The Whispers Of My Heart

Last week I received an email from a spiritual aspirant.  He requested me to share some valuable tips for progress on the spiritual path.  Well, let me make it clear that spiritual path is not an easy one. Also it is not for everyone.  In the contemporary world one can find umpteen persons claiming themselves to be the messengers of God. But most of them are plain fraudsters.  These very scoundrels have brought disrepute to the ochre robes.  I firmly believe that it is only due to the tendencies and impressions (संस्कार) from the present and past lifetimes that a person gets genuinely attracted towards spirituality.  Such an individual feels intense craving for the Lord.  This craving or pull is also referred to as "The Call Of The Lord" in our scriptures.  So strong is "The Call Of The Lord" that those who experience it renounce their wealth, family despite the counsels of their friends and relatives.  Prince Siddhartha (Gautam Buddha) renou...

 संसार से हमारे ताल्लुक़ात तीन ज़रियों से हो सकते है :  (क) हम संसार को पकड़े रखें.  (ख) हम संसार को छोड़ दें. (ग) या फिर संसार हमसे छूट जाए.  अक़्सर यह वहम हो जाता है कि संसार हमें पकड़ता है, पर हकीकत यह है कि हम ही सांसारिक चीज़ों की ओर आकर्षित होते हैं, इनके पीछे भागते हैं.  बिजली की तार हमारी ओर चलकर नहीं आती, हम ही उससे उलझते हैं और फिर हमें नुक़सान पहुँचता है!   कुछ लोग बगैर किसी सोच समझ के संसार को छोड़ कर वीरान जगहों में डेरा डाल लेते हैं.  पर यक़ीन मानिये, संसार इनके ज़हन में ही रहता है.  ऐसे ही फ़रेबी अपने आलीशान डेरों में हरम रखते हैं, नापाक तरीकों से दौलत जमा करते हैं.  मुनासिब यही है कि संसार हमसे अपने आप ही छूट जाए.  संसार तभी छूटता है जब यह इल्म हो जाए कि सांसारिक रिश्तों, वस्तुओं से मिलने वाला सुख क्षणिक है, फ़रेब है.  आम जब पक जाता है तो वह ख़ुद ब ख़ुद टहनी से जुदा हो जाता है.  ठीक ऐसे ही जब श्री हरि कृपा से यह एहसास हो जाए कि संसार में सुख कम लेकिन दुख, धोखे़ और परेशानियाँ ज़्यादा है, तो संसार स्वत: ही छू...

  I have observed that achieving material objectives require less efforts than attaining spiritual goals.  It is no child's play to withdraw one's senses from sense objects.  In deep sleep, senses are withdrawn from sense objects automatically and one enjoys bliss, albeit for a brief period.  As soon as one awakens, one's senses again start running after the sense objects.  A wise monk understands that the happiness provided by sense objects is fleeting but ultimately they inflict much more sorrows, diseases.  Through continuous practice and wisdom, a monk is able to withdraw his senses from the sense objects, consciously.  He then channelizes all his thoughts in the direction of  Absolute Reality, who is the fountainhead of everlasting joy.  That's why a yogi remains perennially ecstatic, experiences unpolluted joy continually.  A monk has to meditate deeply, introspect a lot so as to mould his mind in such a way that it remains balance...

  With regard to life and death, there are divergent views.  People in the Western world believe in the philosophy of hedonism.  The purpose of life, according to them, is eating, drinking and mating.  In the West, death is considered as a tragedy.  An "untimely" death, before the age of 80 or 90 years, is a grave tragedy!  Westerners are not able to easily overcome grief over the death of their loved ones. Generally they continue to suffer interminably.  However in the Eastern World, especially India, people believe that life is something which has to be endured for one's "karmas" (physical or mental actions) in one's previous births.  In the Eastern philosophy, life is nothing but अज़ाब (divine punishment for the sins committed in the previous births).  Unlike Western philosophy, Eastern philosophy opines that the sole and ultimate objective of human life is to get freedom from the cycle of life and death.  To eternally merge oneself w...

 "Sharma ji, my son has been selected for a master's course in a prestigious management institute in Gujarat." said Mr. Ghosh, my acquaintance, with a bit of dejection.  Congratulations! But why are you in low spirits?" I inquired.  "Sharma ji, I have intense affection for my son. I would not remain happy without him." said Mr. Ghosh, sadly.  Unable to bear the pangs of separation, get over the death of their loved ones, many people go into deep depression.  For the majority, love means :  (a) taking possession of the other.  (b) imposing one's ideas on the other.  (c) expecting the other to behave in consonance with one's  beliefs.  But truly speaking, love means gifting wings, giving complete freedom to the other so that the other can grow, understand life fully without any biased perspective.  I firmly believe that one must cultivate the habit of savouring one's own company.  Only those who can live alone, relish their own c...

 "What exactly is the importance of meditation?" my curious friends often ask me.  Well, meditation has two important purposes.  Broadly speaking, the main constituents of a human being are :  (a) gross body (स्थूल शरीर).  (b) subtle body (सूक्ष्म शरीर).  (c) soul (आत्मा).  The gross body is composed of five basic elements (पंच-भूत) - earth (पृथ्वी), water (जल), fire (तेजस), wind (वायु) and space (आकाश).  The subtle body is the mind.  It is in the form of desires, thoughts, emotions.  The soul or the inner self is the observer.  It is the soul that makes the various body organs, faculties function.  To refresh the bodies - gross as well as subtle - to increase their efficiency, one has to take some hours of good sleep everyday.  Likewise, the soul also needs rest.  Through meditation or by withdrawing the soul from the outside world and reconnecting it with the Source, soul gets re-energized.  Sometime back, I vi...

 "What exactly is the purpose of human life?" I often pose this question to my friends, acquaintances.  Many of my friends want to wallow in wealth, live a king size life.  Some want beautiful, athletic bodies.  An aged acquaintance interestingly opines, "Sir, human beings are sent on Earth so that they may earn well, eat well, drink well, mate well and sleep well."  The opinions may differ, but sadly everybody wants happiness.  Nobody here wants blissfulness!  Though "Happiness" and "Blissfulness" seem synonymous terms, they are opposite poles.  One's happiness is dependent on someone/something.  It is ephemeral in nature.  For example, delicious food brings only fleeting elation.  As soon as the food is polished off, joy vanishes in thin air.  Blissfulness is however a totally different concept.  Simply put, it means "everlasting happiness" not dependent on things/beings.  I firmly believe that every sane, healthy p...