Jeevan Veena

Based on Swamiji’s book Jeevan Veena

1.

Gautam Budh once said “if the strings of veena are loose, it cannot produce music and if the strings are tight then too there will be no music. Music can only heard when the strings are neither too loose nor too tight. There is a center point.” A good musician would always check the strings of the instrument before composing any music. This is the rule of veena.

Then Jeevan(Life) Veena has also the same rule.

Where is this Jeevan Veena?

Human body itself is jeevan veena. There are certain strings in man’s body which should neither be too rigid nor too loose. There should be balance. Then only you can enjoy the bliss of the music of life. Knowing music is like knowing your own soul. Then if you know that there is music in all living beings, then you know God.

Man’s mind is always wondering in the extremes, from one extreme to another, but he is never in the middle i.e. the center. As like clock’s pendulum moves about from one end to another, Man’s mind also jumps from one decision to another, never stops in middle.

At one time the body goes from one extreme of materialistic gains. If not satisfied with this extreme, he moves to attain the extremes of spirituality. Like doing tapasya, gyan, fastings in extremes, endlessly. Then gets frustrated and irritated, never peaceful. Remain in the center, middle path. Stop at center point and balance life in the right way.

The beautiful music from life can only be heard and enjoyed and composed by this law of jeevan veena( A balanced life).

2. Art of Living

Smile and bloom like a flower spreading your fragrance of love.

Dance like a river stream showering happiness in your surroundings.

Shine like sun giving light with rays of hope

Always keep smiling, keep laughing and be happy.

Do not give a grumpy or sad look.

Sit erect, do not stop low.

Do not bring feeling of inferiority in your mind.

No pity or sympathy from others.

Always remember you are God’s child. You are his prince/princess.

Dreams

There was a Mahatma who had three disciples. He would train them for spiritual knowledge.

Once he called his first student(disciple) and told him that last night he saw a frightening and funny dream. In his dream he felt that he was perspiring very badly, he whole body went numb, he was feeling breathless and some sort of shivering and nervousness. He requested his student to analyse the dream. Can you give me an explanation to this type of dream?

The first student politely went and brought a bucketful of warm water and said “You are still in a sleepy mood, please take a warm water bath, you may feel better and would wake up. The Mahatma made him sit at one side.

Then he called the second student and narrated the same dream to him and asked him to analyse the dream and give an explanation to it. The second student politely said “Sir, after taking warm water you are still feeling drowsy, I would get you a hot cup of tea”. The Mahatma made him sit besides the first student.

Finally he called his third student and told him to analyse the same dream which he had said to his first two students. The third student got excited and said “Oh, I have many books on dream analysis, I will read and let you know the meaning of it.

The Guru(Mahatma) stopped him said “You have still not matured, Are the dreams true?, Can you give an explanation to your dreams?. Please wake up, How long will you remain in dreams and rely on book knowledge. I was testing you to see how much have you learnt.

Live in Reality and do your routine work systematically without being disturbed by dreams or imaginary things.

Do Not Blame Destiny

It is foolish to blame Destiny. If we are unable to achieve any task, we blame it on our Destiny. By saying so we are fooling ourselves, trying to cover our shortcomings or weaknesses and trying to console our mind that it was /was not in my luck. But think that your destiny is determined by you, by your own good or evil deeds and thoughts. Every second whatever you think or do(karma), adds to your destiny. So the fruit or result of your deeds have to borne by you only. Nobody else is responsible

God is our friend, he abides in our conscience. Every second he indicates through red and green signal and reminds us for whatever good or bad things we do. But we are not ready to pay heed to our conscience where our Lord stays. We suppress it and continue to do wrong. Then who is responsible for this?

You have nurtured your own destiny. God is not devil or our enemy to give us unhappiness. We are his children. He will always guide his children towards right track. But we are so involved in this materialistic world and engrossed in all sorts of egos, greed, anger, possessiveness that adds to the chain of our destiny. We have forgotten our own father. If we have done good, our destiny will also be good.

Therefore, stop blaming God, Destiny or Luck. Do not get illusion by this. Still it is not too late. Take Destiny in your stride, Act Now. Do not hesitate to take risk, do not be afraid of death. With your strong will power tread on the right, true path and be faithful/honest to yourself at least and then work hard to achieve your Goal.

We are not independent still we are slave of our Destiny. We have given the reigns of our destiny in others hand. March ahead, hold the strings of luck/Destiny tight in your hand and drive independently towards your task.

God is our true friend. Our father. He cannot and does not want us to feel sad or unhappy.

Smile and laugh at your follies. In the Bhagwat Gita, Lord Krishna has repeatedly reminded us that Soul is Immortal(Atma Amar Hai). We still live with the fear of death and fear of losing our near and dear once. But that is universal. We cannot escape that. Accept the reality and live fearlessly by surrendering to the Almighty.

The Importance of a Guru

Although we all believe that God is greatest. But we cannot see God. If we find a right Guru, he will show us the way towards God. We can share our feelings and thoughts with our Guru. We can question him. If he is not able to solve my queries, he is not the true Guru.

Everybody has access towards book knowledge, but that is one sided. We interpret things based on our previous experiences or as per our convenience and our level of intelligence or understanding. Then the knowledge gained or read is in one direction.

When this knowledge or books we have read is discussed and shared with our Guru, we achieve more widespread knowledge. Guru being more senior and experienced, can change our biased knowledge and attitude. He imparts balanced and impartial knowledge. He enhances and enlightens us to the path where God abides. He helps to take right decisions in our daily life. Guru is like torch.

End and Beginning

The End and Beginning of each living being on this Earth is same. It is only the middle phase which we claim to be ours or Mine. Dedicate this middle life to him and thank him for whatever he has given us(a healthy body, healthy mind and healthy soul). Work hard and achieve the right goal. Do not waste this opportunity. This I (Ego) cannot do anything without the support of his (God's) EYE

EGO, THE DEADLIEST ENEMY

As far as possible we should keep away or minimise our Ego and have full faith in Almighty, our God. Surrender all your good/bad, happy/unhappy deeds to him. Do not Doubt.

A story.

There were two very good childhood friends. When they grew big, one friend became a tapasvi(Saint) and would stay alone in mountain areas to do his prayers and tapasaya. The other friend became very rich like a King and would stay in his palatial house. The tapasvi would wear only a langoti and the rich friend was living a lavish life.

Once the rich friend desired to search for his friend who had opted to live a life of a Saint. He felt restless and would search for him every nook and corner. Finally he located his friend, went to meet him and felt very proud that his friend has achieved so much knowledge in short period. He has become a tapasvi. He went to his ashram and requested him to have lunch in his house. The tapasvi friend agreed to visit his house and have lunch with him.

The rich friend was very happy and made beautiful arrangement and decorations to receive his dear friend. He spread costly carpets so that his friend is not hurt.

When the sanyasi friend reached his rich friend’s house he was amused and surprised to see the beautiful arrangements made to greet him. When he reached at the main door, then a person at the gate told him “See, your friend has intentionally made this arrangement to make you feel low. He wants to prove you that how much he has attained in life and you are nothing. Hearing that the Saint got very angry and his EGO reached the peaks, he felt hurt. He thought that he was such a big Saint and my friend wants compare his riches with the knowledge I have gained. He went to a nearby nullah(dirty drainage), dirtied his feet in it and then went to his friend’s house. He spoilt the beautiful carpet with his dirty feet.

The rich friend when greeted his friend was surprised and angry to see all this and shouted at his servants to know who had spoilt his carpet. At this, the tapasvi friend said that “I have spoilt your carpet to show that I have gained more than you. You have achieved only money, but I have got spiritual knowledge, I am a Saint, a gyani, a tapasvi. His ego knew no bounds.

The rich friend was stunned and replied very politely and apologetically “ Oh, dear friend after sacrificing all worldly and materialistic things, being a Saint, a gyani, your EGO is still intact, it has not gone down. I used to respect you, honour you, used to feel jealous of your achievements, but now I feel very sad that there is no difference between you and me. I have an ego for money and you have an ego for sainthood, your gyan and tapasya. You have lost all that you have achieved.

Do not get carried by your Ego. You have gained money, knowledge and whatever is good in you through God’s blessings. That I is your deadliest enemy. If by chance, we meet with an accident, or any serious illness, all that we gain becomes meaningless. Just pray and thank God whatever he has bestowed upon us. Had not given you sound and healthy body, mind and soul, you could not achieve anything on this Earth. Do not feel jealous or get angry at what others have. Work hard and do your usual chores honestly. You will be paid back in abundance for all that good work you do.

Prayer, a simple way to reach God

Always pray to God with the true feelings, from your heart's content and not by copying others prayers. Make your own prayer straight from your heart.

Early morning one man reads newspaper and another man reads religious books like Geeta, Bible, Koran etc. But due to some reason both of them are not able to read their usual newspaper or religious book. They become restless and irritant because this habit has become their normal routine.

If we want we can read and enjoy religious books without any rule, without any routine, in a natural and relaxed way, without getting irritated. Newspaper we read and keep it somewhere but religious book should be preached and understood for our good and kept in a special place in our house because God is not a waste. It has to looked with reverence. Is'nt there a vast difference between a newspaper reading and reading a religious book.

Our faith and feeling towards God should be spontaneous and simple and not time bound. It has to be from within where no one can see what you doing, no one can copy your prayer. You just concentrate on your prayers and do not get disturbed.