The Heart of the Religion and the Religion of the Heart!

One of my favorite Zen anecdotes,
In a Japanese monastery, a naughty cat used to disturb the daily meditation practice of the disciples. So, the master ordered the cat to be tied up during meditation. This goes on for a while. Later on, the master passes away, disciples pass out and finally the cat passes away too. Unfortunately tying of the cat has now become a ritual, a custom. Cats are purchased, if needed, but no meditation session allowed without the tying up of the cat. One master is so convinced of the benefits of this practice that he even writes a book on this subject.

It is an amusing story, but unfortunately it is true. Our religions have changed a lot too throughout ages. Lot of things got added, another lot deleted or obscured. Sometimes the practices start going in the opposite directions too. While the common source of all human races is an interesting subject and another one is the mutual interchange between all major relegions through time and trust me there is a lot of material available in this regard with lots of surprises.

For  example, the concepts of Vedanta goes on evolving with time and after thousands of years, Buddhism is born in India with common elements of Mediatation or Dhyan. The Buddhism travel north with several monks, Bodhidharma most famous of them. Buddhism is assimilated by China, but in synthesis with Taoism evolving as Chan and these practices finally become Zen in Japan, which again branches into many schools.
There are many such instances with every relegion. Our ancestors in ancient times were far more connected, open and exploring than we think.
The fact is that while every relegion has branched into many sects with overlapping but yet unique beliefs and practices, through generations our practices have also diverted far greatly from our ancestors. Even in a family there are minor and subtle differences in individual beliefs and practices. It seems that there are hardly even two households having exactly same set of beliefs and practices.

So, who is correct finally? Which religion and sect is accurate?

They all are. While a lot of ornamentation of rituals and practices have evolved in every religion through the millenia, deep down every religion teaches us a few most important things like,
Belief, faith, love and surrender to one Almighty God,
Being good to others,
and Compassion to all. This is the nectar, the soul, the message of every religion.
Surrender to God and Love to fellow human beings is the Heart of every religion and God, whatever name or form we percieve him by, would like us to focus on these only.
Ishvasyopnishad recognises the learned or the enlightened as only those who see everyone in God and God in everyone.
Whatever be the frequency of worshipping or size of sacrifice, God would pefer if we treated all his children lovingly instead of harassing or quarreling with.

So, let us keep following the religion of our forefathers and follow their practices, but with a total faith and surrender to God and a heart full of compassion for all our fellow human beings as the children of the same  father.
This Love will only come from the inside, the soul.

So dear friends, Surrender and Love resides in the Heart of every religion and it is the Religion of the Heart.

God bless all of us!

Tao of Toughest Time in our Life!

Tao of toughest times

Toughest times are faced by most us of us at least once in the lifetime. By toughest times I mean the months/ years when financial/health/social problems come together with other issues like conflicts etc. These are the days, when one finds himself alone against everyone including some dark elements, when enemies seem indomitable, when one is lying down hurt and the list of friends start getting shorter, courage and patience run low and living one day more seems strenuous, when the darkest thoughts of running away or even suicide become frequent. Some of us finally can not take it any more and then the unfortunate incidents of suicides take place.
It may be surprising but at least 75% of us have had serious thoughts of suicide at some time or other during some phase or other of life.
However, such times and phases are surmountable and can be survived with courage, patience and absolute faith in god along with the following.
To begin with, the first thought one should keep in one’s mind is that, “As good phases pass away, bad times also pass away.” There will be life after this evening, tomorrow morning and later on. A movie has an end, good or bad, but life doesn’t ever, ever end. Life goes on and on and on. It never stops. So the spell we have to survive is not this week or month or year. What we have to survive is today, this day. Just survive this day. Carry on for this day only, tomorrow things will change for better. Don’t give up now. Tomorrow favorable winds will blow. Tomorrow, shoreline will be sighted. Tomorrow we will land. God is with you. Before betterment, things also look at their worst. Hold on! Help is on its way! God works in a mysterious elaborate manner, and help is received from quarters unanticipated and unheard of. Blessed will you be, darkness will wane and finally disappear, starting from tomorrow. Good Tidings are on their way. Hold the fort for the hour. Believe in tomorrow and go to bed with faith in God.
Also, the late be the hours, the nearer is the first light of the rising sun. Sleep and tomorrow will be a better day. The first step towards the oasis in the seemingly endless desert. Many face the same and that’s the way they endure.
Don’t ever harbor a thought on the lines of, “It is always me to have the most rotten luck.” or “With my luck it can only get worse”. No my friend, you are one of the most lucky, you are alive and with most bodily organs working. People have survived with far less and with sunnier dispositions. One can not the worth of an arm, an eye, an ear, a liver, a kidney, a heart, a leg or even few fingers till he has seen the prospect of loosing them quite close. You are blessed to have them with you.
You are also blessed to have a supporting wife/children/parents, that hold you high and love you more than anything, though they are stressed and burden and depressed under the same condition and that spark of love is right now is clouded by the smoke. However, with this warmth of love you will ride triumphantly out of this dark freezing night.
The better parts of such bad times are that they show us true faces of our ‘Friends’ and ‘Family’ and one can count the hands truly on his side.
The other thing is that when your family emerges out of the abyss, they would have learned many a things including value of family, the limited value of money and luxuries of life, the true worth of courage and togetherness, the belief in god, destiny and worth of one’s own toil. They will also learn the value of perseverance, humility and simplicity of living. These lessons will be with them as well as you forever and will turn out to be more helpful than a few temporary luxuries and few short lived comforts. This wisdom, maturity, inner depth, thoughtfulness can neither be tutored nor imparted, but only earned by sweat of toil.
The faith in god and destiny is the true worship, as well as the lifebuoy, the solitary raft. Your belief, faith and devotion will bring you to the shores. Find dome time daily for worshiping/mediation at home/temples/churches etc. Sit with like minded people. Do it surely. Be connected with your inner self.
For dealing with worries, please go through my post on worries. Please also go though posts on worries, absolute faith, relationships, angers, violence.
Bad accidents do happen by divine will, some are compensated over time, some are not, but life won’t stop. Move on, the past never happened, the future will never come. What you have is today. Even most unfortunate death in a family will not stop the clock. God will provide you all with strength to fill the shoes left vacant. Remember his name and keep walking. Keep taking one step at a time, the voyage will not sustain against your individual steps.
May the most merciful god impart you courage, patience, strength, inner peace, faith, hope that sees you through the darkest hour of your life. After this there will only be better times. God be with you. Bless us all!

Tao of Faith: Absolute surrender!

Have absolute faith in your god, in the supreme lord, Allah, Krishna,Maa durga, Yahweh, Jesus whatever be the name you worship him with.
Absolute means ABSOLUTE faith. He loves you, and means the best for you. I know how every action, every thought and every word is by his divine ordainment. Whatever we the circumstances, fear not. He will carry you across the deep and turbulent sea. There is this famous poem,

Footprints in the Sand
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there was one only.
This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from anguish,
sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints,
so I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life
there has only been one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”
The Lord replied,
“The years when you have seen only one set of footprints,
my child, is when I carried you.”


Have absolute faith, leave worries of tomorrow, day after tomorrow etc on him. He will take care. If still you find yourself worrying and planning and planning at all times your faith is superficial and wanting.
Surrender to him. He has great plans for you. he knows best.
Surrender and absolute surrender to his will and wisdom. Forget worries. Feel lighter and liberated.
Surrendering is Tao. Tao is Faith. Faith is Tao.