He was hungry. He was puzzled too. He had been hungry as far as he could remember. Every morning he woke up with the hunger. He spent the whole day in consuming. When he was not consuming, either he was working so that he could have more or thinking how to work to have more.
Now he had spent bigger part of his life. He had consumed more than he even himself hoped to. Today he was consuming 10 times more than he was 10 years back.
Yet, whenever he was alone, when he was away from those consuming less, he was hit by the hunger pangs.
The hunger would never leave him.
Today, after a long time, maybe for the first time, he found himself brooding. He was thinking.
He knew others who were consuming more, but if they were consuming even more every day, that meant their hunger was getting stronger every day instead of dying.
He could not think of anyone, whether consuming less or more, who was not living for consuming rather than consuming for living.
Oh! Would this Hunger never never die! Would he finally die Hungry!
He spent next month or so in such a brooding mindset.
Finally, one day he decided not to go and spend the whole day for consuming. He would consume only as little, as would keep him alive and working. Then he would see what happens. What was the loss in trying a different approach.
After the sundown, he summarised that it was a day better spent. He was feeling less hungry than he usually did. He was feeling lighter. He slept easily too. He continued it for the next fortnight or so and found that his life had changed completely, for good.
He smiled a lot more and was afraid a lot less, as there was a lot lesser to lose. He thought more and did lesser but with better results. He could do a lot more with his newly found spare time. He could walk down the glade, sit under the tree watching butterflies and the clouds.
He was happier.
Unknown to himself, he had found his key to the door of the road to paradise.
This road was called by the wise as 'Tao' and the key was known as 'Contentment.'
As per the enlightened, it is the cycle of spiritual evolution. First desires, then actions to fulfill these desires, then more desires, then more actions, and so on till the person realizes the undying nature of desires, then the urge to be free from the undying desires, then questions, then answers, then doubts, then knowledge and finally the Enlightenment.
Unknown to him, this cycle was going on, the seeds in his mind were sprouting, the light was growing. What he knew was that he was Happy.
After all, he knew that hunger was like a fire which expands with more wood and decreases with less.
He knew how to defeat the hunger and be happy.
He knew that hunger could die too!
Shiva, Rudra, Pashupati, Mahadev and Mahesh, he is known by all these names. All the religions, sects and races have worshipped him by some of these names or some other name through all the ages. He is the most prominent figure in the Hinduism, which is bsically ollective form of varied beliefs of Indian subcontinent. Even the Scriptures of Upnishads idetify him as 'Brahma' ( The supreme soul and not one of the triad) and the 'Onkar'. Tantra also combine Shiva, Om and Ajna chakra.
Of his many forms and formless presence throghout human history of this subcontinent, the most prominent, well known and universal picture of him is attached below.
However, a closer inspection by an open mind reveals a completely different picture and concept coded inside this picture.
My own observations are added below:
1. Snake - The snake on the shoulders is nothing but the 'Awakened kundalini'. The kundalini power which rises through the seven chakras elevates the Consciousness through different levels of awareness upto the highest level of Enlightenment. Kundalini has always been depicted as a coiled snake. This depiction shows the path of soul to sepersoul through awakening the Kundalini.
2. Third Eye-' The Third eye' of Shiva is not the eye of the destruction of the world, but it is the 'Ajna Chakra' itself. The Ajna chakra, which lies in the center of the forehead, is one of the most powerful chakras and when it awakens, the eye of the true knowldge opens. This eye sees through all space and time and this eye when opened destroys the clouds of Ignorance, which make us completely blind to the truth. Third eye is the inner eye and the all seeing eye of the Ajna chakra of liberation.
3. Ashes, matted hair, Tiger Skin- They depict the detachment to the material desires. The annihilation of desire and the triumph of the divine body above the primitive desires of this animal body. The tale of the burning of 'Kamdeva' by the third eye of Shiva is the literal depiction of the death of desires by the opening of the inner all seeing eye of knowledge.
4. The Lotus posture is the favoured meditative of yogi since forever.
5. The poison held in the throat- The poison held in the throat of the lord Shiva clearly depicts the liberation of the soul from the birth and death cycles. For the awakened soul of the yogi there is no death.
6. The ganga originating from the head of lord Shiva is the stream of knowledge.
7.Damaru- Symbol of the supreme sound of 'Om'. besides the above,
the other pictures of Lord shiva also depict thd following:
1. Parvati - The consort of lord Shiva, is the depiction of the secret knowledge of the duality of the unity and the unity of the duality. She is the 'Yin' of the Yang of Shiva. They are also worshipped together as 'Ardhanarishwara' as the Yin-Yang combination. The Ardhanarishwara inside the Shivling is the symbol mediated upon for awakening the Ajna Chakra and the mantra is 'Om'.
Natraja- look again the posture is nothing but the shape of 'Om'!
The above depiction seems to the secret coded knowledge in form of message between yogis.
The summarized knowledge seems to be that, " The journey of Enlightment from soul to supersoul is through the true nowledge gained from awakening the inner eye through meditation and detachment."
The world is full of wars, battles and skirmishes going on. Wars have been going on since yime immemorial with hardly any respite ever. Our ancient forefathers also learned to make weapons and hurt others before they even learned to even write. Even today, battles are raging in the name of nations, religions, sects of same religions, beliefs, property, language, caste, racism, capitalism, socialism etc. In fact such low scale warfare has costed more casualities than the larger theater warfare.
The smallest scale warfare is going in our own city, colony or the workplace too in form of conflicts and standoffs.
Well, it was bound to occur. How can the world be at peace, when the individual is not at peace. Two disturbed persons cant be at peace with each other.
After all, peace can not be purchased or received. It comes from the same place the disturbances come from, the mind itself!
The attempt for world peace begins actually only when I find the way to my own peace. The route is always the same- Tolerance, no judgement, forgiving and forgetting.
I first learn to be happy and peaceful with my own self and that is the hardest part. I have to accept myself as I actually am. the first person who needs forgiveness, love and compassion from me is nobody else myself.
The first mistakes to be forgotten should be my own. Then the same process with friends and family, than the neighbors and colleagues, than the colony and so on.
Peace is also contagious. If you dont believe try smiling at others. Most of your smilea will bw reciprocated immediately and do not worry, the other smiles have also done thier job as light of glowworms in the night of misery of life of yourself as well as others and So will begin the journey of peace. Only a mind truly at peace with itself will initiate the transformation.
World peace will begin only when I, you and others, we all will learn to be at peace.
I had made many enemies. Well everyone does, especially those who are doing good. Some were at my workplace, some in my colony and Some in the relations as well. All of them wanted to see my downfall. Some of them, my greatest enemies, wanted to see my and my name completely destroyed. I had to be on my own guard to protect myself from their machinaction and evil designs. It was becoming more and more difficult to survive and be at peace. Thoughts of them used to rule in my mind before I slept and after I awoke. Sometimes thier evil presence ruined my dreams too.
Then i met somebody, somebody who taught me how to finish my enemies instead. I learnt an easy and successful way to eliminate my enemies.
The way was very simple.
I developed friendship with them. It is better to win a friend than to destroy an enemy and the best way to be peace.
I was eliminating enmity instead of enemies and to have your enemy shed his enmity, it was me who had to do it first.
First of all I accepted them as other humans who had the common human failures. They were as prone to ego, self righteous approach, the folley of judging others as was I. They also misinterpreted words and attached motived to words or actions. You know, words are the worst form of communication possible. Every word, every phrase, every reference and example, every rise and fall in tones has separate intonations for separate persons.
In fact, what we hear in a sentence is what we actually think , the speaker likely to say. Shockingly, as soon as the speaker opens his mouth, we start forming our own version of what he is going to say, what he is saying and what he has said. Also, the same sentence has separate meaning and motive for us for separate speakers. Our own words are always wise and words of those we have faith in, such as our Guru, are gospel truths. However same sentences if spoken our enemies or considered lesser to us, we find them bookish, stupid or sometimes superficial or show off. This means than words have no fixed meaning for us and hence there is a hell lot of possibility of misunderstandings and confusions. Look around, such incidences happen on dozens a day basis, because we do't understand each other or keep judging others continuously with every word or action and the motives we attach to both of them. Even great wars like Mahabharat started with some thoughtless statements that were taken too seriously. Even the biggest conflicts in our family start with some misunderstood words.
Main reason we make enemies is because of the miscommunication and or the lack of communication.
Lack of communication can create fences between not only neighbors, colleagues or friends but also destroy completely the love between relatives and worst between a couple. The marriage counsellors, what do they do if not to emcourage the couple to have a conversation. Falling in Love was easiest, but loving each other enough to forgive them is the hardest part. This Great wall of silence can be so intimidating that nobody even dares to try to speak the first word.
We think that "Why should I say sorry or start the talk. It was I who was right. It was I who was hurt.". Funny! Everybody thinks himself right and considers himself the victim. It is absurd. In arguments humans are not right or wrong, it is the intolerance, the misunderstanding and most imprortant double standards what is wrong.
A land lord wants his tenant to behave differently than he used to do as a tenant. A subordinates wants his boss to be less bossy than he he himself actually is. A mother in law finds the same behavior and action of the daughter in law objectionable ,which were correct when shes was the daughter in law. A father considers his fashionable son as misguided while the father himself followed the dressing of the movie stars of his own times. This is what we humans are prone to and therefore forgive other for being so.
This intolerance, self righteousness, the miscommunication and the lack of communication are the reason of maximum conflicts. We think the other is after us so we also should be after him.
Surprisingly, the older a conflict is , the bigger the problem is, the easier it is to be resolved also. All that is needed is the courage to take the first step to walk the distance, extend the first hand or speak the first word. Sometimes a "Hi!" will demolish the wall of silence and enmity faster than the Joshuah's trumpet and the walls of Jericho in the biblicale tale. Sitting down and talking it over can resolve most of the issues of the world. The problem is the lack of courage to initiate dialogue. I have seen years of conflict of groups of people resolving after a 30 minute chat. What is funny that sometimes the actual root of conflict was so miniscule and sometimes out of the memory to.
Another advice, " A good memory is a curse. Forgetfullnes is divine."
Why cherish the trash of the worst experience of our life in the mind! Do we keep broke glassware or torn shoes in the cupboard? Keep the mind also adorned with the brightest flowers of great memories and optimism just like your drawing room.
Also, never never ever be afraid to initiate the resoultion. Making the first call is not insulting but earns honour. It does not show weakness, it displays strength. It is not in any way inferior. Also you are doing it more for your own happiness and peace than for others.
So, when I developed the courage to walk the first step and shake hands, sit down to talk and extend arms to embrace my enemy, to forgive them for being what I also am like sometimes, that was the day I started eliminating my enemies.
Now I can't think of any existing enemies. I have eliminated all of them, by making them Friends.
Hello,
Its me! Your greatest, mightiest and the oldest enemy. I was born with you and will die with you only.Yes, You have never seen me I reside in the dark places of your mind.
I am your Fear.
You have known many of many faces such as fear of exams, fear of new people, new places, new scenarios, new work, fear of seniors and collegues, fear of future, fear of failure to name some. Fear of Death is my most scary face you see now and then, though my many less scary faces also hound you 24 hours a day, such as fear of failing in career, being a loser, fear of being embarassed or criticized. You may also have known the fear of interviews, public speaking, the fear of meeting the future in laws etc.
Through the hundreds of my faces, it is my pleasure to make your life miserable and make you suffer from dawn to dusk, day after day, from cradle to Grave.
Inside your mind I reign. I keep you on your toes and in a permanent "Fight or flight" state of mind. It is I, your mighty foe, who keeps you awake even on your luxurios bed in your penthouse in your sprawling villa.
I decide your every action
By fear of rejection and being belittled I stop you from making proposal to your beloved, being nice friendly to people you know and that way I snatch your happiness from your life.
As fear of failure and criticism, I compell you from stepping into the unfamilar territory. I stop you from trying even what could have been a major success. Why speak of success when I do not let you even wear your favorite dress or comfortable clothes which are 'out of fashion'.
Overall, I aim to bind you to a mediocre life without enjoying even a day and doing nothing memorable in your common run-of-the mill life. Mostly I succed.
Only Some of the people, one in thousands ever try a struggle against me. These some people become what others call a success.
Only a few people over the last 10000 years have managed to defeat me altogether and all of them went on to be great names through the history. Einstein, Da vinci, newton, Elvis, Alexender, Edmund hillery, Gandhi and Galileo are a few of them. Who would they have been but a mediocre nameless face in the crowd and after death nothing but dust. Elvis would have been a truck driver, Einstein an ofice clerk, Dhoni a railway TT, Akshay kumar just another cook, Genghis Khan just a mongol nomad and Columbus would have been another nobody. The world would have still been in the medieval ages, if some people would not have defeated the fear of failure to invent steam engine, which began the industrial revolution. The whole Europe would have been a Nazi concentration camp if Normandy Invasion was not tried. The world itseld might have ended many times, as in 1983 a person, one Stanislav Petrov, in command of Soviet Nuclear control did not panic after his control panel displayed several missile launches from USA Land and assessed it as only equipment failure of the new equipment . The whole planet would have been nothing but vapour had he yielded to fear and retaliated as per his instructions. It is one account of these people who had managed to defy me that the world still exists and is yet a great place to be.
Let me tell you the secret of My stregth. I am as powerful as you think I am. The more you think of me, the more powerful, the more formidable I become. That is the source of my power. since the only place of my existence is in your mind, I draw my formidable power from your mind only as well as your attention. Your doubts and insecurities are my only nourishments. To be honest, if you throw me out of your mind, I do not even exist.
Please forget my weakness and do not ever stop thinking about me, please do not ignore me, please do not belittle me and plz do not tell me to vacate your mind or I will die.
Wishing us a lifelong company through a mediocre and miserable life.
Fear,
Your greatest enemy,
At- your mind.
This blog is a small effort to share whatever little knowledge to improve life and happiness I have gathered by God's grace.
We, the God's own children are not meant to be wearied down by the daily life of bread and butter, carrier and status, small things and yet smaller countless things till life passes away. Our father in heaven wanted us to be Happy, Enjoy our stay on this planet, Hold our head high and be all that we could be. We are not the weak lambs that we have been led to believe from the childhood itself. Everyone of us has a Picasso, Da Vinci, Einstein, Mozart, Elvis or someone greater inside him. These were the people who believed themselves capable of more and more and more. Unfortunately, from the childhood itself, we learn to believe everyone but ourself. We learn only as much as we are asked to. We develop (i.e.discover) only as much of ourselves as life forces us to. We are like the She-Mammoth of "Ice age" movie who was raised by the possums and is now scared of eagles.
So, dear friend, welcome to the journey of Happiness, Peace, Success ending in the Self discovery and the Liberation.
Let us share, discuss, discover and spread Joy!
(p.s.- Most of these posts are written at one go on my cell. Kindly overlook the grammitical and syntax errors etc. Also, If you find these posts any little help, all I request is to plz carry foward to the next person.)
