Wise People:

1) Reflect/Listen/Read more than they talk

2) Enjoy intelligent discourse

3) Quickly admit when they’re wrong

4) Comfortable changing their opinion

5) Don’t get easily offended

6) Surround themselves with intelligence

7) Seek to understand every perspective on an issue

While Fools:

1) Talk more than they listen/read/reflect

2) Run away from any discourse

3) Never admit when they’re wrong

4) Stick to their opinions

5) Easily get offended

6) Surround themselves with pleasers

7) Seek to force their perspective on others

​If only I could take all the bombs and ammunition on our beloved Earth, and throw them in a distant black hole out there in the cosmos.

If only they were never made in the first place, and the funds were used for growth, health and harmony.

If only instead of seeking power outside like the deer searching for musk, we turned all our research inwards to find the whole cosmos that Krishna showed to mother Yashoda in his childhood.

If only the times we are living were Satyuga, the golden age rather than the black age of Kalyuga.

If only we could send all the hatred, selfishness and greed from all our minds and bury them deep inside the Earth, never to come back over the surface again.

Then our rivers would not have been the filthy drains
that they have become.
Nor our mountains, the garbage dumps of plastic bottles
and tin cans bereft of glaciers and ice.
Nor our deserts the testing grounds for nuclear weapons..
Nor the cities we live in concrete jungles.
Nor so many children been beggars with no care and food.
Nor the women the objects of display and advertisements.

Where are we heading? They say towards progress, we are evolving.
Earlier we had fresh air, clean water, nutritious food,
faith, hope and harmony.
Now we drink passed out water, breathe carbon-dioxide
and eat genetically engineered pesticide ridden food.

If only we had more love, light and inner power
than more bombs, bullets and polluting industries.

We could say the Lord resides in us and we in the Lord.
Fairies would be dancing on the flowers,
nymphs singing songs of love.
Our homes would be sanctuaries of peace and love.
If only!

Let’s choose pure food and air
Enough pollution and waste.

Let’s choose love, peace and harmony
Enough hate, wars and selfish gains.

Let’s choose wisdom and light
Enough arms, bloodshed and fear.

Let’s choose innocence and laughter
Enough politics, terror and pain.

Open sesame, the hearts of all beings on this planet
and fill it with the divine nectar of love and peace.

Open sesame, the inner treasures
of divine light in every mind.

O great magician of the heavens,
turn around your magic wand and
pull out all hatred and enmity
from every heart on this planet and
throw away in the deep depths of the seas,
that it shall never come back to haunt
the innocent hearts of our dear children.
And let peace and love reign over Earth
as it is in heavens above.

Are you stressed? Don’t you get tired of keeping up with the joneses? In spite of all the gadgets in your home don’t you feel empty inside? Doesn’t the same daily routine bogs you down sometimes? Don’t you think your workplace stress is spilling over to your home life or vice versa? Do you keep on worrying about your children’s future? Do you feel you need more power, more energy in your life?

It looks like the majority of us are divided in two categories. Either, we are so busy – over tight schedules, meetings, deadlines, targets and so on resulting in a totally disoriented family life where we find fathers who don’t even know in which class their children are studying.

Or, on the other hand we have the couch potatoes for which Hollywood & Bollywood Production Houses make Daily Operas showing totally artificial values – black and white people. Either the characters are saints or they are nothing short of devil’s direct agents on Earth. The couch potatoes keep on lapping up these operas to the point that no creativity and light is left in the mind. They don’t even realize that they have become addicts. That they are totally hypnotized.

This kind of imbalanced living has created a havoc in our society. It is an outbreak of a proportion of an epidemic which has not even spared the children. Surveys after surveys are coming to the same conclusions. The truth is out. It is none other than Stress and the other lifestyle diseases namely heart problems, hypertension, diabetes, cancer, back pain etc.

Every day we see even young people being taken to the emergency wards with a stroke or heart attack. And the relatives talk among themselves outside in utter awe how come he(she)? He had no problem earlier. How did it happen so unexpectedly? Surprise! How did the disease develop?

Of course, a disease of such magnitude cannot be an accident. It’s only that we have become so unconscious that we don’t heed to the early signs.

I hear so often from our elders, “In our times the children were so simple, a new born won’t even open his/her eyes for a whole month. Today’s children are so smart.” And I would reply that how much impressions did the child use to get in earlier times. Nowadays, even in his/her mother’s womb the child is bombarded with all kind of impressions from TV, radio, traffic noise, etc. etc.

The other times they would say, when we were at your age, we were so energetic. Today’s generation is so lousy and weak. Now you see the quality of air, water, food and impressions we receive in our daily lives has changed drastically in the last 30 years or so.

Our lives have become so complex. Our desires, competition have multiplied many folds. The simple joys and happiness has no place in our lives today. Their place is taken up by stress, disease and depression. One wise man said:

“It’s so simple to be happy, but it is so difficult to be simple”.

And that sums up the whole problem of the modern life. The more complex the life gets, the more less joy, the more less happiness, the more stress, the more disease and more depression.

The fact is that in the race to become more modern we are constantly discarding our ancient wisdom. We have lost touch with the Nature, in fact we are hell bent on destroying it. But how can a society be healthy when it wants to destroy its own roots? How can we live a healthy and happy life until we are not in harmony with Nature, with one another and with our own inner selves? Our ancestors in the vedic age taught us that to lead a happy life we have to live in harmony with ourselves, with others and with Nature. Here I list a few steps that can help us in our journey back to harmony, health and happiness:

Slow down

“…You better slow down.  Don’ t dance so fast.
Time is short.  The music won’t last….”
So goes the lines from a child’s poem. Life is to be lived. Live it. Savour it. Don’t just let it pass you by. When we are in a hurry, we lose awareness. We become robots.

Respect Nature

Let’s save our environment. If we have to go back to harmony, our environment needs to be healed. Let’s not add to the woes of an already injured mother earth.
But it is a fact that scientists (who did not got influenced by influential govts. and vested companies) have already proclaimed that irreversible damages have been already done to the environment. So, it looks like prayer would be our last resort.

Exercise

Even a moderate light exercise done daily is much better than a heavy dose of hatha yoga once a while. Exercise is like food, you cannot get results by eating a lot once a month. You have to take small quantities at regular intervals. Same with exercise, it gives much better results even if done for 5 min. daily. And no need to do any strenuous one if you are not the gym type person. 2-3 rounds of jogging, or even five-ten minutes of simple full body joints movements gives excellent returns on time invested by saving you from a lot of illnesses. No exaggeration there.

Balance

Moderation is the key to good health and happiness. Stomach is the root where most of the diseases are born. Balance in eating, sleeping, work, love and entertainment is fundamental to a happy existence. Neither too much, nor too less. Like the salt in your curry. Do not over-furnish your rooms. Be simple and you will be happy.

Meditation and Relaxation

To be at peace with ourselves. To release all tensions from our muscles and body. Scientists are now finding that meditation is a good brain food. And that too much thinking is really bad for our brain cells. What yogi knew so long ago. Scientists really need to catch up with the ancient wisdom!!

Kick that couch

Scientists have found that meditation boosts performance more than even sleep. So an extra one hour of sleep can be easily exchanged with a 10-15 minute meditation. If you cut hour an hour of TV and instead spend 10 minute in exercise and 15 minute in meditation, it will give a super boost to your daily energy level.

Correct Breathing

This one is really a gem.  Almost 90% of the grown ups are inhaling only 30% of oxygen-prana because of their wrong way of breathing. Shallow breathing or chest breathing starves the lungs and the solar plexus. So what happens is an accumulation of negative emotions and pent up energy in the region of solar plexus which is scientifically proven to be our second brain. Again here yogis took a 5000 year old lead from scientists. What scientists proved 5-10 years ago, yogis knew 5000 years ago. Now this is a major cause of stress and lack of energy in most of the modern people. We need to learn deep abdominal breathing and reverse our habit of shallow breathing.

Give and Grow Rich

Become the masters of your destiny. Whatever you sow, so shall you reap. So whatever you want to have, give that to others. You need to be more loved, love others. You want others to understand you. Understand others. You want to be rich, tithe. Give 5-10% of your net income in charity. That is the law. Give and you shall receive.

These are very simple principles. That is why they are so difficult to practice. As the wise man said, “Its so simple to be happy, but it is so difficult to be simple”. So mainly to conclude, happiness comes where there is simplicity. So let’s strive to be simple. And happiness and harmony will follow.

To your health, happiness and harmony….

Do you do things that surprise you? That disappoint you? That you wish you hadn’t?
Are you always the person you wish you could be?

Do you know exactly who you are?
Do you know just what you would do in any given circumstance?
Do you always act consistently with your beliefs?

The truth is we do not know ourselves. We do not act as we think we might. We are often not the person we pretend to be, or want to be.

You realise that much of what you have regarded as wisdom all these years was just other people quoting other people – people making their best educated guesses.

Most people often assemble the evidence after their conclusions, not before them. Or to say it plainly, most people first jump to conclusions and then justify what they have concluded refusing to acknowledge tons of evidence against their conclusions.

Most people are a puzzle even to themselves, but sadly, they keep busying themselves in outer things and people, never spending time and energies in solving their inner puzzle.

Most people yield to short term pleasures and idiosyncrasies, reason emotionally, act on impulses, outside influences, and false gurus without much regard to their long term interests.

As they age, even their sense of wonder is lost. And what remains is bitterness and gnawing loneliness.

Life is not a quest for accumulation & survival, nor a struggle for existence. Life is a quest for wisdom, happiness and fulfilment. Life is a quest for freedom, for Nirvana. What is your life quest?

What’s interesting is that with just 3 small changes in your attitude towards your life:

• From a quest for accumulation to a quest for wisdom – you will become a philosopher, a lover of wisdom.
• From a fight for survival to a quest for Amrita – you will become an alchemist, an immortal.
• From a struggle for existence to a quest for making a difference – you will become a philanthropist, a net giver.

Wow!!! Let’s change our attitude today!

With just these 3 shifts in your attitude towards your life, you can change its direction.

And when you change the direction of your life rocket, you change where it’s going to land. Not to hell. To Nirvana….Adios ‘Mrityu Lok – Death Land’, adios pain & suffering. Hello eternal life, eternal peace and eternal happiness.

Join “GOD YOGA” today.

To your eternal life, happiness and peace….

Spiritual guru, Adi Shankaracharya used to abhor all kinds of material accumulation. He was free from desires and insecurities of the future.

Think about it, why do we want to save more and more, get more insurances, buy more properties?

Because we are afraid of what might happen in the future. Because we have no faith, no connection with our inner divinity. Our only refuge is material resources.

Those who lack inner resources tend to depend on outer resources. Those who are rich in inner resources are not dependent on outer resources and like a Gautama Buddha or Adi Shankaracharya, they can renounce all outer resources.

There was a dialogue in the Bollywood movie “Singham”: “मेरे ईमान में दम है, क्योंकि मेरी ज़रूरतें कम हैं।” (I have integrity because my necessities are less)

Now, the question is what are the necessities of life?

Clean air and water, food, clothes, a bed to sleep and a roof over your head.
(हवा, पानी, दो वक़्त की रोटी, दो जोड़ी कपड़े, रहने के लिए एक छत और सोने के लिए एक बिस्तर।)

Frankly speaking rest are all desires and insecurities.

Of course, in the current times, this definition of necessities seems harsh.
But then, in the current times, you cannot define necessities, because we know people have sold their blood or body organs just to buy an “I PHONE”.

However sad, but this is the truth of the current state of human life.

Now here again, you see how a person values an outer resource more than his own body. Because, the society and media have made fashion a value. They have made the outer possessions one has, the measurement of his value in the society.

Now, it’s not necessary for you to fall into the society’s trap. The society gives outer things value because they are empty inside. But ask them who is their favourite personality and they would say Mother Teresa or His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Now, if you start developing yourself, if you start valuing your soul and spirit more than the material things, the people would respect you for that. Yes, right now you cannot imagine that because right now, you yourself value the outer things more than your soul and spirit.

I can tell you from my own experience that I have never faced any disrespect from my wealthy relatives because of my lack of outer resources. In fact, I have always been more respected in my family circle for my lack of respect for outer resources and for my respect for my soul and spirit.

Please understand the pride, the inferiority and superiority, is countered with “Self Respect” आत्म सम्मान .

Now, you feel inferior to others for you yourself value what they have and you don’t more than your own self. You feel superior to others for you yourself value what you have and they don’t have more than your self.

The Hindi word for respect सम्मान gives us the clue here: सम मान, meaning you can only give respect in equal measure as you give to yourself. What does it mean? A person who has no “Self Respect” cannot respect others. Or, if you respect your own self very less even if you would want to give respect सम्मान to others you can only give it as much as you respect your own self – सम मान.

It means respect starts with self respect आत्म सम्मान.
अगर आप अपनी आत्मा का सम्मान नही करते, means you don’t value your own inner divinity more than the things you have, then of course, you will value others also in relation to the things they have, rather than their own self.

For me, I would include in the above list of necessities, one more item: आत्म सम्मान।

Of course, you can object that I’m forgetting one more very important necessity of life: The Sex.

Now in relation to sex, the necessities vs desires can be explained by this differentiator:

Necessity: “एक व्यक्ति अपनी तमाम ज़रूरतें (necessities) एक से पूरी कर लेता है।” One person fulfils all his necessities from one. I.e., To a devoted married person one spouse is enough to fulfil all necessities.

Desire: “दूसरे को अपनी एक ज़रूरत (desire) पूरी करने के लिए कई व्यक्ति भी कम पड़ते हैं।” To the other many falls short to just fulfil one desire. I.e., To a philanderer many sexual partners also do not fulfil his/her sexual desires.

Outer resources never fulfil. That is why the current humanity is always unfulfilled, hungry, thirsty and ever empty.

That is why each year Apple, Samsung and other MNCs can milk them by bringing new models of their “I Phones”, etc.

If you fool yourself into thinking that when I would have enough material resources then I would work on my soul, then you are just wasting your time.

Insecurities do not go away with more outer resources. It’s a known fact that those who have more are much more greedy, corrupt and hungry than the have nots.

Insecurities fuel more insecurities, greed fuels more greed, and so on. Pride fuels more pride. Lust fuels more lust.

So stop fooling yourself that when everything would be to your satisfaction outwardly then you would start working on your soul.

Sorry to bust your wishful thinking, but that day would never come when you would be satisfied with your outward resources.

Because fulfilment is a quality of soul, not the ego. The day you will understand this, you would stop fooling yourself.

So, join GOD YOGA today.

To your fulfilment….