3 Lessons to learn from a Pencil

Forgive

Worrying

The grass is not always greener on the other side.

​  The grass is not always greener on the other side.

  It is greener on the lawn that is most cared for.

  If we water it regularly, pull out all the weeds, 

  then our lawn can be greener too.

 If we watch our thoughts regularly, 

 get rid of negativity from the mind,

 and constantly try to feed positivity,

 then our life can be happier and peaceful too.

Memory test

"If you want to test your memory, try to recall what you were worrying about
one year ago today."

E. Joseph Cossman

Appearance vs. wisdom

One day Emperor Chandragupta said to his versatile minister Chaanakya “You are the wisest person in my kingdom; it would have been great if you were good looking as well."

Chanakya replied: "My lord, outer appearance is just a mirage; a person is distinguished by his virtues and wisdom, not by his looks or beauty."

"Is there any example you know, where virtues overshadow the beauty." asked the Emperor.

"There are many such examples but first you drink some water to relax your mind and then we will talk." said Chanakya.

Then one by one, he offered two cups of water to the Emperor and asked "my lord, the first cup of water was from this gold pitcher and the second from ​a​ clay ​pot​, now please tell me, out of both the cups which one tasted better?"

​The Emperor said​  "water from the black clay ​​pitcher was cooler and more​ ​satisfying."​​

The minister smiled and said, "​ ​My lord, although the gold pitcher appeared shiny and more beautiful, you preferred the taste of water from the black clay pitcher. You see it is essentially the water that is important, not the pot, in which it was contained in.

 Similarly, a person is defined by his virtues and wisdom and not by his appearance."

                                                      ‘Rajan Sachdeva’

Oh Lord......... Let me ..........

My Lord !
Let me be patient.
Let me realize that you are in charge of all things.​

​Let me realize that I am not the "Doer"
Let me realize that I can only act according to whatever power you have vested in me,
and according to the wisdom, You gave me.  ​

​Let me realize that I am merely an instrument in thy hands. ​

​Let me realize that everything I see, is your manifestation.
Let me realize that I am only a visitor in this world to witness your marvelous creation.
Let me be a "Witness"

                                                                              'Rajan Sachdeva'

NON-DUALITY

                                        NON-DUALITY

Don't contemplate as mere activity.

Be void contemplating void.

Once one understands that the ultimate nature of this existence is void, one understands that to be void is the only true mode of meditation.

Notice that void is not the object of meditation. To pair meditator and object creates a dualistic relationship between self and environment that leads one astray.

In meditation we are searching for unity. We need something that takes us out of the normal dualistic modes that are the origins of all our difficulties. Therefore, the only true meditation is one that does not put us into a relationship of viewer and object. Any object, no matter how holy, still reinforces the illusion that there is a reality outside of ourselves. What we are trying to gain is the true interior view: There is no difference between our inner and outer realities.

The ultimate meditation is the realization that we ourselves are empty of distinctions, that our sense of identity is only the result of dualistic clinging. Along with that, we should understand that there is really nothing to contemplate, nothing to think about.

                                                      Taken from :  Tao: Daily Meditations

The Light Within...

Have you ever noticed that if we are driving in dark at night and suddenly someone turns the inside lights on, the outside visibility becomes poor?

The brighter is the light inside, poorer is the vision outside.

Similarly, the more spiritual light we develop inside, less we see the outer world. 

The more enlightened we become, less would be our interest in the outer worldly pleasures and positions.

If the mind is still entangled in worldly dilemmas and concerns, if there is still a strong desire to achieve more wealth and power, higher worldly status, name and fame, then the inside light has not yet been lit properly. 

Even if the light is not so bright to be able to see properly, but if it makes us aware of the things lying around us, we can still avoid stumbling onto them, by being careful of our surroundings and continue to search for what we are looking for.

Similarly, our mind would also not stumble over worldly distractions because of the spiritual light; even if it is not yet fully illumined.

Even a little light of Gyaana, can guide us through the path of enlightenment to keep searching for what we want.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now the question is what are we searching for and where?

Everyone wants happiness and peace and everyone seeks it, but where; within or outside?

And is there enough light where we are supposed to be searching?

If there is no light or not enough light inside the mind, then we would start looking for everything outside.

I remember a story, which I heard in my childhood.

Once, during the night time, an old lady was searching for something on the road.

A young man saw her and asked " Mata ji, what are you looking for?"

She replied, "I dropped my sewing needle and can’t find it now."

The young man also started looking for it.

After searching for a while he asked the old lady,

"Could you please tell me where exactly did you drop it?"

The old lady said “I dropped the needle in my house."

"So why are you looking for it here?" The young man asked.

She said “there is no light in my house and since there is a lot of light out here on the road so I thought, I will look for it here.

“Vastu kanhin, dhoondat kahin, Kis vidhi aave Haath”

                                                                

"How can you find an object, if you are not searching at the right location?"

                                                                                     (Sant Kabir Ji)

Few days ago, our doorbell rang at around 11:30 at night. We were surprised as we were not expecting anyone in middle of the night. I tried to see thru the window, but could not see anyone as the light outside was not enough.

I thought if we turn the inside lights off, we might get a better view.

So I turned off the lights inside the house. Even though outside light was quite dim but the view became clearer after the inside light was turned off.

Since we want to search for happiness and peace in the outside world, we turn off the inside light.

We have to turn it off....... Because when the inside, when our mind is fully illumined with Gyana, the view of the outer world starts to fade out, we stop searching for peace outside.

The truth is...

Sabẖ kicẖẖ gẖar mėh bāhar nāhī.
Bāhar tolai so bẖaram bẖulāhī.
Gur parsādī jinī anṯar pāyeā, so anṯar bāhar suhelā jīo ||

                                                                   (Guru Arjun Dev ji)

Everything is within the self; there is nothing beyond.
One who searches outside is deluded by doubt.
By Guru's Grace, one who has found it within…. is happy, inwardly and outwardly.

                                                                                       (SGGS Page 102) 

Happiness and peace is achieved and experienced only within the mind, and not from outside, therefore it is important to fully illumine the light of Gyana in our mind.

                                                            ‘Rajan Sachdeva’

अंदर का प्रकाश # 2

रात के अँधेरे में ड्राइव (drive ) करते हुए अक्सर ऐसा होता है कि अगर कोई अचानक
कार के अंदर की लाइट जला दे तो बाहर ठीक से दिखाई नहीं देता। 
अंदर की लाइट जितनी तेज़ होगी, बाहर उतना ही कम दिखाई देगा।

मन में अध्यात्मिकता का प्रकाश जितना बढ़ेगा, बाहर के संसार का प्रभाव उतना ही कम होता जाएगा। 

यदि मन संसार की दुविधाओं और चिंताओं में उलझा हुआ है, 
अधिकाधिक धन संग्रह तथा मान और यश की प्राप्ति की लालसा अभी बाकी है,
तो ज़ाहिर है कि अभी मन के अंदर ठीक से प्रकाश नहीं हो पाया है । 

                                           प्रश्न :

" …… प्रकाश चाहे मध्यम हो या इतना क्षीण हो कि सामने पड़ी वस्तुओं का मात्र आभास ही हो रहा हो, तब भी व्यक्ति ठोकर खाने से बच जाता है यदि उसकी कोशिश होती है कि वह उनसे बचे और जिस वस्तु को ढूंढ रहा है वह मिल जाए। .......... "

 
इसमें कोई शंका नहीं कि मन के अंदर मध्यम या थोडा सा भी प्रकाश हो तो इंसान ठोकर से बच जाता है।
इसीलिए एक ज्ञानी, भक्त और सत्संगी बहुत विकल और परेशान नहीं होता, और अगर हो भी तो जल्दी संभल जाता है, और कोशिश करता है कि जिस वस्तु को ढूंढ रहा है वह मिल जाए।
लेकिन प्रश्न ये है कि वो क्या ढूंढ रहा है और कहाँ ढूंढ रहा है।
और जहां ढूंढना चाहिए, वहां प्रकाश है या नहीं ?

स्वाभाविक रूप से हर इंसान सुख और शान्ति चाहता है, और ढूंढता भी है।
लेकिन कहाँ? अंदर या बाहर?
यदि अंदर प्रकाश न हो, या कम हो, तो हम सब कुछ बाहर ही ढूंढते रह जाएंगे।

बचपन में एक कहानी सुनी थी।
एक बुढिया माता रात के समय सडक पर कुछ ढूंढ रही थी।
 एक नौजवान ने देखा तो पूछा "माता जी क्या ढूंढ रही हो ?"
माता ने कहा बेटा मेरी कपडे सीने वाली सूई गिर गई है, मिल नहीं रही।
वह नौजवान भी ढूँढने लगा।
कुछ देर ढूँढने पर जब सूई नहीं मिली तो उसने कहा माता जी कुछ ठीक से बताइए कि सूई किस जगह गिरी थी। 
माता ने कहा "बेटा ! सूई तो मेरे घर में गिरी थी "
"तो यहाँ क्यों ढूंढ रहे हो ?" नौजवान ने पूछा। 
माता बोली "बेटा  ! मेरे घर में बिजली नहीं है। चूंकि यहाँ सडक पर बहुत रौशनी है, इसलिए मैंने सोचा यहाँ ढूंढ लेती हूँ ।"


" वस्तु कहीं ढूँढत कहीं, किस विधि आवे हाथ ?" ( संत कबीर जी)
 

कुछ दिन पहले की बात है . रात को करीब साढ़े ग्यारह बजे दरवाजे की घंटी बजी।
हैरानी हुई कि इतनी रात गए अचानक बिना फोन किए कौन आ सकता है।
खिड़की से देखा तो कोई दिखाई नहीं दिया क्योंकि बाहर लाइट कुछ कम थी ।
सोचा कि अगर अंदर की लाइट बुझा दी जाए तो शायद बाहर कुछ बेहतर दिखाई दे।
ऐसा ही हुआ …. . बाहर की लाइट बेशक कम थी लेकिन फिर भी अंदर की लाइट बुझाते ही बाहर स्पष्ट दिखाई देने लगा। 

चूंकि हम सुख और शान्ति बाहर ढूंढना चाहते हैं इसलिए अंदर की लाइट बुझा देते हैं।
बुझानी ही पड़ती है.. . क्योंकि अंदर तीव्र प्रकाश होने से बाहर दिखाई ही नहीं देगा ।
 
लेकिन सत्य तो यही है कि ……

"सभ किछु घर महि बाहरि नाही ॥   बाहरि टोलै सो भरमि भुलाही ॥
गुर परसादी जिनी अंतरि पाइआ सो अंतरि बाहरि सुहेला जीउ ॥१॥"
                (गुरु अर्जुन देव  / महला 5 गु: ग्र: सा: page # 102 )

सुख और शान्ति बाहर से नहीं, अंदर से प्राप्त होती है, इसलिए मन के अंदर प्रकाश को पूर्ण रूप से प्रज्वलित करना जरूरी है।  

Hundred Years from now.......

"Quote"

“One hundred years from now
It will not matter
What kind of car I drove,
What kind of house I lived in,
How much I had in my bank
Nor what my clothes looked like.
One hundred years from now
It will not matter
What kind of school I attended,
What kind of typewriter I used,How large or small my church,
But the world may be ...
a little better because...
I was important in the life of a child.”

― Forest Whitcraft

Patience

Few days ago, I felt an urge to bake a cake. I found a simple recipe over the internet and tried to follow it. I carefully measured all the ingredients, and mixed them properly in a baking pan. Heated the oven to the required temperature and placed the pan in it.

According to the recipe, it was going to be ready in twenty minutes. I set the timer and sat down on a chair in the kitchen. Five minutes later, out of curiosity, I opened the oven and took the pan out to see what was happening. There was hardly any difference in the dough, so I placed it back in the oven. Few minutes later, I took it out again to see if it was ready. It was not so I had to place it back in the oven. 

I was too anxious to eat it so I kept opening the oven door every few minutes to see if it was ready. Finally, after 25 - 30 minutes I noticed the cake had risen in only a few places but was otherwise flat. The corners were also burnt and the middle of the cake remained uncooked. It was not at all what I expected it to be.

What went wrong?

Was the recipe bad? Or was it my measurements or the mixing that went wrong?

What went wrong was that I missed an important part of any process: Patience.

I needed to be patient. 

             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We want immediate results. 

We pray, and want the answer right away. 

Any act of kindness we do, we want to be rewarded immediately.

We go to Satsang, do some Seva or Simran, meditation and start expecting something in return, right away.

"Dheere dheere re manaa, Dheere sub kuchh hoye
 Maali seenche sau gharaa, Ritu aaye phal hoye"

In this famous 'doha' (verse) in Hindi, the poet, (I believe it was written by 'Raheem') says that if we plant a seed and give hundred pots of water at one time, it would not bloom overnight and start producing fruit. Everything happens slowly in its own time and season. 

Patience teaches us not to rush. 

Patience is not only a virtue, it gives us strength also. 

Knowing that there is a reason and a season for everything, it enables us to face all situations and the challenges calmly.

                                                                                ‘Rajan Sachdeva’

अंदर का प्रकाश

रात के अँधेरे में ड्राइव (drive ) करते हुए अक्सर ऐसा होता है कि अगर कोई अचानक
कार के अंदर की लाइट जला दे तो बाहर ठीक से दिखाई नहीं देता। 
अंदर की लाइट जितनी तेज़ होगी, बाहर उतना ही कम दिखाई देगा।

मन में अध्यात्मिकता का प्रकाश जितना बढ़ेगा, बाहर के संसार का प्रभाव उतना ही कम होता जाएगा। 

यदि मन संसार की दुविधाओं और चिंताओं में उलझा हुआ है, 
अधिकाधिक धन संग्रह तथा मान और यश की प्राप्ति की लालसा अभी बाकी है,
तो ज़ाहिर है कि अभी मन के अंदर ठीक से प्रकाश नहीं हो पाया है ।   

Just going to religious places is not enough

This morning, I received an interesting quote from a friend :

“Anyone who thinks sitting in a church can make you a Christian
must also think that sitting in a garage can make you a car.”
                                                               By ― Garrison Keillor


A person could engage in study of scriptures, or listen to chants, religious hymns or kirtans and spiritual discourses all day long, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that he will change or elevate his consciousness.

In fact, if that is all we are doing, then we are merely entertaining ourselves.

'Gyana' has the power to bring peace, but only if it is applied practically.

Keeping a medicine in the closet will not cure the disease unless we use it.

One can not gain any health benefits just by becoming a member of a health club, or by watching others exercise.

Similarly, how can we become spiritual just by becoming a member of a church, temple, or any religious place of our choice?

Religious places, spiritual scriptures and teachers offer us guidance and help us to rise above.

But we have to walk the path ourselves. No one else can.

Ilme Baatin - Ilme Zaahir by Rumi

Ilme Baatin Hamchu masqa, Ilme Zaahir hamchu sheer
Kee Buwad be-sheer Masqa, kee buwad be-Peer, Peer "  (Rumi )

Internal Knowledge (ilme baatin) is like butter and External Knowledge (ilme zaahir) is like milk.
Like butter cannot be acquired without milk, so the enlightenment (ilme baatin) cannot be obtained
without external help from a Peer, a living Spiritual Guide in a physical form.




Rumi's original Persian verse in Hindi script :

" इल्मे बातिन हमचू मस्का, इल्मे ज़ाहिर हमचू शीर
  की  बुवद  बे-शीर  मस्का , की  बुवद  बे-पीर , पीर" 
                                                            (हज़रत रूमी )

What is Prayer ?

Prayer is not a "spare wheel" that you pull out when in trouble.

It is a "steering wheel" that directs the right path throughout the life.