The Meannesses of the Heart

 Sri Yukteswar said, “The first and most essential thing on the spiritual path is to uncover the natural love of the heart; without that one cannot take one step on the spiritual path.”

Swami Kriyananda said, "The opening of the heart must be understood as an opening of our nature. It is not something we acquire or impose on our nature. It is something we uncover through our spiritual growth.

Why is it our nature? God holds this universe together by the power of love, and everything is a part of that love. We are held to one another, to life, to everything by the adhesive power of God’s love. The more we develop spiritually, the more we uncover within ourselves the heart’s natural love."

Sri Yukteswar described those obstacles that prevent us from uncovering the heart’s natural love as the “meannesses of the heart.” There are eight such obstacles: hatred, shame, fear, grief, condemnation, race prejudice, pride of pedigree, and a narrow sense of respectability. 

Once these obstacles are removed, we experience  what Sri Yukteswar describes as “magnanimity of the heart” — great love for people, for life, and for God.

When we look around us and also introspect and start discriminating, in a process of 'neti, neti..' not this, not that, one realizes that what keeps us tied to delusion are these meannesses. One would think that hatred, condemnation, race prejudice, pride of pedigree and a narrow sense of respectability, are sort of self explanatory.

What was confounding for me were the others. For example 'shame'. 

Family

 It is important to have family and often they are the people we spend the most time with. You also don't get to decide who they are. But some of your closest family members can turn out to be very weird. I am sure that I am not the only one who feels that way. 

There is nothing like a family wedding that makes you appreciate a bit of 'me' time. We are all a little insane at some level, but what brings about a full blown episode is when we are thrown together for an extended period of time or when the decision making is collective.

Recently, there was an important and also time bound decision to be made and I was trying to call someone (psst..family). She  was too busy to answer the phone, or reply to my text. But not too busy to be on facebook. Very interesting........Or probably they just fainted from the excitement of getting a call from me. I hope she calls back when she wakes up. Or probably they are so touched by my text, that they can't even pull it together to text back. You should applaud me for my tenacity, because I keep calling, to check, how not answering my call is going. 

My family can be said to be quite dysfunctional. What passes as 'normal' in my family, might be quite the 'outlier', if one draws a  family 'normality' curve. 

While some people might have the sweetest things to say about their family , my family interactions are  more like swallowing pills, with swigs of chocolate milk shake in between. 

Leadership - Learning from the birds

 

People have  been spell bound at how hundreds of birds can fly in perfect formation and unison.

This incredible natural phenomena can be an interesting study in societal structures of birds and what we humans can learn from their behaviour. 

Just as human organizations have leaders, do the birds have a leader which initiates the direction of flight and also changes in altitude and direction?

The answer is that there is not a leader but many leaders...in fact the leader keeps changing....

The flawless formation and seamless changing directions is because every bird can lead as well as follow, by intuitively sensing changes in direction and speed of the birds closest to them.

This can be a model for organizations in a higher age or yuga.  

The World is a Mirror

 I had a wonderful pongal with family. Some really relaxed days at Quiet Home with zero responsibility, was healing at many levels. While observing people around me I was surprised to see how much my perceptions of people and things had changed. People who used to really rile me earlier, turned out to be really sweet and kind and helpful. 

Devi Ji in her blog, Three Mirrors ( You can read it here: https://www.ananda.org/jyotish-and-devi/three-mirrors/) says, " Whether we have a self-diminishing or self-aggrandizing conception of ourself, if we think only of such superficial aspects as our body and personality, we’re usually far from the true mark.

Similarly, whether others see us in a positive or negative way, their impressions may be colored by their own values and preferences. Their reactions can also change over time: one day they’re heaping praise on us, and the next, we’re abandoned by the wayside."

Reading this beautiful blog I realised how superficial and wrong my judgement or opinion about people or situations could be. Like a kaleidoscope, people seem to change and so do our thoughts and perceptions. 

Devi Ji goes on to say in her blog, "So how can we perceive the truth of our being? It is not by looking at the distorted images we see reflected in this house of mirrors which comprise the material world. When we offer all that we are at the feet of the Divine, we can gaze into His flawless mirror and see reflected there our true self: a spark of God made of His bliss and light"

The world can be alluring and attractive, in its ability to pull us into the material world. But our true bliss and true self is reflected by the divine. One cannot but realize how reckless it would be to look for joy and bliss in this world.  And how imperative it is to be rooted in God all the time. 

Thank you God, Thank you Guru!

Negative People

 When we live in this world, we do find people with harmful emotions. People who are negative are quite common. I as a woman in India, have found gossiping  a common trait among women. Men gossip too, but from my experience, their pre occupation with their work and other responsibilities, reduces the amount of time they gossip. For women on the other hand, gossiping seems to be their main occupation. It has a strange attraction. But gossiping can be very harmful to the mind and the soul. 

I took a trip with friends recently and found that there was a lower consciousness that becomes apparent as we spent a few days together. Having been in isolation with covid, teaching online,  meditating, and keeping the company of only spiritual people, I did not realize how the environment can have such a toxic influence on us. Every time I talk to worldly people I find the tendency towards gossip, jealousy, criticism, judgement and negativity. 

In general human minds are selfish and self pre occupied.

Helping and serving other, returning love for hate, exercising regularly and meditating I find are helpful. It always helps to avoid toxic people .

Gossip has a powerful energy of its own, breaking relationships and good will.  

My contact with a saintly person showed me how it is possible to live one's life. 

Yogananda said, “Environment is stronger than will (power).” He also said that  “Thoughts are universally, not individually, rooted.” A very important thing however is, the influences we are OPEN to. lination will find that an environment of gossip doesn’t attract them. 

If one is surrounded by material, aggressive, petty, worldly people and we are OPEN to their influence, then the law of magnetism does work and allowing it to affect us, especially when our aura is weak. 

So, it is important to keep our aura strong. through meditation,  and other techniques. Chanting "Aum Guru" all the time, helps. Thinking of the Guru and praying. Also surrounding ourselves with pictures of the Gurus,  Or one can keep a strong affirmations such as "I love only thee". Affirmations too can be a source of aura-strengthening and protection. Repeating throughout the day affirmations and prayers is vital.

Swami Kriyananda’s book,  Awaken to Superconsciousness, gives these excellent tips that we can follow to keep our aura strong and positive. 

• Avoid, as much as you can, contact with negative people and especially those with stronger magnetism than yours (at least in the arena of their negativity). This is obvious of course but should be stated. Do not imagine that you can change them just because of your goodwill and spiritual lifestyle! Be sensitive to the impact of such a person on your feelings. This counsel can even include not looking into the eyes of such a person (any more than necessary, at least) — not even shaking hands!
• Place your hands together and cross your thumbs one over the other forming a cross-shape with your two thumbs. Hold out in front of you and mentally picture anyone from whom you feel a psychic threat. See your “mudra” as reflecting back to that person any energy they are sending to you. (Not to harm them but to protect yourself.) Avoid dwelling on that person mentally.
• Before going to sleep, trace the letters of A…U….M…. on your pillow before sleeping.
• In standing position, stretch your arms in front of you chest-high, with palms facing inward to each other and touching; next spread the arms in opposite directions until they meet directly behind you. Thus swinging your arms in front and behind chant aloud or silent: AUM, TAT, SAT (this is the equivalent of Father, Son, Holy Ghost calling on God in the triune nature beyond creation, within creation and as creation). Do this as often as you feel to energize your aura which is your psychic protection shield.
• When feeling threatened, mentally or silently chant this mantra: Aum Hreeng Kleeng Krishnaya Namaha!

It is said that the world is a mirror of our thoughts and consciousness. The fact that we are aware of it and notice it means that it resonates in us. 

 Read these words of Yogananda’s and remember them all the time,  “Remember all the time that all conditions are neutral! It’s not what is happening to me that is important, but how I’m responding.”

Your lifestyle and your thoughts should be clean and uplifted. Avoid dark entertainment, including intense images of violence or sex. Exercise regularly and have a nutritious, wholesome diet. Be attentive to the needs of others around you and be helpful whenever you can. Enjoy uplifting music. Your clothes should be neat and clean. Bathe daily. All of these simple aspects of life can help keep your aura bright and clean. Devotion, finally, is the best cleanser!

Joy to you All!

Post Covid????

 As the world stumbles back to a semblance of normalcy it seems like one has to relearn how to socialise and travel. After two years of staying more or less indoors, there is a new normal. Shopping is very rare. Grocery is through big basket or dunzo. When my daughter had her wedding reception that was when I had my first exposure to the outside world of shopping. It was crazy but I survived and enjoyed it. This December there was the travel bug, that itch to travel after the years of confinement. A group of us go together and decided to visit Aurangabad. We enjoyed the Ajanta, Ellora caves and all else but I came back with a flu which was not covid but was quite a nightmare. it made me think, was the extended period of social disctancing made me more prone to these common viruses. 

Hopefully the omicrona and the new mutated strains like IHU should be beginning of the end of covid, with the virus mutating itself out of existence. 

Illness is it man made?

 Recently I was travelling with a group of friends. We were visiting different places for sightseeing and this required some amount of walking and climbing. Were were all in our late fifties or sixties. And several members in the group were not in a condition to take up the extensive walking and climbing. During this trip one person developed a severe infection and another one was finding it difficult to breathe. As i interacted with this group I found myself absorbing this 'illness' vibration and  thinking that i am going to fall ill too, which i did...It was uncanny, especially as I was quite healthy and fit. 

Trying to understand this situation i read this article by Paramhansa Yogananda  https://www.ananda.org/blog/yogananda-cancer-meditation/

Yogananda Ji says, "chronic mental or physical diseases always have deep roots in the subconscious mind". Master goes on to say, "To achieve permanent success, you must meditate morning and night, and concentrate the superconscious peace rays on the brain, scorching out the seeds of past failures and stimulating the success tendencies." Master goes on to say, "When your mind can remain completely apart from the body at will, you will be free. Why not remain forever joyful in the Self? By tuning into God and waking up in His consciousness, you will know that this life is nothing but a dream.

I found the answer to my situation through Master. Like he says, the root is in the subconscious mind. Maybe a deep rooted fear of falling sick is stimulated when one finds sickness around us. This sets in motion the energy that manifests sickness. When we meditate daily and deeply and fill the brain with peace and success, this burns negative tendencies that manifest illness.  And, one more thing we can do is detach our mind from the body, by rooting the mind to God. This way, bodily illnesses will not be able to touch the mind. This way the mind remains free and joyful, in God. 

Aurangabad with GCT gang

 

We group of 10 travelled to Aurangabad. Dec 27 to Dec 30.....Ajanta caves were a long drive. The mini bus was very jerky. the roads were bad...about 125 km from aurangabad. We started climbing up at about 1 pm. some of the people in our group got exhausted. but some of us continued. Some caves were important. luckily for a few caves we got a guide. The mahanaya branch of buddhism where they worship the idol of Buddha was evident in these caves. This must have been before the 7th century when buddhism was florishing, before the hindu wave squashed the buddhist movement. The statue of Buddha was evident in many of the caves. there were meditation rooms for the buddhist monks. Buddha's hands were in pravachan or preaching mudra, or bhoomi mudra or meditation mudra. or blessing mudra. the caves were abandoned and rediscovered in 19th century by the british. who excavated and cleaned them up for tourists. 

The Ajanta caves are truly marvelous in their intricacy. its truly amazing how the buddhist monks carved these sculptures. Cave 26 had a 24 feet sleeping buddha. There was a cave with the visuals of the jataka tales, stories of the different incarnations of Buddha as a monkey, elephant, etc. One cave had painting of  these beautiful jewelry worn by women. These paintings are iconic and popular as arts in cloth for adorning homes. 

The next day we went to the Ellora caves, which are closer to Aurangabad. The highlight of the Ellora caves is a beautiful monolith, carved from top downwards. Its a hindu temple of Shiva. The linga broke and was cemented back but because of that it cannot be used as a temple for pooja, any more. Pictoral depiction of the Ramayana and Mahabharatha were there. Hindu caves are not used for meditation or staying, unlike the Ajanta caves, where the monks lived. 

the Ellora caves consist of buddhist, hindu and jain caves. We visited the hindu caves, mainly. 

The caves we visited had Shiva and Parvati, Gajalakshmi...Natraja....

On the second day, apart from the Ellora caves we also visited Daulatabad fort and  the Grishneswar temple ( Jothirlinga temple)

On the final day we visited panchakki, bibi ka maqbara (Mini Tajmahal) and some temples.

Panchakki- A sufi saint built a earthen pipe to bring water to this place from 6 km away. The water runs a turbine to make a flour chakki rotate. the first chakki ground 80 kgs atta per day. the later one 160 kgs of atta. The place has a dining hall to feed people which is cooled by water on the roof. Now abandoned

The people in our group had a tough time walking to all the places.