Atheism is a Truly Divine Science

May 29, 2004, 12.00am IST
Kailash Vajpeyi.

In ‘The Song Divine’, Krishna classifies nature as material nature and supernature. He says that supernature is incomprehensible to people who are not in tune with the subtlety of infinity. We think we choose to live, but the fact is we have no independent will to be born.


We only know how to defend or save this corporeal frame. But how many of us know that every second, a hundred million impulses assault our nervous system and that if we didn’t reject them, we would collapse? We think we’re special, but biology places humans alongside all other species. Beyond food, sex and terri-tory, animals are not aware of any other reality; they also do not have any aspirations towards immortality. Since there is no fear or idea of death in their lives, they have no concept of God or codified system of philosophy. They live by instinct and die without seeking to prolong their lives. Humans, however, have woven a complicated web of ideas in order to understand the implications of our ordinary and extraordinary states of consciousness. The lives of animals are governed by an unquestioning acceptance of the inevitable.

If we go through all the systems of Indian philosophy, we find a grand purposeful design and an invincible quest or effort to define the phenomena of germination and termination of life. The range of phenomeno-logy is so vast that it embraces every aspect of being and nothingness. India’s unique corpus of metaphy-sical doctrines has echoes of both theism and atheism. It is simultaneously centrifugal and centripetal and includes the purely spiritual, the purely material as well as the material-spiritual.

These schools of Indian philosophy are divided into two groups — the heterodox and the orthodox. The heterodox schools like Charvaka, Jainism and Buddhi-sm do not believe in the existence of God. Their well-structured logic is atheistic. The orthodox schools — sankhya, nyaya, yoga, vaisheshik and vedant — accept the authority of the vedas and believe in God. There is another school of Jaimini, known as mimansa, which makes no mention of God.

Traditionally, atheism is a system of views rejecting faith in the spirits, gods, life beyond death, etc. Atheism criticises religious dogmas from the standpoint of scientific study of the universe. It expresses the social role of religion and shows how religion has created misery from time immemorial. The philosophic basis of atheism is materialism and to a certain extent material spirituality. In Greek philosophy, Heraclitus, Demectrius, Epicurus and Thales are consi-dered to be staunch atheistic thinkers.

Brihaspati is seen as the propounder of atheism in Indian philosophy and this school is known as Charvaka or Lokayata School. We also have annihilationists and naturalists, who did not believe in the existence of God.

Jainism is another school of thought that practices atheism and follows the teachings of Mahavira. The Jains consider the arguments about the existence of God as being fallacious. The universe has no beginning, so the question of a creator has no logical basis. Every one of us is a reservoir of positive energy. Divinity is not somewhere out there.

So each one of us should strive for perfection and purity of consciousness.


Buddha’s argument is that if God is all-pervading, why is there so much evil all around? Like Charvaka, the Buddha also rejected the concept of soul but he did argue in favour of a conti-nuity through life and successive lives. Atheism strengthens the divine in man and generates an inexplicable joy. Whoever denies God asserts his own divinity.

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Leadership is About Taking Decisions

May 28, 2004, 12.00am IST

Whatever we are today is the direct consequence of choi-ces we made and decisions we took. Our karma cannot be shared. It is non-transferable. Leadership, and indeed life itself, is primarily about making decisions.


Events such as the recent Indo-Pak goodwill cricket series bring into focus the indivisibility of leadership decisions and its consequences thereof.

A decision that is as clearly a 50:50 option as batting or fielding after winning a toss is subjected to intense media analyses.

Far greater, then, is the pressure on team leaders in today's workplace, who rarely have clear options to choose from. However, their moves are not analysed on primetime television, but then neither do they have a nationwide fan following to back them if they are questioned.


In this scenario, it is natural to go for the path of least resistance by passing the buck for 'advice', looking at creating a consensus or just deferring decision-taking.

This may serve to stabilise situations on an ad hoc basis but it is not the mark of a leader-in-the-making. Leadership, at its core, is not just about taking decisions but also about taking absolute and full responsibility for them and their consequences irrespective of the way things work out.

Talking about decision-making, Nobel laureate Herbert Simon said that there is no such thing as the 'perfectly rational decision' since such a concept hinges on the assumption that the decision-maker knows all possible alternatives, the utility of each alternative and has a logical order of preference among them.

Since this is not quite the way things work in the real world, a leader must realise that no matter how much thought is devoted to a decision, someone will have the leisure and the inclination to dissect it at a later point and explain how things could have been done better.

So it makes sense to bite the bullet, take an honest decision and move ahead with it since deadlines are an integral part of today's global workplace.

General Patton's view that "a good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow" holds as true in today's corporate and philosophical battlegrounds as it did on the killing fields of World War II.

There will always be those who will attribute motives to all decisions, much in the way the Opposition does in today's political arena, irrespective of which party plays the role at any given point.

A Sourav Ganguly will be grilled for being short-sighted on making a Parthiv open the innings, only to be hailed as a master-strategist when the gamble comes off.

The individual who aspires to grow as a leader must therefore learn to stop looking for universal approbation when he makes a decision and pays heed to Swami Vivekananda: "This I have seen in life - he who is over-cautious about himself, falls into dangers at every step; he who is afraid of losing honour and respect, gets only disgrace; he who is always afraid of loss, always loses".

Arjuna's dilemma began at the point of acting against his own. Such decisions are among the toughest but amount to tests of character.

Small instances such as a captain calling in a superstar on the verge of a milestone or another captain asking for a self-obsessed star to be dropped serve to remind us that those of us who wish to execute leadership roles must be prepared to take these bitter calls when the occasion demands.

Krishna advised Arjuna: "Thus has wisdom more secret than all secrets, been declared to thee by Me. Having reflected on it fully do as thou choosest".


(Gita, 18.63). The final decision - and responsibility for its consequences - was left to Arjuna.

Anshul Chaturvedi

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The Seat of Power: Pride or Service?

May 27, 2004, 12.00am IST
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

A ministership purports to serve the people. However, if it is perceived as a means to derive pleasure or prestige, it will only infest society with corruption, stymie growth, and lead to moral degradation. Fear and insecurity will grip society, inhibiting humanness.


It is natural for human beings to want to overcome fear and insecurity. Most will do almost anything to feel secure. Consequently there is a struggle for the seat of power. However, those who hanker after power are really powerless. They can accomplish very little even after coming to office. So let’s not blame them. The irony is that even after assuming the seat of power, they remain fearful. In fact, the fear increases manifold. If you are in fear and tension you can’t come up with creative ideas — so you can’t do much, either for society or yourself.

Often you hear ministers threatening to resign if they don’t get their way; some followers threaten to even kill themselves. But it is irresponsible to take pride in resigning from one’s post. This is not sacrifice; it is the act of renoun-cing a sacred duty assigned by the people. Ministership is not a luxury which you can take pride in renoun-cing. Similarly, conferring a ministerial post on someone is to expect and demand their best service — it is not to be construed as a reward.

Once you realise your innate power, you don’t need a seat or position to serve the people. You can do better without a formal post as did Mahatma Gandhi. Often a ruler is not a reformer and a reformer doesn’t rule.


Emotions are the main motivating factor for most people. This is especially so when illiteracy is high. Hence it is important to counter this with a broad-based education system that’s both scientific and spiritual.

Most political leaders are ignorant of the concept of true service. Few venture beyond the boundaries of race, religion and nationa-lity. Being confined thus, they do harm to themselves and others. So politicians, too, need to be educated in the conduct of state and social responsibility. The import of the term Vasudaiva Kutumbakam (global family) has to be explained to them. Ministers need to cultivate the ability to safeguard against sycophants. In fact, they should listen to the “inner voice”, following their own divine guidance, to sift the right from the wrong.

We have to get out of the politics of hate and mistrust. True politics is to care for all people, regardless of differences in caste, religion, ideology, or language. When service becomes the aim of political power, actions will translate into development. However, often political parties come together because of common enemies rather than common goals. They unite on the basis of hatred and fear. Diverse parties should work together towards progress for the many. The politics of hatred should end.

A landlord employed two gardeners and each was on duty on alternate days. Both were in disagreement as to how the garden should be. One would till the land and the other would come and undo what the other did. This went on for months. They kept undoing the other’s work. In the end, the land remained unproductive. All their effort was in vain.
This is exactly what political parties do. Much time is wasted in mudslinging and in undoing the work of the others. India will shine truly when political parties complement and honour one another. Satyuga or the golden era will dawn when opposing parties work towards common goals — to alleviate the suffering of the poor, to give them confidence; to make the rich charitable, the innocent less vulnerable and the educated incorruptible.

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Vedantic Wisdom in The Yoga Vasisht

May 25, 2004, 12.00am IST
Pranav Khullar.

The Ramayana is the story of Rama. But more significantly, the epic provides a peephole into Vedantic wisdom on the nature of existence, reality and governance.



Vasishta’s sagacious discourse to prince Rama was offered at a moment of confusion and crisis in the young prince’s life, when he was beginning to feel a surge of vairagya at a tender age. While extolling the vairagya state of Rama, Vasishta initiates Rama into the deeper ontological questions of existence and the nature of the mind.

Vasishta begins by emphasising moral excellence, a pre-requisite for any true seeker. He makes a metaphorical comparison of peace, discrimination, contentment and company of sages, to the four sentinels guarding the gate of moksha. A sadhak is to cultivate these traits to prevent the mind from getting distracted. He discusses the nature of existence and role of the mind therein, through a series of anecdotes, the principal among them being the story of Sambarika, a siddha or self-realised soul who arrives at the court of King Lavana.


Sambarika puts the king into a trance, and the king sees himself as a chandala who is born, lives and marries in the community, has children and lives to be 60 years. In the end he immolates himself, unable to face further depravation. At this point, the king awakes from his stupor. He realises that his mind has conjured up the entire 60-year episode into a trance-span of two hours.

The world of phenomena is nothing but a creation of the mind, a jugglery which is to be detected through atma-vichara or self-introspection and analysis.

Vasishta postulates some aspects of Vedanta which would later be formulated in detail by Sankara and others. He details the position of the individual soul vis-a-vis Brahmn, comparing it to a universal mirror which reflects the world as it is, with Brahmn alone being the substratum of this existence.

Vasishta reinforces the imaginary nature of the universe by narrating this story: A meditating Sukracharya gets distracted by a celestial nymph, and slips into a reverie that leads him to attachments, a series of births, till he is ‘rescued’ from the twilight state and shown his true nature as the meditating Sukra.

Rama is called upon to follow the example of Uddalaka, the Upanishadic sage who practised pranava yoga to master his mind and senses and who attained sattwa samanya or pure consciousness by withdrawing into the self. Vasishta then narrates the poignant tale of King Sikhidhwaja and his wife Chudalai.


King Sikhidhwaja decides to renounce his kingdom on an impulse of vai-ragya, to find the ultimate reality, despite the pleading of his wife Chudalai — a yogi herself — not to abdicate his responsibilities. She endeavours to teach the true meaning of detachment to her husband, through the yogic persona of Kumbha Muni. This tale encapsulates the entire spirit of the Yoga Vasishta, as Chudalai helps her husband to realise the true meaning of detachment — through an elaborate understanding of the mind as the seat of illusion. Sage Vasishta now exhorts Rama to adopt the path of karma or duty, dissuading him from renunciation, in much the same manner as Chudalai directs the king in the parable.

As an ancient and pioneering literary-philosophical text on the Vedanta, the Yoga Vasishta could be called the forerunner of the Bhagavad Gita in its convergence of the paths of jnana and karma.

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Tracking the Ego To its Source

May 24, 2004, 12.44am IST
A R Natarajan.

The vision of the self and awareness of it as the abidance in the heart - where the unbroken awareness of one's existence can be felt spontaneously as the 'I-I' - has been described by Ramana Maharshi.


What obstructs one's awareness of the fullness of existence is the ego - the mind's wrong identification with a particular body, mistaking it to be the 'I' or the subject. Hence the destruction of ego, or its merging with the source, the only way to experience the joyous and uninterrupted throb of 'I-I'.

Like the diver diving deep, searching for pearls on the ocean floor, Ramana says we have to explore within, with keen intellect as one would do to recover a thing that has fallen into a deep well.


"The ego falls, crestfallen,/ when one searches and/ enters the Heart/ Then another 'I-I', throbs/ Unceasingly, by itself,/ It is not the ego but the self/ Itself, the whole."

This absorption of the mind in its source - or its subsistence in it - is as natural as it is for a salt doll placed in the ocean to be absorbed into it. This is because the essence of both the salt doll and the ocean is saline.

Similarly, the core of the mind, too, is only consciousness; it is the false notion resulting in its identification with a particular body that has caused the limitation.


If one searches for the source of the mind with vigilance and diligence, this false notion drops off. This happens gradually as the mind comes closer to its source. What constitutes self- enquiry? Ramana's first disciple Gambhiram Seshier asked: What is meant by saying that one should enquire into one's true nature and understand it?

Ramana replied that experi-ences such as, 'I went, I came, I was, I did', come naturally to everyone. Does it not appear, then, that the consciousness 'I' is the subject of those various acts?
Enquiry into the true nature of that consciousness and remaining as oneself is the way to understand, through enquiry, one's true nature.


'I'-consciousness cannot be the body or the mind because both are different or non-existent as in dream and deep sleep respectively. Once this false notion is negated, one is off the mental movement.


Only this search for the source of the mind can end its restlessness. The object-oriented world in which it is now caught up can never give peace to a mind because "there is no place like home".


Ramana points out that just as raindrops risen from the sea cannot rest until they reach the ocean (home) or as a bird must return to its 'earthly perch' at night... the mind "may through various ways, self-chosen wander aimlessly for a while, but cannot rest till it rejoins you Arunachala, the source."


Ramana's emphasis is on the unitary nature of the mind in contrast to its present divisive state, always thinking in terms of the opposites - good and bad, ignorance and knowledge, rich and poor.


Self enquiry is the search for the source of the mind by the mind. In Arunachala Pancharatnam he says: "If one enters within, enquiring, 'Wherefrom does this 'I' arise?' he dissolves in his own true nature and merges in you, Arunachala, as a river in the ocean."
( Talk delivered at the Interfaith funded meditation programme, Foundation for Universal Responsibility of HH the Dalai Lama, Apr 1-June 3. The writer is founder-president, Ramana Maharshi Centre for Learning. E-mail maharshi@ bgl.vsnl.net.in )

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The Atheistic Roots of Hindu Philosophy

May 22, 2004, 12.00am IST
MAHESH DAGA.

The core of Hindu scriptural tradition, it is commonly thought, is all about theism or belief in God. But that is a huge misconception. Even disregarding the ‘heterodox’ streams like the charvaks, with their underlying message of materialist hedonism, or Buddhism, the philosophical canon — call it higher Hinduism — leaves plenty of room for dissent even on a question as central as the existence of God.



Indeed, the reason why some schools of darshana — Purva and Uttar Mimansa, Sankhya and Yoga, Nyaya and Vaisheshika — are regarded as ‘orthodox’ and others such as Jainism, Buddhism and Charvaks are not, has little or nothing to do with a belief in God. The real point of departure is whether or not a particular system of thought accepts the Vedas as the ultimate source of philosophical authority. The so-called orthodox schools do — even though it has been convin-cingly argued that this acceptance is more notional than real — while the other three don’t. Significantly, the original meanings of the terms astika and nastika, too, hinge on this vital diffe-rence. While the astikas believe in the veracity and infallibility of the Vedas, the nastikas clearly don’t.

Among the astikas, the two oldest schools — San-khya and Purva Mimansa — strongly refute the theory of God. Thus, the source book for Sankhya darshan, Ishwar Krishan’s Sankhya Karika, is full of subtle arguments which reject the possibility of there being an all-powerful creator and controller of the world. Vigyan Bhikshu’s Sankhya Pravachna Bhashya makes a case for why a belief in the divine principle is unwarranted. Even Kapila’s classic treatise on the subject, which is far less emphatic in its rejection of God, finds it unnecessary to accept any theistic assumptions.


Similarly, Purva Mimansa has a strong element of disbelief at its core. Jaimini’s Mimansa Sutra, the founding text, is mostly preoccupied with proving the efficacy and power of Yagna (or sacrificial fire) but shies away from attributing it to any divinity. Instead, in common with latter Miman-saks like Kumarila, Jaimini takes delight in rejecting the God hypothesis. In Yoga — beginning with Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra — which is widely regarded as theistic in nature, the acceptance of God is, in part, purely verbal. In large areas of practical reasoning, God is happily overlooked, if not consciously ignored. In Nyaya, the quint-essential Indian tradition of formal logic, there is an attempt to prove, as in Jayanta Bhatt’s Nyaya Manjari, the existence of God, but such arguments are far from being universally accepted.


The only ‘God-fearing’ candidate among the orthodox schools is perhaps Uttar Mimansa, of which Shankara’s ad-vaita or vedantic philosophy is the best known example. But, contrary to received wisdom, Shankara was never accepted, either by his contemporaries or latter-day thin-kers, as the be all and end all of Indian thought. It was only in the 19th century, thanks to the need of the native intellectuals to create the image of an ‘essentially’ spiritual India as opposed to an equally materialist West, that Shankara’s advaita came to be regarded as the pinnacle of Indian philosophical achievement.


Interestingly, atheism in the Indian tradition is not necessarily premised on a prior acceptance of materialism, either in the philosophical or everyday sense. All the atheistic schools mentioned above, even when they reject God, accept the existence of a permanent soul (atman), which is quite distinct from corporeal or physical reality. If anything, Indian atheism — except in the case of the charvaks — is strongly anti-materialistic in character.

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Price of Leadership: Emulation & Envy

May 21, 2004, 12.00am IST
S Leelavathi.

Leadership is a powerful construct. A leader is envied for the position and authority he enjoys. He receives adulation and is celebrated as a champion and deliverer. Little wonder, then, a leader is often emulated; even envied. High and powerful positions are fervently sought out for all the promise they hold. And what can be more alluring than the highest post in the land?


Even if Sonia Gandhi’s reasons for abjuring the high post are debatable, the very act of saying ‘no’ — to the most important and powerful job in the country — is something few would have the courage (of conviction) to carry out, and that too with the composure and determination that Sonia displayed.

Now that the “crown of thorns” has been placed on Manmohan Singh’s head, it is instructive to look at what leadership means, both for the leader and the led. True, the head of any huge corporation or country will have almost boundless resources at his disposal and his word shall be law. And sycophants there will be aplenty. However, it is also true that no leader can be free of the baggage of leadership.


This is what the Cadillac Motor Car Company succinctly chose to call “The Penalty of Leadership” in a one-time historic ad that ran thus:


“In every field of human endeavour, he that is first must perpetually live in the white light of publicity. Whether the leadership be vested in a man or in a manufactured product, emulation and envy are ever at work. In art, in literature, in music, in industry, the reward and the punishment are always the same. The reward is widespread recognition; the punishment, fierce denial and detraction.


“When a man’s work becomes a standard for the whole world, it also becomes a target for the shafts of the envious few. If his work be merely mediocre, he will be left severely alone — if he achieves a masterpiece, it will set a million tongues a-wagging. Jealousy does not protrude its forked tongue at the artist who produces a commonplace painting. Whatsoever you write, or paint, or play, or sing, or build, no one will strive to surpass, or to slander you, unless your work be stamped with the seal of genius. Long, long after a great work or a good work has been done, those who are disappointed or envious continue to cry out that it cannot be done...


“The leader is assailed because he is a leader, and the effort to equal him is merely added proof of that leadership. Failing to equal or to excel, the follower seeks to depreciate and to destroy — but only confirms once more the superiority of that which he strives to supplant. There is nothing new in this. It is as old as the world and as old as the human passions — envy, fear, greed, ambition and the desire to surpass. And it all avails nothing. If the leader truly leads, he remains — the leader...”


A homespun story often related to little children in Indian homes sums up the concept of “leadership as poison” in very simple terms: The palace maid was bone-tired, cleaning out the Queen’s chamber. The royal bed looked so inviting that the maid lay down to rest before resuming her chores. When the Queen saw her all hell broke loose. The “culprit” was shouted at, warned of dire consequences and punished.


Before being dragged away by the guards, the maid exclaimed to the Queen: “I slept on your bed for barely five minutes and I’ve had to endure so much torture and humi- liation. You lie on this bed every day and for the last so many years — how much more pain must you be suffering?”

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Good Morning, Kurukshetra

May 20, 2004, 12.00am IST

The role of a newspaper, it is commonly believed, is to inform. But that is only a part of what a modern newspaper is supposed to do. A greater part of its mandate is to act in the manner of an ancient sage or rishi, to help the reader in the process of contemplation, meditation and, ultimately, spiritual elevation.



The title of this article captures the spirit of this nuanced understanding. The term, Kurukshetra, has for long symbolised something more than a geographical location. It is a metaphor for the ceaseless tumult and conflict of the material world. In the modern context, it signifies the mode of being of the social, political and economic world. The newspaper presumably has to reflect this. The editors, however, must not delude themselves into believing that they’re aiming for, or arriving at, some objective representation of reality. Because reality is simply the name we give to our most cherished ways of looking at the world.

A newspaper, consciously or otherwise, does not reproduce reality. It puts a particular spin on it. Call it stylisation, if you like. Just as a Bollywood film stylises poverty, love, and relationships, so does a newspaper. In the choice and resentation of news, it inevitably reconstructs the larger world for the reader. So, let no one argue that the business of a newspaper is to tell it like it is — to peddle mundane reality. It follows that the opinion page has to assume a role that is similar to what Lord Krishna took on prior to the battle at Kurukshetra. That is, to help the reader, the modern-day Arjuna, achieve a sense of equanimity and detachment from the here and now.

Think of it. Looking at the newspaper in the morning ought to be a form of emotional catharsis — whether in the form of tragic empathy or joyful celebration. Not for nothing did our rishis create an elaborate matrix of festivals to break the ebb and flow of linear, secular time. In terms of functionality, a newspaper must play an identical role. By carefully selecting aspects of everyday reality — and heightening its experiential content/value — it ought to raise the consciousness of the reader and empowers him spiritually.


A newspaper, then, has to move away from a problem-posing to a problem-dissolving attitude. A lot of the so-called problems arise because of familiar habits of thought. If you are enabled to see them differently, they will simply disappear. In that sense, the process is similar to the movement from ignorance or avidya to spiritual enlightenment. That’s why a newspaper must endeavour to present perspectives that transcend our obsessive human-centric view of life.


There are myriad ways of doing this — for instance, by focusing on trends and processes rather than on events and personalities. This way, what appears extraordinary or “abnormal” at first glance — deaths in violence or conflict — can be placed in a proper perspective. By telling the reader, for instance, that casualties in war are only a very minor fraction of all the deaths that occur in the world everyday, it can inculcate dispassionate, long-term view. Similarly, one could take away the edge of nationalist passion by reminding the reader that the nation-state is merely a contingent historical construct that is destined to fade/ grow/mutate but change anyway. Also, that there are other spiritual and social allegiances which transcend the narrow emotional and political boundaries of the ‘nationality’ identity.


This is how this newspaper has consistently addressed the question of diaspora or foreign origins, telling the reader that nationalism in this day and age is a liquid phenomenon, with no clearly defined contours.

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Goodness, a Lighter State of Being

May 19, 2004, 12.00am IST
A Srinivas.

Who is a good human being? Charles Dickens said people were good and bad. But he couldn’t figure out what made them that way. Unfortunately, Dickens missed — by about 50 years — the revolution in psychology brought about by Sigmund Freud. Freud believed an individual’s personality was shaped in his infancy, with later influences having only a negligible impact. However, Freud erred in focusing on natural instincts to the exclusion of social structures.


A good human being is honest to himself and sensitive to the needs of others. An emotionally honest person is a product of an upbringing that infuses a sense of self-worth. People can lack self-worth because of some kind of Freudian rejection in their infancy. To overcome their feeling of smallness or insecurity they control, even with good intentions, those emotionally or socially weaker than them. The oppressed tend to control those still more vulnerable, to overcome their misery. Hence, a chain of power is established in family and social relations. Control distorts love and goodness. It is exercised through psychological manipulation, or through the social hierarchy.

The good individual stands liberated from the control chain, from thought systems that divide people. He tends to be free of malice, fear, and inner turmoil — all of which arise from carrying the burden of the past. The past can be overcome only by coming to terms with it. Here, Freud’s contribution to the betterment of the human condition is invaluable.

Some people are guileless or benign, but lack the individuality that stems from reason. They tend to grasp the scaffolding of social control. As a result, they are unable to make an objective assessment in many situations. The light of goodness in them is clouded by unreason.


The thrust of control is blunted by the element of responsibility and care in family and social relationships. Popular culture has aspects that are a deep source of strength to an individual, such as religious occasions, customs and festivals. These events are parti-cularly liberating for the socially and emotionally weak. Those rooted, yet liberated from enemy constructs, are the children of God.


The urge to control can turn into cunning, or a nihi-lism that does not respect emotional and social bonds. Such an individual is cynical and insecure, his actions no longer guided by concern or responsibility. His freedom is a form of bondage where his angst of non-belonging devours his inner being. He is a lone scarecrow fluttering in the wind. But every cynic is a potential saint, just as Valmiki was a robber before he encountered the sapta-rishis. When the hand of the guru does not arrive, he marches down an evil road.


The good individual is an ardhanarishwar, possessing in the right measure the traditional masculine attributes of fearlessness and direction and the feminine traits of compassion and accommodation. But to have the right instincts all through life and avoid attrition of inner strength, he needs a supportive social order. Goodness is compromised in societies that do not respect the inner freedom of the individual. When Rabindranath Tagore said ekla chalo re, he wanted individuals to be free when they negotiated with society.


The free individual needs to engage constantly with society to maintain his freedom. The flux in this negotiation — “neither this nor that” — in Upanishadic terms embodies the richness of existence. No wonder Kabir fused individual goodness with social emancipation. Renunciation should not be confused with running away.

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Scepticism in Ancient Vedic Literature

May 15, 2004, 12.00am IST
Kailash Vajpeyi.

The paradox of our existence is that we live and yet constantly keep questioning, why? Perhaps we suffer from an eternal anguish or divine discontent. We want to believe in the existence of a higher agency but at the same time refuse to accept it.


We take pride in our scepticism. Scepticism is a philosophical conception. Consistent scepticism is close to agnosticism. As doctrine we find the resonance of scepticism even in Vedic literature. In Greece it emerged as a reaction to the preceding philosophical systems which had tried to explain the sensual world by means of contemplative arguments and in so doing had often displayed inherent contradictions.


There are a number of texts and hymns in Vedic literature which describe the mystery of the universe. The supreme divine produces everything that is within. Modern research has proved that we all have a complex system of 100 or more internal clocks. Everything from our heartbeat and body temperature to reaction time and memory is connected to that internal clock.


Almost all thought systems have agreed that ‘belief’ per se is the promise around which all existence revolves but questions regarding the existence of God always end in doubt. I have tried to transcreate the Nasdiya Sukta of the tenth canto of the Rigveda:


“In the beginning when/ There was no before/ There was neither being nor Nonbeing/ Neither space nor time/ Not even the sky beyond/ Neither death nor Non-death/ No distinction/ Between night and day/ No protection by anyone/ Only shadows/ In the absolute dark/ Were concealed by shadows/ In the ocean of nothingness/ That one arose through the power of heat/ By its own propulsion/ The nameless one, enwrapped in the void/ Breathed./ And then there was/ The Big Bang.

“Primordial sound in space/ Reverberated for how long/ No one knows/ Speech does not know/ Who inspires speech?/ The broken silence had/ Soothing impact/ Slowly and slowly/ It all cooled down/ Galaxies were formed/ In the dark recesses/ A milky way crowned by/ Suns and the moons/ Millions of stars appeared/ And amidst this ordered chaos/ There floated into being/ A tiny planet — our earth.

“The cosmic forces formed/ Cyclical patterns/ Air, water and biospheres/ Gave off heat and fumes/ Life drew its components/ From these elements/ Galactic to subatomic/ Order replicated itself./ Life appeared on earth/ Gover-ned by one grand principle/ Which embraces/ Every living being./ Insects, plants, animals/ And of course Man/ Very terse poem/ Written by the genes./ As a living organism/ The universe came into existence.


“From blazing Ardor/ Cosmic order came riddled with/ Light and Rta, the rhythm of order./ From thence was born obscure light/ And the ocean with its billowing waves/ In the river of life/ Everything is attuned to everything./ Each part inheres the whole/ And the whole embraces the parts./ All are connected in a very subtle way/ All are a part, none is apart...


“From oceans were born seasons.../ Patterns emerged ..../ The same life force/ Pulsated in butterflies/ Circles within circles swirled/ And blew apart.


“Rivers flowed into oceans/ And oceans misted into skies/ The skies reached down/ To touch the earth/ And eternity could be glimpsed/ In a grain of sand/ The universe danced/ In the ‘artifice of eternity’/ And nobody can know/ The dancer from the dance/ For all is governed by Rta/ the rhythms of order.

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The Child is the Father of Man

May 14, 2004, 12.00am IST
INDU JAIN.

Sometimes, the voice of innocence can jolt us out of cynicism. Flipping through TV channels yesterday, I chanced upon Rahul Gandhi talking about defeated Andhra chief minister Chandrababu Naidu. With not a trace of arrogance or gloating, Rahul pointed out that Naidu had worked hard and done a lot for the people for 10 years. It wasn’t fair for the media and other critics to suddenly turn upon him so viciously. When somebody said that A B Vajpayee had called him a bachcha (child), he replied, “Yes, I am very young. I will become a man by working hard.”


Only a statesman, or a newcomer to politics, can speak with such magnani-mity. Actually, the two terms needn’t be contradictory. There have been many young heads of state, like William Pitt — who became prime minister of the UK when he was barely 23. Rahul’s own father, Rajiv, became PM when he was 40. There is much of Rahul that is remini-scent of his father in 1984. He exudes the same idealism, youthful dynamism, and forward-looking vision, and he has similarly seized the imagination of a public that is sick and tired of the politics of negativism and cynicism.

Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Rahul spoke with such tolerance and open-mindedness. He is, after all, the scion of a family that has long embodied these very Indian values. Even though his family has been at the receiving end of much criticism, Rahul remains remarkably devoid of bitterness. His observation about Naidu could set a healthy new trend in Indian politics of gracious beha-viour towards opponents, especially defeated ones. Ironically, this ‘new’ development would only mark a return to our traditional values.

Akbar was called ‘the Great’ because of his policy of inclusiveness. He didn’t wipe out vanquished foes; he assimilated them into his empire and was willing to respect diversity. When the Greek conquerer Alexander asked Porus how he would like to be treated, the captive replied, “As one king treats another”.


Magnanimity in victory and stoicism in defeat have been recurrent themes of Indian history. This philo- sophy was very visible during the struggle for Independence, spearheaded by Mahatma Gandhi and Rahul’s great-grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru. Standards in public life since then have fallen steeply; our greatest hopes now lie with Rahul, and others of his generation for they possess the unique gift of youth: freedom from the confining shackles of the past. It is only by breaking away from the scars and traumas of what has gone before that we can break through the vicious spiral of karma.
For far too long, as a coun-try and as individuals we have suffered the legacy of past hatreds based on selective societal memory. Indeed, the very birth of the country was synonymous with the agonising vivisection of Partition whose wounds have yet to heal.


Kashmir remains a bleeding sore on a polity in which, ironically, the majority were born long after Partition. Yet this is the generation which must face the often brutal consequences of the spectres from the past. Deaths in Kashmir and on the frozen wilderness of Siachen are not those of the old, but the young — a blood sacrifice on the altar of the past.


Too many have already paid the huge price demanded by history. It’s time to shed baggage and move on. And it is in Rahul that today’s India sees its true reflection — an image that looks resolutely forward to a brave new horizon and not fearfully over its shoulder, because it has never allowed memory to set in.

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Fetch Your Breath Up From Deep Below

May 12, 2004, 12.00am IST
Sensei Sandeep Desai.

Men of wisdom fetch their breath up from deep inside and below, while others breathe with their voice box alone. Great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln and Nelson Mandela often relied on mind-cleansing meditation combined with deep breathing — to restore their flagging energy and create inner peace whenever stress built up in their lives.



Normally, we tend to breathe with just the top half of our lungs, leaving the bottom half unused and full of stale, impure air, preventing the fullest absorption of oxygen. The stale air resulting from the poor use of lung capacity virtually affects every organ in the body. We take tens of thousands of breaths per day; yet, it is quite possible that we may spend our whole lifetime without ever pondering about whether we can improve the quality of breathing.


Considering our breathing becomes more and more shallow and ineffective from birth onwards, this is a matter of utmost concern.

Those engaged in teaching disciplines such as singing, playing a wind instrument, athletics, yoga and martial arts are required first to become attuned with their breathing to mark growth in their chosen fields. In order to record progress in any type of spiritual discipline, it is immensely important that all parts of the body receive sufficient oxygen, especially the brain. The natural motions resulting from deep breathing help to open up the chakras through which chi — alternatively called prana or ki — enters the body. Moreover, the physical action of every breath we take causes the internal organs to be massaged and facilitates the movement of nutrients and wastes. Finally, concentrating on natural breathing unclutters the mind, freeing it from mechanical, everyday, fixated thinking. This mental shift can be termed as a first step towards unification of mind and body.

If you wish to make deep, abdominal breathing an integral part of your daily life, first familiarise yourself with natural abdominal breathing, which involves four distinct stages: Inhalation, retention, exhalation and pause.


Inhalation: One of the most common errors during inhalation is to try to fill the lungs completely on each inhalation. One should never force inhalation beyond comfortable capacity. About two-thirds full is the right measure for an inhalation.


Retention: If properly performed, even brief retention of breath provides profound therapeutic benefits to every organ, gland and functional system in the body. Taoists refer to breath retention as ‘womb breathing’ because the lungs don’t move. The fetus in the womb receives oxygen and energy directly through the umbilical cord, not the lungs. Breath retention for 3-4 seconds slows down heart beat, reduces blood pressure substantially, and triggers cellular respiration.

Exhalation: This is more important than inhalation as one has to first thoroughly empty in order to fill the lungs properly with fresh air. Empty lungs in reverse order of inhalation, starting at the top and ending at the bottom.


Pause: When the lungs are completely empty, pause for a few seconds to permit the abdominal wall and the dia-phragm to relax again, then commence a slow inhalation.


Deep breathing reduces stress, deepens insight, expands consciousness and increases intuitive perception. Shallow breathing blocks energy whereas deep, rhythmical breathing gene-rates energy.


In all situations, breathe. Be aware of your breath. If you are in a conversation, take a moment to breathe before you respond. Focus on slowing your breath, and you will find that you are establishing contact with your own internal energy.

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Creative Philosophy Inspired by the Sun

May 11, 2004, 12.00am IST
Soma Chakravarty.

Rabindranath Tagore lived up to his name. Rabi means the Sun and like the Sun’s rays the myriad-minded “Great Sentinel” — as Mahatma Gandhi called him — never failed to dazzle with his creative genius, enlightening us with his sagacious insight.



Tagore’s songs, poems, plays, short stories, novels, essays, letters, and paintings take us through his personal reflection of reality, which soon become our own because they touch the core of our heart, bonding us with nature. His writings are a heartfelt appeal for universal peace, love and harmony.


Tagore’s philosophy was not original. His writings, however, reflect ancient mysticism and Vedanta, providing us with glimpses of a higher reality. He acknowledged the concepts of Sivam, Santam, Advaitam — perfection, peace, and non-duality. God to him was God’s creations. He heard God’s music in the pitter-patter of raindrops, His songs in the gurgle of mountain streams, and His cosmic dance in swaying trees, the rhythm of life and death in the ocean’s waves.

Tagore’s concept of religion was faith. “Religion that only comes to us from external scriptures never becomes our own, for our only tie with it is that of habit. To gain religion within is man’s great lifelong adventure. In suffering must it be born; On his lifeblood it must live and then whether or not it brings him happiness, the man’s journey shall end in the joy of fulfilment”. He further wrote: “When I go from hence let this be my parting word, that what I have seen is unsurpassable. I have tasted of the hidden nectar of this lotus that expands on the ocean of light, and thus I am blessed...”.


The message of spiritual reality came to the poet- laureate with the Sun’s rays: “One day while I stood watching at early dawn the Sun sending out its rays from behind the trees, I suddenly felt as if some ancient mist had in a moment lifted from my sight and the morning light on the face of the world revealed an inner radiance of joy. The invisible screen of the commonplace was removed from all things and all of mankind and this ultimate significance was intensified in my mind and this is the definition of beauty.”

To Tagore, truth was inseparable from beauty. “Truth is everywhere, therefore everything is the object of our knowledge. Beauty is omnipresent; therefore everything is capable of giving us joy. Through our sense of truth we realise law in creation and through our sense of beauty we realise harmony in the universe”. He had deep faith in the power and purifying process of silence and meditation. He prayed for the vision of light. “They stand with uplifted eyes thirsty after light, lead them to light My Lord”.

Tagore celebra-ted life. “I feel the embrace of freedom in a thousand bonds of delight” he said. So for the man of detachment his home is his hermitage. For him, to be one with God is to be one with the universe because “Our master himself has joyfully taken upon Himself the bonds of creation, so He is bound with us all for ever”. God to him was Sakha, the friend.

Light to him was a source joy: “Light my light, the world filling light, the eye-kissing light , heart sweetening light” he wrote, but the deep-rooted humane aspect in him did not allow the light of joy turn him blind to sorrows. He acknowledged both in his quest to realise life.


Swami Surya Jowel says that the nine-fold path of Surya yoga is for precisely the kind of spiritual reali- sation that Tagore was seeking, to find the divine in all existence.

(www.suryayog.org)

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Selfless Service And Sacrifice

May 10, 2004, 12.00am IST

After having won the Mahabharata war, King Yuddhishthira, the eldest of the Pandavas, performed the Ashvamedha Yagna in which he gave away his riches to the deserving.


Just then a half-golden mongoose sneaked in and began rolling all over the ground. It then looked at its fur and seemed disappointed. The mongoose said sadly, "Ah! This is no sacrifice."

Yuddhishthira and the others were puzzled for they had performed the yagna on a grand scale. How dare the mongoose proclaim that it was worthless? Curious, they asked for an explanation.

The mongoose sighed: "During a famine, I witnessed a grand sacrifice. I had gone without food for days. Everywhere there was hunger, starvation and death. With no strength to look for food, one night I crept into the hut of a peasant who lived with his wife and child. They too were hungry for days. One day the husband brought home a little wheat flour. The wife cooked it and just as they were about to eat it a beggar cried for food. The man gave him his portion. There was a second knock and this time he found a hungry child, crying. The wife gave the child her share. As they were about to eat the third share, a famished dog crawled inside the hut. The child gave up her share and the family now faced hunger and certain death. The beggar, the child and the dog came back to bless the family. The three guests transformed into Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. Blessing the generous family they took them away in a beautiful chariot. I ate the food they'd left behind and fell asleep. In the morning when I went home my family told me that I had turned half-golden. I found that the side I had slept on had turned golden. Since then, I am looking for another such sacrifice so that my other half also turns golden. So you see, this sacrifice cannot be as great."

Renunciation and service are the greatest sacrifices, the highest religion. Showing unconditional kindness to all is the religion of love. Every selfless act is service to God.

Krishna said: "Always perform obligatory actions without attachment; by doing so the human being attains to the highest" (Gita 3.19).

Swami Vivekananda said that Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, was a real hero for he accepted his sons being cemented alive in the wall as a sacrifice. Uncomplaining, the Guru retired to the south to die in silence and peace.

A Rajput maid Pannabai had to look after the baby prince along with her own newborn son. Invading soldiers attacked the fort and killed the royal family.

Searching for the newborn prince they rushed to Pannabai and asked her to hand over the baby prince to them in return for freedom. Pannabai wrapped her own baby in the prince's clothes and handed him to the soldiers. Finding her calm they were satisfied that they had the right baby in their hands and killed it in front of her.

Swami Raganathananda says that a Karma Yogi rises above individuality and stops worrying about the fruits of action. Such a person remains in constant bliss. One beholden to personal desire can never serve wholeheartedly.


In a Karma Yogi's life there is no place for his own emotions. He has no motive except selfless service. Pain comes when one gets attached to the work and its results.

Those who perform good work in order to go to heaven also bind themselves down in the vicious cycle of births and deaths. A heroic person is one who can conquer attachment and is not carried away by emotion.

Seema Burman

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Take God's Name and Absolve Your Self

May 6, 2004, 12.00am IST
Devakottai S Srinivasan.

In the fifth Skanda of the Bhagavat Purana, Hiranyakashipu asks his son Prahalad, “What is the best thing you have learnt?” Prahalad replies: ‘‘Sravanam Kirtanam vishnum smaranam pada seva-nam archanam vandanam dasyam, sakyam atma samarpanam iti Navalakshana.” — Prahalad describes nine ways to attain salvation: 1. Listening to God’s name and stories about Him. 2. Singing God’s praise and reciting His name 3. Always thinking about God 4. Archana or offering flowers to God 5. To do service at God’s feet 6. To do Namaskars or paying obeisance to God 7. To do service to God 8. To be friendly with God 9. To surrender everything at God’s feet including one’s Self.


It is not impossible to do what Prahalad spells out as we have examples of people like Parikshit, Sukha Brahm Maha-rishi, Prahalad, Goddess Mahalakshmi, Hanuman, Arjun and Mahabali who had followed these norms. Ru-kmini, while sending a message to Krishna inviting him to accept her, follows the path shown by Prahalad and starts her message with sravanam and ends with atma samarpanam.


Other means to salvation as described in the Narada Bhaktiyoga, Karma Yoga and other texts in our epics and puranas are difficult to follow, more so in today’s fast-paced way of life. The easiest among these is the Nama Sangirthanam or singing God’s praise, to recite God’s name as and when possible to attain salvation.

The Dhanur Month is observed in South India as a month for worshipping God and bhajans are recited in the mornings throughout the month. As the month precedes Uttarayana, it is considered to be ‘‘early morning’’ for Dev Log. Andal, one of the 12 alwars, has rendered several poems in praise of God to be recited during the Dhanur month as a means of salvation.

The tradition of naming children after the name of God was followed so that when a person calls out to his children, he is reciting some of the Sahasranama of God.

Ajamila, the son of a rishi, was following all the practices prescribed for a rishi. One day, as he was travelling through a dense forest, he met a hunter’s daughter who was very pretty. They fell in love and Ajamila spent his entire life with her.

He forgot his duty and practices totally and did all that a rishi was not expected to do. He was very attached to his last son, whom he named “Narayana”. When he was about to die he could see Yama’s messengers, and out of sheer fear loudly called out to his last son “Narayana” and died immediately thereafter. Before Yama’s messengers could take him, Lord Vishnu’s messengers came and took him to Vaikuntha, saying that any man who utters God’s name during his last moments, would only go to Vaikuntha, the abode of Lord Vishnu.

This story might have inspired Perialwar, one of the 12 alwars of the south, to render 4,000 exquisite hymns praising the Lord. In one hymn he says “Narayanan annai Nara-gam Pugal”, that the mother of Narayana will never go to hell.


Nama Sangirthana is the easiest way to attain salvation. We should conti-nue the practice of naming our children after God so that when we call out to our children, we recite at least some of the Sahasranama of the Lord, which washes away our sins and leads us to salvation.

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Buddha Consciousness: Become a Witness

May 4, 2004, 12.00am IST

Detachment is not indifference or lack of love. In fact, it is real love because it is not related to appearance. Witness has no attachment and hence no detachment is needed. Ego has attachment therefore detachment has to be developed.


If appearance was a permanent reality we could not make changes. We make changes in our lives in order to gain new experiences. This is possible only because that particular part of life is not reality, it is appearance, and until we know what reality is we will continue the game of changes to modify our experiences.


This is the age of browsing. We browse quickly through a variety of experiences, including relationships. The browsing will continue till we reach reality. So in one sense, by browsing, we are indirectly searching for reality. Spirituality eli-minates the disparity between appearance and reality. The ans-wer: ‘‘I don’t know why I love you, I just do’’ reveals the ridi-culousness of the situation. If you do not know why you love, it simply means you are not conscious about your love. True love never generates problems but is always part of the solution; it is part of witness, not ego.


Harmony, love and compassion are not the products of religion. They are spiritual products, spiritual property. Often, religion strengthens the ego, because religion needs the individual to remain in the ego so that its strength and power can be maintained. We like those who enforce our ego and we dislike those who weaken it. The person who talks adversely about our religion indirectly tries to weaken our ego; hence it hurts our religious feelings. Do not expect religion to assist in transforming the ego. The strength of all religions lies in untransformed egos. The love of a terrorist is a good example of religion-induced love and the love of the Buddha is a good example of spiritually-generated love. If we are still on the ego level no transformation has been made, so there is a lack of development and we could therefore never reach the level where one can love the entire world. The family-love consciousness is of a lower state than that of Buddha-consciousness or the global-love state.


The ability to love the whole world is a post-transformation state. A single glimpse or a single darshan of God alone is insufficient to transform a person’s whole life. The darshan should become the background music of our lives, or, it will appear and disappear like everything else in life. Appearance and disappearance may be recognised through an underlying factor, the witness. Without the witness, it is impossible to notice appearance and disappearance. The part of us that is witnessing may not develop into the object, as that is who we really are, our true selves. A popular way of explaining reality is: the eye cannot see the eye. However, do not miss the point because of this platitude.


Witness is God, witness is reality, and ultimately, it is a higher state of consciousness, beyond the ordinary state of consciousness. We have to develop into the mystical state of consciousness and for that, a glimpse is insufficient. Therefore, travel through the glimpses regularly until you become a part of mystical state of consciousness, the higher state of consciousness.


We hanker for permanence while paying tribute to transient emotions. We bond with the image while ignoring reality. Only when we see the differ-ence between the eternally real and the ephemeral image, our problems will disappear.
 
(Excerpted from ‘Mind the Gap’. The writer is a disciple of Sri Narayana Guru.)

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Truth Unveiled in Seventh Heaven

May 3, 2004, 12.00am IST
Saniyasnain Khan.

The Prophet Muhammad started receiving revelations from Allah in 610 A D through an angel. When he began to propagate the divine message, the people of Mecca turned against him. In those testing times Khadijah, his wife, and Abu Talib, his uncle, were a great help to him, but shortly thereafter they both died.



When the Meccans seemed to be on the verge of crushing Islam, the Prophet Muhammad had an extraordinary experience. This is known as al-Isra and al-Miraj or the Night Journey and the Ascension.

One night, as the Prophet slept next to the Kabah, the Archangel Jibril woke him and took him on a strange, white-winged animal, called Buraq or lightning, from Mecca to al-Aqsa mosque in faraway Jerusalem. From there Jibril led the Prophet through Heaven’s gates, where he saw countless angels. Angel Jibril then took the Prophet through the Seven Hea-vens, one by one.

Beyond the seventh heaven, the Prophet pas-sed through the veils covering that which is hidden, until at last he came into the divine Light of Allah’s Presence. The Pro-phet looked upon that which the eye cannot see and the mind cannot imagine — the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Time, thought and feelings disappeared; there was only great peace and the brilliance of pure light.


Too soon, the experience ended and he was brought back to earth. The Prophet was amazed to find the spot where he had lain still warm, and the cup he had tipped over was still emptying itself. This incredible experience had taken place in less than a moment.


The morning after, the Prophet told the Meccans what had happened. Most refused to believe him while others were amazed and wanted the Prophet to explain how such a thing could happen. The Prophet’s description of Jerusalem, and the caravans he had seen on the way back to Mecca, convinced them he was telling the truth. For the Prophet, the Night Journey and Ascension was a turning point. After years of persecution and the terrible loss of his wife and uncle, the experience gave him great comfort and the strength to go on. He became convinced that Allah was with him.


Though we may never have the good fortune to experience God with our whole being, both spiritual and physical, as the Prophet did, we can still aspire for the inward, spiritual aspects of the Prophet’s experience.

It was during this experience that Allah’s commandment on prayer or namaz was revealed to the Prophet. He reported that Allah wanted men to pray 50 times a day, but that on the Prophet Moses’ advice, he had appealed for a less difficult routine. At last Allah resolved that there should be five prayers a day. This has remained the practice ever since.

Namaz, or the five daily prayers, is one of the five pillars of Islam. It is the duty of every Muslim to perform these five daily prayers. Here are some of the points which show the purpose of namaz:

1. to bring us closer to Allah;

2. to prevent us from doing indecent, shameful and forbidden things;

3. to purify the heart, develop the mind and comfort the soul;

4. to remind us constantly of Allah and His greatness;

5. to develop discipline and will power;

6. to guide us to the most upright way of life;

7. to show equality, unity and brotherhood;

8. to promote patience, courage, hope and confidence;

9. to develop gratitude and humility;

10. to show obedience and thankfulness to our Creator.

(Today is being observed as the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad.)

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Learn to be Free, To be Joyous

May 1, 2004, 12.00am IST
Manish Maladkar.

Each day is a chance to invest in life; a chance to renew yourself. To shed yesterday’s skin.
To unburden yourself. To get rid of yesterday’s hurt. Be glad of life each day as it gives you a chance to work, love and play; to look at the sun. And then when the sun sets, don’t cry — the tears will make you miss the beauty of the stars.


Life moves on and if you don’t stop and look at the wonders already present in your life, you will miss life altogether.
Think of big thoughts but relish the small joys life offers you each day. Maybe it’s as simple as smiling at someone. For that could be the last day of life — for you or for her.


A small genuine act from you will cost you nothing but it could mean everything to somebody that day. Life is a succession of moments. Live each moment. Life has no romance without risk. Any action carries some amount of risk, may be less or more, but the element of risk is always present.

If there is no wind, row. Make things happen rather than let things happen. One can give nothing whatsoever without giving oneself, risking oneself. The most important thing in life is not what you get but what you give.

Once a preacher called at the home of a very poor family. When he came out, he found one son admiring his new car, so the preacher explained that he had received it as a gift from his brother.


Most lads would say, “I wish I had a brother like that.” But this one said, “Mister, I wish I could be a brother like that.”

If you are not enjoying this journey, for sure you won’t enjoy the destination. It will become a moment to dread, not a moment you can actually look forward to. It’s not what happens that determines our future, but what you do about what happens that counts.

Make the most of life. Earn all that you can, save all that you can, and give all that you can. Although greed comes from the desire to obtain something, it is not satis- fied by obtaining. The true antidote of greed is contentment. Take yourself less seriously.

Conquer the mind and you conquer the world. Looking back strains your neck muscles. Similarly, living in the past strains your life. Don’t dwell on the past, have faith in yourself and you will have faith in others. Fulfil your destiny. Remember, no one can make you unhappy without your consent.

The way you cope with life, is what makes the difference. Even peace of mind is not the absence of conflict but the ability to cope with it. You have to reach out to other people. That will teach you to forgive people and also forgive yourself.


Forgiveness means letting go of the past. Compassion is about stepping outside yourself. A kind compassionate act is often it’s own reward. Live your life without complaining, just like the tree.

We cannot stop suffering in the world. But we can stop it in our mind, provided you know your mind, which is the source of negative thoughts. Only you can doctor your mind.
Your happiness is dependent on consistency. When you experience inconsistency you experience disappointments, resentments and self-pity, guilt and grief.


Learn to be free, learn to be joyous. Learn to let go if someone passes away, learn to forgive yourself and others. Once you are free, the fear of death will trouble you no longer.

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