विपस्सना की पहली अनुभूति

सन २०१० के जुलाई महीने में मैं सम्मर वेकेशन मनाने काठमांडू गया। वर्ल्ड कप का नशा हर व्यक्ति में छाया हुआ था। फाइनल देखने के लिए दोस्त के रूम पर बियर के बोतल खुली और वर्ल्ड कप ख़तम होने के बाद घर लौटने की तैयारी करी|

meditation-blog

1 महीने की छुट्टी अभी शेष थी, दिन कैसे बिताउ समझ में नहीं आ रहा था। अचानक दिमाग में कुछ आया, मार्टिन को कॉल करके आईडिया लिया. तुरंत सम्बंधित निकाय को कॉल करके डेट्स फाइनल किया। रिसीवर से आवाज आई आपको आज ही पंजीकरण करवाना होगा और कल से ही आपके कोर्स की शुरूवात होगी, जल्दी करियेगा सीट बहुत कम रह गयी है।  हमने जल्दी से अनु को बाइक लेके आने को बोला।  हम दोनों होंडा शो रूम पहुंचे और मेरी आईडिया अनु को बताया और वो भी शामिल हो गया।  आधे घंटे के अंदर हमारा पंजीकरण होगया और हमें एक बुकलेट दी गई रटने के लिए।  

अति उत्सुक था और मन में थोड़ा भय भी, क्यों की अगले १२  दिन मेरे जिंदगी के ऐसे छण बिताने जा रहे थे जो पहले कभी एक्सपीरियंस नहीं किया था ।  

अगले दिन सुबह ७ बजे अनु और मैं ऑफिस पहुंचे, शायद थोड़ी जल्दी पहुंच गए, ४ लोग पहले से बैठे हुए थे। आधे घंटे में ऑफिस का वेटिंग रूम भर चूका था, सीट के एब्सेंस में कई लोग खड़े थे, करीबन २०० लोग होंगे मेल, फीमेल और बुजुर्ग मिलाके। सब के हाथ में कम से कम एक बैग या एक सूटकेस था और आपस में खुसूरफुसुर कर रहे थे। समय होचुका था, ऑफिसर ने आके अनाउंसमेंट किया : सबको हॉल की तरफ जाना है, शांत रह कर आचार्य (गुरु) जी से १ घंटे का प्रवचन ग्रहण करना है।  प्रवचन के बाद सबको बैच में बांटा गया, हर बैच को विंगर में बैठने की सलाह दी गयी। विंगर एक एक करके रवाना हो रहे थे। वैसे ही हम भी एक विंगर में बैठके रवाना हो गए।  

center-vipassana-meditation

अभी तक हमें बताया गया था की हमें १० दिन कंटिन्यू बगैर बोले ध्यान करना है, हम धर्मश्रृंगा के ओर प्रस्थान कर रहे थे।  काले बादल छाए हुए थे और जैसे ही शिवपुरी पहाड़ों पे चढ़ना शुरू किया वैसे ही बारिश होने लगी, यह शुभ घडी का संकेत था हमारे लिए।  

गंतव्य पे पहुंचते ही हमने चेक इन किया, मोबाइल फ़ोन जमा करना पड़ा और हमें अकोमोडेशन के रेगुलेशंस बताया गया।  अनु का रूम मेरे रुम से काफी दूर आलोट किया गया था।  घने जंगल के बिच में, मध्य पहाड़ी से सारा काठमांडू का नजारा दिखता था, हल्की बारिश और ऐसे मौसम में किसका मन शांत न हो। ऐसा लग रहा था की आधी मोक्ष की प्राप्ति कोर्स सुरु होने से पहले ही मिल गई।  शाम के डिस्कोर्स में १० दिन की रूटीन बताया गया और कंसल्ट करने के लिए एक आचार्य आल्लोट किये गए।  अगले १० दिनों तक किसी को कुछ बोलने की इजाजत नहीं थी, ना ही कोई इशारा करने की।  किसी को कुछ दिक्कत हो तो वालंटियर्स को इन्फॉर्म करने को बताया गया।  रात को ९ बजे विश्राम करने को अनुमति दी गई| 

सुबह ४ बजे मॉर्निंग बेल बजा, आधे घंटे में रेडी हो कर मैडिटेशन हॉल जाना था।  सबको बैठने के लिए सीट मिली हुई थी।  कोर्स का पहला दिन था, सारे शांत थे, बोलता था तो सिर्फ ऑटोमेटेड स्पीकर्स।  वो कुछ समय इंस्ट्रक्शंस देता और हम उसके बताए हुए कमांड्स को प्रैक्टिस करने को ट्राई करते| यह प्रक्रिया दिन भर कंटिन्यू रहता था।  करीब ११ बजे अपने आचार्य के साथ कंसल्ट करने की परमिशन थी जिसमे हम अपना एक्नॉलेजमेंट देते थे और डाउट्स क्लियर करते थे। सुबह आधे घंटे का ब्रेकफास्ट, दोपहर को डेढ़ घंटे का लंच और शाम को आधे घंटे का डिनर छोड़ कर हर एक डेढ़ घंटे में ५ मिनट की ब्रेक मिलता था।  शाम को साढ़े ८ बजे गुरु जी का डिस्कोर्स अटेंड करते थे।  बाकि सारा समय सुबह ४ से लेकर रात को ९ बजे तक सब्जेक्ट की प्रैक्टिस करते रहते थे।  पुरे कोर्स को २ सब्जेक्ट में डिवाइड किया गया था : पहला ३ दिन १ सब्जेक्ट पे प्रैक्टिस किया और दूसरा बाकी के ७ दिन।

vipassana-1459139727

धीरे धीरे दिन बीत रहा था, रोज कुछ ना कुछ सीखने को मिल रहा था, ऐसा लग रहा था ज्ञान के सागर मे तैर रहा हूँ| बहोट आनंद आ रहा था| परंतु कुछ लोग परेशान होने लगे थे, मेरे रूममेट्स रात होते ही बाते करने लगते थे और अब वो शैयाँ कुछ हद तक टूट चुका था. हमने भी एक बार प्रयास किया अनु से बात करने का लेकिन वॉलंटियर्स ने माना कर दिया| बहुत को वॉर्निंग मिलने लगी थी, इससे पता चल रहा था की इंसान की बोलने की आदत बहुत बुरी तरह से लगी है और यह आसानी से नही छूट सकती|

पाँचवा दिन था, सुबह सुबह 5-7 लोग गुरु जी के साथ परामर्श कर रहे थे| हमारे बाद गुरु जी ने एक दोस्त से पूछा: शरीर मे कुछ फील हो रहा है या नही? जवाब था: मैइ मेरे शरीर के इक्कीससो अंगो को फील कर रहा हूँ| यह सुन के दूसरा दोस्त हसने लगा और उसकी हसी देख कर हम सब भी हसने लगे और गुरु जी भी| गुरु जी ने हसी रोकने को कहा, और हसने का बेफायदा भी बताया, सब लोग शांत हो गये सिवाए मेरे और वो जिसने शुरूवात की थी| गुरु जी ने बाहर जाने की सलाह दी , हम बाहर जा कर खूब हसे, हसी रुकने के बाद वापस अपनी सीट पर जा कर बैठ गये| उस रात मैने बहुत सोचा , सोचते सोचते अचानक से आँखो से आँसू टपकने लगे| अजीब सी अनुभूति होने लगी और एहसास हुआ की मुझे इस तरह नही हसना चाहिए था, बहुत बुरा फील हो रहा था| साथ ही साथ ऐसा भी लग रहा था जैसे मुझे आज कुछ कीमती चीज़ मिली हो जो बहुत कम लोगो को मिलती है|

वो चीज़ जिसे मैने बरसो पहले खो दिया था. लग रहा था अंधेरे जीवन मे सूरज की पहली किरण पड़ी हो| ज्ञान के सागर मे रो रहा था लेकिन खुशी के आँसू टपक रहे थे, अपने आप को कोसने लगा, ये ज्ञान मुझे पहले क्यूँ नही मिला, पहले क्यूँ नही मिला|

sunrise-meditation

दशवा दिन मेलमिलाप वाला दिन था, सब लोग आपस मे बाते कर सकते थे, सुख दुख की बाते बता सकते थे| सबके चेहरे पे खुशी की रौनक थी, 9 दिन बाद जो खुलके बात करने को मिला था| आपस मे सारे पहचान कर रहे थे और अपने एक्सपीरियेन्स बाँटने मे लगे हुए थे, कोई बुक्स खरीदने मे व्यस्त था तो कोई फोटो खिचने मे| कोई खुश था वंडरफुल एक्सपीरियेन्स को पाकर तो कोई बस यूँ ही|

अगले दिन सुबह वीपास्साना कोर्स का अंतिम अनुभूति करा और 9 बजे चेक आउट करके अनु और मै घर लौट आए|

कहते है हिंदू कोई धर्म नही, यह जीने की एक सैली है वैसे ही वीपास्साना भी जीने का तरीका सिखाती है, खुश रहना सिखाती है, जी हाँ खुश रहना सिखाती है| यह कोर्स में 95% प्रॅक्टिकल करवाया जाता है| इसके रोज अभ्यास करने से नैतिक ज्ञान की प्राप्ति होती है, समाज, देश और संसार को सही राह पे चलना सिखाती है. यह आज मे जीना सिखाती है|

About Your Relationships

Are you in conflict with the people you love most? Do you experience incredible highs followed by invariable lows in your relationships? Have the days of wine and roses become days of whine and neuroses?

Love tainted with selfishness is ‘attachment’; it is only about you. You expect a return for your affection, tangible or intangible. You make demands on people and bind them. You feel insecure, vulnerable and threatened. Your expectations never seem to be met with. The more people do for you, the more you want. The relationship thus becomes conflict-ridden. In the end, it breaks down and you lose the person.

The age-old philosophy of Vedanta steps in with new ways of defining ourselves, others and the world around us — ways that will appeal to the younger generation. It takes dedication, a leap of faith and practice.

Expand your mind. Get attached to a wider circle of people — community, nation, humanity. Work for loka sangraha, for the welfare of the world. As you get attached to the higher you get detached from the lower. True love is born and your relationships become free from the endless strife that prevails now.

In order to fill the haunting sense of emptiness in your life you depend on people for your happiness. Thus the starting point is faulty. Only when you are happy within can you establish meaningful relationships with others. It is absurd to depend on others to fill the void. Vedanta says you are paripurna — totally fulfilled. You do not need anyone to make you happy. Gain knowledge of your fulfilled state.

Love others for what they are, the good as well as the bad. Understand that people behave according to their nature. Do you hate a lion for its ferocity or a deer for its timidity? You love both creatures equally because you understand their nature and accept them for what they are. What prevents you from accepting people as they are? Why do you complain when a partner gets angry or a child is timid?

Look at others as part of yourself and you will focus on their best qualities. You will see opponents as partners, competitors as comrades. You will celebrate others’ victory as if it were your own. Thus your happiness multiplies a billion times! Today you are happy only when good things happen to you. In the end love turns Godword. You worship God in all beings.

Vedanta says there is only One. If you see separateness, it is your delusion. Just as one ray of light refracts into seven different colours, you see distinctions and demarcations because you view the world through the prism of your body, mind and intellect. You see maximum separateness when you identify with your body. See the world through your mind and your circle of love expands to include your family. Rise to the intellect and you see oneness among your compatriots. Merge with Atman, the Spirit within, and all differences vanish.

You exult in the experience of the One in the many. You see yourself in all beings and all beings in the Self, just as you admire your images in different mirrors. Only then will you be free from sorrow and delusion. And you will attain the exalted state of enlightenment.

–Jaya Row

The Speaking Tree, Page No: 20, 09 July 2011

Trusting Others

On this day, Morrie says that he has an exercise for us to try. We are to stand, facing away from our classmates, and fall backward, relying on another student to catch us. Most of us are uncomfortable with this, and we cannot let go for more than a few inches before stopping ourselves. We laugh in embarrassment. Finally, one student, a thin, quiet, dark-haired girl who I notice almost always wears bulky, white fisherman sweaters, crosses her arms over her chest, closes her eyes, leans back, and does not flinch, like one of those Lipton tea commercials where the model splashes into the pool. For a moment, I am sure she is going to thump on the floor. At the last instant, her assigned partner grabs her head and shoulders and yanks her up harshly.

“Whoa!” several students yell. Some clap. Morrie finally smiles. “You see”, he says to the girl, “you closed your eyes, that was the difference. Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them too — even when you’re in dark. Even when you are falling”.

The Speaking Tree, Page No: 08, 19, June, 2011

Thorn And Flower: One Energy

Dont’ be afraid to love; all you have to do is to make it more prayerful, advises OSHO

OSHOSPEAK
1. Love is not a single phenomenon; it is stretched between two polarities — sex and prayer
2. The sex part of love brings misery while the prayer part brings joy, so make sex a prayer
3. Dont’ renounce sex. It does bring moments of egolessness, and gives you a glimpse of the Divine

Love is both. It is rich and it is painful, it is agony and it is ecstasy — because love is the meeting of the earth and the sky, of the known and the unknown, of the visible and the invisible.
Love is the boundary that divides matter and consciousness, the boundary of the lower and the higher. Love has roots in the earth; that is its pain, its agony. And love has its branches in the sky; that is its ecstasy.
Love is not a single phenomenon, it is dual. It is a rope stretched between two polarities. You will have to understand these two polarities: one is sex, another is prayer. Love is the rope stretched between sex and prayer; part of it is sex, part of it is prayer.
The sexual part is bound to bring many miseries, the part that belongs to prayer will bring many joys. Hence it is difficult to renounce love, because in renouncing one is afraid the joys that come will also be renounced. One is not able either to be totally in it, because all those pains again and again remind you to renounce it. This is the misery of the lover: the lover lives in a tension, pulled apart.
This is the basic problem of all lovers, because love brings both, many thorns and many flowers, and they both come together. Love is a rosebush. One does not want those thorns, one would like the rosebush to be all flowers and no thorns; but they come together, they are all aspects of one energy.
But I am not asking you to become detached. What I am saying is: make it more and more prayerful. My whole approach is that of transformation, not of renunciation. You must have misunderstood me. I am not against sex but I am all for making sex a prayer. The lowest can be possessed by the highest, then the pain of it disappears.
What pain is there in sexuality? Because it reminds you of your animality — that is the pain. It reminds you of the past, it reminds you of your biological bondage, it reminds you that you are not free, you are under the slavery of the instincts given by nature; that you are not independent from nature, that you are just a puppet in the hands of unknown unconscious forces.
Sex is felt like a humiliation. In sex, you start feeling you are losing you dignity, hence the pain. And then fulfilment is so momentary; sooner or later any intelligent person will become aware that the satisfaction is momentary and followed by long nights of pain.
The ecstasy is just like a breeze, it comes and goes and leaves you in a desert-like state, utterly frustrated, disappointed. You had hoped much; many things were promised by the instinctual part of you, and nothing has been delivered.
In fact, sex is a strategy of nature to perpetuate itself. It is a mechanism that keeps you reproducing, otherwise people will disappear. Just think of a humanity where sex is no longer an instinct and you are free, at your own will, to go into sex or not.
Then the whole thing will look so absurd, the whole thing will look ridiculous. Just think — if there is no instinctive force pulling you, I don’t think anybody will be ready to go into sex. Nobody goes by consent; reluctantly, resisting, one goes into it.
But it brings a few moments of utter purity and joy and innocence too. It brings a few moments of timelessness, when suddenly there is no time left.
It brings a few moments of egolessness too, when in deep orgasmic spasm, the ego is forgotten. It gives you a few glimpses of the Divine, hence it cannot be renounced either.

The Book of Wisdom, courtesy Osho International Foundation.
The Speaking Tree, page: 04, 29, May, 2011

Temper Tantrums

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the fence. The first day, the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily, gradually became fewer. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally, the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.

Days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, “You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they have a scar just like these.” You can put knife in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound will always be there.

The Speaking Tree, Page: 06, 1, May, 2011

A Constant Civil War

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Don’t be stupid and get drawn into a war with your own self, warns OSHO


OSHOSPEAK
1. No one is divided; every one of us is one harmonious whole. There is just one camp, and that is you
2. Conflicts are created so that one part of you begins to fight with the other. Isn’t that stupid?
3. The body is an illusion; beyond matter is pure energy. Realise inner reality; become conscious

The past has created a constant civil war in every human being. The strategy that has been used is to divide you into two enemy camps: Zorba and the Buddha, the materialist and the spiritualist.
You are not divided in reality, for you are a harmonious whole. But the conditioning in your mind is that you are not whole; you have to fight against your body. If you want to be a spiritual being, the body has to be conquered, defeated, destroyed and tortured in every possible way.

Engineering Divisions
This has been the accepted ideology all over the world. In different cultures, different religions, the formulations may be different, but the basic rule is the same: divide man, create a conflict in him so one part starts feeling higher, becomes holy, and starts condemning the other part as the sinner.
The trouble is that you are one; there is no way to divide you. Every division is going to create misery in you. Up to now, humanity has lived in a schizophrenic (depression) way. Everyone has been cut into pieces, fragments. Your religions, philosophies and ideologies have not been healing processes; they have been the root causes of inner conflict and war.

Soul Versus Body
The west chose to go with Zorba. There was no other way to remain sane — one part had to be completely destroyed, forgotten. The West denied the inner reality of man, his consciousness: man is only a body, there is no soul.
Eat, drink and be merry is the only religion. This was simply a way to find some peace of mind, to get out of the conflict, to come to a decision and a conclusion — by accepting that you are one: just matter, just body.
The East has chosen the other way: you are the soul and the body is an illusion. Matter does not exist, the world is made of the same stuff as dreams are made of, so don’t be bothered about it…. It’s not worth taking note of. On the surface, it seems that East and West are doing different things, but they are not. Essentially, they are trying to find a rational way to be one. To be two, means a constant disease, a conflict.

East And West
Why have East and West chosen differently? The Eastern mind, in search of a unitary being, tried to find out all about inner consciousness. Why call the body illusory? To us the body seems real, and consciousness is just a word. The natural tendency will be to decide in favour of the body, because the body is there; consciousness you have to search for; you have to go into an inner pilgrimage.
People like Gautama Buddha and Mahavira were sincere. Their sincerity was so clear, their presence was so impressive, their words were authoritative. It was impossible to deny. These people were their own argument, their own validity. They were so peaceful and joyful, relaxed and fearless. Certainly, they had found a source within themselves. You cannot just deny it without giving to search. Unless you find that there is no consciousness; you cannot deny it.

All-pervasive Energy
We had people so fragrant…. The fragrance was so much that the East tried to look inside, and found taht the soul is far more real. The body is just an appearance. Modern science has come to the same conclusion — that matter is illusory, that matter does not exist, it only appears — from a very different route. They have found, as they reach deeper into matter, that it is less and less substantial. At a point after the atom there is no matter at all. There are only electrons, which are particles of electricity — which is not matter but energy.
The East moved inwards and found that the body, mater, is relatively non-substantial; the ultimate reality belongs to consciousness. In the East there has been at least ten thousand years of a constant, consistent search into the inner reality of man… all the genius fo the East has been devoted to it.

Beyond Enlightement, Osho International Foundation.

The Speaking Tree, Page No: 04, 3rd, April, 2011
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The Ways of Karma

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Every object in this universie is endowed with four characterstics — dharma, karma, prema and gyana. Of these, karma is the most talked about and the most misunderstood. The Bhagavad Gita says ‘Gahna Karmanyo Gathi‘, which means unfathomable are the ways of karma and yet it seems to be the only logic to explain this whole  creation, its existence and the cycle of life and death.

Karma is beyond all logic and reasoning. The more you understand it, the more amazed you are. It causes people to be together or separate. It causes some to be weak and some to be strong. It makes some rich and others pooor. The literal meaning of karma is ‘action’. There are three types of karma — prarabha, sanchita and agami. The first is the latent karma which is karma as an impression or seed of action. The second is karma as an action, and the third is karma as a result.

Prarabha means ‘begun’; the action that is already manifesting and that is yielding its effect right now. You cannot avoid it or change it, as it is already happening. Sanchita is the gathered up or piled up karma, It is latent or manifested in the form of a tendency or impression in the mind. Sanchita karma can be burned off by spiritual practices before it manifests. Agami karma is the future karma of the action; that which has not yet come and which will take effect in the future. If you commit a crime, you may not get caught today, but will live with the possibility that, one day you may get caught.

Karma is also always bound by time, because every action has a limited reaction. If you do something good to people they will come to thank you and be grateful to you as long as they are experiencing the effect of your action.

If is often asked, “Why do good people suffer?” No good action will yield a bad result and no bad action will bring a god result. This is the law of karma. As you sow, so shall you reap.

Karma is that which propels reincarnation. Why are some people born in a very violent environment and others in comfortable environment? The stronger the impression, the greater the possibility of the next life being according to that . So, often you reincarnate like the person you hate or love. The mind which is full of different impressions leaves this body but the impressions wait for a proper situation to come back. So it is the last thought that is very important. Whatever you do throughout your life, in the last moment your mind should be free and happy.

Getting rid of karma means getting rid of impressions. Some karma can be changed and some cannot. As human beings we have the ability to erase fear through meditation. If you meditate, become hollow and empty, whatever the fear is will just dissolve and disappear.

Our perception of suffering, of good and bad, is always relative. God is absolute reality; witness of all. See God as a movie director, rather than as a judge. He has no ill feeling for the villain and no special favour for the hero. Each one is playing his role. Live with the karma and not be attached to it. Awareness, alertness, knowledge and meditation will help erase past impressions. It has the strenght to dissolve and destroy any karma and bring freedom to you.

— Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

The Speaking Tree, Page No: 18, 13, April, 2011

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Try To Figure Out Love

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You cannot measure love; and love does not diminish when you share it, says OSHO

“When the whole is taken from the whole, behold, the remainder is whole” — Ishavasya

OSHOSPEAK

1. Arithmatically speaking, If I take ten rupees from a safe full of millions, the total will be less.

2. When you give love and feel a sense of loss, know that what you gave wasn’t love

3. As you give love freely, the love within you begins to grow and you experience infinite love.


From the point of view of ordinary arithmetic this is absolutely incorrect. If we remove some part of a thing, the remainder cannot be the same as it was originally. Something less will remain. If I take ten rupees from a safe  conatining millions of rupees, the total will be something less. It will be less even if ten paise are taken out. The remainder cannot be equal to the amount as it originally was. Similarly, however great the fortune may be, ten paise added will make it greater. But according to this sutra, the whole may be taken from the whole, not just ten paise but the entire fortune, and still the remainder is whole.

This seems like the babbling of a madman whose knowledge of arithmetic is nil. Even a beginner knows that a thing will be less if something is taken from it, no matter how little is taken; and if the whole is taken, there will be nothing left at all. But this sutra declares that not just something, but the whole, remains. Those who know only the logic of the money-box will certainly not understand this phenonmenon. Understanding appears from an altogether new direction.

Give To Have More

Does your love decrease when you give it to someone? Do you experience any shortage of love when you give it totally? No! ‘Love’ is the word we need to come to an understanding of this sutra; this is the word we shall have to use. However much you may part with your love, what you are left with remains as much as it was originally. The act of giving it away produces no shortage. On the contrary, it grows, increasing as you give it away, entering you deeper and deeper as you distribute it more and more. As you give it freely away, the wealth of love within you begins to grow. One who gives his total love, freely and unconditionally, becomes the possessor of infinite love.

Simple arithmetic can never comprehend that when the whole is taken from the whole, the remainder is whole. Only love can find the meaning in this statement. Perhaps, through Meera and Chaitanya you can find your way to understanding, for this is a subject relating to some other, unknown dimension, in which nothing decreases when given away. The only experience you have that can enable you to understand this in a sudden flash of insight is love.

If, having given your love, you experience a sense of loss, then know that  you have no experience of love at all. When you give your love to someone, and feel within you that something has disappeared, then know that what you gave must have been something else. It cannot be love. It must be something belonging to the world of dollars and pounds. It must be a measurable thing which can be valued in figures, weighed in a balance and estimated in metres. Remember, whatever is measurable is subject to the law of diminution. Only that which is immeasurable and unfathomable will remain the same no matter how much is taken from it.

Drop Your Delusion

If someone loves me,  I want that she love no one else, because my reasoning says that love divided is love diminished. So I seek to become sole owner and possessor of her love. My demand is that the person loving me give not even a loving glance to anyone else; such glance is poison because “I know” that now her love for me will begin to diminish. If I cling to this notion of love diminishing, I need to accept that I have no idea what love is. If I had any appreciation of true love, I would want my beloved to go out, and give it freely to the whole world, because through  so giving it she would come to understand its secrets and mysteries, and as she falls deeper and deeper into love, her love towards me, too, would overflow. Love is immeasurable. Drop your delusion that true love diminishes when it is shared.

The Heartbeat of the Absolute,

Ishavasya Upanishad. Courtesy Osho Intl. Foundation.

The Speaking Tree, Page No: 04, 10, April, 2011

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Magic of Meditation

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Often, stress remains in the system. Focus on the rhythm of your breath that is linked to the state of the mind, says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar


Once Mullah Naseeruddin met with an accident and he landed in a hospital. He had band-aid all over his face. One of his friends came and asked him, Mullah how are you doing? He said, “I am fine. Only it hurts when I laugh.” The friend then asked Mullah, “How can you laugh being in this condition?” Mullah replied, “If I don’t laugh now I have never laughed in my life.”

Undying enthusiasm is one aspect of being in perfect health. To be able to be in that state, the mind should be in that state, the mind should be stress-free and tension proof. Half of our health we spend in gaining wealth and then we spend that wealth to gain back our health. This is not economical.

Nature has provided us with an inbuilt mechanism — sleep. Sleep is very important as that is when the body releases stress and energy gets recuperated. To some extent, sleep takes care of the fatigue. But most of the time, stress remains in the system. For tackling these kinds of stresses, there are techniques of pranayama and meditation which focus on the rhythm of breath that is linked to the state of the mind.

Human beings hold onto stress. When You are stressed, you frown. Whenever you frown, you use 72 nerves and muscles in your face. But when you smile, you use only four. So you give more work to your face every time you frown. More work means more stress. Stress also makes your smile disappear. What if some failure happens here and there? Every failure is a big step for success. If you have the skill, you can turn any situation around by inducing a little humour in it. Humour is a very good greasing for avoiding stress.

The stress and tension in society  today calls for meditation. The busier you are, the lesser time you have, the lesser time you have, the more desires and ambitions you have — all the more is the need to meditate. Because meditation not only relieves you of stress and strain, it also enhances your abilities, strengthens your nervous system and mind. Not only does it eliminate stress and tensions, release toxins from the body, soothes the mind, it also makes you more capable and enhances you in every way.

If you want to be happy and healty, just meditate.

–Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder, The Art of Living Foundation

Times Wellness, Page: 01, 7, April, 2011

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Friends & Enemies

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The ego, or individual self-sense, is both your best friend and your worst enemy. It is your best friend and your worst enemy. It is your best friend because, in the most positive sense, it represents your capacity to individuate — to see yourself as a unique, autonomous entity and to bear witness to your own experience with some measure of objectivity. Individuation is what makes it possible for you to be a conscious agent of evolution, a vessel for Spirit in action. The more profound our individuation, the more powerfully Spirit can shine through us. However, ego is also our worst enemy. And this is because, for too many of us, over-identification with our seperate individuality obscures the deeper and higher spiritual dimensions of our being. It is very important to understand this paradoxical nature of the ego if you, as an individual, want to take responsibility for creating the future, as yourself.
–Andrew Cohen
The Speaking Tree, Page: 02, 3, April, 2011
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