Life gives what you ask!

*

I bargained in life for a penny
And life would pay no more
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty score

For life is just employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task

I worked for a menial’s hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of life,
Life would have willingly paid.

*

The two hunters

*

Upon a day in May, Joy and Sorrow met beside a lake. They greeted one another, and they sat down near the quiet waters and conversed.


Joy spoke of the beauty which is upon the earth, and of the daily wonder of life in the forest and among the hills, and of the songs heard at dawn and eventide.

And Sorrow spoke, and agreed with all that Joy had said; for Sorrow knew the magic of the hour and the beauty thereof. And Sorrow was eloquent when he spoke of May in the fields and among the hills.

And Joy and Sorrow talked long together, and they agreed upon all things of which they knew.

Now there passed by on the other side of the lake two hunters. And as they looked across the water one of them said, “I wonder who are those two persons?” and the other said, “Did you say two? I see only one.”

*

A charitable mind

*

A train was starting from a railway station. A young man came running to catch the train. He was holding a bundle. The youth somehow managed to get a foothold, but he was not able to enter the compartment as it was full and not even standing room was available.

A sadhu standing near the entrance offered to carry the box so that the youth could hold on to the door handle. The youth, however politely declined the offer. Asked why, he said he had packed chappals in the bundle and it was improper to make the sadhu carry them. The sadhu appreciated the sentiment.

A little later the bundle slipped from the hand of the youth and one of the chappals fell down from the running train. He immediately threw away the other chappal also.

This surprised the sadhu, who asked why he did so. The youth replied that when he lost one chappal, the other was of no use to him. But if he threw the other away near the one that had fallen, the pair would be useful if somebody chanced to see both of them.The sadhu realized that for charity, presence of mind is equally important in giving a gift.

*
(Compiled from the Tatvaloka - The Splendour of Truth)

Make a vow of silence

*

The Buddhist monks have a favourite strategy to build willpower - one that has been used by many cultures over the years to create enormous amounts of inner strength and resolve. It is the vow of silence. Staying quiet for even short periods of time builds willpower and self-control because you exert force on your will by not giving in to the impulse talk.

So many people talk far more than they have to. Rather than speaking precisely and communicating only what needs to be said, all too often we go on and on. This in itself reveals a lack of discipline. Discipline involves saying exactly what needs to be said and preserving your precious mental energy by not talking more than you have to. Measured, precise speech is also a sign of clear thought and of a serene mind.

A strategy that you can apply today to improve your personal discipline is to keep a vow of silence for one hour a day over the next seven. Don't speak at all during this silent time. Or if you must, speak only in direct response to a question and offer a clear, crisp answer rather than rattling on about everything from what was on TV last night to where you hope to vacation this summer. The vow of silence can be adopted politely and warmly. The idea is to make you stronger and to enhance your will, not to hinder your relationships. Within a matter of days, wou will feel a sense of mastery and strength growing within you. Judge by the results: they will speak for themselves.

*

The River

*

In the valley of Kadisha where the mighty river flows, two little streams met and spoke to one another.

One stream said, “How came you my friend and how was your path?”

And the other answered, “my path was more encumbered. The wheel of the mill was broken, and the master who used to conduct me from my channel to his plants, is dead. I struggled down oozing with the filth of those who do naught but sit and bake their laziness in the sun. But how was your path, my brother?”

And the other stream answered and said, “Mine was a different path. I came down the hills among fragrant flowers and shy willows; men and women drank of me with silvery cups, and little children paddled their rosy feet at my edges, and there was laughter all about me, and there were sweet songs. What a pity that your path was not so happy”.

At that moment the river spoke with a loud voice and said, “Come in, come in, we are going to the sea. Come in, come in, speak no more. Be with me now. We are going to the sea. Come in, come in, for in me you shall forget your wanderings, sad or gay. Come in, come in. And you and I will forget all our ways when we reach the heart of our mother the sea.”

*

Think only twice!

*

A young man was walking eastward along a lonely road. He suddenly stopped, turned around and started walking westward in the opposite direction.
An old man, who was nearby, watched this and asked the lad, “Where were you going?”
“I was going to the next village in search of a job.”
“But why did you turn back?’
“Suddenly I changed my mind and decided not to go”.
“You should have thought twice befoe you started the journey”.
“In fact, I thought over the matter several times; but decided now to abandon my idea”.
“That was the mistake. You should have thought only twice. One who thinks more than twice is always confused”.
“What is the sanctity of two times? I could as well think only once and then decide”.
“No, you should think twice. Once about the good aspects and the second time about the evil aspects, weigh them and then decide. Thinking more than twice leads to confusion, confrontation and negative results”.
The lad got a clear idea and resumed his journey eastward. The old man was no other than Confucius, the great Chinese philosopher.

*
(Compiled from the Tatvaloka - The Splendour of Truth)

Ageless Body Timeless Mind - an excerpt

*

There are five realizations that entropy cannot touch. They are expressed in every spiritual tradition and form the core of personal evolution age after age:

1. I am Spirit.
2. This moment is as it should be.
3. Uncertainty is part of the overall order of things.
4. Change is infused with non-change.
5. Entropy holds no threat because it is under control of infinite organizing power.

These realizations are crucial because they allow a person to rise above the world of duality, which is inevitably caught up in the battle of creation and destruction. There is a perspective that the New Testament calls “seeing with one eye”, a state of unity in which all events, however painful or distressing at the moment, serve one end which is intelligent, loving and well ordered. This unified perspective cannot be forced on anyone until his or her consciousness is prepared to accept it. If you are caught up in your own pain and convinced by your own life drama, that is your perspective, and you have a right to it. But everyone wants an end to pain and suffering, and at a certain point in your personal evolution these five realizations will form the trail that leads the mind out of suffering. Let us translate each point in terms of the new paradigm.

1. I am Spirit

Although my physical existence is confined to space and time, my awareness is not limited to that. I am aware of the whole field as a play of creation and destruction. Matter and energy come and go, flickering in and out of existence like fireflies, yet all events are held together and made orderly by the deep intelligence that runs through all things. I am one aspect of that intelligence. I am the field unfolding itself in local events. My spirit is experiencing the material world through the lens of perception, but even if I see and hear nothing, I am still myself, an eternal presence of awareness.
In practical terms, this realization becomes real when no outside event can shake your sense of self. A person who knows himself as spirit never loses sight in terms of the experiencer in the midst of experience. His inner truth says, ‘I carry the consciousness of immortality in the midst of mortality”.

2. This moment is as it should be

This present moment is a space-time event within the eternal continuum. Since that continuum is me, nothing that can happen is outside myself; therefore, everything is acceptable as part of my larger identity. Just as every cell reflects the overall process of the body, each moment reflects al other moments, past, present and future. This realization is born when a person gives up his need to control reality. That need is a natural response to past pain and frustration, since it is the memory of old traumas that drives us to manipulate the present and anticipated the future.
In unity, every moment is as it should be. The shadow of the past does not spoil the fullness that is possible only in present time; therefore, each moment is like a clear window letting in the possibility of equal joy, equal appreciation of what is unfolding in front of you. The voice of inner truth says,” My desires are part of this moment, and what I need is provided here and now”.

3. Uncertainty is part of the overall order of things

Certainty and uncertainty are two aspects of your nature. At one level, things have to be certain or order couldn’t exist. At another level, things have to be uncertain or there would be no newness. Evolution moves forward by surprising events; the healthiest attitude is to realize that the unknown is just another term for ‘creation’. This realization saves a person from fear, which will always arise if uncertainty is resisted.
In unity, the person sees the wisdom of uncertainty. He realizes that his very next breath, next heartbeat, or next thought is really unpredictable, and yet out of this total openness, order is still maintained. Opposites can and must coexist. In reality, you embrace all opposites in yourself, just as the quantum field embraces the two greatest opposites, entropy and evolution. This uncertainty of things holds no fear for someone in unity consciousness, because he is certain of himself. The voice of inner truth says, “I embrace the unknown because it allows me to see new aspects of myself”.

4. Change is infused with non-change

Life is an eternal dance. The movements of the dance are choreographed through your awareness. Your desires and attentions guide the path of your growth. Because attention is always flowing, the dance never ends. This is the essence of living. Every movement is part of the dance; therefore, every space-time event is meaningful and necessary. It is the order within the chaos.
When you realize that you are held securely within this unchanging framework, the joy of free will arises. You cannot exercise free will if you fear that it will bring uncertainty, accidents and calamity. To someone in unity, however, each choice is accepted within the overall pattern. If you choose A, the field will bend to accommodate you; if you choose B, the field will accommodate that, even if B is the exact opposite of A. all possibilities are acceptable to the field, since by definition the field is a state of all possibilities. The voice of inner truth says, “I am going to know the Absolute by playing here in the relative’.

5. Entropy holds no threat because it is under control of infinite organizing power

Your body reflects the simultaneity of order and chaos. The molecules of food, air and water swirling through your blood move chaotically, but when they enter a cell, they are used with precise orderliness. The neurons firing in your brain produce a chaotic storm of electrical signals, yet what emerges are meaningful thoughts. Chaos, then, is just a point of view. Things that appear random to a limited awareness fit into place perfectly when awareness is expanded. In unity, you realize that every step into decay, dissolution and destruction is being used to organize new patterns of order. When you perception can see the birth that springs from decay, the inner voice of truth says, “Through alternating steps of loss and gain, silence and activity, birth and death, I walk the path of immortality”.

*

(Compiled from 'Ageless Body Timeless Mind' ~ Deepak Chopra)

Do you believe?

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"I do not believe in believing. My approach is to know, and knowing is a totally different dimension. It starts from doubt, it does not start from believing. The moment you believe in something, you have stopped inquiring. Belief is one of the most poisonous things to destroy human intelligence.

All the religions are based on belief; only science is based on doubt. And I would like the religious inquiry also to be scientific, based on doubt, so that we need not believe but we can come to know someday the truth of our being, and the truth of the whole universe."

*

~ Osho

Understanding suffering

*

There are several types of attachment. First there is the attachment to the habit of seeking sensual gratification. An addict takes a drug, because he wishes to experience the pleasurable sensation that the drug produces in him, even though he knows that by taking the drug he reinforces his addiction. In the same way we are addicted to the condition of craving. As soon as one desire is satisfied, we generate another. The object is secondary; the fact is that we seek to maintain the state of craving continually, because this very craving produces in us a pleasurable sensation that we wish to prolong. Craving becomes a habit that we cannot break, an addiction. And just as an addict gradually develops tolerance towards his chosen drug and requires even larger doses in order to achieve intoxication, our cravings steadily become stronger the more we seek to fulfill them. In this way we can never come to the end of craving. And so long as we crave, we can never be happy.

Another great attachment is to the ‘I’, the ego, the image we have of ourselves. For each of us, the ‘I’ is the most important person in the world. We behave like a magnet surrounded by iron filings: it will automatically arrange the filings in a pattern centered on itself, and with just as little reflection we all instinctively try to arrange the world according to our liking, seeking to attract the pleasant and to repel the unpleasant. But none of us is alone in the world: one ‘I’ is bound to come into conflict with another. The pattern each seeks to create is disturbed by the magnetic fields of others, and we ourselves become subject to attraction or repulsion. The result can only be unhappiness, suffering.

Nor do we limit attachment to the ‘I’: we extend it to ‘mine’, whatever belongs to us. We each develop great attachment to what we possess, because it is associated with us, it supports the image of ‘I’. This attachment would cause no problem if what one called ‘mine’ were eternal, and the ‘I’ remained to enjoy it eternally. But the fact is that sooner or later the ‘I’ is separated from the ‘mine’. The parting time is bound to come. When it arrives, the greater the clinging to ‘mine’, the greater the suffering will be.

And attachment extends still further – to our views and our beliefs. No matter what their actual content may be, no matter whether they are right or wrong, if we are attached to them they will certainly make us unhappy. We are each convinced that our own views and traditions are the best and become very upset whenever we hear them criticized. If we try to explain our views and others do not accept them, again we become upset. We fail to recognize that each person has his or her own beliefs. It is futile to argue about each person which view is correct: more beneficial would be to set aside any preconceived notions and try to see reality. But our attachment to views prevents us from doing so, keeping us unhappy.

Finally, there is attachment to religious forms and ceremonies. We tend to emphasize the external expressions of religion more than their underlying meaning and to feel that anyone who does not perform such ceremonies cannot be truly religious person. We forget that without its essence, the formal aspect of religion is an empty shell. Piety in reciting prayers or performing ceremonies is valueless if the mind remains filled with anger, passion and ill will. To be truly religious we must develop the religious attitude: purity of heart, love and compassion for all. But our attachment to the external form of religion leads us to give more importance to the letter of it than the spirit. We miss the essence of religion and therefore remain miserable.

All our sufferings, whatever they may be, are connected to one or another of these attachments. Attachment and suffering are always found together!

*
(Compiled from ‘The Art of Living’ by William Hart)

The Real Blessed State!

*

The king of a small country used to look out of the window every day. He saw a beggar sleeping under a tree near the palace. People would throw food into the beggar’s bowl. On waking up the beggar would eat the food and go to sleep again.

“What an enjoyable life this beggar has, with food to eat whenever hungry, and sleeping undisturbed all the while! Very much unlike me. I have to eat only the food which my physician permits and shoulder the burden of administration. I am not even able to have sound sleep when I want”, the king thought.

On his part, the beggar thought, “What a splendid life the king has! Rich food, spacious and ornamental palace, people to do his bidding and no worries. I must be a king at least for a day.” One day he expressed his desire to a courtier passing by. The mischievous courtier conveyed this to the king. Instead of getting angry, the king had the beggar brought to the palace and said, “You can live the life of a king, but you must abide by the rules of the palace.”

This beggar thought this was no problem. The very first day he had to wait long for the food. It was bland too, though nutritious. He thought he could sleep as he used to, but he was forced to sit on the throne and listen to people’s problems. At night he could not sleep, frightened by the swords dangling here and there. He realized that the king’s life was not easy and opted to be a beggar always.

Whether a king or beggar, one needs good food, sound sleep and peace of mind. That is the real blessed state!

*

(Compiled from the Tatvaloka - The Splendour of Truth)