Words

I feel we live in the culture of words.Everywhere we are demonstrating our love/hate through quotations and expressions.I don't react to compliments or insults.Because both cause us grief in different ways.We someone says us something we mix it up with our own insight and then examine it.We all are the masters of our own selves.We can easily know what our negative and positive points are.Many people feel an extreme need to praise others because they are dependent on the person.When we are in a bad mood we insult others vehemently.All judgments also come from lack of self esteem/self confidence.All labels which cause so much hurt also come from people who are not comfortable in their own skin.

Most important use of words is to ask relevant questions.This questioning ability which was the most important thing in Indian culture has been lost.To analyze ourselves rationally and to realize the truth ...which is the corner stone of spirituality.Most people go to temples,follow blind rituals without questioning the reason behind it.They bribe lord to get what they want.

One of the books which talks about the relation between Self and the God is "When bad things happen to good people".It is written by a Jewish Rabbi Harold Kushner.He explains that Nature and God are two separate entities.What we should not ask is "Why did God do this to me"...Because according to him nature has its randomness which causes misery.But he goes further and explains that God gives us strength and courage to withstand the assaults of nature.

Silence is the only solution to knowing the effects of words.When we gradually become silent for particular periods of time we realize what our words mean to us.How important are useless chats ???
The impulses of anger and misery.... and also our own voice which gets lost sometimes.

To err is human...

The price we pay of being a human is sometimes we make mistakes...Some so huge ..that it ruins our life,some are so small that we forget minutes after we have committed it.Most of the mistakes which we have committed in our childhood turns into neurosis.This happens only when the adult punishes the child without making the kid understand what went wrong.Hatred towards animals,eatables,public speaking,communication,anxiety are all the gifts of the negligence committed when we were young.Everything is not doomed and I strongly believe that each habit can be re-learned.Most of them help us learn more about life and become channels for self growth.Parents make mistakes with their children and other than forgiving them we cannot have any other good option.

As adults we make loads of mistakes.The basic attitude which we should assume is
"You are not a mistake"
You are a human and Human makes a mistake...
We fail but we are not Losers..

Why is the world not falling apart !!!

All the stereotypes are produced by a fantasy.A illusion that somewhere far far away there exists a ideal world where only good prevails.Personally I believe in a kind of dualism which equates the good to the evil.I have seen lots of good going on in the world.There are lot more NGO's working for the deprived.Most of the countries have governments run by people.We have the freedom of speech and right to information.These things were something which our ansestors could never dream of.When it comes to evils of the society they can only be wiped out when we take responsibility.Villagers are treated like handicapped people.(without a brain)Everything gets blamed on the government which is run by people like us.We vote and then we blame.We live in space age where our appetites for fast results have seeped in.We don't want five years plan of improvement but we want five minute results.

So coming to the title "Why is the world not falling apart"
because there are people and good stuff happening which helps our lives.We don't know the ways in which gifts are handed to us .Our lives don't tumble down because there are lot of people (invisible)working to make it better.They are not famous because they are not in the movie business.When we search for goodness we end up finding it everywhere.

The mind-soul connection

May be during some calamity or under some joyous occasion we feel so connected with our inner self.We feel one with pain/happiness that we live in the moment.But in everyday life this is very difficult to achieve until we put some effort in that direction.One of the easiest ways to achieve it is through silence.To make ourselves still is very difficult.Speaking from my personal experience as a music addict, I felt it very difficult to survive without music.
But after few days of silence,your mind accepts it ...No complaints !!!

One of the reasons for me to ban music for some time was each song with words and meanings gives rise to a emotion deep within me.This emotion got through music changes the emotions which we have without the stimulation.The same goes for movies and people who can destroy your inner stillness.I don't say that we start differentiating and go and live in an island.But when we cultivate silence for some time external factors wont affect you.You become immune.But as long as you are cultivating it sometimes it is of great help to reduce the noise in our lives.

Our own intentions

Where does kindness come from?

From our hearts or from our egoic self centeredness.Many people get into all kind of charity acts or kindness acts so that they can feel good about themselves.When we work from the egoic self our act of kindness is a selfish act which gives it an air of superiority.I have seen people do that ...at the end they become more proud instead of kind.

Lets be more cautious when we work with people who are suffering more than us.Help should come out because we are equal and there is a common divinity which flows through all of us.

Kindness gets transformed into humility through which life gives us more chances to serve and help.

To say the truth always

In Buddhism right speech was considered as one of the paths of attaining nirvana.I have always suffered in the hands of lies.I lie when it comes to assertiveness.I cannot say "no" to people when they approach me for help.If it is within the boundaries of my principles and beliefs then I help them at an expense of my time.If I have other plans then I lie to get out of the situation.I shrink away from "no".But I have realised that telling the truth frees you from acting/wearing a mask.Once we accept that we are not perfect then slowly we start telling the truth.The consequences of telling the truth is not always rosy and nice.I have at times got into more trouble telling the truth.If the other person is not honest enough and does not respect the truth it is not our problem..it is their problem.But telling the truth does not mean passing cruel judgements against people.Truth should be relative to our life and existence.I personally try to avoid discussing "truth's" about others.

The Pursuit of Adventure

We all want to do adventurous things which shoots up the adrenaline in our bodies. I also thirst for adventure and the love of nature makes it more interesting. But I sometimes wonder why is that we have to go to a far off jungle to experience this amazement. One reason is that cities are populated and natural resources are being depleted. The most obvious reason stated by Eckhart Tolle is fear of death. I fully agree with the fear of death theory. Most of the roller coasters also simulate this experience. But this experience also puts us into the present moment. Most of the time when you are on a roller coaster or doing a free fall from 100 feet your mind stops. There is complete attention to the present moment. Most of the time the past and the future dissolves. This moment which is a highly profound spiritual experience can help us look at life in a better way. But continued exposure to the same environment dulls the experience and we are again left with boredom. It is not necessary that we have to take risks in our life or climb the highest mountain to experience the power of the present moment. Once we reduce the number of identifications we use in our life and once we accept the past most of our every day moments will surely become adventurous and pleasurable.

Is silence the best answer

Most of the difficult questions dont have a answer.

Why does this happen and why does'nt that happen?
Why is the world this way and not better?
Why are people so selfish?
Why do I always think about myself?
Does my life have a meaning?

So many questions and one beautiful answer silence.

Its so scary to be silent because may be you realize that answers don't matter.

Obstacles in Action

What happens when we become more aware of our actions.When we realize the result of our actions and try to see that we don't go against our own convictions.We begin a new battle.The battle is with our inner obstacles.The whole world gets turned inward and we realize everything we saw outside also exists in us.
I don't believe that anything can be done with hatred.To hate and to rebel it may never lead anyone towards liberation.Only acceptance may do that.Detachment may get us closer to the required result.

It took me a thousand steps to reach the cliff
I saw the peak and was scared
My own ignorance made me slip a million steps
But I did not give up
I was patient
Then one day I was there...
I was standing on the highest point ..
Then my eyes went above me
I saw a series of cliffs higher than mine
I started climbing ....