Life

 We do not make an effort to digest the food we eat, walk for miles, recognize different objects, play the games we play regularly, cook the food once we know how to cook food, drive the car, or even type on the keyboard. We perform so many of these tasks almost unconsciously. In fact, there is a whole defense system within our body called the immunity system that prevents attacks by bacteria and viruses. We have a thermostat that regulates the temperature of the body quite consciously. We have a heart that circulates blood in different organs of the body. We have lungs to keep inhaling and exhaling oxygen. It would be an impossible task for the conscious mind to take care of all these functions. Imagine if we forget how to walk or the heart forgets how to pump. Would the conscious mind be able to tell the heart every minute how to pump? Probably, we will go mad and die very soon. Our unconscious mind saves a lot of energy for the conscious mind so that the conscious mind can explo...

Beliefs drive our lives. I was born and brought up in a society that has absolute belief in God with many Gods and Goddesses. Everybody chooses the God he likes. Some like the peaceful face of Shiva, some like the affluence of Vishnu, some like the grace and compassion of Durga, some like the wise, naughty, and innocent Ganesha, some like the equanimous Rama, while some pray powerful Hanumana. Whatever the choice, the belief was the same all the Gods and Goddesses would listen to our prayers, give strength, and help us in moments of difficulty. There is a tradition of daily prayers which still continues.  However, I have not met any person so far who can claim to have met or experienced any of these Gods or Goddesses. The gods of one country are not known in the other country. Gods of India become mythological figures in Rome and the Gods of Rome become mythological figures in India. Yet, we have almost 100% belief in the existence of our own Gods.  We have listened to so many...

The worst nightmare for an artist is the day when his work is to be judged by people who know nothing about the artwork. As if the work of Sri Aurobindo is to be evaluated by somebody who is engrossed in the material world. As if the work of a Michelin chef is to be evaluated by someone who has never tasted anything other than the local food. As if the NASA scientist's work is to be evaluated by someone who has never gone to school. However, one can not avoid that. It has happened with almost everybody whosoever has tried to give wings to his dreams. People not having the wings themselves have the favorite time pass of cutting the wings of people who dare to dream. It's always easy to rub the line drawn by somebody to make our own line look bigger rather than drawing a longer line ourselves. We are lazy by nature and that's why choose to discourage and demean others who do the hard work.  All the people who have traveled on a path that is different from society have to pass...

 We may keep running on a treadmill throughout our lives to reach nowhere. Similarly, our conscious mind keeps trying to move along the spiritual path on a treadmill of the unconscious mind. The faster it tries to run, the more the unconscious mind reacts to the same, with stronger reactions driven by our habit patterns. The old habit patterns, preferences for taste and comforts, worldview, beliefs, social conditioning, and many more habit patterns have their deep roots in the unconscious mind, and whenever the conscious mind tries to think in a different direction, they react with equal opposite force.  That is the reason why one need not run on the treadmill, but rather get off the treadmill and start walking. Getting off the treadmill needs courage and clarity of the mind. Most people are happy without making efforts in the direction of self-realization. Their direction of life is decided by their unconscious mind and its conditioning by society. They do not have time, ener...

One of the most crucial messages of Krishna in Bhagwad Geeta is that we should act in accordance with our Swadharma without worrying about the results. On the surface, it appears quite counter-intuitive because we have lived almost the whole of our lives working for the results. However, if we examine it a little deeper, we will realize that probably that is the most practical message in any spiritual scripture. None of the systems made by the human beings is perfect. We have imperfect democracies where democratically appointed leaders become Hitlers over a period of time. Leave aside other political systems such as communism. We have bureaucracies whose foundations lie in the rule book and such bureaucracies tend to make fun of the rules. You show me the person and I will tell you the rule to apply. We have organizations that are founded based on the concept of efficiency and over a period of time, they are run in one of the most inefficient ways. We have the NGOs formed around the co...

 This morning, I was reviewing a document that we have been working on for the last few days, and since the document is quite complicated, I was concentrating on the document quite intensely and suddenly there was a power cut. For a few minutes, I relaxed and waited for the generator to be on but the generator was not switched on for many minutes. I sat on the sofa and thought of utilizing the time by observing my body sensations, as we practiced in Vipassana, however, my mind was stuck on the document. Then, the thoughts start coming as to what would happen if the guards are sleeping and they do not start the generator. I wanted to finish the work this morning itself so that we can continue with the document after reaching the office in the first half. My mind was stuck on the thought and after a few minutes, I walked down the stairs to request the guards to start the generator.  I feel that we face these things day in and day out. We get fixated on the task at hand and miss ...

It feels so sad to look around people so hungry for credit and positions. They can stoop to any extent to retain their positions. They can lie blatantly and play any sort of politics to take credit. There is hardly any integrity or character. There is no value in their words or commitment. Everything and everybody is just a use case to these fellows. They pretend to be so much in control and yet behave like beggars. Like a dry hot desert, they keep seeking happiness which seldom comes like a drizzle leaving the desert more dry than before.  It is quite difficult to understand why people make not only their lives hell but also impact the people around them quite negatively. It appears that the root cause lies in ignorance. For example, if somebody has been told since childhood that sugar is a healthy food and he eats more and more sugar and suffers from diabetes. However, since he is not aware of diabetes, he keeps eating sugar and suffers from diabetes. Not only does he eat a lot o...

If two solid objects can't merge with each other, where is the possibility of love among the solid egos? Humans are so full of themselves and define their ego boundaries so strongly that it leaves no scope for merger. An ice cube can only merge with water if it melts. Without that merger, there is no love. At best there may be an arrangement or adjustment of the solid objects for a purpose like the car's four wheels arranged in a pattern to make the car move. Where there is love, there is no need for any adjustment and when there is a need for adjustment, there is no love. We see so many solid egos in the society. The solidity of their desires for material objects, powers, worldviews, beliefs, and thinking processes. We also see many people with liquid egos who are still bound by the gravity of the material world and yet get free of the solidity. These people are ready to mingle around, examine different perspectives, and be open to all types of ideas and yet consider the mater...

I recently read the book "Serendipity" by Dr Christian Busch. A wonderful read. The author explains the concept of serendipity and the factors responsible for that. Serendipity, as I understood it, means being aware of possibilities that are not apparent in the present frame of mind. For example, when we try to find solutions to poverty, we get fixated on the problem. Poverty is a problem; the only solution lies in providing more and more money and resources to the poor. What if poverty is not a problem rather the problem is the inability to appreciate what we have. Just because the entire society is fixated on money, we feel that poverty is a big problem. What would we prefer: being rich and having a chronic health problem; or being poor and healthy? What if richness is a problem? Or what if the problem is not being poor or rich and rather the problem is the inability to appreciate what we have? If we have 10 times the money we have today and do not appreciate that we have s...

Driving the car in foggy weather is not only quite painful but also life-threatening. Similarly, driving a car without a clear windscreen or knowledge of the route is also equally dangerous and painful. Similarly living life in foggy weather, where we are not sure as to what lies in our unconscious mind and the conscious mind remains confused while making different decisions, is quite a dangerous way of living. We often become inauthentic because we are not aware of what is going on inside our unconscious mind. Similarly, quite often our windscreen is also not clear. We think something and speak something else because we do not have the integrity and courage to take responsibility for what we are. Also, quite often we do not know the route to take. We are so confused between traditions, beliefs, values, morality, and so on, and it's like Google Maps throwing at us so many different suggestions that we are not able to decide which route to take. It is because we miss understanding o...

 Yesterday, I met many people. A young boy who is quite concerned about how to crack civil services while being in standard 8th, some grown-up children who have different conflicts and confusions, few friends, and some adults living in my hometown. I also saw many workers, carpenters, shopkeepers, and fruit vendors. I was amazed to see that people have carved out their comfort zones wherever they are. They have preferred comfort and stability over growth.  I think we human beings have a very natural tendency to grow both worldly and spiritually. We want to explore new cities, new countries, and different cultures, and gain different types of knowledge. We also want to grow spiritually and want to know about ourselves and the purpose of life. Both these instincts are quite natural among the kids. They want to explore every material object they encounter and also ask questions about life and God. However, as we grow up, society starts confining our choices. We should concentrate...

 Probably, there are only two ways of living. First, to live as a Bhogi, and second to live as a Yogi. A Bhogi seeks something from every action he performs. He eats food for taste or to be strong. He works hard in the school to get an entry to a good college. Works hard at the college to get a good placement. Works hard on the job to get increments and promotions. He forms relationships with different people so that these relatives stand with him in the tough times. He takes care of the kids so that kids may take care of him in old age. He gathers information and knowledge so that he may boast of the same and may feel proud. He helps other people so that society considers him to be a good person and he gets heaven post-death. He prays to God so that he gets whatever he wants. Everything is an investment for a return. In the process, the focus is always on the future. What am I going to get from this investment or hard work? This question remains at the forefront always. The memo...

Deepawali is a festival of lights. After defeating Ravana, Ram returns to Ayodhya with Sita and Lakshmana. The story of the Ramayana has fascinated me for a long time. It always appears to me to be a story of all of us—the story of Rama and Ravana within us—the Ravana of "ego" and the Rama of "consciousness."  The first stage of this "inner play" is set in Ayodhya that represents the mental plane. We generally stay in the mental plane where our "intellect" or the "rational mind" rules like Dashratha. Like Dashratha, who has a chariot that can travel in 10 directions, the intellect can also think in 8 physical directions, the quantum world, and the cosmic world. We are quite happy in the mental world. The problem arises when the "intellect" wants to hand over the kingdom of the mental world to the "consciousness" represented by Rama. Manthara represents "Chitta, " the storehouse of past memories and desires....

I think the entire world is comprised of two broad types of people: givers and takers. The givers find happiness in giving and sharing, while the takers want more and more. I am often surprised by the behavior of the takers. They remain beggars even after reaching the best positions and becoming the richest people in this world. It appears that their thirst increases exponentially with the intake of water. Having earned for their lifetime, they want to earn for their kids and then for the next generations. People's greed rises to the extent that they use the whole of the organizations to fulfill their desires and members of the organizations and communities are just tools to achieve their targets.  In the process, everybody and everything becomes a tool for them. The entire country became a tool for Hitler to fulfill his ambitions and he brutally killed millions of people for his maddening desire. It was the greed and ambitions of Dhritrastra that gave birth to monsters like Duryod...

Fear of the unknown plays a big role in our lives. We keep sticking to the sickening routine because we do not know what lies in the domain of the unknown. We like to use the tested brands, buy flat in a known area, like to visit the places for which we have got the feedback, continue with the jobs and businesses that we do not like, continue in the suffocating relationships, and so on. Somehow, we have great fear in the domain of the unknown. On the other hand, we have people like Columbus and Vasco Da Gama who dared to travel in ships crossing the continents to an unknown world in an era when there were no mobiles or communication systems and these new continents were not even known. How did they have so much confidence in their dreams? What gave them the courage to enter into the sea full of storms and tough weather conditions, with almost 100% chance of losing their lives, to follow a very foggy vision of their dream? Where did this dream come in the first instance when the entire ...