K VIJAYARAGHAVAN
MEDITATION that works in real life through its cleansing impact upon all accumulated opinions, prejudices, notions and perceptions opens the mind to see matters and things as they truly are. This is the working of the ancient Sanskrit prayer seeking to be cleansed of ignorance by the instrument of true knowledge. When truth dawns, things and issues also assume a different meaning and appearance. Integrating oneself with the wide and vast world of men and matter and with the breaking of one’s narrow world and his own sense of ego and self righteousness, the aspirant observes to his sheer delight the practical working of these words of Norman Vincent Peale: “When people get rid of fear, anxiety and self-centredness, they develop a kind of ecstatic joy and delight in living. The world seems so different and newly wonderful that they tend to love everybody and everything.” This is also the translation into actual reality of John Keats’ concept: “Beauty is truth, truth beauty.” Indeed, there comes about a ‘paradigm shift’ in all aspects! Truly, relaxation confers an altered state of perception. In this state of harmony of all things within and without, subtle and sublime messages spring to real life. These further soothe, gladden and enrich the inner spirit, adding to the quality of meditation within. This process further inspires the mind to absorb fully the spirit of sublime exhortations, which abound all over — a virtuous cycle indeed! This is the working concept of the Rig Vedic prayer, “May noble thoughts come to us from all over” and that of the Biblical exhortation (Philippians, 4, 8): “Whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely…. think on these things.” It is also in this state of inner power that acceptance and faith take over where doubts, grudges and anxieties had been. Even the apparently stressful, trying and difficult past would assume a new dimension — storehouse of didactic experiences, like adversity, which, “like the toad though ugly and venomous, Wears yet a precious jewel in his head”. In this state of clarity, the natural outcome of simple and true meditation, sublime messages, benefits of inspiring company and every aspect of life and living — these become endearingly and enduringly rooted to the spirit. Naturally, these flower forth for the benefit of oneself and all others too!
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Overcome The Cycle Of Birth And Death
Avatar Meher Baba
The series of incarnations the soul is impelled to take through karmic determination have a tendency to become endless. Through innumerable lives an individual has come into contact with countless persons and had all kinds of dealings of give and take with them. He is entangled in a web consisting of debts to pay and dues to recover. According to karmic law, he can avoid neither debts nor dues, since both are the outcome of karma inspired by desire. He keeps incarnating in order to pay off his debts and to recover his dues; but even when he means to clear up the account, often he is unable to do so. The power that keeps the individual soul bound to the wheel of life and death is its thirst for separate existence, which is a condition for a host of cravings connected with objects and experiences of the world of duality. It is for the fulfilment of cravings that the ego-mind keeps on incarnating itself. When all forms of craving disappear, the impressions that create and enliven the ego-mind disappear. With the disappearance of these impressions, the egomind itself is shed. Then there is only the realisation of the one eternal, unchanging Oversoul, the only Reality. God-realisation is the end of incarnations of ego-mind because it is the end of its very existence. The spinning of the yarn of karmic debts and dues would be endless if there were no provision for getting out of the karmic entanglements through the help of a Perfect Master. He can not only initiate an aspirant into the supreme art of non-binding karma, but can become directly instrumental in freeing him from his karma. If a person must get bound to someone, it is best for him to get bound to God or a Master, because this facilitates emancipation from all other karmic ties. When the good karma of past lives has secured for the aspirant the benefit of having a Master, the best thing he can do is to surrender himself to the Master and to serve him. The aspirant throws the burden of his karma on the Master, who has to find ways of freeing him from it. The master-disciple relationship is often carried forward from one life to another. Those who had gurus in past lives are drawn to him by an unconscious magnetism, not knowing why they are thus drawn. Treading the spiritual path continues for several incarnations before the aspirant attains the goal. The life of the reincarnate has many events and phases. The wheel of life makes its ceaseless rounds, lifting the individual to the heights or bringing him down from high positions. It contributes to the enrichment of his experience. Ideals left unattained in one life are pursued in the next; things left undone are finished; rough edges left by incomplete endeavour are rounded off; wrongs are set right. At last, out of the ripeness of experience and through the dissolution of the ego-mind, the soul enters into the unity of divine life. Then there is neither bondage of giving nor taking, because the soul has completely transcended the consciousness of separateness or duality.
The series of incarnations the soul is impelled to take through karmic determination have a tendency to become endless. Through innumerable lives an individual has come into contact with countless persons and had all kinds of dealings of give and take with them. He is entangled in a web consisting of debts to pay and dues to recover. According to karmic law, he can avoid neither debts nor dues, since both are the outcome of karma inspired by desire. He keeps incarnating in order to pay off his debts and to recover his dues; but even when he means to clear up the account, often he is unable to do so. The power that keeps the individual soul bound to the wheel of life and death is its thirst for separate existence, which is a condition for a host of cravings connected with objects and experiences of the world of duality. It is for the fulfilment of cravings that the ego-mind keeps on incarnating itself. When all forms of craving disappear, the impressions that create and enliven the ego-mind disappear. With the disappearance of these impressions, the egomind itself is shed. Then there is only the realisation of the one eternal, unchanging Oversoul, the only Reality. God-realisation is the end of incarnations of ego-mind because it is the end of its very existence. The spinning of the yarn of karmic debts and dues would be endless if there were no provision for getting out of the karmic entanglements through the help of a Perfect Master. He can not only initiate an aspirant into the supreme art of non-binding karma, but can become directly instrumental in freeing him from his karma. If a person must get bound to someone, it is best for him to get bound to God or a Master, because this facilitates emancipation from all other karmic ties. When the good karma of past lives has secured for the aspirant the benefit of having a Master, the best thing he can do is to surrender himself to the Master and to serve him. The aspirant throws the burden of his karma on the Master, who has to find ways of freeing him from it. The master-disciple relationship is often carried forward from one life to another. Those who had gurus in past lives are drawn to him by an unconscious magnetism, not knowing why they are thus drawn. Treading the spiritual path continues for several incarnations before the aspirant attains the goal. The life of the reincarnate has many events and phases. The wheel of life makes its ceaseless rounds, lifting the individual to the heights or bringing him down from high positions. It contributes to the enrichment of his experience. Ideals left unattained in one life are pursued in the next; things left undone are finished; rough edges left by incomplete endeavour are rounded off; wrongs are set right. At last, out of the ripeness of experience and through the dissolution of the ego-mind, the soul enters into the unity of divine life. Then there is neither bondage of giving nor taking, because the soul has completely transcended the consciousness of separateness or duality.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Silence speaks louder
Robert Rabbin
When there is no noise around, we open to life and life opens to us, life reaches towards us and touches us in the centre of our heart
From the time i was 11 years old, i needed to know one thing above and before all else: Who am i? I travelled for a long time and throughout the world in search of answers. One day, as if i had lived alone for many years in the deep desert, i was taken by a stunning stillness, and without resistance i disappeared into Silence. It was more than an epiphany, more than grace, more than mystical union: It was my soul’s homecoming, my heart’s overflowing love, and my mind's eternal peace. In Silence, i felt my core identity, my essential nature, as a unity-in-love with all creation. I experienced freedom clarity, and joy as my true Self. I realised i was of time and eternity in equal measure. I was composed of physical matter and spiritual energy in equal measure. I was born in New York City at the same instant i appeared 20 billion years ago, unfathomably and impossibly far away as a sibling to trillions of suns. This Self, this Silence, belongs to all of us — it is who we are; it is what we are. If we are to experience and embody authentic peace and love, if we are going to bring true healing to our wildly violent and endangered world, we are going to have to learn to live within this essence which joins us together as brothers and sisters. Please remember the Silence beyond words, the Silence of mystery and magic, the Silence of the soul, of the heart, the Silence in which lovers give themselves to a greater loving, a selfless loving, the Silence which knows only this moment, this present moment, this incredible instant of pure life when time suddenly stops, when we breathe the high-altitude air we call love. I want to remind you of these ways of Silence knowing and being, which you know, which you are. Silence is within our very genes. It winds around and binds together the strands of our DNA. It is the essence of who we are. It is within our breath. It is there like music between our thoughts. It is the light within our eyes. It is the high arc of birds we long to follow home to their secret nests. It is in the rhythm of waves, the innocence of children, the deep feelings within the heart that have no cause, when the heart is pierced without warning and our eyes fill with teas. It is within the kindness of one person to another. It is within the stillness of nights, and peace of early mornings. It is there when you see the one you love coming towards you, and your pulse pounds and races with delight and you move with her in a twilight not of this world, but of the spirit world, the world of our deeper knowing. In Silence, we open to life and life opens to us, life reaches towards us and touches us in the centre of our heart. Our heart breaks open and another heart is revealed. This is the true heart, the one that knows how to meet life with open arms. Silence knows that thoughts about life are not life itself. If we touch life through Silence, life touches us back, intimately, sensually, erotically. We become one with life itself, abandoning all thoughts about life. And then the mystery of life, the wonder of life, the beauty of life, the sanctity of life, become our life. Everything but wonderment falls away; the anger and fear and violence disappear as if they never existed. Knowing Silence is knowing ourselves for the first time; we see the world for the first time. We only have to be still, to be still, until that Silence comes forth from within us, to surround us, to illuminate us. This Silence is the real teacher, the real teaching, the real path. This Silence is what we seek above all else, for it is who we are. It is our own Self. It is restores us to love and redeems us in love. Knowing Silence is knowing your Self. Knowing your Self is freedom. In Silence, you are the very embodiment of joy, the very expression of love. All this is true right now, in this moment. Just enter your Self fully and deeply. You will find this Silence, and in Silence you will know your own beauty, your own power, your own magnificence — it is the same for all! As the embodiment of Silence you are perfection itself. You are a treasure to the world, a treasure to the world which the world needs now, right now, right now, not later or tomorrow, but right now the world needs you to be your true Self, the world needs the healing power of your heart, and of your Silence.
When there is no noise around, we open to life and life opens to us, life reaches towards us and touches us in the centre of our heart
From the time i was 11 years old, i needed to know one thing above and before all else: Who am i? I travelled for a long time and throughout the world in search of answers. One day, as if i had lived alone for many years in the deep desert, i was taken by a stunning stillness, and without resistance i disappeared into Silence. It was more than an epiphany, more than grace, more than mystical union: It was my soul’s homecoming, my heart’s overflowing love, and my mind's eternal peace. In Silence, i felt my core identity, my essential nature, as a unity-in-love with all creation. I experienced freedom clarity, and joy as my true Self. I realised i was of time and eternity in equal measure. I was composed of physical matter and spiritual energy in equal measure. I was born in New York City at the same instant i appeared 20 billion years ago, unfathomably and impossibly far away as a sibling to trillions of suns. This Self, this Silence, belongs to all of us — it is who we are; it is what we are. If we are to experience and embody authentic peace and love, if we are going to bring true healing to our wildly violent and endangered world, we are going to have to learn to live within this essence which joins us together as brothers and sisters. Please remember the Silence beyond words, the Silence of mystery and magic, the Silence of the soul, of the heart, the Silence in which lovers give themselves to a greater loving, a selfless loving, the Silence which knows only this moment, this present moment, this incredible instant of pure life when time suddenly stops, when we breathe the high-altitude air we call love. I want to remind you of these ways of Silence knowing and being, which you know, which you are. Silence is within our very genes. It winds around and binds together the strands of our DNA. It is the essence of who we are. It is within our breath. It is there like music between our thoughts. It is the light within our eyes. It is the high arc of birds we long to follow home to their secret nests. It is in the rhythm of waves, the innocence of children, the deep feelings within the heart that have no cause, when the heart is pierced without warning and our eyes fill with teas. It is within the kindness of one person to another. It is within the stillness of nights, and peace of early mornings. It is there when you see the one you love coming towards you, and your pulse pounds and races with delight and you move with her in a twilight not of this world, but of the spirit world, the world of our deeper knowing. In Silence, we open to life and life opens to us, life reaches towards us and touches us in the centre of our heart. Our heart breaks open and another heart is revealed. This is the true heart, the one that knows how to meet life with open arms. Silence knows that thoughts about life are not life itself. If we touch life through Silence, life touches us back, intimately, sensually, erotically. We become one with life itself, abandoning all thoughts about life. And then the mystery of life, the wonder of life, the beauty of life, the sanctity of life, become our life. Everything but wonderment falls away; the anger and fear and violence disappear as if they never existed. Knowing Silence is knowing ourselves for the first time; we see the world for the first time. We only have to be still, to be still, until that Silence comes forth from within us, to surround us, to illuminate us. This Silence is the real teacher, the real teaching, the real path. This Silence is what we seek above all else, for it is who we are. It is our own Self. It is restores us to love and redeems us in love. Knowing Silence is knowing your Self. Knowing your Self is freedom. In Silence, you are the very embodiment of joy, the very expression of love. All this is true right now, in this moment. Just enter your Self fully and deeply. You will find this Silence, and in Silence you will know your own beauty, your own power, your own magnificence — it is the same for all! As the embodiment of Silence you are perfection itself. You are a treasure to the world, a treasure to the world which the world needs now, right now, right now, not later or tomorrow, but right now the world needs you to be your true Self, the world needs the healing power of your heart, and of your Silence.
A TRIBUTE TO MAHARISHI Mahesh Yogi
Deepak Chopra
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was what his name implied — a great sage, a knower and teacher of reality.
It was in 1985, two years after a trip to Rishikesh, that i got an opportunity to meet Maharashi. A young psychologist at Harvard, who was doing a study on the benefits of Transcendental Meditation for older people, told me about Maharishi’s visit to America for a conference after several years. My wife, Rita and i decided to attend it. It was a dark auditorium with over five hundred people and we, with great difficulty, managed to get a glimpse of the Maharishi. He was on the stage, dressed in white silk and seated in the lotus position on a divan. He rarely stirred, and even from a distance, one could see the immaculate stillness in him. As he talked, he gestured with a flower in his hand. His voice was unusually varied, rising and falling, often breaking out in a laugh. He spent several hours discussing the revival of Ayurveda with various doctors and Indian pundits. It sounded interesting, but we had a plane to catch. As discreetly as we could, Rita and i walked out. On our way out, we stopped for a glass of water, then began to make our way through the lobby. At that moment, the doors to the hall opened and out came Maharishi. He walked fast and a group of people trailed behind him, but without warning he veered away from where they were going, towards the elevator and walked right up to Rita and me. He picked out a long-stemmed red rose from the flower bouquet he was holding and handed it to Rita, then picked another and handed it to me. “Can you come up?” he asked us. Feeling a little dazed, i looked over at Rita. We were both thinking about our flight home half an hour later. I didn’t know what to say. “We have a plane to catch, Maharishi,” i said. He laughed. “Oh, can’t you come up?” he said again. We decided to go and upstairs we found ourselves in a conference room decorated from floor to ceiling in pink. We sat on overstuffed pink chairs; Maharishi sat in lotus position on a white divan, the only non-pink furniture in the room. Rita and I had seen his picture many times, so he seemed familiar to us already, except that his untrimmed monk’s beard now had a wider ribbon of white in the middle. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is a name that suggests a story. Like kabir, maharishi, is a word. It combines maha or “great” and rishi or “sage’’. The part of the name that we would call a given name is Mahesh. And yogi means “in union.”
A man named Mahesh has attained union and become a great sage. As he chatted with us, i could not even think of paying attention to anyone else. Without any effort, my mind had fallen silent. No thoughts moved through it, and there wasn’t the usual ricochet of stray impressions — just silence. This seemed an extraordinary pleasant state to be in, because i felt completely unself. I felt no desire to look important or to impress Maharishi. I could have even sat sky-clad and not been embarrassed. M a h a r i s h i asked us about what we did and i said that i was a doctor and that i had practiced TM for four years. He then asked, “Do you know a lot about Ayurveda?” I shook my head. “You should learn,” he said, “because it is such a simple way of approaching medicine. Everything around us is change, but it all takes place against a background that is unchanging. Against everything in the relative world is a background of the absolute. Ayurveda says that behind mortality is the aspect of immortality. The goal of Ayurveda is to restore this multiplicity to that absolute, to unity.” Consciousness is our link back to the unchanging, he explained, because our consciousness rises from the absolute in the same way that plants, rocks, and all physical things arise. The raw material for everything in the universe is consciousness. “Nature thinks the way we do,” he said. Maharishi said, “Everything is orderly because everything is intelligence. Food is intelligence and the plants are intelligence. What we take in as nourishment we convert to our own intelligence. Sickness is interrupted intelligence, but we can bring it back into line. That’s all we do from our side. Nature takes care of it.”
Listening to Maharishi was a remarkable experience. He was stitching together, very simply and deftly, a new world. After a few hours our meeting came to an end. As a parting gesture he very carefully picked out two more roses. He must have scrutinised a dozen before he found the right ones. He asked us to give them to our children. We took one last glimpse of him in the pink room, and the next minute we were alone in the elevator. As happy as Rita and i felt, our thoughts turned to the plane that had taken off two hours earlier. On an impulse, we went to the airport anyway. There were no later flights, we were told, but by chance, all the earlier flights had been delayed on the eastern corridor, and our plane was still on the ground. We were lucky. As we headed home, i thought about Ayurveda and Maharishi’s desire for me to get involved in it. Now that i was away from him, my inner silence evaporated, and the buzzing of thoughts started up again. Over and over, a thought repeated itself: “Don’t become an outsider.” I was being asked to look outside science.
Perhaps Ayurveda would be the science of tomorrow, but what was it today? I thought about my standing as a doctor. Ayurveda is not licensed medicine in America. I wasn’t being asked to practise Ayurveda, but simply to look into it. A part of me said that i had a lot to lose. Another didn't have an opinion. I lay in bed thinking about Maharishi himself. The tradition of wisdom in India has been passed down from one person to another, from teacher to disciple. This may seem a more fragile way than written records, but in reality it has been much more durable. The teacher, or acharya, embodies the truth he talked about. If he can effectively teach it, his disciple becomes the next embodiment, and in that way, generation after generation the living links are forged.
The truth may sink from public light, but somewhere it is flowing through a sage. A mind that is truly enlightened does not think of the truth, it creates it. That is why a true acharya is very rare. I had no doubt, after practising his meditation, that Maharishi was anything less than his name implied. He was a great sage, a knower and teacher of reality. It wasn’t necessary for me to seek him out as a guru, because, by a stroke of genius, Maharishi had compressed the acharya and placed him inside every meditator. If we want to look for the one who will enlighten us, we do not have to go beyond our own doorstep.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was what his name implied — a great sage, a knower and teacher of reality.
It was in 1985, two years after a trip to Rishikesh, that i got an opportunity to meet Maharashi. A young psychologist at Harvard, who was doing a study on the benefits of Transcendental Meditation for older people, told me about Maharishi’s visit to America for a conference after several years. My wife, Rita and i decided to attend it. It was a dark auditorium with over five hundred people and we, with great difficulty, managed to get a glimpse of the Maharishi. He was on the stage, dressed in white silk and seated in the lotus position on a divan. He rarely stirred, and even from a distance, one could see the immaculate stillness in him. As he talked, he gestured with a flower in his hand. His voice was unusually varied, rising and falling, often breaking out in a laugh. He spent several hours discussing the revival of Ayurveda with various doctors and Indian pundits. It sounded interesting, but we had a plane to catch. As discreetly as we could, Rita and i walked out. On our way out, we stopped for a glass of water, then began to make our way through the lobby. At that moment, the doors to the hall opened and out came Maharishi. He walked fast and a group of people trailed behind him, but without warning he veered away from where they were going, towards the elevator and walked right up to Rita and me. He picked out a long-stemmed red rose from the flower bouquet he was holding and handed it to Rita, then picked another and handed it to me. “Can you come up?” he asked us. Feeling a little dazed, i looked over at Rita. We were both thinking about our flight home half an hour later. I didn’t know what to say. “We have a plane to catch, Maharishi,” i said. He laughed. “Oh, can’t you come up?” he said again. We decided to go and upstairs we found ourselves in a conference room decorated from floor to ceiling in pink. We sat on overstuffed pink chairs; Maharishi sat in lotus position on a white divan, the only non-pink furniture in the room. Rita and I had seen his picture many times, so he seemed familiar to us already, except that his untrimmed monk’s beard now had a wider ribbon of white in the middle. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is a name that suggests a story. Like kabir, maharishi, is a word. It combines maha or “great” and rishi or “sage’’. The part of the name that we would call a given name is Mahesh. And yogi means “in union.”
A man named Mahesh has attained union and become a great sage. As he chatted with us, i could not even think of paying attention to anyone else. Without any effort, my mind had fallen silent. No thoughts moved through it, and there wasn’t the usual ricochet of stray impressions — just silence. This seemed an extraordinary pleasant state to be in, because i felt completely unself. I felt no desire to look important or to impress Maharishi. I could have even sat sky-clad and not been embarrassed. M a h a r i s h i asked us about what we did and i said that i was a doctor and that i had practiced TM for four years. He then asked, “Do you know a lot about Ayurveda?” I shook my head. “You should learn,” he said, “because it is such a simple way of approaching medicine. Everything around us is change, but it all takes place against a background that is unchanging. Against everything in the relative world is a background of the absolute. Ayurveda says that behind mortality is the aspect of immortality. The goal of Ayurveda is to restore this multiplicity to that absolute, to unity.” Consciousness is our link back to the unchanging, he explained, because our consciousness rises from the absolute in the same way that plants, rocks, and all physical things arise. The raw material for everything in the universe is consciousness. “Nature thinks the way we do,” he said. Maharishi said, “Everything is orderly because everything is intelligence. Food is intelligence and the plants are intelligence. What we take in as nourishment we convert to our own intelligence. Sickness is interrupted intelligence, but we can bring it back into line. That’s all we do from our side. Nature takes care of it.”
Listening to Maharishi was a remarkable experience. He was stitching together, very simply and deftly, a new world. After a few hours our meeting came to an end. As a parting gesture he very carefully picked out two more roses. He must have scrutinised a dozen before he found the right ones. He asked us to give them to our children. We took one last glimpse of him in the pink room, and the next minute we were alone in the elevator. As happy as Rita and i felt, our thoughts turned to the plane that had taken off two hours earlier. On an impulse, we went to the airport anyway. There were no later flights, we were told, but by chance, all the earlier flights had been delayed on the eastern corridor, and our plane was still on the ground. We were lucky. As we headed home, i thought about Ayurveda and Maharishi’s desire for me to get involved in it. Now that i was away from him, my inner silence evaporated, and the buzzing of thoughts started up again. Over and over, a thought repeated itself: “Don’t become an outsider.” I was being asked to look outside science.
Perhaps Ayurveda would be the science of tomorrow, but what was it today? I thought about my standing as a doctor. Ayurveda is not licensed medicine in America. I wasn’t being asked to practise Ayurveda, but simply to look into it. A part of me said that i had a lot to lose. Another didn't have an opinion. I lay in bed thinking about Maharishi himself. The tradition of wisdom in India has been passed down from one person to another, from teacher to disciple. This may seem a more fragile way than written records, but in reality it has been much more durable. The teacher, or acharya, embodies the truth he talked about. If he can effectively teach it, his disciple becomes the next embodiment, and in that way, generation after generation the living links are forged.
The truth may sink from public light, but somewhere it is flowing through a sage. A mind that is truly enlightened does not think of the truth, it creates it. That is why a true acharya is very rare. I had no doubt, after practising his meditation, that Maharishi was anything less than his name implied. He was a great sage, a knower and teacher of reality. It wasn’t necessary for me to seek him out as a guru, because, by a stroke of genius, Maharishi had compressed the acharya and placed him inside every meditator. If we want to look for the one who will enlighten us, we do not have to go beyond our own doorstep.
The Universe is perfect
Toni La Motta
Everything has a reason and a season. There are never any accidents in our life. Everything is happening perfectly. Nothing happens randomly
When you really believe that the Universe is a friendly place and all of life is in Divine Order, you will never complain. When we complain, we are saying, something’s wrong here, this shouldn’t be happening. It shouldn’t be happening to me; it shouldn’t be happening this way. Life is unfair. The universe really is unfriendly and there is no order out here. Do you have something you are complaining about right now? I am noticing that i complain about contractors, about what is happening around my house. I decided to let that go and see the order in the universe. But, what if it never gets changed? The energy that we put into complaining is exhausting and it really is about not believing there’s a perfect order in the universe. It believes that somebody else did something to me. This is happening, and it is happening because somebody else is not living up to what they should be doing. I know how people should be living. I know how others should be running their lives and when they don’t and it interferes with my life. I think there is something wrong out there. Am i the only one that thinks this way? We know the drill. Life is unfair. We may not say it in those words. But notice the words you do use when you say, “I don’t want this to be happening right now.” When we decide to focus, instead, on the Divine Quality of order, we say things just don’t feel right. When they don’t feel right, and then i remember there is a perfect order in the universe, i can stop and say at that moment, “This really is perfect. Whatever this is.” I have a friend whose husband used to say all the time, “This is it. And i am happy.” Isn’t that a great line? “This is it. And i am happy." So, you can’t pay your bills? “This is it. And i am happy.” So, you have a headache, or you get a diagnosis you don’t like, “This is it. And i am happy.” So, you lose your job, a friend walks out on you, your love life ends, “This is it. And i am happy.” Have you had enough? But imagine living like that. We don’t believe in Divine Order. We think there is randomness in the universe and it’s happening to us. We live more in victim hood whenever we believe that things are happening to us. The reason this didn’t happen is because you did this. Those contractors. Oh, i have my conversations with contractors all over the country. I can get agreement for anything i want to complain about. And you will too. Notice that like attracts like. People say to me, “See, it’s true. All my friends say so.” Of course, your friends say so, because that’s what you say and life is a mirror. We are constantly bringing agreement into our life. If we don’t believe things are in order, the people in our lives won't either. Maybe you need some new people in your life that can start believing these principles with you. The Law of Attraction, like gravity, works whether you believe it or not. There is perfection in everything. Life will constantly hand us things to manage, things to experience, things to grapple with. When we accept the Quality of Order, what it does is present us with an opportunity to experience life as a series of opportunities to go beyond the senses. Go beyond appearances; go beyond what we are seeing and really recognise the truth behind everything. It’s the opportunity to move beyond the little self that only sees the surface and live in the consciousness of our higher self. Even though on some days you feel it is quite small, it really is whom you are. It really is your essence. I read somewhere, “Divine set-ups are purposeful events, choreographed by our soul to create the opportunity for us to wake up.” Divine set-ups? An interesting way to see life. Everything that is happening in life is by Divine set-up. We have chosen to have certain experiences. Everything has a reason; everything has a season. There’s a time for every purpose under heaven. There are never any accidents in our life. And i am talking about little things as well as the big ones. It’s all happening perfectly. Nothing happens randomly. There is a perfect order in the universe.
Everything has a reason and a season. There are never any accidents in our life. Everything is happening perfectly. Nothing happens randomly
When you really believe that the Universe is a friendly place and all of life is in Divine Order, you will never complain. When we complain, we are saying, something’s wrong here, this shouldn’t be happening. It shouldn’t be happening to me; it shouldn’t be happening this way. Life is unfair. The universe really is unfriendly and there is no order out here. Do you have something you are complaining about right now? I am noticing that i complain about contractors, about what is happening around my house. I decided to let that go and see the order in the universe. But, what if it never gets changed? The energy that we put into complaining is exhausting and it really is about not believing there’s a perfect order in the universe. It believes that somebody else did something to me. This is happening, and it is happening because somebody else is not living up to what they should be doing. I know how people should be living. I know how others should be running their lives and when they don’t and it interferes with my life. I think there is something wrong out there. Am i the only one that thinks this way? We know the drill. Life is unfair. We may not say it in those words. But notice the words you do use when you say, “I don’t want this to be happening right now.” When we decide to focus, instead, on the Divine Quality of order, we say things just don’t feel right. When they don’t feel right, and then i remember there is a perfect order in the universe, i can stop and say at that moment, “This really is perfect. Whatever this is.” I have a friend whose husband used to say all the time, “This is it. And i am happy.” Isn’t that a great line? “This is it. And i am happy." So, you can’t pay your bills? “This is it. And i am happy.” So, you have a headache, or you get a diagnosis you don’t like, “This is it. And i am happy.” So, you lose your job, a friend walks out on you, your love life ends, “This is it. And i am happy.” Have you had enough? But imagine living like that. We don’t believe in Divine Order. We think there is randomness in the universe and it’s happening to us. We live more in victim hood whenever we believe that things are happening to us. The reason this didn’t happen is because you did this. Those contractors. Oh, i have my conversations with contractors all over the country. I can get agreement for anything i want to complain about. And you will too. Notice that like attracts like. People say to me, “See, it’s true. All my friends say so.” Of course, your friends say so, because that’s what you say and life is a mirror. We are constantly bringing agreement into our life. If we don’t believe things are in order, the people in our lives won't either. Maybe you need some new people in your life that can start believing these principles with you. The Law of Attraction, like gravity, works whether you believe it or not. There is perfection in everything. Life will constantly hand us things to manage, things to experience, things to grapple with. When we accept the Quality of Order, what it does is present us with an opportunity to experience life as a series of opportunities to go beyond the senses. Go beyond appearances; go beyond what we are seeing and really recognise the truth behind everything. It’s the opportunity to move beyond the little self that only sees the surface and live in the consciousness of our higher self. Even though on some days you feel it is quite small, it really is whom you are. It really is your essence. I read somewhere, “Divine set-ups are purposeful events, choreographed by our soul to create the opportunity for us to wake up.” Divine set-ups? An interesting way to see life. Everything that is happening in life is by Divine set-up. We have chosen to have certain experiences. Everything has a reason; everything has a season. There’s a time for every purpose under heaven. There are never any accidents in our life. And i am talking about little things as well as the big ones. It’s all happening perfectly. Nothing happens randomly. There is a perfect order in the universe.
I AM
BAPPI LAHIRI
God is power. Whatever we are doing, whatever we have done and whatever we will be doing are all decided by the Almighty. One who is not spiritual can never be peaceful in his or her life. I have immense faith in the Higher Power and that’s why i doze off every night peacefully devoid of any stress. India is a country of wonderful traditions. Today, westerners are looking up to us and learning our kind of spirituality. We have so many religions that teach us beautiful things. It’s time we also looked within and respected our tradition. We should learn all the good things that every religion has to offer. I am an extremely religious and spiritual person. I respect and believe in all religions. I belong to a Bengali Brahmin family where a lot of importance is given to puja and rituals. My parents have taught me to be regular with rituals and i follow all festivals and ceremonies religiously. Whatever i think, talk and do is because of the influence of God. My music is a tribute to Him. Whenever i compose any music, i try to reach God. I would advice all the budding musicians to do the same and see the difference. Thanks to Him, i am what i am today. I take out time to visit religious places as often as possible. Every Saturday, i go to the Hanuman temple and read Hanuman chalisa. I pray to Him to make me as strong as He is. I left Kolkata 30 years ago and since then i have been living in Mumbai. While in Mumbai, i make sure i visit the Hanuman temple every Saturday. Other than that, i’m also a regular visitor to Siddhi Vinayak temple. Whenever i am abroad, i visit churches. I love the churches in Vatican City. I worship Ganpati Baba and i have his idols all over my home. I believe in wearing amulets and neckwear for luck. Why do you think i put on such heavy jewellery? All my accessories have some meaning to it. I have met almost all spiritual leaders all over the world except Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. I wish i could. He was a great human being. My guru ji is Satya Narayan, i respect him and follow his words religiously. My wife is a devotee like me and my entire family is very spiritual. I am a karmayogi and i think without God’s blessings no one can achieve anything in this world. (As told to S Shanthi)
God is power. Whatever we are doing, whatever we have done and whatever we will be doing are all decided by the Almighty. One who is not spiritual can never be peaceful in his or her life. I have immense faith in the Higher Power and that’s why i doze off every night peacefully devoid of any stress. India is a country of wonderful traditions. Today, westerners are looking up to us and learning our kind of spirituality. We have so many religions that teach us beautiful things. It’s time we also looked within and respected our tradition. We should learn all the good things that every religion has to offer. I am an extremely religious and spiritual person. I respect and believe in all religions. I belong to a Bengali Brahmin family where a lot of importance is given to puja and rituals. My parents have taught me to be regular with rituals and i follow all festivals and ceremonies religiously. Whatever i think, talk and do is because of the influence of God. My music is a tribute to Him. Whenever i compose any music, i try to reach God. I would advice all the budding musicians to do the same and see the difference. Thanks to Him, i am what i am today. I take out time to visit religious places as often as possible. Every Saturday, i go to the Hanuman temple and read Hanuman chalisa. I pray to Him to make me as strong as He is. I left Kolkata 30 years ago and since then i have been living in Mumbai. While in Mumbai, i make sure i visit the Hanuman temple every Saturday. Other than that, i’m also a regular visitor to Siddhi Vinayak temple. Whenever i am abroad, i visit churches. I love the churches in Vatican City. I worship Ganpati Baba and i have his idols all over my home. I believe in wearing amulets and neckwear for luck. Why do you think i put on such heavy jewellery? All my accessories have some meaning to it. I have met almost all spiritual leaders all over the world except Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. I wish i could. He was a great human being. My guru ji is Satya Narayan, i respect him and follow his words religiously. My wife is a devotee like me and my entire family is very spiritual. I am a karmayogi and i think without God’s blessings no one can achieve anything in this world. (As told to S Shanthi)
The biochemistry of Sudarshan Kriya
Manoj Jain
If we reduce the number of oxygen radicals, we improve the antioxidant status in our body and live longer
Ever wonder what causes us to age resulting in death of our body cells over the years, develop heart disease leading to plaque in the artery, or suffer from cancer causing cells to mutate and grow erratically? The answer may be simpler than we think. Some researchers say the common denominator in all these conditions is the antioxidant status — the level of chemical process that takes place in our cells and genes. Like we measure our cholesterol level, researchers argue, we can measure our antioxidant status and determine how vulnerable we are to diseases. In a pilot study, biochemists at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) studied the effect of Sudarshan Kriya on the antioxidant status of individuals. Sudarshan Kriya is a well known rhythmic breathing technique promoted by the Art of Living workshops. It is preceded by Ujjayi Pranayam or long and deep breaths with constriction at the base of throat and Bhastrika or fast and forceful breaths through the nose along with arm movements. Before we talk about their findings, let’s step back into our biochemistry class and understand what antioxidant status means. According to the free-radical theory, the cells in our body are being constantly damaged and destroyed by oxygen radicals, similar to what dirt and rust do to our cars. Oxygen radicals are different from oxygen gas in that they are molecules that are highly charged and detrimental byproducts of cell reactions. Our body has an antioxidant defense system that constantly searches and destroys these oxygen radicals, much like our immune system, which polices our body for foreign agents such as bacteria and viruses and eliminates them. If the antioxidant defense system of our body is weak, then the number of oxygen radicals increases, causing our cells to die quickly. This results in inflammation and plaque within our heart vessels or prompts the cells to mutate into cancer cells. On the other hand, if we reduce the number of oxygen radicals, we improve the antioxidant status in our body, and we live longer and lead a disease free life. It is important that we try to reduce the level of oxygen radicals and strengthen our defense system. We can increase our antioxidant levels through our diet. A healthy diet of vegetable and fruit increases our intake of important antioxidants such as Vitamins A, C, E, and beta carotene. Some initial studies have shown the benefit of higher antioxidants in our diet, but larger studies have not detected the benefit — so the jury is still out. Smoking, alcohol and chronic psycho-social problems, such as everyday work and family pressures, can increase oxidative stress. This stress affects our complex molecules and genes. Yoga and meditation can relieve this cellular oxidative stress. The question is whether Sudarshan Kriya would have a similar effect. A team lead by Dr Neeta Singh and Dr Vinod Kochupillai, former chief of IRCH and Head of Medical Oncology at IRCH ( Institute rotary cancer hospital) at AIIMS, tested the blood of 42 persons who were practicing Sudarshan Kriya for over 1 year and compared it with the blood of 42 healthy individuals who were not practicing any form of physical exercise or stress management techniques. What the researchers found was thought provoking. Clearly, the cellular activity between the two groups was different. The Kriya practitioners had a better antioxidant status at the enzyme and the gene level. Also they had less DNA damage and cell aging. It is difficult to know if this change will lead to longer life span, decrease rates of cancer, or lessen heart disease, but “we should practice some type of breathing technique once a day to reduce stress,” said Dr Neeta Singh, who herself is a big fan of the Kriya and does it twice everyday. Though biochemical science and spirituality may seem miles apart, it is heartening to see ancient practices and modern science converging in man’s endeavour to live a richer and healthier life. Dr Manoj Jain is an infectious disease physician working in Memphis (US) and Indore (MP)
If we reduce the number of oxygen radicals, we improve the antioxidant status in our body and live longer
Ever wonder what causes us to age resulting in death of our body cells over the years, develop heart disease leading to plaque in the artery, or suffer from cancer causing cells to mutate and grow erratically? The answer may be simpler than we think. Some researchers say the common denominator in all these conditions is the antioxidant status — the level of chemical process that takes place in our cells and genes. Like we measure our cholesterol level, researchers argue, we can measure our antioxidant status and determine how vulnerable we are to diseases. In a pilot study, biochemists at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) studied the effect of Sudarshan Kriya on the antioxidant status of individuals. Sudarshan Kriya is a well known rhythmic breathing technique promoted by the Art of Living workshops. It is preceded by Ujjayi Pranayam or long and deep breaths with constriction at the base of throat and Bhastrika or fast and forceful breaths through the nose along with arm movements. Before we talk about their findings, let’s step back into our biochemistry class and understand what antioxidant status means. According to the free-radical theory, the cells in our body are being constantly damaged and destroyed by oxygen radicals, similar to what dirt and rust do to our cars. Oxygen radicals are different from oxygen gas in that they are molecules that are highly charged and detrimental byproducts of cell reactions. Our body has an antioxidant defense system that constantly searches and destroys these oxygen radicals, much like our immune system, which polices our body for foreign agents such as bacteria and viruses and eliminates them. If the antioxidant defense system of our body is weak, then the number of oxygen radicals increases, causing our cells to die quickly. This results in inflammation and plaque within our heart vessels or prompts the cells to mutate into cancer cells. On the other hand, if we reduce the number of oxygen radicals, we improve the antioxidant status in our body, and we live longer and lead a disease free life. It is important that we try to reduce the level of oxygen radicals and strengthen our defense system. We can increase our antioxidant levels through our diet. A healthy diet of vegetable and fruit increases our intake of important antioxidants such as Vitamins A, C, E, and beta carotene. Some initial studies have shown the benefit of higher antioxidants in our diet, but larger studies have not detected the benefit — so the jury is still out. Smoking, alcohol and chronic psycho-social problems, such as everyday work and family pressures, can increase oxidative stress. This stress affects our complex molecules and genes. Yoga and meditation can relieve this cellular oxidative stress. The question is whether Sudarshan Kriya would have a similar effect. A team lead by Dr Neeta Singh and Dr Vinod Kochupillai, former chief of IRCH and Head of Medical Oncology at IRCH ( Institute rotary cancer hospital) at AIIMS, tested the blood of 42 persons who were practicing Sudarshan Kriya for over 1 year and compared it with the blood of 42 healthy individuals who were not practicing any form of physical exercise or stress management techniques. What the researchers found was thought provoking. Clearly, the cellular activity between the two groups was different. The Kriya practitioners had a better antioxidant status at the enzyme and the gene level. Also they had less DNA damage and cell aging. It is difficult to know if this change will lead to longer life span, decrease rates of cancer, or lessen heart disease, but “we should practice some type of breathing technique once a day to reduce stress,” said Dr Neeta Singh, who herself is a big fan of the Kriya and does it twice everyday. Though biochemical science and spirituality may seem miles apart, it is heartening to see ancient practices and modern science converging in man’s endeavour to live a richer and healthier life. Dr Manoj Jain is an infectious disease physician working in Memphis (US) and Indore (MP)
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