice. The second rule, is to ‘let go’, to let the water support you, to not be anxious, but relaxed. Relax, trust in God to support you and teach you how to pray. The third rule is to keep up the practice, even if you do not enjoy it. It will take years before you get the habit of prayer and really begin to enjoy it.

The fourth rule is to develop the discipline of prayer through fasting and self-control. Fifthly, use your whole body in the service of prayer. The body can participate in prayer through posture, speech, and acts. Sixth, keep the balance between group prayer and personal prayer. It is important for us to come in the presence of God regularly as a community to get rid of our selfishness and pride, and grow. Seventhly, prayer needs to be nourished by reading scriptures and meditating every day. Systematic reading of the scriptures will be found helpful as life advances.

Prayer can never be isolated from continuous, active compassionate love for your fellowmen.
(The writer (1922–96) was the first metropolitan of the Delhi Orthodox Diocese. A Biblical scholar and promoter of unity among Orthodox churches, he was also president of the World Council of Churches. Dr Karan Singh will receive the Paulos Mar Gregorios award today.)

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The river of life

Apr 22, 2010, 12.00am IST


I don’t know if on your walks you have noticed a long, narrow pool beside the river. Some fishermen must have dug it, and it is not connected with the river. The river is flowing steadily, deep and wide, but the pool is heavy with scum because it is not connected with the life of the river, and there are no fish in it. It is a stagnant pool, and the deep river, full of life and vitality, flows swiftly along.

Now, don’t you think human beings are like that? They dig a little pool for themselves away from the swift current of life, and in that little pool they stagnate, die; and this stagnation, this decay we call existence. That is, we all want a state of permanency; we want certain desires to last forever, we want pleasures to have no end. We dig a little hole and barricade ourselves in it with our families, with our ambitions, our cultures, our fears, our gods, our various forms of worship, and there we die, letting life go by – that life which is impermanent, constantly changing, which is so swift, which has such enormous depths, such extraordinary vitality and beauty.

Have you not noticed that if you sit quietly on the bank of the river you hear its song – the lapping of the water, the sound of the current going by? There is always a sense of movement, an extraordinary movement towards the wider and the deeper. In the little pool, there is no movement at all; its water is stagnant ... This is what most of us want: little stagnant pools of existence away from life. We say that our pool existence is right, and we have invented a philosophy to justify it; we have developed social, political, economic, and religious theories in support of it, and we don’t want to be disturbed because what we are after is a sense of permanency.

To seek permanency means wanting that which is pleasurable to continue indefinitely, and wanting that which is not pleasurable to end as quickly as possible. We want the name that we bear to be known and to continue through family, through property. We want a sense of permanency in our relationships, in our activities, which means that we are seeking a lasting, continuous life in the stagnant pool; we don’t want any real changes there, so we have built a society which guarantees us the permanency of property, of name, of fame...

Life is like the river: endlessly moving on, ever seeking, exploring, pushing, overflowing its banks, penetrating every crevice with its water. But the mind won’t allow that to happen to itself. The mind sees that it's dangerous, risky to live in a state of impermanency, insecurity, so it builds a wall around itself ...

Religion is the feeling of goodness, that love which is like the river, living, moving everlastingly. In that state ... there is no longer any search at all, and this ending of search is the beginning of something totally different. The search for God, for truth, the feeling of being completely good – not the cultivation of goodness, of humility, but the seeking out of something beyond the inventions and tricks of the mind, which means having a feeling for that something, living in it, being it – that is true religion. But you can do that only when you leave the pool you have dug for yourself and go out into the river of life.

Excerpt from JK’s Think on These Things.

(Talk: Jiddu Krishnamurti)

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Sound of the Universe

Apr 27, 2010, 12.00am IST

TALK: OSHO.


Om Mani Padme Hum: This mantra has many secrets in it. The first wordless word is Om, and the last is Hum. The first is the flowering and the last is the seed.

The Sufis don't use the whole name of Allah; they say allah hoo, and slowly, they change allah hoo into simply hoo, hoo. They have found that the sound of hoo strikes exactly at the life source just below the navel. You were connected with your life, with your mother, from the navel. Just below the navel is the source of your own life.

"Hum" is the hit to create Om in you. If you hit the seed of your life it starts disappearing in the soil and green leaves, sprouts start growing. Between the two -- Om and Hum -- is Mani Padme. I don't think anybody has been able to express the ultimate experience, the ultimate beatitude, better than mani padme. You have to visualise it. The lotus flower is the most beautiful, big flower. And if you put diamonds on the lotus flower in the early morning sun, you will have a tremendously beautiful experience.

This mantra om mani padme hum has a whole philosophy in it. Start with Hum, the last word, and the first will arise on its own accord. And when your inner being is filled with the sound of silence, you will also have the beautiful experience of seeing a lotus with a diamond in the early morning sun.

You must have seen statues of Gautama Buddha seated on a lotus. They are showing symbolically that he has reached the ultimate; his own inner lotus has flowered. A mantra is not just something to chant. A mantra is something to let sink deep in your being, just as roots go deep into the earth. A mantra is something like a seed to be allowed to go deep into your being so that it can send its roots to the sources of your life and finally to the universal life. Then its branches, its foliage will go high into the sky, and when the spring comes, it will be filled with thousands of flowers.

Unless a tree blossoms, it knows no blissfulness. It goes on feeling something is missing. This "missing" feeling goes on nagging everybody. Only the expansion of your consciousness will help you to get rid of this feeling.

Unless you disappear into the universal ocean just like a dewdrop, you will not find significance. You will not find your real dignity. This Tibetan mantra om Mani Padme Hum is a condensed form of the whole inner pilgrimage. It says how to start, what will happen when the flower opens, what will be your ultimate experience of your inner treasures. Eastern languages are rich in the sense that they have made very condensed statements which can unfold into big scriptures. The reason was that when these mantras were created there was no writing. People had to remember them.

These are telegrams. They can easily be remembered, they can be passed from one generation to another without fear that they will be distorted. You have not to repeat the mantra, you have to understand its meaning and let that meaning sink into you. Sitting silently, be utterly quiet, unmoving. Watch your mind. A few thoughts will be there, but as you become silent those thoughts will disappear, and suddenly you hear a humming sound all around you.

That humming sound is not made by you. It is at the very centre of existence.It is the sound of the universe; it is its indication of being alive. It is vibrating with dance and music. Om is perhaps the greatest symbol in the whole world.

(Excerpted from Om Mani Padme Hum. Courtesy: Osho International Foundation. www.osho.com )

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When all search ends

Apr 21, 2010, 12.00am IST

Sumit Paul.

Meditation is not a system, nor is it part of organised religion. It doesn't even require God as a reference point. Because, the state of self-immersion, called bekhudi by the Sufis, has no object to focus on.

Not to be able to meditate is not to be able to see the light, the shadows, the sparkling waters and the tender leaf. So few of us see these things. Meditation doesn't save you from pain. It makes things abundantly clear and simple; but to perceive this simplicity, the mind must free itself, without any cause or motive, from all the things it has gathered through cause and motive.

Meditation is purgation of the known. To pursue the known in different forms is a game of self-deception. The meditator is the master. The meditator can act only in the field of the known; he must cease to act for the unknown that is yet to be. The unknowable doesn't invite you, and you cannot invite it. It comes and goes as the wind, and you cannot capture it and store it away for your benefit, for your use. It has no utilitarian value, but without it life is infinitely empty.

The question is not how to meditate, what system to follow, but what is meditation? The 'how' can only produce what the method offers, but the very inquiry into what is meditation will open the door to meditation. The enquiry doesn't lie outside of the mind, but within the movement of the mind itself. In pursuing that enquiry, what becomes all-important is to understand the seeker himself, and not what he seeks. What he seeks is the projection of his own craving, of his own compulsions, desires. Then all searching ceases, which in itself is enormously significant. Then the mind is no longer grasping at something beyond itself, there's no outward movement; but when seeking has entirely stopped, there's a movement of the mind that is neither outward nor inward. Seeking doesn't come to an end by any act of will, or by a complex process of conclusions. To stop seeking demands great understanding. The ending of search is the beginning of a still mind. And a still mind's like a clean slate, anything can be written on it and can also be expunged whenever one wants to wipe it out, for, only a clean mind has no ripples and is most receptive as well as contemplative. Otherwise the mind’s perpetually in turmoil.

A mind that's capable of concentration is not necessarily able to meditate. Self-interest does bring about concentration, like any other interest, but such concentration implies a motive, a cause, conscious or unconscious; there's always a thing to be gained or set aside, an effort to comprehend, to get to the other shore. Attention with an aim is concerned with accumulation. The attention that comes with this movement towards or away from something is the attraction of pleasure or the repulsion of pain, but meditation is that extraordinary attention in which there's no maker of effort, no end or object to be gained. Effort's a part of the acquisitive process, it's the gathering of experience by the experiencer. The experiencer may concentrate, pay attention, be aware; but the craving of the experiencer for experience must wholly cease, for the experiencer is merely an accumulation of the known.

Meditation is pure metaphysics. And metaphysical cravings transcend even spiritual longings. Persian mystic Jami said: "Bekhudi is the intoxication of the soul and the inebriation of the self."

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The liberation of intellect

Apr 25, 2010, 12.00am IST

Shri Shri Anandamurti.

Every living being, every entity, wants liberation. Unless and until an entity attains liberation -- whether in the physical sphere or in the subtle sphere -- its natural development does not take place.

Without such development we cannot obtain detailed knowledge about that entity, and for that reason we cannot achieve maximum utilisation of that object.

A valued human attribute is intellect. You may say that intuition is more valuable than intellect and perhaps you’re right. But the fact is that intuition is generally of the spiritual world, whereas the domain of intellect is both of the physical as well as subtle worlds. In the spiritual world also, inspiration from intellect is an important factor. That is why we cannot ignore the contribution of intellect. If we ignore intellect, we will have to deny the difference between human beings and others.

What is intellect? In the process of evolution, when the aham ́ tattva or ego, the subtler form of the citta or elementary mind, has a greater area than that of the citta, then, the enlarged area of aham ́ tattva is called Buddhi or intellect. Bodhi or intuition is different. When the existential “I” feeling or mahattattva becomes larger in area than the aham ́ tattva, then the enlarged area of existential “I” feeling is called Bodhi or intuition. Intuition establishes the link between the physical and subtle worlds. And as a result of a closer link being established between the subtle and spiritual worlds and its close acquaintance with the sweetness of the spiritual world, intuition guides us along the path of spirituality. And in those who have both intellect and intuition, since intuition is more colourful and is sweeter, intellect becomes somewhat lustreless.

This is probably why some view those of the spiritual world as being `less’ intelligent. To them the intellect, as compared to intuition, is less colourful. That is why they do not make full utilisation of their intellect. They remain always preoccupied with intuition. How to liberate intellect? Intuition is an inborn faculty of human beings. Thus no effort is necessary for the liberation of intuition. The liberation of intuition comes automatically, without any effort. But with intellect it is different. Different kinds of blows start raining from all sides on the human intellect. Due to these constant blows, the spontaneous development of intellect becomes thwarted, and consequently it starts degenerating.

Human beings have got to be saved, in various ways, from degeneration of the human spirit. If we do not protect the human intellect from undesirable onslaughts from various directions, then the future of the human race is surely enveloped in darkness. To avert slipping into that darkness is the duty of every individual.

Now a question arises: what is the real nature of intellect? When individual beings develop some kind of “I” feeling after coming in contact with matter, then that initial stage of undeveloped mind is termed the citta. And when there arises a subtler “I” feeling in the citta which does something more than merely establish a link with matter, that is, which acquires the capacity to direct matter according to its own desire, it is termed buddhi or intellect. So this is the special nature of intellect. With intellect, people have made hundreds of scientific discoveries; with intellect, people have learnt much from the practical world. In the future also, they will learn much more and they will do much more with their intellect.

Excerpt taken from writer’s `The Neo-Humanism.’

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Find the source of ego

Apr 21, 2010, 12.00am IST

Sheodan.

Meditation is deliberating on the thought process and bringing it to a focal point. Some go for total thoughtlessness. The other way is to focus between the eyebrows to see the light of Brahmn.

Chanting of a mantra is another way to do meditation. Ramana Maharishi of Arunachalam said that one should search for self-identity by asking: “Who am I?” In meditation one should ask this question and with gradual evolution find calmness and peace.

The question really means, what is the source or origin of ego? To find the answers you need to be free of attitude. Give up the bhavana that you are the body related to name, profession, region, language and other such acquired identities. There is no need to have an attitude about your real nature. It exists as it always has. It is real. Some ask that does not the enquiry “who am I”? turn out, in the end, to be an empty question?

Self-enquiry is not done in vain. It is more than the repetition of a mantra. If the enquiry were a mere mental exercise, it would not be of much value. The very purpose of self-enquiry is to focus the entire mind at its source. It is not one eye searching for another eye. Neither is self-enquiry an empty formula, for it involves an intense activity of the entire mind to keep it steadily poised in pure self-awareness. Until one realises that state of pure being, the enquiry should continue. By gradual evolution in this state, it is possible for one to get permanently established in the state of self-awareness. The state of self-awareness is termed as sat-chit-anand or total bliss.

Be what you are. Lose your ego. You cannot run away from your self. Maharishi said, reject all other thoughts and persist with the enquiry “who am I?” As per Maharishi’s formula, if you keep raising the enquiry “who am I?” many thought waves will get to disappear with the enquiry.

Self-enquiry leads to knowledge of Self. One is aware of the Self even-though the Self is not objectified. When you say you do not know the Self, it means absence of related knowledge because we are so accustomed to relative knowledge that we always look for same. Because of this the goal of Self- realisation appears to be distant.

Feel yourself dismantling the false i that is ego and establish yourself in the real i and the answer to the query of “Who am I?” becomes evident. To gauge progress on the journey of Self-realisation see the degree of absence of thoughts. Self-realisation itself does not admit to progress. The obstacles are thoughts. Progress is measured by the degree of removal of these obstacles.

With self-enquiry you go to the source of these thoughts and this enquiry removes that source of thought. This process will remove all doubts and finally peace will prevail. This way we will be able to say that Self-realisation is that which is peace. All that we need to do is to keep quiet. Peace is our real nature. By realising the Self you can easily call yourself divine. Ahambrahmnsmi or “ I am Brahmn” can be felt in word and spirit. Those who realise the Self are called saints. The journey is not difficulat; it is achievable. Just meditate on the question: “Who am I?” and you will eventually find the answer.

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You are a blue pearl

Apr 20, 2010, 12.00am IST

SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR.
Head understands head and heart understands heart. The nose can only smell; eyes can only see; ears can only hear. Similarly, the heart can only feel while the head can only think.

We try to put the heart in the head and the head in the heart and it doesn’t seem to work. Your heart feels something is beautiful, whereas head says it is beautiful. We cling on to the word in the mind but we don’t feel it. We repeat the word ‘beautiful’ in the head but it doesn’t seem or feel beautiful.

Same thing about love, you talk too much about love, you get stuck in the head and it doesn’t rise in the heart. In silence, love emits, radiates. We experience ourselves in the things we love more. That is why, when we lose the things we love, we feel hurt; we feel unhappy. Suppose you love your piano very much and you hear that something has happened to your piano, something gets cut off in you. Or, if something happens to your car or your dog, you feel a loss. So you are not just living in your body, but also in that of the objects or people you love. But if you can expand this existence even more to cover the entirety, you will know that there is no loss and you are total.

You are a blue pearl. Blue is beautiful; blue is something that is big, vast and infinite. All that is immense and infinite in creation and that which has depth expresses itself in blue. The sky is blue, the ocean is blue. You are a blue pearl, in the sense that you can’t be measured. You are so deep in your being. Though you are in the body, nobody can measure your being. The being in you is not just the blue infinity; it’s a shining radiant infinity that is deep and immense. Blue pearl means that which is shining, that which is radiant, that which is infinite; yet, it seems to be finite.

When we start listening to our heart, then we know that all is one; and one God is in all. See, in our body we have so many cells and each cell has got its own life. Many cells are being born every day, many cells are dying but they do not know you. You know if something is wrong with one particular cell; you can feel it. Similarly, though we all have small lives, there is one life that covers and governs all the other lives.

We are all floating in an ocean of life; a big life. It is not just empty space all around us; it is lively big life. And in the big sea of life there, all shells are floating and each shell has got a little water in it which is not the water separate from the water in the sea. So, we come out of our shells and experience, “I am not just in the body, but I am expanded all over; everywhere, it’s me there and it’s me here. I see myself in everybody”.

That is the essence of life!

The Art of Living Foundation.

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A latter day religion

Apr 20, 2010, 12.00am IST
PAUL DAVIES.

Humans have a basic need to perceive themselves as part of a grand scheme, of a natural order that has a deeper significance and greater endurance than the petty affairs of daily life.

The incongruous mismatch between the futility of the human condition and the brooding majesty of the cosmos compels people to seek a transcendent meaning to underpin their fragile existence.

For thousands of years this broader context was provided by tribal mythology and storytelling. The transporting qualities of those narratives gave human beings a crucial spiritual anchor. All cultures lay claim to haunting myths of other-worldliness: from the dreaming of the Australian Aborigines or the Chronicles of Narnia, from the nirvana of Buddhism to the Christian Kingdom of Heaven. Over time, the humble campfire stories morphed into the splendour and ritual of organised religion and the great works of drama and literature.

Even in our secular age, where many societies have evolved to a post-religious phase, people still have unfulfilled spiritual yearnings. A project with the scope and profundity of SETI (search for extra-terrestrial intelligence) cannot be divorced from this wider cultural context, for it too offers us the vision of a world transformed, and holds the compelling promise that this could happen any day soon. As writer David Brin has pointed out, ‘contact with advanced alien civilisations may carry much the same transcendental or hopeful significance as any more traditional notion of “salvation from above”. I have argued that if we did make contact with an advanced extraterrestrial community, the entities with which we would be dealing would approach godlike status in our eyes. Certainly they would be more godlike than humanlike; indeed, their powers would be greater than those attributed to most gods in human history.’

So is SETI itself in danger of becoming a latter day religion? Science fiction writer Michael Crichton thought so. He said: “Faith is defined as the firm belief in something for which there is no proof,” he explained. “The belief that there are other life forms in the universe is a matter of faith. There is not a single shred of evidence for any other life forms, and in forty years of searching, none has been discovered. There is absolutely no evidentiary reason to maintain this belief.”

Writer Margaret Wertheim has studied how the concept of space and its inhabitants has evolved over several centuries. She traces the modern notion of aliens to Renaissance writers such as the Roman Catholic Cardinal Nichols of Cusa, who considered the status of man in the universe in relation to celestial beings such as angels. “Historically, this may be seen as the first step in a process that would culminate in the modern idea of aliens,” writes Wertheim. “What are ET and his ilk, after all, if not incarnated angels – beings from the stars made manifest in flesh?”

With the arrival of the scientific age, speculations about alien beings passed from theologians to science fiction writers, but the spiritual dimension remained just below the surface. Occasionally it is made explicit, as in Olaf Stapledon’s Star Maker , David Lindsay’s A Voyage to Arcturus , or Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind , which is strongly reminiscent of John Bunyan’s A Pilgrim’s Progress . These are iconic images that resonate deeply with the human psyche, and shadow the scientific quest to discover intelligent life beyond Earth...

For many non-scientists, the fascination of SETI is precisely its quasi-religious quality, and its tantalising promise of celestial wisdom and unbounded riches in the sky – just a radio signal away.

Extract from the writer’s The Eerie Silence: Are We Alone In The Universe ?

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Sex, gift from God

Apr 24, 2010, 09.56am IST


Freedom from sex is not repression of sex; it is the understanding of sex, says Osho in his book I Say Unto You, Vol 2. We get you some excerpts...


Freedom from sex is not repression of sex; it is the understanding of sex. By understanding, one goes beyond it. But that does not mean that you will be angry, against it and antagonistic. You will be blissful. You will bless everybody with the hope that someday, they will also go beyond it.


Religion has to be rooted in the earth. It also has to rise towards the sun. It is like a lotus flower -- rooted in mud and rising towards the sun. The lotus has to be freed from the mud, but the mud has not to be condemned at all, because the mud is nourishment. Your sex energy is nourishment for your samadhi. It is out of the mud of sex that the lotus of samadhi is going to bloom. Never repress it! Never be against it; rather, go deep into it with great clarity, with great love. Go like an explorer. Search all the nooks and corners of your sexuality and you will be surprised and enriched and benefitted.


Knowing your sexuality, one day you will stumble upon your spirituality. Then you become free. Your energy has risen high. Now sex is just like a toy. But you are not angry with other people who are still playing with the toy. You will understand them, too, you will have compassion for them. You would like to help them go beyond, but you will not condemn them... They are not doing anything wrong.


Sex is not a sin. Nobody is ever punished or sent to hell for sex. God has given it to you, you are born with it; you have not created it – like the atom bomb, bayonet, sword, money or politics -- these are inventions of the ugly human mind. These people will go to hell, certainly. But sex is a God-given gift, and it is a great seed. Once it starts sprouting and finds the right soil, it will become a big tree. Millions of flowers will come to it.


It is not only a child that is born out of sex; you will be reborn too! Sex is the very source of creativity. Out of sex new life is born. What can be more valuable than life? God has chosen sex as the vehicle for life. Life comes through sex, in sex, out of sex. And those who know, those who have gone beyond say that another life, spiritual life, also comes through it. You will become twice-born through it, you will resurrect out of it. It is life-giving energy.


Sex is sacred; it is the temple of God. Sex is potential spirituality. How can a seeker be disinterested in it? Yes, he has no personal interest in it. He has gone beyond it; but he is immensely interested. In fact for a man who is free from sex his interest becomes very great. Now, he is interested in everything.


When you are obsessed with sex... you are not interested in poetry, music, beauty... you are only interested in sex. And if sometimes you do show interest in these things it is only because some sexuality is there. That's why 99 per cent of art is sex-based, because 99 per cent of people don't want anything else. Films, novels, books -- even so-called religious books -- are all full of sexuality. Sometimes it is in the name of condemnation, but they go on talking about the physical, the sexual. Sometimes they are obscene. The man who is free of sex, his interest is also free of sex. His interest spreads to the whole of life.

(Excerpted from I Say Unto You, Vol 2, Courtesy Osho International Foundation. www.osho.com )

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The three nobilities

Apr 19, 2010, 09.09am IST
GIRISH DESHPANDE.


When you chant and recite any mantra, bear in mind the importance of the Three Nobilities: Bodhichitta, Non-Objectifying Wisdom and Dedication. This brings benefit to the one reciting and for those it is meant to bring benefit.

The two aspects to remember are: Firstly, keep secret your mantra recitation and its result. Secondly, be mindful not to speak to others who are not Dharma practitioners about your practice and accrued benefit. If we are not mindful of this, the result will not be perfect due to many forces that may be counter-productive.

The three nobilities are as important as your yearning to achieve the result by reciting the specific mantra.

The first nobility is called Bodhichitta, which is ‘Awakened Mind.’ It means generation of a special motivation to benefit all sentient beings with the virtues being accumulated. This motivation should be generated prior to any kind of virtuous practice. You can read this line to motivate yourself for the benefit of all:

"I will benefit all sentient beings bestowing them with eternal bliss and qualities."

The second nobility is called Non-Objectifying Wisdom. It means whatever virtue is accumulated or practiced, it's done without any sense of desires clinging to the mind. This, in other words, is called primordial awareness and is maintained during the main practice itself.

One should be fully aware without any clinging or self-centric desires such as, ‘I am the one who practices this virtue’ or ‘this is the virtue I'm practising and for them I practise.’ In fact, one should cut out such thoughts from the mind stream. When the mind is devoid of such discriminative thoughts, all emotions naturally calm down. It is therefore called Non-Objectifying Wisdom, the true and primordial awareness of all beings.

The third nobility is called Dedication. It means whatever virtue has been accumulated, for example, by chanting and reciting the mantra, it is dedicated to bringing to sentient beings whatever benefit is possible to rid them of their suffering and bringing them happiness. Usually, the dedication prayer is chanted only after the virtuous practice.

Chant this line as a dedication prayer: "Gewa Ma-ghen Drodug Kunla Ngo” - which means “May all motherly sentient beings attain enlightenment through the power of all the virtues I might have accumulated by chanting and reciting the mantra."

It is of crucial importance to feel what other beings need. Feel what you need. To our surprise we will discover that the need and requirement are one and the same, that is, happiness. Each and every being needs nothing more than happiness.

So it is with us. Therefore all sentient beings are similar and even the same. However, remember that just like us, other sentient beings too get trapped in the net of suffering, pains, torture, afflictions and emotions. Now feel and chant this: “May all sentient beings be free from sufferings and its causes.” This is the real definition of compassion.

Extend this practice further from one being to two and four - for instance from your family and then to the neighbourhood, to your town and other towns, cities and to country -- and further towards all sentient beings.

Practice this daily and see the result. Don’t forget that Dharma belongs to nobody. It comes to those who endeavour the most. So begin, now.

The author is a practitioner of Nyingma Buddhism

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What we really need is lots of love

Apr 19, 2010, 12.00am IST

RADHANATH SWAMI.
We sometimes think: why are we so greedy for land and property, why are we motivated by political desires?


Sometimes it’s hard to love like this. We should not detest the diseased. We should try to rid the disease because all living creatures are connected with one another. If we cannot love the violent, cruel-hearted, hateful and the envious, then we cannot love anyone.

Just as iron is naturally attracted to a magnet, the soul of every living being is naturally attracted to God, who is like a supreme magnet. Then why do so many engage in ungodly activities? Just as a piece of iron covered by dust or rust is not attracted to a magnet, the soul covered by lust, greed, envy, pride, anger and illusion is not attracted to God.

So, people are diseased, but we should love the one who is suffering from this disease. People are ruining their lives because their pure consciousness is obscured by illusion and ignorance. When it is night, it is difficult to see what is what, who is who, where we are. Ignorance means you do not know. Ignorance is due to darkness, but as soon as the sun rises, everything is revealed as it is. Similarly, when the light within us is allowed to shine, all ignorance is dispelled.

The sun of knowledge, God, is within all of us. Then why are we in darkness? Simply because we cannot perceive His presence. When there are dark clouds, you cannot see the sun. So the cloud of ignorance, which is the root disease which creates all the symptoms in the form of unwanted activities and thoughts, is covering the pure light of the Divine within us.

Yoga is a means to dissipate this cloud and allow the sun of love, the sun of peace, the pure light of the divine presence of the Lord within our hearts to shine and give light to everyone. The supreme occupation of all humanity is to give light to the world, not to contribute to the darkness. If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

It is the duty of each one of us – it is the highest expression of love – to purify our own hearts. If you do not have something, how can you give it to others? You can only give what you have. What we need is not more technology, not more scientific research. This world doesn’t need more food. There’s plenty of food, but it’s being dumped in the ocean or buried under the ground. What we need is love. If we do not have love, what can we give? We will simply remain a part of the problem.

Therefore, purification of the heart is the divine responsibility of each one of us. When our hearts are pure like the sun, love will emanate in all directions for everyone. Does the sun discriminate that this is a dragonfly, this is a dog, this is a Native American, this is an Indian, this is a businessman, and this is the president of the United States? No.

The pure heart shines love all around in the same way as the sun. When we purify our hearts, we transcend all boundaries of sectarianism, all boundaries of selfishness, and we can be the true servant, well-wisher and friend of every living being.

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