I should stop criticizing around....

“My people with me are never smart enough to see the imminent dangers around. They talk as if the whole world is with them and they rule everywhere. They are too confident, plan everything meticulously and express great pride in achieving the same. In addition, they celebrate the mood. They thus jump with exploded happiness and excitement. Below is the carpet over which all are standing and boasting themselves. If pulled by fate, the right will become left in no time. In a moment, positions will change and kingdoms will be lost. In such a scenario, where is the thought of celebration?” Thus spoke the man with an indignation and anger on his face!

“What you described is too theoretical” Said the wise elderly man by the side with a smile. “It is something like sticking to dry philosophical life!”

“Sir! Am I telling something which is not true? How can you say what all I described is wrong? Our sacred books have the same message. I never told anything beyond that.”

“My dear! What a great man tells is different from what we talk but the sentences may remain the same; that is the beauty of philosophy! In all your observation, is it not a fact that what you have seen the qualities openly in others, you do not exhibit simply because you are afraid of them? Thus, you are leading a life as if the day is a big burden…. Instead, those who scream and celebrate their happiness are living a day of fullness…. You mentally know that everything is empty but your mind is not empty…. You too are not immune to the dangers nor have the courage to face them! At least, for them their ignorance is bliss but for you, your own knowledge in this line is big block which immobilized you already!”

While departing, the elderly said, “I should always see the merits in others and demerits in me; work towards improving myself….that’s all! This attitude alone truly makes me take life as it comes, live with all odds boldly and ultimately be thus happy with what the Almighty gives! Nothing else is sacred or worth remembering!”

All changes are for ultimate good only….

“I always dislike the changes that had taken place from our olden days” said an elderly man. “In our times life was in order, there were respect and values everywhere and all were more or less disciplined. That way we were happy. Today’s life may give all glitter and glamour but it lacks essentially the ethnic touch. I feel that we all are losing a sort of identity that was strongly there with us in earlier times. Today I see everywhere short cuts, quick money making, no time to relax, lots of copying and don’t care for tomorrow attitude….”

“I understand your observation” Said the friend with him who was an open minded personality in his life. “But you see, the whole humanity is evolving towards betterment, never towards downfall. That is a reality! In that process of evolving, there are halts where fascination in Nature holds strongly for a while. That fascination explodes into reality where in once again a new movement starts for betterment. This is an Eternal journey in Nature. In this process, individual souls may find their own betterment, evolve in a totally different direction and reach the Ultimate in a faster way! That way life goes on around us!”

While departing the wise man quipped, “Old may be gold but we also lived our lives through the power politics, political games and all related violence. At least, the individual freedom is better now and out of this freedom only one can bring out a real change towards ultimate good. That way we all have truly done our job whereby each individual expresses himself/herself better today compared to earlier times…. Let us wait for the good outcome of this expression!”

A Way to Salvation....

A young man visited an Ashram and put a sincere question to the Head of the Ashram thus, “Reverend Sir! For people like me, who live normal life with families, is there no way to Salvation?”

The Master replied, “My dear! There is nothing like that Salvation is only for Saints, Philosophers, Devotees and others who are in sacrificing roles….It is for one and all! In fact, an ordinary man may attain Salvation much faster than a Saint in an Ashram.

When we all live our lives continuously day to day hr to hr and minute to minute, there are always two ways of living in front of us. One is through action and the other through reacting to the situation. As long as I continue reacting, I can never attain Salvation. When I start doing the required actions known to me without questioning the level of actions I am doing, the way is sure towards Salvation…. We are all thus in individual boats and all have to navigate ourselves only though our own known methods. Rest is the Almighty’s Grace! In this context neither copying is an Elevation nor a particular way of living is a downfall!”

I should continuously correct only myself....

“No one is great; no one is less. All are the same. When interactions do take place between people, we continuously experience pleasantries and unplesantries. Depending on our experiences, we like or dislike people.   Based on this, we decide someone as good and dearer and some other not. That’s how our relations are built….A dearer individual looks great where as the other not!” a man thus was explaining the complexities of human relations.

“My Dear! You have forgotten the most important factor in this context” said an elderly wise man with a smile who was listening to the conversation.

“What is it, sir?”

“A feeling in myself that I am never great; In fact I am not! The primary attention all the while should be on this and only on this…. Once I look at myself that way, all issues with me are straight away taken care. The search in the outside world ends and all corrections in me will start…. That is the only way of developing the right relations in the world with people around!”

A solution to the Unrest....

A man of mid forties was honest, used to work hard, reasonably secured in life and had a good family life. He was thus a man with a sense of achievement. Further he was a strong believer of God and used to participate in many devotional programs continuously.

In spite of having all and living with a good discipline, he was having certain unrest with him and he found that not to leave him at any cost. On one of the days, he happened to meet an elderly gentleman who was philosophical in his life, sincerely told him his problem and sought his advice.

The elderly listened to him fully, paused and said thus…..” My dear! You are a well disciplined individual. God had bestowed many on you and you are deeply indebted to the Almighty for this.”

“Your unrest today is out of a possessive feeling you strongly developed in respect of things around you. This possessive feeling is indirectly supported by the continuous success in life and growth achieved by you. In fact, to take care of your possessions beyond your capacities which are not in your control, you developed deep faith in God and that is also true because God alone takes care of us!”

But The Almighty expects me to do one more along with a sincere Prayer to Him. He expects me to unwind myself by reducing this possessive feeling as much as possible in my life. If I am a true devotee of God, I should follow this Order and thus come up with an action which involves giving away a little beyond. This ‘beyond’ is something beyond what I decide to do. In that scenario alone, my fear of uncertainty comes down and that total action is true devotion towards God. Please do start giving the excess to the deserved in a proper way and let that action be steady with a feeling of love in giving rather than a ritual completed and soon the mind is back on possessions….This way, the mind will be cleansed of the uncertainties that lurk in and you will be a happy individual for the rest of life…”

The man felt at this point of time that the only path that takes out the tension is….Start winding up through a ‘Give away’ attitude!

Right Actions ever save us....

A man was constantly worried. “I am doing my best around. But still I attract criticism in my doings. See, if I miss anything doing, I agree that it is my fault and I am glad to correct the same if pointed out. Further, I am ready to make up any loss or damage because of that. But there are people around me whose job is only to point out…. How should I deal or face such scenarios? I am unhappy! Sometimes I feel like stopping all these works and get off….” He said thus lamenting to one of his well wishers on an evening.

The elderly gentleman listened to him patiently, paused a while and said, “My Dear! Relax;no despair! The hurt or pain at psychological level you experience in life is always time bound.   When it strikes, it appears profound, feels like that life is not worth  that moment and there would be a deep negative feeling of something missing seriously…. Sometimes it is a feeling of total let down! The reason for this feeling is that my ‘self’ is not recognized for a moment!  And what all I want at that moment is that the same is recognized at any cost; nothing else….that’s all!

But the only safe guarding discipline of the moment is…. ‘I continue doing my essential works without a stop!’ This alone saves an individual in that tough time….

Definitely a difficult task and those moments of continuing doing the essential works do look like a total loss of personality….a feeling of my kingdom lost....but no regrets; in reality it is ‘NUL’….

When I involve thus a little patiently, that’s all…..I have conquered the world and one hundred times a better kingdom is back with me! In a definite time depending on the level of hurt, I would be seeing a level of calmness as before along with the good accrued out of right deeds done in time….

This is the beauty in life and the right way to true happiness!”

A different way of Living....

An elderly gentleman narrated a story....

A man was constantly thinking while giving, “If I give so much, how much really I get back?”  Another was constantly thinking while giving, “If I give only this much, how much the person is really benefitted?” Thus both lived their lives. Soon both had become old with lessened capabilities....

The kith and kin of the first man were constantly getting annoyed, “Oh! How much we are losing with this burden?” The kith and kin of the second were constantly planning, “How best we can take care of him at this point of time?”

A listener questioned the elderly gentleman thus, “Sir! How are you so sure that the kith and kin do that way only? It appears to me that it could be at best an assumption and a hope because nothing is known in concrete!”

The elderly smiled and said, “Yes, my dear! You have put the right question. As you said, no one knows what happens really. But through a giving attitude, two sure things do happen, no doubt in that....

Number one is that I would be having enough mental strength to take whatever comes to me with a smile and that way I see the care provided by the kith and kin as a better care only.

Number two is that along with the discipline of giving attitude, I would  be doing my work to the core. So I will not have any time to feel and judge the treatment given to me. Everything would be seen only as a gift of God. At Worship, what is offered by the Priest to partake is simply taken with full devotion. There, we do not discuss the quality and quantity aspects of the Offer! That way all care would be seen as the best!”

Am I better?....

A man was discussing some of the issues of life with a distant elderly relative who was an introvert and mentor all through his life. “People around never understand the right way of doing things which is so evident in life." he said.  "I feel sorry for them. Their suffering will come down only if they understand a little of truth and follow the right path straight away....”

The elderly gentleman looked at him and said, “My Dear! True Understanding is not that simple! It is a Gift from Almighty! It is far, far.... away for me....What appeals to me the max is a little more correct relatively than what appeals to others….That’s all!

The infinite gap between the Original Truth and what I perceive in life is my ignorance. This is associated with simultaneous feelings of conflict, guilt and repentance in me together called strife in life! All these operate at mind level only….not beyond! And they are only my feelings and thus my life goes on….And it is ever my duty to reduce the quantum of this strife in my life.”

While departing, he smiled and quipped, “How much am I really correct in pointing out these personalities around when actually I, myself is far behind them with this feeling of pride in me that ‘I am better!’”

Democratic Ruling....

In a town, all the elders have decided to see that human expression is allowed the best.

Accordingly stringent laws were made to punish those who come in the way of this.

Life moved on thus with cheer on every one’s face for some time.

A certain group of individuals of special expertise/expression had a wild idea.

Why not express ourselves still better?

Thus greed entered the scenario.

They, as a group promoted their idea together and in time got a tag that it was a total welfare activity for the masses.

Thus their activities had an extra edge over the general rules and regulations and in time the gist of the same was a law by itself.

Life moved on thus.

A few wanted to say the advantage of living without the help of this expertise.

They were asked to prove that else it was against the law!

Right Education....

Two families were living as neighbors. The members of one family might not have come up as very capable with the education given to them but were grown with responsibilities attached. The members of the second family had become smart with their education but were pampered a lot with no major responsibilities with them in the right time!

The Heads of the two families had soon become old. And respective responsibilities were to be handled partly by the members of both families.

The Head of the first family was cool all the time as the members had taken over their responsibilities in time, set right their life styles and streamlined certain issues of the family. Thus they were together under one roof with one orientation in life! What Head had meant and the members meant were more or less the same except for minor differences accommodating personal and age factors….

The Head of other family had a hell of problem. Even though members of his family were smart, they lived haphazardly without taking up major family responsibilities in time. Many advantage seekers in the guise of friends joined around and life went on merrily but for a short time. Soon, the Head was forced to manage the family issues himself and it was a herculean task for him in that age. What the Head had meant, the members never followed. Instead they had their own priorities! Ultimately there was utter chaos!

The Head had repented at this stage, “How much important it is to bring up children teaching them responsibilities of life in the right time!”

Life is never a Problem....

Two young people who were close friends had two different approaches of living….

One is used to say, face the problems and live through life….The other used to struggle with the problems…..

Both had happened to meet one day on certain occasion. The first one was happy. The second one was a little sad.

The second one murmured, “I go on solving the problems, but they would be coming multiplied and sometimes too many. There is no breathing time in my life.”

Seeing the first one cool, the friend asked, “Don’t you have major problems?” The first one laughed and said, “I have problems but I have a life too to live through happily! The two are separate for me. I solve problems the best possible way all the time, but follow a fine discipline. When it is reasonably evident that I cannot do anything with a problem for the time being, it is off from my mind and thus I live happily. At the same time I do not escape into a relaxing technique which ultimately is nothing but covering up the unsolvable problem. Thus I live and that way my life is always peaceful!”

Effects of Good deeds....

“It is a thankless job” the young man said sadly. “I do everything in the best possible way and try to support people around. They are not conscious of the same and often point out only my mistakes which invariably happen here and there. Sometimes I feel like stopping the activities all together....”

“No my dear! Do not stop any one of the activities which you are doing presently and maintain the status quo. A lot of good lies in this” said an elderly gentleman smilingly. “Whatever may be the turmoil, you always build a fortune for you through your good deeds in the world. People who are the recipients of the same may not bother about you this moment as they are too engrossed in their own fulfillments and thus do not find time to recognize your goodness. Further, if they encounter a pestering problem, they get agitated and in the process you may be the target of attack as you are straight forward and do not oppose unnecessarily. But, let your activities go on with full swing. The beauty in Nature is that the effects of good accrue faster and always stay in the minds of people for ever but at a depth. There will be a day in every one’s life when he/she invariably sees this and that happens soon as the vagaries of Nature are always tuned to reveal these golden jewels at depth! That’s the Day of Victory in your life!’

My true Upliftment....

A young man had a great doubt. He met a Saint in an Ashram and straight away asked Him a question. “Reverend Sir! The philosophy of life preaches one to be unique in thought, speech and action. I am daily doing that way whatever may be the consequences. But, I am constantly facing criticism from every corner in this regard. Kindly tell me am I wrong in doing this way? What else I have to do?”

The Saint smiled and said, “My dear! The discipline of uniqueness in thought-speech-action is the ideal. But for people like us who are in the process of evolving at various levels, the discipline to follow is different. In fact, sometimes it is exactly opposite; in the sense we allow the differences to study them as we surely differ in these. And the task in front of us is….The moment we are aware of this, try to reduce these differences in a natural way. This exercise alone is in front of every one of us and the true upliftment in our lives is through minimizing these differences as much as possible. That itself is the truthful life for us. We really have to do nothing else further in this direction!’

The young man at this point of time had understood the meaning of true upliftment in life!

A Change required in Me....

A man’s life was good;sufficient money, steady job and other comforts of life….Highly enjoyable without a problem!  A large number of friends and well wishers were around him all the time at beck and call.  Life was going on thus on a high profile note….

Suddenly the man got into a difficulty.  He had to fight it out to the core….That way he had done it with all his might and re set his life. Most of his friends and well wishers were far behind him in this transformation.  None could whole heartedly support him on his new venture except very few on finger count!

But soon, the man had new set of friends and well wishers with him except that they were few in number and life moved on thus….

The man got into another difficulty. He was not much disturbed this time as he had already determined himself to be in the direction of facing such difficulties. To his surprise, the new friends and well wishers never left him at all....They continued to be with him through all travails of this new challenge; a sea of change in attitude compared to the earlier situation!

The man felt within himself, “The only way world around could become better is that I change and keep myself steady in that direction; that’s all!  Change around soon surfaces and gains momentum in no time….”

True Benefit of Charity....

It is said, ‘Charity begins at home.’

Giving / parting or sharing has to be done in life at any cost else life has no meaning!  So let me start this where I feel comfortable. This happens when the recipient is in my own circle....This assumption would put me at ease in giving / parting and sharing but indirectly the good practice continues….

But it need not stop there….

More number of people can be included in the circle as the time moves on…. Thus distant people, unknown people, people who come in contact instantly and so on would become the recipients in this process….

And ultimately, may be the person branded by me as my enemy! The true Elevation in my life!