The Ultimate Q&A- The wisdom of ancient India!

         “Mahabharat” is the largest Epic Story as well as a Mythology and Historical Chronicle of Indian Subcontinent. Due to its enormous and all inclusive nature, about Mahabharat it has also been claimed that, “Yanna Bharate, tanna Bharate”( What is not in Mahabharat that is not in India). Besides its priceless historical content, Mahabharat also contains the Nectar-like extract of ever evolving Indian spiritual quest at its culmination. The best example of this spiritual treasure of Mahabharat is “Geeta” which is the greatest Indian spitiual treatise, which contains all the wisdom of Vedas and Upnishads in a perfect form. Besides Geeta, there are many other portion with unparalleled wisdom and insight, of which the best example is the dialogue of the 'Yaksha' and Yudhishtir. Each of these questions of Yaksha in the form of a crane and their answers by Yudhishtir reveal the secret and wisdom of the mystery of life and absorbing this knowledge we can achieve perfection of this life and beyond.

What makes the sun shine daily?

– The power of Brahman (Absolute).

What does a person need to rescue him from danger?

– Courage.

Which science should man study to become wise?

– A man does not acquire wisdom just by studying the Shastras (sciences), but by associating with wise men.

Is there anything that sustains more nobly than the earth?

– The mother who give birth and brings up her children.

What is higher than the sky?

– The father.

What is swifter than the wind?

– Mind.

What is more impaired than a withered straw?

– An anguished heart.

What is a traveler’s friend?

– Learning.

Who is the friend that stays at home?

– The wife.

Who accompanies a man on his last journey after death?

– Dharma accompanies the soul on its lonely journey after death.

What is happiness?

– Happiness is the fruit of good conduct.

What is that, a person discards and thereafter, is loved by all?

– Pride.

The loss of what results in joy not sorrow?

– Anger.

The abandonment of what makes a man rich?

– Lust.

What makes one a real Brahmin, is it birth, good conduct or learning?

– Neither birth nor learning makes one a real Brahmin, only good conduct does.

What is the greatest wonder in the world?

-- The greatest wonder is that although people see living beings die everyday they still try to live forever.

Let us all benefit by absorbing this greatest wisdom of life.

The more we change the more we remain the same!

 Once an uncle of mine during a chit-chat was describing his dislike of extra fashion conscious teenagers and he told me how his father was correct when he used to say that “these teenagers would go around wearing even rags if it came into fashion or some movie star wore them.”

This story was very much revealing in one aspect that my uncle now a die hard conservative was also a liberal in his days. Yes, he just like his previous generation and so on were all rebels in their own days who went on to become 'no nonsense' and 'nothing doing' super serious seniors. The other part of the revelation is more shocking, we of the younger generation are on our way to join this club soon. The changes have begun even if unnoticed. I also think sometimes of ourselves as experimenting but responsible youth while the next generation as casual, non oriented youngsters (brats, in some cases too). The age old statements like “What will become of this world.”, “In our days.....”, “Things have gone to dogs.” etc etc. I who once sported a crew cut, the first in my town maybe is annoyed with the 'Tere naam'-cut and of course the later ones. Same about liking parties, late evenings, movies etc and hating bans and prohibitions by youngsters who on becoming seniors impose similar bans 'in the best interest of subject.' Amusing, isn't it!

The fact is very simple. Our behavior has very less of the individual or uniqueness than we think and has in fact more of the age group, the then peer group etc. In other words our approach, the attitude and behavior is much more affected by psychosomatic factors than we can imagine.

In other words, we will be much more like our fathers than we can imagine, and they were much more like us than they are ready to accept. So, on the basis of the change we undergo in almost an identical manner, we should accept the younger as well the older generation and resolve the differences.

Our seniors are more or less our future versions and the youngsters or 'brats' are our past versions.

Keeping this in mind we can understand the approach and mindset of others and can resolve the issue much more amicably. We can also understand, accept, forgive and forget the petty issues much more easily and enjoy all our lives much beautifully. This is very important as the family and family matters are of highest priority in anyones life and a happy family life can balance even the upheavals of the world as well as an unhappy and turbulent family life can negate all victories of the outside world.

Not only that. With most of our friends and acquaintances we have our disagreements and dislikes of varying degrees at many times which lead to discord and sometime damage the relationships beyond salvage. These unresolved issues go on to inflate and this road leads to Break-ups, Divorces and the final goodbyes. Most of these relations could have become the joy of our life, if we had handled them with more understanding of the other's POV (point of view) just by thinking of what we would have felt, thought or done in their place. We will finally find the actions and thoughts similar to us. In relationships no wrongs or rights and no goods or bads. Accept all others as what we all really are, just humans. Humans, who are good within, who like to do good, but have our common little weaknesses, ego and insecurities, and 'being always right' is one of them.

So, dear friends, accept all the others in our family and circles as more or less ourselves too, just in a different state, stage or circumstances. We all are much more identical than we think. We change and then we become the same.

Enjoy the circle of life!

Loving God by Loving Others!

A Pilgrimage is worth many times more than wearing  the Pious clothes,

Worship from the heart is worth many times more than the Pilgrimage,

True Faith is worth many times more than the Worship,

Total Surrender to God is worth many time more than the Faith,

Compassion to others is worth hundred hundred times more than the Surrender.

One can not actually love God without Loving other humans!

The Seeker is the Sought after!

"On my quest to understand God, what I discovered was the Human,

On my quest to understand the Human, what I discovered was God!"

Tao is....!

The Seer and the Seen,

The Doer and the Done,

The Eater and the Eaten,

The Dreamer and the Dreamed,

The Inside and the Outside,

The I and the You,

The Self and the Universe,

All of them and None of them.

The Entire Sky Gets Reflected In The Tiny Droplet of The Morning Dew and The Entire Infinite Universe Gets Reflected In The Mind that is Still!

The Entire Sky Gets Reflected In The Tiny Droplet of The Morning Dew and The Entire Infinite Universe Gets Reflected In The Mind that is Still!

The Undying Hunger !

    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!

Quotes of Shankaracharya-

“What is inquiry into the Truth? It is the firm conviction that the Self is real, and all, other than That, is unreal.”

“Thus one should know oneself to be of the nature of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss[Sat-Chit-Ananda].”

“The witness of the three states of consciousness [waking, dream and deep sleep] and of the nature of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss is the Self.”

“Knowing that I am different from the body, I need not neglect the body. It is a vehicle that I use to transact with the world. It is the temple which houses the Pure Self within.”

“But the jiva [living being] is endowed with ego and his knowledge is limited, whereas Ishwar[God] is without ego and is omniscient.

There is sorrow in finitude. The Self is beyond time, space and objects. It is infinite and hence of the nature of absolute happiness.”

Quotes of Guru Nanak Dev:

“Of all religions, the most exalted is to worship the lord and do good deeds.”

“The enlightened God-conscious person takes delight in doing good deeds for others.”

“Do not say that the Vedas, the Bible and the Quran are false. Those who do not contemplate their scriptures are the ones who are false.”

“I see no stranger, I see no enemy- I get along with everyone.”

“Whoever God has created, I accept as good.”

“This is the sublime I have obtained from the Holy and the Wise. The Divine Light of God is pervading in all. Beholding him Nanak blossoms forth in Joy.”

“Answer Evil with goodness, do not fill your mind with anger.Your body shall not suffer from any disease and you shall obtain everything.”

“The God-conscious being delights in doing good deeds for others. The God-conscious being acts in the common good.”

“Recognize the Lord's light within all, and do not consider social class or status, there are no classes or castes in the world thereafter.”

“In the beginning, Allah created the Light, from that light, He has created all mortal beings.

From the One Light, the entire Universe came. So who is good, and who is bad?”

“The clay is the same, but the cosmic potter has created vessels of many kind. There is nothing wrong with the pot of clay-there can be no error by the potter. The One true Lord abides in all, by His power, every thing is fashioned.”

“In that place where the lowly are cared for-there the blessings of your Glance of grace rain down”.

Quotes of Jesus Christ!

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.”

“So I say to you, Ask and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.”

“But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

“All the commandments: You shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and so on, are summed up in this single command: You must love your neighbor as yourself.”

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.”

“Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to cast a stone.”

“And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.”

“Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day.”

“Little children, you are from God, and have conquered them; for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in this world.”

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”

“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye?”

“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye”

“You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”