Forgiveness and Love

"There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love." ~ Bryant N. McGill

A very good morning everyone. :) Last evening, I had the pleasure of meeting with Kia Scherr, co-founder of One Life Alliance, a beautiful community that encourages and honours the oneness and sacredness of life. One Life Alliance is a non-profit spiritual organisation that was founded last year, to honour and respect all those who lost their lives during the 26/11 (2008) terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Kia herself lost her dearest husband and daughter at The Trident.

So many of us talk about the beauty of forgiveness, Kia is a shining example of living it. One of the main factors that ails our race is our inability to forgive, let go and move on. Most, spend time focusing on the pain and questioning it. It's all right to do that, in fact, feeling pain and questioning it is necessary, but, in time that pain and questioning must progress to acceptance and that very pain must turn into a helping hand. If we focus on the pain and hurt for time immortal, we breed hate, and slowly, ever so slowly, a painful situation changes us... for the worse.

Kia is a personification of a painful situation changing her for the better through the forgiveness and love she embodies. Yes, she was crushed, broken and found it hard (sometimes even impossible to pick-up the pieces), but, she decided that she would honour her husband and daughter's memory by acknowledging and respecting the 'sacredness of life'. Kia said, "A part of me died with my husband ad daughter that day. However, I've reached out to so many people through One Life Alliance, that I am now more alive in a way."

Her soft eyes reflect peace through her loss. Her focus is now setting up One Life Alliance in Mumbai, a city whose very spirit was attacked two years ago.

Forgiveness, how many of us really understand what the word means? Forgiveness is often confused with condoning a perpetrators actions. Far from it; Kia rightfully said, "Forgiveness is not about condoning what happened; it's about accepting what happened and then making a change for the better." Indeed, forgiveness is not about condoning or forgetting, it's about, being able to move-on, in spite of remembering what hurt us so terribly. It's an act that transforms pain into positive change. Forgiveness, like love, transcends time and space.

Love and forgiveness embody the universe. We're here because our good Lord loves us, love us so very much that he's given us a chance to enforce positive change. He's given us the ability to love selflessly, give endlessly and share ceaselessly. There is no greater joy than loving without motive and giving without expecting. Try it, your soul will give you a confirmation. 

It's time all us took a deeper look at ourselves. Is there anything that is troubling you? If yes, then be sure that there is a lesson in that confusion. Just believe and trust in the good Lord and know that in its time, everything will fall into place. Sometimes, things may not always work out the way we want them to, but you can be sure that they work out the way the good Lord wants them to... and it is this that makes it right. The sacredness of life is what our good Lord wants us to experience.

Life on earth began with love and it's this love and forgiveness that is keeping it going for so long, in spite of the turmoil our world in in today.

http://www.onelifealliance.org/ Come let's honour the sacredness of life.

As I get ready to begin my day, let's join our souls in a silent prayer:

Dear Lord, thank you for a new day

Another chance for me to love you and everyone I meet

Strengthen my resolve to do according to your will

Help me to forgive and understand

Help me to change at least one person's life for the better today

Help me to respect the beautiful sacredness of life

I pray that my smile brightens someone's day

I pray that I serve you and do according to your will in all my dealings today

Thank you my Lord, thank you for giving me another chance to do all this and more

As we end this prayer, let's open our hearts and send out a wave of love, joy and care to the universe. Let's pray that this wave reaches everyone on earth, especially those most in need of a healing hug.

Have a fabulously blessed day everyone. :)

Rediscovering Silence

"In the attitude of silence, the soul finds a path in the clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive draws itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after the truth."

~ Mahatma Gandhi

A very good afternoon everyone. :) It's been ever so long since I blogged, and it's good to be back. The last three weeks have been spent writing books, reading holy scripture and meeting blessed souls. I begin today's post by contemplating Mahatma Gandhi's saying above. 'Silence', what a beautiful state to experience. 'Silence', most try to fill it with words, noise, sound, activity, things etc. But 'silence', pure silence, is ever so deep, ever so embracing and encompassing that no matter how we try and fill it, there will be space for more.

Why are we so terrified of 'silence' that we simply must fill it with something? Are we afraid of our own state of being? What are we filling our silence with? Noise and clutter that keep us away from our true selves, our real pure nature, our very souls.

'Pure silence' reveals personal, spiritual voids and allows us to experience spiritual life as it is. It is in silence that we meet our selves and realise our true nature. Silence helps us realise that we're constantly running away from our true purpose. Most prefer ignoring these instances, as compared to facing them and enforcing spiritual change. Enforcing, yes in today's rush of a life, spiritual change needs to be enforced on oneself.

Contemporary physical life brings on such an assault on one's senses. It's ever so easy to get carried away and live for oneself... and there lies our folly. Acceptance of our silence and realisation of what we're about and how we're meant to be is the path to true deliverance. We must understand that not all internal voids are unnecessary, in fact, it is the void that brings us close to knowing our true nature. It is in solace, in silence, in aloneness that we meet our spiritual selves.

Not all of us may like what we see on our internal journey, however, being aware of our dislike of our own traits, help us make spiritual amends. Our race has a lot of questions regarding our situation in life, career etc. All the questions we ask have answers, and all those answers lie in response to just one basic question: "Who am I?"

All of us have our answer to this, it's time we withdrew ever so often and helped ourselves discover this answer, one step at a time. A part of this answer stays constant and always will, and a part of it may change depending on life's path. Our good Lord wants us to acknowledge and understand the 'constant' in this answer, he will take care of the rest.

The 'constant' helps us realise that we're all souls on a spiritual mission on Earth. Each of us have our own missions to fulfill (that's the variant in each of our paths), and all our missions are founded in love and truth (this is the constant). Life is about living spiritually and using our physical presence to bring about spiritual change... for ourselves and the rest of humanity.

I've discovered, I am here. The good Lord has put me here to help me fulfill my spiritual purpose and in effect help another fulfill theirs too. My life is about living it more for someone else than for myself. We've all been tremendously blessed by the good Lord, to be where we are, to realise our true purpose. It's time now to open our hearts, spread our wings and help another soul understand how beautiful silence is ad how the journey of self-discovery is the one journey each of our souls thirst for.

I am here for you, just as I know that you are here for me. Come let's discover a path that awaits our arrival, let's rediscover silence.

Have a fabulously blessed day everyone. :)

The Art of 'Being'

Rest in natural great peace this exhausted mind

Beaten helpless by karma and neurotic thoughts

Like the relentless fury of the pounding waves

In the infinite ocean of samsara

Rest in natural great peace

~ Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche

A very good evening everyone. As a hot summer's day comes to an end, and the quiet evening envelopes my being, this paragraph above calls for quiet contemplation. I was reading an article by Sogyal Rinpoche last evening and he used the above paragraph to emphasise the importance of 'just being'. This state of 'being' is an art in today's world, because most of us are in a constant rush to get somewhere. I understand, that in-between a career and other responsibilities, the state of 'being' gets more and more difficult to practice. However, just give yourself 30 minutes daily, just 30 minutes to 'be', just be - no distractions whatsoever. This is an integral journey towards inner-peace and all journey's start with tiny steps.

Most wonder what they should do while they're in this state of 'being'. Do the most important thing ever - nothing. Yes, nothing. The state of 'being' allows your mind to breathe, rest, empty itself of all negative thoughts and be in its natural undisturbed, unaltered form. When I am in my state of 'being', I experience a great sense of serenity and oneness with God and myself. I close my eyes and imagine a great wave washing my soul, taking with it any seeds of negative thoughts that threaten my well-being. This process of emptying is a purifying one because once empty, I choose to fill my soul with God's message of love; love for all beings, animals, nature, the world - everything that our good God has so graciously blessed us with.

I've learnt that to truly appreciate and love God, we must be on a constant quest to know our souls. It is through our own souls that we know God. This emptying and filling process is one that each of us must do on a daily basis. There is so much of God's love and goodness that no matter how much we believe we've filled ourselves, there will be place for more. I like to begin my mornings with this process. After I wish God, my guardian angels and life a very good morning and thank them for a new day, a new blessing - I close my eyes, imagine that cleansing wave cleaning my soul and once empty, I breathe in all of God's love and goodness. In fact, I find myself doing this during the day sometimes, especially when I feel like a negative thought may be threatening to sow its seeds in my soul. We're all human and sometimes it's natural for the seeds of doubt to threaten our peace, but God has blessed us with the power to take those seeds out at the very roots.

Quiet contemplation and the state of 'being' involves just you being with your true-self and God. Just sit there in his presence; feel him, experience him, love him through yourself. These journey's are difficult, especially when we just start them, but once we're on our way, there really is no turning back. It's time to stop running away from ourselves and, it's time to stop running away from God.

If you really want to know how you see yourself, all you need do is look at someone else. What do you see in him/her? How do you feel when you look at him/her? The great masters tell us, that we see in others only what we see in ourselves. If you see beauty in everything, then that's how you see yourself; you are so close to God. You see God within. You may argue that not everyone is necessarily pleasant; however, remember, all of us are born with inherent goodness and purity. It's situations and people that become the cause of change. Some of us realise this and some don't. We must help the people that don't realise this. So yes, see beauty in everyone and everything, because everyone, everyone is born pure.

The state of 'being' helps us reacquaint ourselves, with ourselves. As we sit in quiet contemplation, we realise that God is within us. Once we break down our barriers (negative, impure thoughts) that we built between our pure selves and our God, we'll experience bliss, a great sense of peace, an amazing sense of oneness with God and the universe.

Contemplation and the state of 'being' is a journey and like all journey's, this too will have its share of difficulties. But remember, God and the universe wants us to continue on this journey and understand that besides 'being', it requires application and discipline in our daily lives. Our true self and our God awaits us with loving open arms, let's begin and let's continue once we begin... we've kept them waiting long enough already.

Solace in Silence tells you more on 'The Art of Being'.

Have a fabulously blessed evening everyone. :)          

God is One

"On an altar of prejudice we crucify our own; yet the blood of all children is the colour of God." 

~ Don Williams Jr

A beautiful morning to everyone. I apologise for starting with a rather grave quote today, however, let's try and understand the gravity of these words and turn that understanding into positive learning. Today, 30th September, 2010, India prepares for a court verdict that will change the course of history forever. The Ayodhya debate will get its verdict and as the Supreme Court prepares to pass judgment at 3:30 pm IST, India waits with bated breath.

This story rewinds to 1992, when the Babri Mosque in Ayodha, Uttar Pradesh was demolished by a group of 150,000 fundamentalists. Their grouse - a temple built to commemorate Lord Rama's birthplace was pulled-down and the mosque was constructed in its place. Historically, this mosque was built in 1527 by Babur, the first Moghul emperor. Now, there are four versions regarding this site. We have the Hindu version, a Jain version, a Muslim version and a British version! I am not going to get into details of each version but I want to try and understand why, why do we intentionally hurt God in the way we do.

As I was thinking about God this morning, it hurt to see what we've reduced God to. We address him differently, we worship differently, we call out to him differently and he's absolutely okay with that. All holy scriptures are based on love - love, truth, goodness, caring, sharing, giving, helping, kindness etc. Why, why then do so many kill in the name of God? In his name!

God is the very embodiment of love and peace. He allowed us our religions, and all religions, all of them have one common message - love. God believes in equality and all religions are equal, who then are we to decide for one another on what's right and what's wrong religiously?

Our race is ever-so involved with deciding for one another on behalf of God, that most trouble-makers lose the purpose of their cause. If anyone claims God as their purpose violence and religious wars, I'd like to tell them to begin with the truth. Let's be honest with ourselves, look within and begin by understanding God, get to know him, get to know him through yourself. As you begin your journey, you will realise that God is praying that you don't associate any sort of violence for him and with him. Understand that, believe that and it begins with you, once you understand that, you can then pass-on God's message to another. 

God never perpetrated violence; in fact he is the exact opposite of it. God (no matter we call him - God, Jesus, Rama, Allah, Yahweh or anything else) is peace-loving who wants us to live our lives for one another. We're all connected by the very purpose of our cause - our cause towards the very center of our beings, our souls, our truth and finding God through that truth. Everything in life should begin and end with God and that God teaches us love, peace, understanding, humility, caring, sharing and so much more. God wants us to discard our swords and join our hands in prayer and peace and call out to him.

He is calling us all now, all of us as members of his kingdom, all his children - yes, he has made us differently, but he has made us well. Who are we to question the difference when God planned for us anyway?

As we begin this morning, let's all close our eyes, join our hearts and hands spiritually and pray; pray that no matter what, peace prevails in this world (which is one of God's gifts to us), that each of us get more understanding of one another's beliefs, that our hearts reach out to one each other, that we begin each day by promising God to live it in his eyes, by changing at least one person's life for the better daily, and by truly, truly understanding God. God, we love you and we thank you for this life, but we need you here and now. We know that with all of us eternally and we hope that pray that all the people who've drawn swords, discard them and join hands in prayer instead.

Prayer - one of our most precious gifts, understanding - one of our most needed traits and love - one of our most beautiful blessings. This is God's message, this is God's wish for us, this is our purpose to our lives. Our paths to ourselves may differ, but we have one common goal - love. A love so true, so precious, so pure, so complete, so eternal, that experiencing it brings tears to our very mortal eyes. These tears are tears of humility and gratefulness because God loves us all so much, so very much.

Have a fabulously blessed and peaceful day everyone. :)

Faith, Faith in our God

The eternal looked upon me for a moment with his eyes of power, and annihilated me in his being, and became manifest to me in his essence. I saw I existed through him. 

~ Rumi

A fabulously beautiful morning everyone. I feel like there's a beautiful ocean gushing through me this morning. Each wave is sweeping through my being, cleansing me, emptying my soul of any negative thoughts (doubt, worry, distrust, assumption, over-analysis etc.) and leaving me with quiet peace that comes only from God. God, our creator, teacher, saviour, best-friend. As I think about the quote above by Rumi, I realise how easily we let God down.

Think about it - most of us believe in ourselves, believe in our friends, family, pets... why then is it so difficult for us to believe in God, trust in him and believe that everything coming our way has a lesson for our soul. As I close my eyes and feel the seed of doubt wash away, I let my soul rest in God' presence. Yesterday, the seed of doubt threatened to find its place in my heart based on an assumption - this negative emotion disturbed my peace and while I recognised the cause of my spiritual discomfort, my soul had a wrestling match within. I was determined to let good win and when it became too much for me to handle, I left it all to God. I spoke to him and told him that I loved him and that I left everything to him. I believe in his plan for me and I was following his lead. I went to bed and woke up at peace this morning.

As I greeted God, life and my guardian angel a very good morning, beautiful peace encompassed my being and my faith in the good Lord has been re-enforced. This is the magic of God, the beautiful mystery of his very presence, the sanctity of his love for us, his beautiful gifts in the form of our guardian angels, family, friends and people we meet who influence our lives in one way or another. God wants us and hopes that we believe without seeing and this is what we must do. As the calm ocean in me continues to cleanse my soul, I feel nothing but grateful for experiencing God's love.

So many look externally for love, peace and happiness, but all you need to do is look internally. You'll experience God right there, in you. And if you simply must look outside, then look over your shoulder and you'll see your beautiful guardian angel flitting its wings, look at your family and friends who will always be there, look at a stranger across the street and smile... and when he/she returns your smile, you realise how beautiful that smile is, a smile - a quiet sign of acknowledgement and very often a quite sign of God.

I am thrilled that God washed away the evil seeds of doubt. You see sometimes, what starts as a small doubt grows into something that we can't even imagine. What's worse is that if a doubt is based on an assumption (most often than not it is), then the reason for doubt itself is a fallacy. Doubt feeds on doubt and before we even know it, it grows into something we fail to control. This ugly growth then consumes our being, our very soul and we live life trying to protect and/or change situations based on a doubt that was born from assumption in the first place! This sort of life is a lie and any lie is harmful for our soul and spirit. 

So instead of letting this grow and take hold of our lives, why don't we get rid of it at the root? It's simple talk to God, believe in him, request him to work through you and he will. Remember, God made us all in his likeness - whether, it's Bhagwan Shri Krishna, Shri Ramji, Saraswati, Jesus... they were all human whose purity and goodness transcended this world. The teachings, the written word is based more on life than religion. And if you find reading holy scripture too tedious, just call on God in anyway you can and any way you want. He is listening to you - all he really wants you to do is call on him in faith - believe in him and leave the rest up to him.

I like life to beautiful bouquet of red roses - it has lovely soft petals, the straight hard stalks and thorns. The lovely soft petals represent the happy, good time, the straight stalks represent paths that we choose and the thorns represent some of life's hardest but most important lessons; we may get pricked, bleed but it's through those droplets of blood that we learn our lessons. We're all here to fulfill our own karmas and help others fulfill theirs too. God wants us to follow his word, spread it and sow the seeds to faith - first in ourselves and then in everyone else. Faith, we often make it seem like the hardest thing, but it really is the easiest thing to do. Faith in our creator who put us here in the first place - because of whom we experience love, peace, joy, pain and a lot of other emotions; because of whom we experience a new day (no matter how that day may unfold), because of whom we are able to enjoy the chirping of a bird, the flitting of a butterfly, the roar of a lion, the feel of raindrops and so very much more. Our creator, our God, has given us so much, so come let's all believe him in faith. Let's all sow our seeds of faith today... let's begin with ourselves and them helps everyone else who may have a problem sowing the seeds. We know God through ourselves because this is where God is, God is with all of us, at all times. 

God is waiting for his beautiful garden to bloom even more than it already is... let's sow our seeds of faith in God and water them with belief and love.

Have a fabulously blessed day everyone. :)             

Our Guardian Angels

God not only sends special angels into our lives, but sometimes. He even sends them back again if we forget to take notes the first time! 

~ Quoted in The Angels' Little Instruction Book by Eileen Elias Freeman, 1994

A blissfully, peaceful morning everyone. :) As the bright September sun kissed my cheek and my ritualistic morning silence ran through my being, I allowed my mind to go back to a beautiful dream I had a couple of days ago. I dreamed of my great-grandmother, my darling nana (she passed away in March 2003, just five days shy of her 103rd birthday). I dreamed that she sat next to me, cupped my face in her hands and told me that she loved me. I told her that I loved her too and as if on cue, my sleep had a peaceful end. As I drifted back to full consciousness, I felt a great sense of peace, a great sense of tranquility, a great sense of love, a great sense of godliness.

I believe that this was God's way and her way of telling me that she is right here, with me, always and forever. You see, I was thinking of her a lot a few days ago and I told God that I needed her... and he helped me realise that she is here with me, eternally. All of us have our guardian angels - they're constantly guiding us, leading us and loving us. They speak really softly and want us to listen. And you know what, we really can listen, if we quieten our minds, and help it work in cooperation with our hearts and souls, we will be able to hear some of the most beautiful lessons and the most melodious music.

Angels come to us in all forms, shapes and sizes and transcend the spiritual and physical realm. My nana is my darling guardian angel from the very holy spiritual realm, my family and soul sisters are my angels in the physical realm, darling animals are angels in their own way. So, what do we really understand about our angels? Do you know that they are an integral part of who we are and who we may or may not become. God blessed us with them and we must respect his blessing and thank him for his generosity.

Besides guiding us, our angels help us realise, understand and follow some of life's most important lessons. Each of us have different destinies to fulfill and different paths to follow - all our lessons come is different ways and may present themselves in different situations; however, all lessons have a common goal - spiritual enhancement that begins in love, caring and sharing.

My beautiful guardian angel, my darling nana - oh how I miss her. I learned to love, simply love from her. She loved without expectation, she loved because that is how she lived her life. Love = God = Life - this was her mantra. I remember that little things brought her joy; she was happiest when she combed my wet hair, woke me up every morning ever so gently, read the newspapers, sewed or playfully teased my brother. :) She lived her life for everyone else and her life's purpose was fulfilled because she spread love in whatever way she could. Whether she lent someone a listening ear, offered words of comfort or just prayed her silent prayer all through the day. When she passed away, she may have been in physical pain (on account of a fall she in the months leading up to her passing), however, her spirit was soaring. I was present when I looked in her eyes as her soul chose to leave this physical world. There was no struggle, no grasping on to life, there was peace, there was nana following God and believing in him as she always did.

My eyes well-up as I type out the last paragraph, however, they're tears of thankfulness; thankfulness for my nana, thankfulness for her selfless love for everyone and thankfulness for her continuing presence in my life. My darling nana, my guardian angel is here, with me as I write this and she wants you all to know that all of you have a guardian angel too. All our angels are in the spiritual world and the physical one - it's now our chance to really listen to them, embrace, be thankful for and to them and to learn whatever we need to from them.

As I think back and imbibe all that my darling nana taught me and continues to teach me, I am blessed. I leaned that love in its truest, purest form is selfless love - devoid of attachments and expectations... love is love. I've learned that caring, sharing and giving is our second nature - a nature we lose along the way, a nature that's waiting for us to realise and accept its presence in our lives. I've learned that loss is a part of life's lesson - loss helps us realise life's true riches and strengthens our spirits in a way that only loss can. I've learned that tears of joy calm us and tears of sorrow purify our soul. I've learned that while it's easy to realise these lessons and so very many more, practicing them requires disciple, humbleness and love - and this is my continuing lesson. This is my continuous process of learning - to live like this always... and boy am I still learning. :)

As I get ready to begin another day in love, caring and sharing, I know that God and my darling guardian angel, my darling nana will guide me and lead me on, all I have to do is follow. As my heart feels a physical gush of love, I imagine a sea of rose petals going out into this world. A world full of people, nature and animals - all of whom want and need our love, all of whom have a beautiful guardian angel just like yours and mine watching over them, all of who need to talk to their guardian angels, just like you and I do.

As I begin my day, I tell my darling nana, my guardian angel that I love her, always have and always will and I pray to her and ask her to help me live my day in love. Love, love, the heartbeat of this beautiful gift from God, this beautiful universe.

Have a fabulously blessed day everyone. :)

P.S: This one's for you my darling nana.

Your True Self

Are you quiet? Quieten your body.

Quieten your mind.

By your own efforts

Waken yourself, watch,

And live joyfully.

Follow the truth of the way.

Reflect upon it.

Make it your own.

Live it.

~ Buddha from the Dhammapada

A very, very good morning everyone. I woke up beautifully this morning with a smooth transition from sleep to consciousness. The blink-and-miss-it moments between our sleep and awakening tells us a little something about the state of our minds, if we pay attention. After wishing God, my guardian angel (my nana) a good morning and blowing life a kiss, I decided to quieten my mind, rein it in, listen to my heartbeat, pay attention to my breathing. I realised that I was going into Vipassana mode and as my second course begins in less than a month, my heart remembers a beautiful couple I met on my recent trip to Jaipur.

Taiji (aunt) and taoji (uncle) are a friends relatives who I just met. They opened their hearts and home while we were in Jaipur and insisted that we stay with them (all this in spite of meeting us for the first time). Since we were three women travellers, they believed that we'd be safer in their home. We were served tasty food the moment we arrived and taiji and taoji embraced us with open arms... literally. The peace, satisfaction, love and calmness on their faces and in their hearts was palpable. We were enamoured. We later learnt that the beautiful couple lost everything financially on account of taoji's accident. There was a time, when this lovely couple didn't have a square meal to feed their own children. We learnt that after the accident, taiji devoted her life and breath to taoji and her children. During course of conversation, we learnt that in spite of everything, taoji completed 14 Vipassana courses and taiji had done four! As I sat and listened to them, I realised that taiji and taoji learnt only to love and share... they not only practiced Vipassana, they lived it. It's Vipassana and their belief and faith in the good Lord that helped them through times that could break even the strongest.

Ever since I started practicing Vipassana, I noticed how this form of mediation helps one grow in love, faith and belief. Vipassana meditation helps us get in-touch with ourselves - our minds. It reintroduces us to a part that's constantly on a roller-coaster. It helps us understand our mind and it's through that understanding, we eventually understand ourselves. I've always looked up to my spiritual gurus and used them as examples of spiritual living. I've often faced questions regarding how feasible a spiritual life is in this world we live in. I've never had a problem following the spiritual path in a layman's world; and now taiji and taoji reaffirm my belief that spirituality can find its place in this world. In fact, it's right here, here and now, stop, feel and experience. The real question is - will we allow it to make its place or will we find excuses for its absence?

Each and everyone of us are born spiritual, we'e born holy, we 're born pure. We lose our true selves along the way, but instead of focusing on the loss, we must change our focus to reconnecting and rediscovering our true self. The self - it's through this self that we will find God. Vipassana is one of the ways, one of the paths to finding our true selves. Whether we choose to read The Bhagavad Gita, The Bible, The Torah, Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sogyal Rinpooche, books from the Rigpa, the Buddhist percepts or any other spiritual literature - they begin with love. Love - true love for someone else, is loving oneself first. We often see in someone else, what we see in ourselves.

Let's conduct a little exercise: when you wake up tomorrow, try and observe how you see and feel about the world. If you're feeling cheery and happy and see beauty in everything (and I mean everything), then your mind is at peace and it's working in cooperation with your heart. In case you feel otherwise, then it's time to take a closer look at the state of your mind. Don't focus on the problem, all of us have one problem or another, focus instead on what you can do to solve it. Remember, sometimes God burns bridges, but believe that there is a path there you can cross. You can and you will. A problem is never a problem unless we want it to become one. A problem is a mere learning, an essential learning on the path to spiritual enhancement. Accepting all learnings will be easier only when you know yourself, you truly now yourself, your mind, your truth, you.

It's a simple beginning; begin by observing yourself, observing your breath, and slowly making your way within. When you go within, you may want to run back out and may be you will, but try again and again and again. Most of us, are just scratching the surface when it comes to ourselves and it's okay... as long as we've begun the journey.

Vipassana helps us understand that the good and the bad will change. When we experience joy, it natural for us to grasp at it and want it to stay in our lives forever; when we experience pain, it's natural for us to run away from it and in effect we run away from life's most important lessons (and of course there are a host of emotions and feelings in between). But remember, all things good and all things bad are temporary - there's nothing we can do except to accept the situation, enjoy them, learn from them, live through them and enhance our souls in the process.

Getting to know ourselves must start now, it's now. Vipassana enhances our journey, but sometimes we can begin ourselves by devoting a specific time in the day or night to quiet contemplation. The journey to ourselves is one of the longest ones we will ever undertake, but it's one that helps us realise who we truly are and truly discover God, truly discover God.

Today, I'd like to leave you with a quote from Vipassana, "This too shall change." Remember, if you're having a good time, revel in it, cherish it, love it and feel it for what it is; never rue its end, celebrate instead that it happened. In case you're going through a tough time, embrace it wholeheartedly, remember with faith that God has a lesson in there and once you've learnt your lesson or someone else has learnt theirs, your situation will change. Don't run, just embrace, accept and believe... and if things get too hard, look up at the sky, talk to God and believe that your guardian angel is right with you... here and now.

Have a fabulously blessed day everyone. :)

One Soulful Step at a Time

Pāṇātipātā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi (I undertake the training rule to abstain from taking life)

Adinnādānā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi (I undertake the training rule to abstain from taking what is not given)

Kāmesu micchācāra veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi (I undertake the training rule to abstain from sexual misconduct)

Musāvāda veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi (I undertake the training rule to abstain from false speech)

Surā-meraya-majja-pamādaṭṭhānā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi (I undertake the training rule to abstain from fermented drink that causes heedlessness)

A lovely, blessed morning everyone, I am back after a week of travelling and I begin today's post with contemplation on Buddha's five percepts. As I look back over the last week, I know that I am blessed to have met all the people I did; royalty, ministers, people from the arts, doctors, filmmakers and industrialists. All came from varied backgrounds, lived in different homes but all of them had one thing in common - they had a soul and acknowledged its presence and importance in their lives.

Career achievements was one thing, soul achievements was another. All of them are following their soul purpose; all of them broke preset moulds to get where they are and all of them are humble enough to admit that they are fulfilling their own destinies in God's time. They are all following God's plan and living it and that's where their sense of accomplishment truly lies. All of them admitted that when one follows God's plan, it feels right from within. It will give you a sense of peace and strength of spirit like nothing else. 

As I sit back and think of what each of them said, a few telling things come back to me: ex-minister Jaswant Singh telling me that his real friends are his books, blue-blooded designer Raghavendra Rathore hoping that he can facilitate positive change and trying his best to revive Indian culture through design, creator of the Jaipur foot - Dr Devendra Mehta on his effort to change people's lives one foot at a time, filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya who tries to highlight the importance of family values that are quickly lost on the younger generation... Indeed, change comes in different forms for different people. What's important is that all these people are on a continuous journey of soul-fulfillment and they are trying to help others get in-touch with their soul purpose too. Different people, different instruments of change, one soul-purpose. All of them are living soulfully, sharing their humbleness and living their change - for themselves and everyone else. 

I close my eyes and say a prayer of thanks: thank you God for giving me an opportunity to meet people who true purpose in life was to initiate change for the better. Thank you for blessing me enough to experience their humbleness and humility. Thank you, thank you. And you know what, each of them practiced Buddha's five percepts in one way or another. Here are just a couple of examples that personify Buddha's percepts and of course a few things that we can apply in our own lives.  

Dr Devendra Mehta said, "Us human can't even create an ant, what then gives us the right to kill?" Raghavendra Rathore said, "I can't think of politics at the moment. If I promise to put up a medical camp and fail to deliver, it will play on my conscious and I will not be able to live with myself." - If we read Buddha's percepts, we realise that they follow them. Whether we begin our day with Buddha's texts, the Bhagavad Gita, books by Sri Ramana Maharshi, the Bible, the Torah or any other spiritual book - we realise that all of them give us the same message, the same values for life.

All these successful people attributed their success to their life's calling - in other words, following God's plan. This begins by being true to ourself, true to our calling, true to our God, true to our destiny. It's time to stop, breathe, look within and ask ourselves a simple life-changing question: am I doing what the good Lord has planned for me? Am I following him? Am I allowing him to lead me on? Am I humble enough to accept that he knows best? I believe that God held my hand and led me through the last week - from buzzing Delhi to busy Jaipur to the peace and tranquility of Jodhpur. As I drove through the hot, hot desert, I saw people who found their peace in themselves, in God and in culture. Lessons in simplicity, humility, humbleness and truthfulness.

As I found myself back in noisy Mumbai city, I realise that I left a part of my heart in the hot Jodhpur desert... and I am glad for it. I am counting my blessings again and I realise that God is keeping on adding them to our kitty. I've learned how to look within and find my peace, now it's time for me to spread that peace and happiness to as many people, animals and nature as I can.

Life is about finding oneself and them helping everyone else to do the same. This is one of the many lessons I learned over the last week. Come, let's find ourselves and help others find themselves and their soul-purpose too. God is right here, guiding us, leading us and loving us. Let's embrace him and embark on the journey of a lifetime. That's all we have to do... begin with faith and love. 

Have a fabulously blessed day everyone. :)