GOD cannot be a goal!  Cannot be achieved!

All those who run around from one worship place to other, one guru to other in search of GOD must understand that it can’t be your goal to find GOD.

The more you run, the more effort you put to find GOD in the outside world through various means the more difficult it would get.  In fact, it is contrary to what we have always been told that “GOD is within and in all”

A supreme self that cannot be defined or described but only be realised.

Cause that which can be defined comes with a beginning and an end and has boundaries.  The ‘Brahman” is ever present and is unavoidable, its the whole all encompassing entity.  Quite like ‘Self’.

Therefore it is quite difficult for you to define ‘yourself’ as well.  Try and you will see that it is almost impossible to clearly define or provide a complete definition of yourself.

The only way is to probably allow yourselves to ‘dissolve’ in the process of life as it is.  Just ‘to be’.

That probably will be the greatest of all worship to the GOD within.

अहं ब्रह्मास्मिति – I am the infinite reality.

No one can help you find you.  If anyone claims to do so is far away from his reality.

The only possibility is to ‘realise’ GOD.  तत्त्वमसि – Tat Tvam Asi – Thou art that…… or “You are that”

Don’t try to know the unknown!

You don’t have to work very hard to try and find the unknown.  When the time cometh and you are confronted with situations which demand an appropriate response, it shall be revealed to you.

You should not waste your energies in trying to figure out or find the unknown.  Instead all your energies should be put to use for what has been revealed as a natural process of your growth in this world.

You run from ashram to ashram, guru to guru to find out that which you do not know while completely missing the point of being in the moment.  If life gives you a playground it also provides you with an intrinsic ability to play in it.  You discover this along the way.

This is precisely the reason why we learn to swim if and when we want to play with water, learn to drive when we are confronted with the need to commute long distances.  If you don’t have money, you learn to live by your meagre means and when you have a need for luxuries you work hard to get them.  This is a purely natural process and has been happening from time immemorial.

The trouble begins when you start to try and figure out the unknown and start to prepare for situations which have not yet manifested.  You end up creating situations for that which you have already prepared for.  Let me explain – If you have built weapons of mass destruction to prepare for an eventuality, you will be tempted to test them out for reliability.  You then find excuses to wage war which are not directly relevant to your life in general and thereby end up manifesting the mass destruction.  This is precisely what the Americans got caught into.  Similar are many programs which waste your time, energy and resources in preparing for the unknown.

On the contrary let me explain how you are always prepared and endowed with an intrinsic ability to find your way.  When you want to clean a comb of all the dirt, you figure out that a tooth brush can do the trick for you.  You don’t sit frustrated by the fact that you do no have the knowledge or skill set to clean a dirty comb.

The point I am trying to make is – don’t get fooled by people who promise to teach you skills to transcend barriers and know the yet unknown.

“Believe that GOD has provided a playground and instilled in each one of us the ability to play in it”

It requires a great belief in ‘YOURSELF’!

It’s time to call the bluff of false Yogis and gurus who ply their trade in the market of ‘bliss’ and ‘nirvana’.

If you ever wanted to be at peace with yourself, you must stop seeking quick-fixes and solutions from sources whose own credentials may be questionable.

Starting with the concepts of aligning your energies, kundalini, meditation, knowing oneself and beyond and the fad diets and prayers to achieve peace, the market is huge.

Most Yogis try to tell you that you are not yet evolved and it takes years of ascetic living to reach the state in which they are in.  The elusive state which even they find it difficult to explain.  When you ask them the question, they rebuke you by saying “those who experience it cannot explain it – it will be unimaginable…. and so on”

You have also been handed down a path in the form of various ‘ashrams’ the brahmacharya, grihastha, vanaprastha and sanyasa.  You try to diligently go through all even though you might not have been satisfied or fully contended with the current.  This is precisely the reason why people often complain or regret about what they ‘could have been’ or ‘could not do’ or ‘enjoy’ in the past.  You seem to be in a hurry to move from one ‘ashrama’ to the ‘other’ and feel that only when you reach ‘sanyasa’ the race is finished and you are the victor.

I don’t think life is about this stupid race. As long as you are thankful to be who you are in this world and are enjoying every moment of what you do, you do not need the assistance of any yogi or guru.  You will always be in a blissful state.

It is all the falsehood dished out to you in the name of meditation, yoga, exercise, diet which is rarely in alignment with your intrinsic needs which keeps you dissatisfied.  The problem also is that it is been packaged so well and hard sold to you that you refuse to believe otherwise.

Try and ask anyone who goes to these meditation sessions of some of these new age gurus and yogis and they would vouch for the efficacy of the system and the methods they are following.  Even though deep within they know that it is not working.  Their ‘Ego’ doesn’t permit them to accept the reality.  They continue to remain in the make believe.  They keep repeating that it is working and to prove to others, keep visiting these centres and come back and let know that they are now rejuvenated and feeling blissful.

In fact this deep rooted ‘hypocritical’ living is what makes people stressed, discontented and frustrated with life.  Jumping from one method to the other in search of peace and happiness.  In the process, some even destroy the lives of their near and dear.

The simple fact is ‘do what you do with all the energy and enthusiasm’ you will always be in the ‘so-called’ meditative state.  Stop ‘Engineering’ yourself and ‘Re-engineering’.  Don’t be defensive about your life – as it is now.  You don’t have to explain or convince others about your happiness and contentment.

This world is wonderful and beautiful ‘As Is’.

Haven’t you seen a child in a meditative state?

“God is not biased or shows no partiality”.  I answered my son when he questioned me as to why when we pray to the lord everyday the results are not similar?  Why is it that some are rich and the others not so?

My answer itself manifested from the lessons I learnt from the lords discourse in the Bhagvad Gita.

God is a mass of Dynamism, the source of all activities and achievements.  We are given the equipment through which we can, as we like invoke this infinite energy and if used carefully and effectively, we can reach the goal of our activities.  If we misuse them, the very same divine force can be the cause of our disaster.

It is like the ‘fuel-strength’ of Petrol which can be converted into horse-power through the mechanism under the bonnet.  We can invoke the horse-power to reach our destination, or we can easily end up into a mass of twisted wreckage on the way-side and become a bundle of broken bones.  The accidents are caused by the carelessness  of the driver, although the strength and power with which the car moves is supplied by the same petrol.  The strength in the petrol had no attachment for those whom it guided home safe. Nor can we say that it had a hatred for those whom it wrecked.  With neither attachment nor hatred, the petrol gives its power when invoked through the mechanism of the engine.  How to make use of the power depends upon us and our wisdom in employing it.

Similarly, an electric plug in the house can be made use of to hear a song over the radio, to cool ourselves with a fan, to boil water, to cook or to warm the room with a heater; it all depends upon what instrument we plug into it.  It is never possible that electricity flowing through a fan, of its own accord, can start emitting fire or light.  Similarly you can fulfil all your goals or desires according to the type of our invocations.

By coming into this world ‘God’ has already manifested in you and available always.  It is upto you as to how you want to invoke the divine power.

‘Rags to riches stories

Active resistance to evil is the central idea of the doctrine expounded by Krishna through the discourse of ‘Geeta’.

As Arjuna ponders over the probably loss of several innocent lives including several peace-loving, highly intellectual and culturally similar people offering to buy peace through self-defeat, Krishna educates him of the fatality of such an attempt.

When poison afflicts one part of the body and it becomes imperative to cut-off that part, you don’t think twice about the pain it can bring and the possibility of living without it.  You look at the larger cause and do the ‘surgical strike’.

India faces the ‘Arjuna syndrome’ and has been for the last 60 odd years.  Each time there comes a call of for action, it ponders over the loss of innocent lives on both sides of the border and tries to buy peace by dialogue.  As much as offer for dialogue is the first logical step, it cannot remain the only option.  The menace of Duryodhana and his Kaurava atrocities keep increasing, as much as we saw post ‘pandavas’ pardon after he attempts to burn them alive in the palace.  What followed was the attack on the modesty of Draupadi in full view of the so called ‘intellectuals’.

I see the same situation prevalent today.  There are the so called ‘intellectuals’ who propound the idea of ‘peace’, attempt to broker ties inspite of repeatedly being under attack. The opposite side always takes courage from the fact that there are ‘Bhishmas’ and ‘Dronas’ who will overlook their follies and side them inspite of…

Currently, the Americans are playing the role of ‘Bhisma’, the Russians are playing ‘Drona’ and the Chinese are playing ‘Shakuni’.  In this scheme of things, there is a need for taking a leaf out of Krishna’s doctrine.  He propounds ‘action’ and lets Arjuna know that inspite of his best efforts at avoiding a war, the only way to put an end to the prevailing situations is to take up arms and fight the battle.  He lets Arjuna know that the collateral damage is inevitable; that he may have to kill some of his own in order to achieve a larger cause.

As much as it applies to the Indian context today, it applies to our ‘Self’ as well.  You will have to fight the battle within yourselves and kill some of your own ‘ego’, ‘selfishness’, ‘desire’, ‘arrogance’ and many of the negativities which may exist.  Never mind, in the process you will probably have some collateral damage, in terms of your relationships.

You may lose an ‘Abhimanyu’ here and a ‘Drona’ there……

Are you ready for realizing your higher cause?

Ratha kalpana – the symbolic chariot in Bhagavad Gita is a very powerful metaphor. The chariot is our body
and our intellect is its driver. Our mind is the rope and the five sense organs are the five horses pulling the chariot in the battlefield. The horses i.e., the sense organs travel through the senses. The sum total of the combination of various experiences involving sound, touch, form, taste and smell constitute life in this world.

For example, the horse of ‘ear’ travels through the path of sound. The path of smell is reserved for the nose. Likewise, each sense organ is associated with its corresponding sense object.

In this travel, if we have the intellect as the charioteer, there will be no trouble. But in many a time, the fickle mind will try to take decisions pretending to be the intellect. We must be able to detect this.

Fickle mind is like a monkey, but the intellect is calm and steady like the mighty monkey, Sri. Hanuman. The flag symbol of the chariot of our body should not be a mere monkey (kapi- always moving), but it must be the best among monkeys -Hanuman- himself who is steadfast in his resolves.

The Gita aims at helping fickle minded individuals to develop the power of determination. If the driver loses his goal of destination, the sense organs will not behave well. If the charioteer is awakened as Sri Krishna, he will easily cross the ocean of Samsara (the sea of ephemeral world) to attain VaikunTa, the abode of the Truth.

The world hitherto considered as sorrowful will become conducive to our own nature and attain the state of VaikunTa.

Stationed between the two armies, Arjuna critically observes the people with whom he must fight indicating introspection of our own thoughts and actions. We have to identify early which are the emotions in us to be destroyed and for this a mental war is inevitable. Once we win over this internal war, we will not ever have to encounter any external wars.

Lesson from the Bhagvad Gita.