Q: I am working in an office. The atmosphere is always irritating me lot. Because of my husband's wish I joined here. I don't want more salary; still I am not at all happy. How can I get satisfaction?
SRI SRI: There is nothing called ''Job Satisfaction’’! It is the biggest illusion that you will get satisfaction in your job. I tell you there is no such a thing as job satisfaction. This word should be eliminated from the dictionary! Satisfaction can only come to you by going deep within you, by praying, by singing and celebrating. Job you do to maintain your family, your circumstances for financial security and all these reasons. For this you do your job. Art, music, celebration, praying, all this you do for your satisfaction.
Q: Have you ever felt insecure about your looks? How does one overcome that? How do I feel better about myself?
Sri Sri : Are you aware about the story about Ashtavakra - the powerful saint who was deformed in 8 places. When he entered the court of King Janaka all the King's men laughed at him. Ashtavakra said 'I thought King Janaka has surrounded himself with wise men but they are all fools!" When someone is in love with only your looks, what will happen in a few years when the body changes? They are not in love with you they are in love with your looks. They should see the soul connection, honour you for what you are, your qualities...
Q: We always stay in the present and worry about the future. How can we get rid of this worry and is it wrong to worry about the future?
SRI SRI: It is alright to plan for the future, but wrong to worry about it. Take a sankalpa about what you want in the future. Then draw up a plan accordingly. Worrying about something drains you of energy and strength. You don’t gain anything. We think that we are responsible for our past; we should have done this, we should have done that. We keep regretting our past: will we gain anything thereby? Worrying about the future will not help either. The sensible way of looking at it is that the past was destined to be so and the future will be a result of my will. We usually do the opposite: that is wrong. We usually think the past was freewill, the future is destiny and we live in fear and misery in the present. If you reverse it, you will be happy.
"Sadhana satsang and the company of GURU can bring such a lasting impression, which would erase all the unwanted impressions".
Loads of Love,
Ravi
Monday, July 13, 2009
A SHISHYA (DISCIPLE) OR A SAKHA (COMPANION)?
Knowledge has an end. Knowledge completes. So also does discipleship. For the disciple is aimed at acquiring Knowledge.
Once you cross the water, however nice the boat is, you get off the boat. After twelve years, the disciple completes his studies. The master does a ceremony called Samavartha, where he tells the disciple that he is ending the discipleship and asking him to behave at par with him, and let the Brahman dynamically manifest.
Sakha is a companion in life and death; it never ends. In the path of love there is neither beginning nor end. Sakha only wants the beloved. He doesn't care about the Knowledge or liberation. Love is incomplete because of longing. And so it is infinite, for infinity can never be complete.
Arjuna was a sakha to Krishna and although Krishna was the perfect Master he was a sakha, too.
Loads of Love,
Ravi
Once you cross the water, however nice the boat is, you get off the boat. After twelve years, the disciple completes his studies. The master does a ceremony called Samavartha, where he tells the disciple that he is ending the discipleship and asking him to behave at par with him, and let the Brahman dynamically manifest.
Sakha is a companion in life and death; it never ends. In the path of love there is neither beginning nor end. Sakha only wants the beloved. He doesn't care about the Knowledge or liberation. Love is incomplete because of longing. And so it is infinite, for infinity can never be complete.
Arjuna was a sakha to Krishna and although Krishna was the perfect Master he was a sakha, too.
Loads of Love,
Ravi
Tarka, Vitarka And Kutarka
To know yourself or to judge your actions you need to know Tarka, Vitarka and Kutarka.
Kutarka is wrong logic. Most people apply this logic and get caught up in ignorance. For example : The door is half open means the door is half closed. Therefore, the door is fully open means the door is fully closed!
Or: God is Love. Love is Blind. Therefore, God is Blind!!!
Tarka is sequential logical understanding; it increases scientific knowledge. When sequential logical understanding changes, then scientific conclusions change. For example: Pesticides and antibiotics were considered to be very useful in the past, and are now proven to be more harmful. In tarka, the paradigm changes.
Vitarka is asking questions to which there are no evident answers....Who am I? Where am I? What do I really want? These philosophically appealing questions bring forth spiritual knowledge, increase your awareness and bring about the blossoming of Consciousness, i.e., Atma Gyan increases.
The wise know to distinguish between the three. They will not apply kutarka or tarka for vitarka, and vitarka for tarka.
Loads of Love,
Ravi
HOW TO DEAL WITH HUMILIATION
Know that humiliation does not weaken you -- it strengthens you.
When you have a sense of belongingness, you don't feel humiliated. The more egotistic you are, the more humiliation you feel. When you are childlike and have a greater sense of kinship then you don't feel humiliated.
When you are committed to truth and not to your ego then you also don't feel humiliated.
If you are afraid of humiliation, you can neither make progress in your material life nor in your spiritual life. When you stand above humiliation, you get closer to the Self - to God. When you are steeped in love, with the Existence, with the Divine, nothing whatsoever can humiliate you.
So, the way out of humiliation is:
Loads of Love,
Ravi
When you have a sense of belongingness, you don't feel humiliated. The more egotistic you are, the more humiliation you feel. When you are childlike and have a greater sense of kinship then you don't feel humiliated.
When you are committed to truth and not to your ego then you also don't feel humiliated.
If you are afraid of humiliation, you can neither make progress in your material life nor in your spiritual life. When you stand above humiliation, you get closer to the Self - to God. When you are steeped in love, with the Existence, with the Divine, nothing whatsoever can humiliate you.
So, the way out of humiliation is:
- Get humiliated!
- Be childlike
- Be crazy
- Get steeped in love with the Divine
- Total commitment to Truth-Knowledge
Loads of Love,
Ravi
HOW TO DEAL WITH ANXIETY
Today many are anxious about how to deal with their anxiety!
Here are some of the ways you can manage your anxiety:
1. Sing, dance and celebrate. The very intention to celebrate will pull you away from anxiety to a more harmonious state.
2. Think about what you can do for others rather than just about yourself. Energize yourself with some service activity.
3. Combined practice of yoga, breathing and meditation.
4. Know the impermanence of the world.
5. Having faith and surrendering to the Divine and knowing that there is a supreme power who loves you. The supreme power is behind you and accepts you totally. The sense of security comes with the sense of belongingness.
6. Valour/courage: Invoking the lion within you and having an attitude of sacrifice will rescue you from anxiety.
7. Reminding yourself that you are committed to a greater goal will keep the anxiety away.
8. Being unpredictable for a while. Anxiety is always related to some anticipated action. Do something completely irrelevant and unpredictable.
9. Readiness to face the worst will leave you with stability in the mind.
10. Remembering a similar situation in the past when you were able to overcome your anxiety.
If none of theses work just come and be in the presence of the Master.
Loads of Love, Ravi
Here are some of the ways you can manage your anxiety:
1. Sing, dance and celebrate. The very intention to celebrate will pull you away from anxiety to a more harmonious state.
2. Think about what you can do for others rather than just about yourself. Energize yourself with some service activity.
3. Combined practice of yoga, breathing and meditation.
4. Know the impermanence of the world.
5. Having faith and surrendering to the Divine and knowing that there is a supreme power who loves you. The supreme power is behind you and accepts you totally. The sense of security comes with the sense of belongingness.
6. Valour/courage: Invoking the lion within you and having an attitude of sacrifice will rescue you from anxiety.
7. Reminding yourself that you are committed to a greater goal will keep the anxiety away.
8. Being unpredictable for a while. Anxiety is always related to some anticipated action. Do something completely irrelevant and unpredictable.
9. Readiness to face the worst will leave you with stability in the mind.
10. Remembering a similar situation in the past when you were able to overcome your anxiety.
If none of theses work just come and be in the presence of the Master.
Loads of Love, Ravi
BOREDOM AND SADHANA
What is boredom?
A repetition without interest or love causes a monotonous state of mind; that is boredom. It overshadows the Self.
A practice or abhyasa is again a repetition whose purpose is to destroy the boredom and reunite with the Self. In this process the practice itself creates boredom and as you continue, it penetrates the boredom and destroys it once and for all. Whether the practice gives you joy or boredom, it must be continued. Only the practice or abhyasa can annihilate the Mind.
Self is Love and Love is always repetitive. That is why love letters are simply repetitive and there is no boredom there. If you are bored with yourself then how much more boring you would be for others. Root out the boredom in you through deep and continued meditation.
Loads of Love,
Ravi
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)