The Life of Sadhana

Life of Sadhana

 

As I continue to learn from my own life and my ownself, living life of sadhana day in and day out.

It is a joyous process and I am lucky to be living it. I have realizations during this topless mountain journey (so it seems, how does the rabbit hole goes) which I will share during the course of this article.

Life of Sadhana path can be depicted as follows -

Struggling ----> Doing ----> Being

It is a journey from "Being of the world" to Being of the world but not of it"

Without any introspection or study of your ownself, you will start of with a struggling stage.

Once you have some realizations, You "choose" the doing and become a doer. Your struggle reduces. a layer of struggle is gone because now you are "doing".

Once you start doing and still go deeper, you realize that doing still involves effort. To make it effortless, you have to learn the art of "Being".

From learning the art of "being", you have reach the state of "being".

There are  many aspects which one needs to self realize, act and live. There is no option here - Books, Religion, Gurus, Sanstha's will guide you in the right direction but you have to put yourself in to action to live otherwise this is a philosophy for you and not the truth.

I was once asked by a very learned man - "What is truth?" I was quite puzzled at the question as I could not derive the context of it. As the illusion of me being a very intelligent person disappeared, I did see the context of the question. I realized there is no "single truth".

For example there is a happily married couple (hypothetically ;)) and there is a unhappily married couple (the 99% zone). For the latter, marriage is bad. But that is still not the truth. There are hypothetically happily married couples (he..he) for whom marriage is good. So what is the truth?

Another example of Indian going to US. I had good number of friends going to US with me. Out of all, 3 of us came back as we preferred to be in India. Rest of them stayed back. So what is the truth? Is US good for living or Bad?

Now you apply this to people you interact, circumstances you face. What you see as right is wrong for others and vice-versa. This understanding can come by reading but to be able to action it, you have to walk the path of sadhana.

So my realization was that truth is only your perspective of a person, circumstances, event nothing more and nothing less. Truth is multi dimensional.

There are few things I have self explored and realized during my journey -

1. Learning to leave - Over a period of time, your sense of belonging becomes a bondage for you. You can "choose" to leave these bondages or live with it. Your choice will decide your actions and actions will decide your life (so called results). This is very important in art of relationship. The ones who are yours, you will always set them free. And ones who you want to hold on, you never considered them yours and thus you hold on to them. Start living freedom in your relations, few people will leave your life and so be it. When I say relations, I do not mean only family. It may be your friend, your employees, your business partner, your manager, your guru, your peers at work places and also includes your family (who ever you interact with on day to day basis).

2. Your Food - Food is the only energy after breathe that you use for daily actions in life. So your food should be suited to your life style. If you are on a spiritual path, food is important aspect. Your choice of food will decide your life style or you choose the food as per your life style. I have realized this myself that more balanced my food, more balanced my life. It just makes things easier and smoother if you tune the food energy to life you want to live. For e.g. if you want to do physical work, you need heavy diet to produce huge amount of physical energy and metabolism. But if you are doing mind work, your diet needs to help your mind work. You can even do other way round, change your diet and you will attract work of your liking because you have now become a conscious energy for it.

3. Accept, Adapt and Grow - I have realized that first step of personal and spiritual growth starts from acceptance. Accept things as they are, then you adapt them and then you can grow.

4. Begin today - The biggest thing I have learned is to start from right now and not from yesterday. The best thing is brings to your life is newness. Now every day is new for you. You will learn this when you do business. You cannot hold on to your past to do business, you have to do and live new things with unending desire to grow. So begin today. If you can do this, your 90% things become easy suddenly.

5. Action - This is where I used to lack a bit. Action is the only thing that will lead you to the truth for yourself. Put your words in to action and you will get new meaning to life.

6. Silent Meditation - This is love of my life, most of my realizations have come from simple meditation of being in silence. It has taught me things which has bought my action closer to my real self. It has taught me art of non reacting and being. It has taught me to listen. It has made me patient. It has taken away so many fears of my life.

In my life, I have been blessed to have found right spiritual school at right time. The school is Nira Multiversity - http://www.niramultiversity.org.

All that I have learned and acted is  attributed to this wonderful multiversity.



Quality of Relationship

I was very young when I realized that the root cause of my emotions was expectations. we are son or daughter, brother or sister as we are born in to this world. As we grow up, we acquire friends, cousins, relatives. Further, we turn in to husbands or wives and have kids of ourselves. (Assuming you are married because you did not see other options, if you chose to not get married, stop reading and enjoy your freedom ;))
Before moving forward, let me put some key ingredients of a true relationship -
1. Freedom - First and foremost, it allows everyone in a relationship to be free to be one self. You accept the other person as he currently is in to your life with all his faults or the relationship has a hole in it.
2. Love - You love the person with all your heart. Here love means caring, true selfless caring.
3. Faith - You have full faith in the person in truest sense of the word. People tell blind faith is dangerous, I say the nature of faith is blind otherwise it ceases to exist.
4. Respect - You respect the person for who and what he is? Not what he is to you only.

Having played so many roles in your life, you are bonded by expectations of everyone around you. These expectations quickly grows in to emotions and further in to resistances in your relationships.
How do you get out of this loop?

There is only one key, the world is a reflection of yourself. It starts from you and ends at you.
1. The first step to have a quality relationship is to stop your own expectations. Once you stop expecting, everyone in your relationships stops expecting from you.
2. Start Accepting as is without any duality.
3. Be Honest and truthful (dangerous per se),
There is a thin line between stop expecting and stop giving. Give 100% to your relationship but without expecting. This requires sadhana, it is not possible without sadhana. If you do this based on the information provided here, you will end up suppressing yourself rather then being one in that relationship.
You will notice that the people who really value you will stay and others will automatically have a very nominal role to play.
Spiritually, it is actually matter of frequency like radio. Based on matching frequencies, depth of relationships will build over a period.
So go ahead, be truthful, faithful, honest. May god bless you for the most amazing relationships in your life!
 

Seva makes you simple

Just back from a children's seminar conducted by Nira Multiversity. I am probably still wondering about any logical reason behind giving seva. I found none. There is no logical reason behind giving seva.
Exploring further -
It seemed seva does not touch any part of your ego and thus you will not find any logical reason to do seva. I believe there should be some part of your life which is dedicated for no physical form of returns. Generally we do things for self satisfaction, ego, money, sex, food. Seva does not give you any of these, may be self satisfaction but then I don't treat that as seva.
So what does doing seva teach you -
1. Not everything has a logical reason, some things are just to be done ;)
2. Seva is a form of meditation.
3. Through Seva, you become simple.
4. You learn to manage through seva.
5. You learn real love through seva.
6. Seva makes you neutral and peaceful.
Okay, so I did manage to find subtle reasons of doing seva ;)
All in all, I feel seva shifts your focus from the head (logic) center to heart (life) center.

Sharing and spreading happiness

A trip to water kingdom. I wanted to go to a place where we can relax and everyone can have fun. So we decided to go to water kingdom. In our first slide, we met couple of poor looking guys. I was surprised as how they could afford entry ticket of 700Rs.
After some time, we saw 2 foreigners, who were playing and watching these kids.
That time I realized that these guys have organized for these little ones to get them to Water kingdom.
I got real taste of what is meant by "spreading happiness". Even though I did not tell them anything, I was awestruck by their act of bringing happiness to these little ones.
At one point I saw one of the tired kids sleeping on his lap. In the end I also saw, one of the guys had also picked up a little one in his arms like you would carry your own child.
So these guys were not just doing it as formality. I have never seen such selfless act of taking these poor kids not only to play but also take care of them.
I never spoke to those guys but I appreciated from heart their act of kindness and spreading happiness. I bow to the humbleness they carried with them selves and pray to god for giving me the same in every way, shape.
I also learned a great thing that always share happiness and not grief. When there is grief, be alone. When you are happy, share it and spread it.

 

If God were to ask you "make a wish, what would be yours?"

God asked me today - what do I want?
I was not prepared to answer this question as I did not know what I wanted?
I wanted many things on one hand and nothing on other hand.
I wanted a bigger house, better car, interesting creative projects, money, great food, big vacations with all expense paid.
Actually, I wanted love, peace, success, satisfaction, happiness.
What would be one thing that would bring all of the above?
It was "freedom" or "nothing".
I either choose freedom which will encompass all of the above or have nothing in which I will not need any of them.
So for it was freedom or nothing, what is your wish?

Education of Life

Education of Life

I was thinking about the current education system where we have ourselves gone through school, college, graduation and so on.

Never thought about it while I was studying - what I was studying for? Being Born in a middle class family, I was always told to be studious is good. So study hard and get a degree. It never occurred to me to ask around why to get a degree? Because answer was already given i.e. to get a job. And job obviously to make a living.

The point I missed was education of life. None of these gave me education of life.

I still remember that I was an electrical engineer and was afraid to even change a light bulb. A part of it was my fault as I never questioned the system and it's end results.

Now at the age of 35, I realize that I would have done better if I had questioned by the mechanism. 

I now realize the real education is education of life, it is not found in current system of schools.

I personally feel that education system needs a revamp, they should teach principles of life, practical of life along with the current subjects. I am listing few things which I feel must be included -

• Training about healthy and unhealthy food habits
• Training about self discipline
• Banking and financial institutions
• History should be shown in audio visuals and should be used as inspiration rather then just knowing about it.
• Training on information technology should start at an early age.
• Way to celebrate festivals, Importance of each festival (they should be taught that plastic bags are harmful, I see huge number of plastic bags being thrown every day before and during holi).
• Planets significance in astrology and not only astronomy.
• Importance of mantras in life.
• Importance of goals in life.
• Different phases and facets of life.
• Equity and Stock market basics ;)
• Arth Tantra - Economics ;)
• Relationship building
• Spiritual Education.
• Cooking - Not only cooking but also buying good quality stuff.
• Stress management (at later stage of course).
• Time Management
• Capital Management
• Innovation

Your entire life is dependent upon the type of education you get in early stages of your life.
Our life style has come very fast paced, our education should teach us to manage and manage it well.
Well, Someday I hope I will be part of building such an institution where people do not have to study but "learn and explore".

Inspiring Lines by Chankya as Guru

Inspiring lines by Chankya when he requests chandragupta's mother to take him to Taksh Shila -
You have given birth to a possibility,
I have to make it possible.
You have given birth to a dream,
I have to make it reality
You as mother are worried about your child,
I am an educator and I am worried about the nation
You want Chandra gupta to take care of you and your cattles, I want chandra gupta to take care of the nation.
My need for chandragupta is much higher then yours!

The Roasted Sweet Potato

We wanted to go out for few days and did not have prior bookings done. Last minute research lead to a beautiful place named Dang in Gujarat near Saputara. More research and I found the contacts of DFO Mr Suchindra who did the booking for us.
With car fully loaded with CNG and Petrol, we started for our trip and the first halt was saputara. It took about 4-5 hrs from Ghatkopar (stayed over night at cousin's place) to reach Saputara. On the way,we were greeted by sweet grapes and black kismiss. We relished the grapes. After wandering a bit, decided to stay at Toran hill resort in valley facing rooms (the hold Toran Resort) which was a great experience.
The awesome lunch at Purohit was quite fulfilling. After resting for few hours, we head out for the lake and sun set point.
Kids enjoyed the Horse ride near the lake. 

Don't miss the sunset point, Boiled Corn, Poha, Kismiss.
Next day we headed out towards Mahal Camp site in Dang. The road from Saputara to Mahal via Ahwa was amazing. The last 2 km at mahal is a kachha road.
We reached and gave them ingredients to make lunch. The food here is cooked on Wooden Chulah which gives excellent flavor to the food. 
We went to bath in the river till our food gets ready.
The awesome food was ready by 2:30, we relished the lunch.
We had given a Sweet Potato to Boil to the cook, instead he just put the sweet potato in wooden chulah. We peeled it off and it was heavenly taste right their -
We went out for Girmaal falls, Pampa Sarovar and ShabriMandir. Pampa Sarovar was beautiful. Kids loved to feed a Dog with some biscuits ;)
On the way back, we visited Cashew Factory at Subir (the factory was closed and we asked a guy near by to call the attendant). He did come to make his sale ;)
We also bought Brinjals (these were really nice brinjals) to eat baigan bartha in the evening with mix veg khichadi.
By the time we came back, it was dark and also very cold. Time to hit the campfire and dinner.
As there was no electricity, we slept very early. It was extremely cold and over night temperatures dropped to 7 degrees celcius. In the morning, we enjoyed our pet oo-long tea, and headed to the next camp site Kilad.
For us, it was as good as it gets. The camp was amazing and we got a bunglow with 2 large double beds, big toilet. This was much better because it has mix of modern facility and cooking on wooden chulah. We went to botanical garden and Gira Falls (these were dried up). Botanical garden was very beautiful and we could explore only few portions of it.
Kids wanted to go back to the river as usual so we went to the river. And had a perfect sun shine on us ;)
Back to the resort and campfire. This time we had the satisfaction of roasted sweet potato ourselves. We shared it with another family and they loved it too.

Few things to note -
1) At Mahal you need all ingredients with you, things are available at 16 kms at subir (but that  too limited)
2) If you are a group, take tents and huts in right mix. tents are really cheap (200 Rs and 8 people can sleep ;))
3) It gets really really cold in winter overnight, so carry woolen caps and cotton for ears.
4) There is a market between Mahal and Kilad at village called Jamla pada, do not miss the market. It has good stuff like Jalebis, Sugar cane juice, Whole Red Pepper. Whole lot of fresh veggies.

If you want more information on Dang -
http://pandyadhaval.blogspot.in/

Bitter Sweet Parenthood

Being a good Parent is a tough task. If you want your kid to be live life full of life, you have to put sanskars in to him. He is going to do things you taught him for major part of his life, so it is matter of utmost importance.
Here are the things I try to teach my kids -
1) Self Improvement and Only self improvement - The only comparison they have to make it is between yesterday and today of one's own self. Be it games or studies, just improve yourself.
2) To Give - At times, I give the food from their share to poor and needy children. I also ask them to feed animals like dogs. This sanskar will go a long way to show them that life is a reflection, more you give more you get. Only the form will change.
3) Audio Visuals - Watch good movies with them - Karate Kid (Your focus needs more focus), Iqbal (commitment), Avataar (Love), ChandraGupta Maurya(many aspects of life), BolBhachan (laughter is the best medicine), Chak de India(love your country), Life of Pie(difficulties make you strong and they end eventually). This is one of the easy, impactful ways of teaching them.
4) Discipline - Give them Military training when it comes to discipline. They may not like it when you do it, but they will love you for life. Do not be emotional with them, make them tough but tough like coconut. They should be strong and be able to lead from the front. Only strong can lead and we need leaders for sure.
5) What you eat is what you become - I have created this infamous saying that "If you eat lays, you will become a bag a full of air and less substance". Tell them difference between fresh food and stale food. Give them fresh fruits and not soft drinks. The society is such that every parent is giving in to the demands of the child because it is "easy". But be tough, deny them these things. At times, let them have it and tell them it is bad but you can have it this time ;).
6) True sense of freedom and not illusion - People have this general illusion that freedom is to be able to eat, drink, do anything at any time otherwise they are taking away their child hood. It is not that way. Teach them that real freedom means be able to choose good things for themselves and not compromise by having what they get "easily". For example - Bread is easy to get but roti takes time and effort to create. Roti as everyone knows is more beneficial for health. 
7) Take them to the market - Teach them to shop for vegetables, fruits and so on (does not matter girl or a boy). 
8) Unlock the door - Teach them to lock and unlock the door, Teach them what is passbook, chequebook, bank balance, ATM, ATM Pin, Cell Phone (prepaid and post paid). Every parents are so proud that my kid can now recognize all gestures of iPAD so well, teach them how to unlock a door, it will help them in practical life. 
9) Make him a Player - Teach him team spirit. Play with him, appreciate his talent. Teach him cycling, Skating, Swimming at early age. Make him fear less in true sense of the world. 
10) Love them - Love in not sense of being emotional. Giving to their cries is not love. Love is to share, cook, play, music, hugs, blessings, hair cuts, long drives, camp fires, good night and a good morning.
11) Friends are forever - Teach them importance of having good friends. Their lives are going to be shaped by the circle of friends they form. Tell him to make friends who put smile on his face, or the ones who smile when he meets them. 
Schools will only teach the syllabus, you as parent are responsible to educate them for "life".