Fear of Mind causes Diseases

Nowadays our whole life is filled with Fear. From head to feet are living under some fear or the other. Day and night we carry this fear with us. The fear to lose your money, your status, your family. Fear of any accident, of ailments and sickness. There are innumerable fears hovering around our mind. It does not allow our intellect to think steadily. When there is some fear our hunger, thirst, sleep get disturbed. Our sensory organs get weak. Our mind get disturbed, whole body get affected due to fear of future and the past and we are gheraoed by various unwanted diseases like Blood Pressure, Diabetes etc.

Remove this fear from your mind. Whatever has to happen will with God's wish. Accept this fact. Have faith in Almighty. If you are truly and honestly dedicated to the Almighty, no fear dare to come near you. Just relax and enjoy every minute of life fearlessly. Just remove that tag of "I" and feel that everything belongs to you My Lord. This whole Universe is your creation. Nothing can be created or destroyed without your permission. Things will become easy and the unwanted load of worries just hand over to him. He is there to take care. Just surrender fully to him.

Some fifty years back a saint went to varanasi to give satsang. It was a rainy season. Swamiji also had gone to attend his satsang and stayed in the same ashram where the saint stayed. He was a very brilliant and highly revered saint in those days.

Once middle of the night swamiji heard some noise. He got up and saw the disciples of saint were awake. Swamiji asked one of them "what is matter, why are you all awake?' Then one Mahatma said that the Head Mahatma of this ashram has been bitten by a snake. The Doctor came immediately. Swamiji looked at that Mahatma and saw his whole body had become pale and he was looking very nervous. People were not allowing him to sleep otherwise the poison will spread.

Swamiji had a torch with him. He said "let me see where is the snake, it can bite others also."
They said that it is in the toilet. It was quite dark and and there was no light that time. So swamiji took his torch and there he saw the snake was still lying in the toilet. He threw a small piece of stone on the snake,but it did not move, again he and other people tried to remove the snake by throwing stones but still it did not move. Finally with a big stick they took that snake out and to their surprise it turned out to be a rubber snake. Some children while playing must have left it there.

Immediately swamiji and other disciples rushed to the Head Mahatma and said that the snake
has not bitten him. It is a rubber snake. Hearing this the Mahatma looked relaxed, his face started blooming and immediately he became alright. Had it been little delay in finding the truth, the Mahatma could have collapsed. This is Hallucination, an unknown Fear.

So always relax, find the truth and keep the devil named "Fear" away from your life.

Path to God

Once a King(samraat) invited to his palace the heads of all religion prevailing at that time. He called each one them in his palace and wanted to know what their God or devta(in whom they believe) has to say. What are their preaching. What do their religion teach. How do they pray and whom do they pray.

Everybody gave their viewpoints. They explained to him about what their religion is about and what message does it convey. Each one stressed their opinion.

The King was not convinced with any of the religion. He was not contented, satisfied. He wanted perfection.

After sometime a saint had come to his palace as a guest. The king expressed his worry. His discomfort towards different religion. He asked him to solve his problem about a particular teaching which would give him peace. He wanted to know Which is the best knowledge.

The saint requested to meet him the next day in his ashram. The king immediately went to meet him. The saint took him near a river bank. There the saint told the king to get the best boat so that he and the king could reach the other side of the river. The king ordered his men to get the best boat to cross river.

The saint was not happy with it. He said "no this is studded with silver. I want something more.
Then the king asked for another boat. Again the saint rejected by saying "Oh, this is studded with diamond. Please get another." This way one by one the saint went on rejecting boats by finding some fault or other. This way the saint did not agree for any boat. He was looking out for a perfect boat to pass the river.

The king showed the saint best possible boats, but saint refused all. Finally, he requested saint by saying " I am sorry I showed you all the boat. But one thing you tell me that the river is so small and we have to reach the other side of the river, then any boat will do. Why so much of a fuss?" Why you to create so much displeasure or find faults with the boats?"

The saint smiled and said "Yes, this is what I wanted to tell you. Life is so short, so pleasant like river water, why you need any special religion(like a special boat). You take any path honestly you will reach your destination. To reach God you don't need perfection or beauty. You need simple and honest path that leads you there. Where we are standing is river bank is Earth, the boat is your Belief(Religious views) and to reach the other side is God's Path. Why so much of a fuss over religion. All the religion finally lead you to the same path. There should not be any force or compulsion. Stick to your Belief and path. Be firm in what you believe.

Stable Mind and Intellect

In Hindu Shastras there is a story of a woman named Shandilee . She was very young and beautiful. She used to sit in her ashram and do tapasaya. She had taken an that she will never and remain Brahmcharini. Once by chance Maharishi Gaalav and Garuda( a bird) reached her ashram.
They saw her ashram was very neat and clean and there was so much of peace. When they entered Shandilee's ashram, they admired her glittering beauty. She was deeply immersed in dhyan. She looked very calm, beautiful and satisfied and busy in her own tapasaya.
Then Garuda told Gaalav " look this Shandilee has more beautuiful appearance than Laxmi. we have never witnessed so much tez and powerful woman adorned with beauty. There is so much light in her looks.

Then they asked Shandilee "what is the reason of your tapasaya?"
Shandilee replied "I want to remain aajanam brahmacharini beside that I have no other tapasaya to do. I do tapsaya for peace, for stability of mind."
Garuda asked "Would you like to get married to Lord Vishnu?"
She flatly refused and said there are many other women wanting to get married to Vishnu. You don't have to worry about me. Once I have taken oath, I will stick to it. My body, mind and intellect are isthir(stable). It will never waver, it will not get carried away by your talks or any attractive offers. I keep to my words. I will firmly stick to my oath. You cannot break it"

Then Garuda and Galave tried to play trick on her so that she may change her mind. Gaalav told Garuda that you carry her on your back and take her to Lord Vishnu and we will forcefully get her married to him. Since Lord Vishnu is most handsome, she will agree to marry him.

Shandilee was a brilliant woman. She knew in advance that they have come to break her promise and they have plotted some trick, some plan to trap her and break the oath. She got very annoyed with them. She took holy water from her jug(kamandalu) and gave them shraap that Garuda's wings get burnt so that he cannot fly and Gaalav's body get decayed as he cannot think evil tricks against her.

They both begged sorry from her, apologised for their behaviour. They promised that in future they will never think of breaking her oath. Shandilee then took away her shraap.

There are very few people who keept to their promises. We should have firm determination towards our goal. How much ever others try to tempt or break it, We should be strong enough to retaliate.

This shows that if you your determined and do not get carried away by people's trick, you can have pwers like shandilee.

Humanity is our Religion

When Pandavaas were going towards Swarag(Heaven) they had to pass through Himalaya.
There were long shivaalya peaks and heavy snowfall on the way. One by one they had to cross Himalaya peak to reach Heaven. But it was chilling cold with gushing winds which they could not bear . One by one they started falling. Bhimsen body could not take this heavy snow storm. So he fell. Similarly Arjun also fell down after climbing little further. Nakula and Sahdev also could not reach due to the strong cold winds. Even Draupadi, their wife surrendered and could not accompany them. All the four brothers and their wife body fell off in the snow due to the storm. Only the eldest brother Yudhishthir could reach his destination.

As soon as the doors of Heaven opened, the devtaas were waiting to greet him with garlands. Dharamraj was waiting and greeted Yudhishthir with the words "welcome to Heaven, but the dog alongwith you is not allowed. There is no entry for your dog. In Heaven all the man don't get easy entry, how can a dog be allowed."

Then Yudhishthir calmly and politely said "please then close your doors of heaven. My brother Bheem, who was so powerful could not come with me. Arjun, who was proficient arrow shooter could not accompany me. Nakul and Sahdev, my handsome and qualified brothers are left behind. My wife Draupadi who used to say you are my life, my everything also could not reach Heaven. How can you expect me to take entry alone. Only this dog, who is faithful and true to me, accompanied me till the end. You expect me leave him alone. I can't be so selfish. I am not worse than a dog. Please shut the doors of Heaven. I don't need Heaven. First my dog will should be allowed only after him I will enter." It was a difficult test for Yudhishthir as he was strong believer of Human religion. For him taking care of everything and being true to everybody is the TRUE RELIGION.

The Devtaas laughed at Yudhishthir. They put their garland and threw flowers on Yudhishthir. They said "Look, who is there with you. The Dog was actually Dharam(true believer of mankind and humanity). That was Lord Vishnu disguised as Dog to test Yudhishthir.

When man dies nothing goes with him. His own body, his family, his money, his status, his country, his property, his children, everything which a man stakes claim of, is snatched from him by the hands of Death.. Nothing goes with him. But his Dharam( good qualities, good deeds, truth, humanity) goes with him. His dharam of being a true human being cannot be snatched by Death. Dharam is True Love and Faithfulness towards all nature's creations.

Keep balance between Praise & Criticism

A true follower of Almighty and strong believer in God never gets disturbed by praise or criticism. He never gets bloated when somebody praises him. Never looses his calm when he is criticised. He leads a balanced life. For us it is so difficult to live a balanced life. When somebody praises us for our looks, our status, our knowledge, our property and money, about our family and so on, we are never tired of hearing it. We love to hear people appreciating us for whatever we have above others. But when somebody finds fault in us, tries to criticise us, we get wild. We don't like to make friends with such people. We avoid people who criticise us.

Do not get carried away by false praise and criticism. Even big saints and kings had to bear all this. Just control yourself. Know to judge your true friend who will not praise or criticise you unnecessarily.
A saint was sitting near the bank of river lost in his thoughts. There was no worry, no tension, no fear or sadness. He was blooming like a flower. But we have everything like family, status, money still we are unhappy. We feel jealous of those who are happy with whatever little they have. A rich man was sitting in his car. He went near the saint. He saw that the saint was very relaxed. He felt jealous and started abusing him. He started using foul language by saying you are lazy, you a beggar, a thief, you don't want to do any work. In anger he spat on him and also threw dirt.
But the saint just smiled, remained calm. The man was surprised that he abused him, threw mud on him, spat on him, still he is not retaliating. He is not answering me back. He is not fighting or getting angry. The man felt concerned. He was also burning with fire of jealousy. He asked him again"Aren't you hurt, why are you not talking?" The saint was calm and peaceful.

That minute another man came. He bowed in front of saint, did pranaam to him. He knelt and washed his feet and said "you are so great, you are my God. I get so much peace under your feet. I feel very relaxed and comfortable when I sit with you. I feel highly satisfied when I am on your company."
Still the saint kept quiet. He did not answer. The second man who was praising the saint asked him"will you not talk with me and answer me, I have so much regard for you?"

Now the saint answered politely "See this man who came before you calls me a thief, a bad man and you are saying I am God. Now both of you sit together and decide whether I am God or I am shaitaan(Devil). Don't involve me in between. I am not worried about with what names people call me."

The saint was not perturbed by praise or criticism. He continued to do his service towards Almighty.

Search of Almighty

A gyani bhakt does not need dharam, arth, kaam, krodh, lobh and moha. He only wants God. He is always in search of God, the Truth and the Peace. Once he achieves Peace and the Truth, he is satisfied with life. He is close to God.
A sufi saint was peacefully sitting in his small house(kutiya). A young boy entered inside his house in a haste. He removed his shoes and threw them roughly and angrily outside his kutiya. He then forcefully and with a loud noise banged upon the door. He straight away went to the saint and without hesitation, without being polite started asking him "what is Atma? I have heard a lot about atma, paramatma. What is it all about, tell me. I have come in search of Atma Paramatma, the Truth, the Peace. I have come from very far. You please give me the answer."

Mahatma said clearly but politely "please beg sorry from the shoes, beg sorry from the door which you banged so loudly. You have hurt them." The boy proudly said "I have never begged sorry from my parents, not even from my brothers and sisters, how can you expect me to ask sorry from my shoes and the door. Who are they. They are dead beings. I don't believe in sorry."

Mahatma sternly said "you have not yet learnt to behave with the shoes and the door and you are asking that you have come to know and gain knowledge about most higher and respectable Atma Paramatma. You have come in search of God, the Truth, the Peace. You don't feel ashamed. Go straight away apologise and beg sorry for your rude behaviour from the shoes and the door otherwise you may go. Your mind is filled up to the brim with Ego, Anger and rudeness, where is the place in your mind for God, Peace, Truth, Atma and Parmatma. You obey and do as I tell you or else quit and leave my house, my peaceful kutiya. It cannot accommodate you and I will not talk to you."

The boy then begged sorry from shoes and the door. The saint said "not with words or in haste but you have to totally bend in front of them (do saashtang pranaam). The boy realised his mistake and did saashtang pranam to the shoes and the door. The saint then made him sit and asked "now tell what you want to know, what are your queries?"

The boy felt very ashamed. All his anger, ego and negative energies got melted. He gained positive thoughts and told Mahatma "I have nothing to ask now. The knot of Ego and Anger has open, I was entangled and tied up in the knot of Ego which has now opened and untied by your blessings. You have opened up my eyes. I am thankful to you."

Equal treatment with friends and foes

Once a king came to Gautam Budha. He was holding a small child in his arms. He asked Gautam Budha "Do you talk bitter at times? Do you hurt somebody by talking rude?"

The king thought in his mind that if Budha says 'No' then he can point out the occasions where he had spoken rough and If Gautam Budha says "Yes' then he can argue that being a saint why he has to use rough language.

But Gutam budha being a gyani could read that king's mind. He knew that the king has come to humiliate him, put him down. So he asked the king "dear friend, this child whom you carrying in your arms by mistake swallows small ball of glass while playing, what would you do? If the child is unable to breathe due to the piece of glass stuck in his throat, would you keep quiet?"

The king answered "No, I will immediately try to remove the glass ball from his throat with my finger and then due to that if he cries, feels pain or anything I will not bother about it. I will be more concerned to save his life and I will try my best to save him by removing that glass forcefully from his mouth."

Gautam Budha smiled and said "Yes, here you are. I also speak rough and rude with some of my disciples to prevent them from going towards wrong path. Now you understood that to save my disciple from entering into wrong path I speak rough language. Though they may feel the pain that moment but later on they will not repeat such mistakes. I speak sometimes rude words with people for their good and betterment. I treat equally to all my disciples and followers. There is no discrimination.

Goswami Tulsidas

If you surrender everything to God He will take care of you. You don't have to worry. Just leave everything to him.
Goswami Tulsidas used in stay in a small house in Varanasi. It was winter season and there was snowfall. During midnight all the people of that town were fast asleep. Due to winter there was nobody on the roads. Two thieves tried to enter the small house of Tulsidas thinking that they might get something from this house. As soon as the thieves tried to enter the main entrance, they saw that two young boys with bow and arrow were standing outside Tulsidas's house. They were not allowing the thieves to enter his house.

After sometime, the thieves tried again to enter the house, these young boys did not allow them to go. Three times they attempted and took rounds of the house, but these two boys foiled the attempt of the thieves to steal anything from Goswamiji's house.

Early morning when Tulsidasji woke up, he saw two men standing in front of his house. They bowed in front of Goswamiji and asked that whether he has kept two watchman to take care of his house. The thieves said that "we are thieves and wanted to steal something from your house but two young boys one dark complexed and one with a fair complexion with bow and arrow were standing in front of your house and not allowing us to get inside your house."

Hearing this Goswami Tulsidas started weeping bitterly. He said "oh! for this piece of paper and a pen, some books and some food to eat which I have kept in my house, my Lord Shri Ram and shri Ghanshyam had to keep a vigil and become watchman of my house." He threw everything and gave it to the thieves and said my Lord has to take so much trouble for me. He told thieves you are very lucky you saw the Lord but I did not get that opportunity also.

Hanuman and Arjun

There is a story of Hanuman and Arjun in Mahabharat. Both are true bhakts.
Once Arjun met Hanuman, the true bhakt of Shri Ram. Hanuman want on praising his Lord Shri Ram and did not give a chance to Arjun to talk about his Guru, Shri Krishna.

Arjun requested Hanuman to pause a little and give him a chance to say something about his Lord Krishna also. Hanuman said first hear about my Lord Shri Ram and then I will listen to you about your Lord Shri Krishna.

Arjun stopped Hanuman in between and said "I accept everything about your Lord Shri Ram .I also agree that he is the most powerful and the most revered Lord by all. Everybody has true shradha for him but tell me one thing about the setu(bridge)." He further asked Hanuman "why did Ram take help from Vaanar sena to built setu? why was setu built with stones? Hanuman replied "If setu would not have been built with vanaar sena help and without the stones, how would Lord Ram cross over the sea and reach Lanka." He asked Arjun "If you were there what would you have done? Arjun said "I would have made the setu(bridge) with the arrows. There was no need to cut huge trees and carry big and huge stones to make a bridge."

Hanum smiled and said "if you built the bridge with your arrows then how would you walk on it?
Such powerful people cannot walk on the bridge of arrows. Arrows will not able to take such heavy load. It cannot carry the load of Hanuman, how can it carry other heavy vannar sena and Lord Shri Ram."

He told Arjun "Now see there is a river in front of you, make setu(bridge ) of arrows on it." Arjun said I will make bridge with the arrows and you jump and climb on it. If the bridge breaks I challenge you I will not carry this bow and arrow in future." Arjun then made a bridge of arrows on the river. He requested Hanuman to climb over it. When Hanuman jumped over it, the bridge was intact, it did not shake a bit. Hanuman was surprised, he could not believe that the bridge made of arrows can be so strong.

He then remembered his Lord Shri Ram, prayed to him. Hanuman's body became strong as Shri Ram gave him the powers. After gaining this power, Hanuman jumped with full force, the bridge started shaking, it went down but it did not break. Again Hanuman closed his eyes and prayed.
He went under the bridge and came back. He said "Oh, Arjun, Dhananjay, you are great. Your bridge of arrows cannot take my weight. It is very powerful. Look your friend is carrying on his back the arrows. He is carrying the weight of arrows so that the bridge does not fall.
Hearing their conversation, Lord Krishna came up with the marks of arrows on his back.
Seeing his friend, Krishna taking so much pain because of him, Arjun felt very bad. He apologised to Lord and realised his mistake. Krishna did not want to put Arjun down. His false claim that he can built a bridge of arrow was also honoured by Lord. He kept his promise so that Arjun should not give up his talent of being expert arrow shooter. If you become God's, God will become yours. There will be feeling of oneness.

The story clearly indicate that we should not live under false Ego. If we are true and loyal to God, even our tall and false claims Lord takes on himself. Under any circumstances God will never put you down. But troubling your loving Lord for no reason is not correct because it will pain you more. You will feel guilty that to keep your promise Lord has taken so much pain. Lord is our friend, our guide and is always with us. With strong Faith of the Almighty we can overcome all troubles and hardships in life.

Poverty to Greed

Once in Gurukul Diksha festival was going on. All rich people and their children had gathered over there and brought rich gifts as diksha for their Guru. Guru and his wife were sitting. There was arrangement for yagya. The Brahmin was chanting ved mantra and yagya was going on. There was one poor student also. He was crying and feeling ashamed that he has nothing to offer to his Guru.

Guru and wife noticed that their student is crying. They said "there is no difference in our Gurukul, rich and poor are same. You need not worry about gift. You have paid your Gurudakshina by doing service to us. You have done lot of service for the Gurukul, you have studied hard and you are a brilliant student. We have got your Gurudakshina in form of your love, your discipline, your respect for us. Nobody has offered this dakshina to us. This is my biggest and precious gift from you."

But the poor boy was not convinced with his Guru's explanation. He was stubborn and bent upon offering dakshna to his Guru. Then Guru and his wife asked him what do want to offer as Gurudakshina? The boy replied that when I return in your respected feet you should accept whatever I offer you." They blessed him and said "as you wish". The boy took leave from his Guru.

He went and stayed at his friend's house. He was feeling restless, he was not getting sleep. The friend asked him that why is he feeling so tensed and disturbed. The boy said that for twelve years he stayed at Gurukul, learnt so much from his Guru but he has nothing to offer him in Gurudakshina. So many rich boys offered gifts to Guru but I am so poor that I have nothing to offer him."

The friend consoled him and said "there is king staying in our area. He is very generous and whatever you demand, he will try to fulfill your wish." The boy was very happy. He immediately rushed to meet the king. He entered King's darbar. The king came down and observed him thoroughly.The boy explained to him the entire things about Gurudakshina.

The king said "put forward your demand but do not act stingy(kanjoos). Demand for big and I will offer you." The boy was very amused and excited. He thought he will ask for thousands of gold coins. The king said "till now nobody has come to demand anything from me. All the people in my area are happy. They have no demand. You are the first and probably the last person so put forth your demand so don't hesitate, you can ask for anything."

The boy was confused. He thought to himself that when King is ready to give me anything why not demand for lakhs of coins. He was nervous. The king said "think big and think again. You look very tensed. Relax and then come to me. I will just take a stroll around in my garden."

The boy thought why not ask for crores of rupees. Then he thought that he would demand for half of his empire, hal of king's property. Again king came back and asked "have you decided about what you want?" The boy was still hesitant and nervous. The king smiled and said "just relax think properly and take firm decision. I will definitely offer anything you demand." The king gave him time to think and went for another round in his garden.

After sometime the king came back and asked "what have you decided?" In a haste the boy said "I want your entire property, your empire."
The king immediately agreed and thanked gGod by saying "Oh! God, today what sort of person you have sent to me. I have become so old, my hair and beard have turned grey. My entire body has become weak and old. I have got cataract in my eyes. Nobody was willing to take care of this empire. Now I have found one. I am so happy and delighted. Atlast I have found somebody to take this crown, to look after my property. This worry and tension about my empire had made me feel old. Today somebody has come to takeover these worries. I am very relieved."

Hearing the kings pray the boy felt that the king is dumping his tensions and worries upon me. It is like throwing a snake on me. He requested the king to take one more round of the garden so that he can think over again.
The king sternly said "No, now you have sit on this throne." The boy again told the king to take one more round and give him chance to think again. The king said"nothing doing as you are ready to take from me, you should be ready to give it to your Guru as dakshina."

The boy got scared and ran away fast from there without demanding anything.

The greed in us never allows us to sit in peace. The more we get the more we want. Always think and act peacefully otherwise you may miss golden opportunities from your life. Peace is a most precious ornament. Don't let it get stolen from your house. If once it goes, it becomes difficult to get it back. The Peace lies with God.

Peace (Shanti)

When man took leave from God's darbar, God was very happy and asked man to take whatever he wanted. Man being greedy by nature, spread his big sheet and told him to give everything that he has in his bag. He told God give me everything, don't keep anything with you. Man thought that he should become rich and lead a life of king.

God requested Laxmi Mata to handover his big bag. Laxmi brought his bag. God started removing his precious diamonds and other costly things one by one. He gave man the entire thing in his bag. He emptied his bag. But there was one small thing which was stuck with the bag. It could not be removed. God then kept the bag under his feet. He told man now you go back to earth with all these precious things. Man was very pleased and happy. He tied his big sheet with all the material things and without thanking God, without doing pranam to God marched forward.

He was so engrossed in these things that he forgot to say namaskar or thank to God. After sometime when Laxmiji removed the bag, she told Lord "what is this inside the bag." God said "keep quiet, let this man go to earth. Don't let man know about it otherwise he will grab this also without being thankful to me.. This is the most precious thing called PEACE(Shanti). This I have kept under my feet. When man will clear his sheet of money, property, wife, husband, family, children, bank balances, he will enjoy that for temporary period. He will not get Peace(Shanti). He has to come back to me to get Peace. So let him get involved, let him be busy with all the material things of earth. He will get frustrated, tired of materialistic things, he will think of me.
If he will sincerely and honestly agree that Peace is most precious, I will give it to him.

This pleased Mata Laxmi. She also agreed that Peace will be awarded to only one who values My Lord and not to the ones who give importance to worldly things which are not lasting. They will remain in earth after death. But Peace will be carried forward to man's future birth also. With peace man will get moksh. He will get God.

False Claims

Shivaji, the great leader was going to built a big fort. But his region was suddenly affected by famine. There was a situation of hunger and poverty. Thousands of people were working under him to built the fort. It came in Shivaji's mind that despite of famine, he is taking care of food and other things of thousands of people. He felt very happy and contented.

Shivaji used to believe in Guru Randas. His Guru was worried that my disciple should not get egoistic about being the caretaker of thousands of people. He should not get"harshounmad"
He wanted to test Shivaji. Shivaji went to his Guru and did did pranam and bowed in front of him. He was very happy to see his Guru Swami Ramdas. Swamiji called Shivaji and said"since you are going to built a fort, the stones are also laid, now do me favour take a big stone and take a hammer. He then told him to break this stone with a hammer into two pieces."

Shivaji Maharaj sincerely obeyed and did as his Guru had requested him to do. He broke the stone into two pieces. He saw a tiny insect with a bit of rice in his mouth and there was small gap from where the water was dripping.
The Guru asked Shivaji "Inside the stone there is water and bit of rice, have you sent it the insect? Have you made arrangement for this insects hunger and thirst satisfaction? Have you sent water and this bit for rice to the insect to survive on?

Shivaji bent in front of Guru. He understood that his Guru has come to test him. To control his ego and to make him realise that God makes arrangement everybody's food and water. Even a small insect cannot be ignored by God. He is also under his care. But we humans think and claim to look after others, be their caretakers. Sometimes we feel that our family cannot survive without us. We make such false claims. World can survive without strong leaders, saints and others. It is the Almighty who has made us. Why unnecessarily be under wrong impression that we take of others. Nobody is going to live permanently on this earth. Everybody has to meet an end.

It is good to take care of others. You are not doing anything wrong. God has bleesed you and given you good health and enough of wealth as well as strength to take good care of those under you. Just thank him for that and remember that it is with His blessings we are enjoying this life. You should feel happy but don't get involved and stake claim that you are the owner. You do your job and thank the owner.

King Yayati

There is a story of King Yayati in Mahabharat. He went to Heaven with his body( Sadeh swarag).
He had done many good jobs on earth. He did lot of Yaghya, Havan, helped people in their need, lot of donation, tapasaya and sadhana. So he was allowed to go to Heaven along with his body. He was given half of Devraj Indra's throne. From there also he was free to move to Brahmlok and Indralok.

Devraj Indra and other devtaas could not stand this. They wanted him to go back to Prithvilok(Earth). They then knew one weakness of his. So one day when Yayati was seated on Devraj Indra's throne, the devtaas asked him about what all good things he did. How he got such a high post. They said that he is sitting next to Indra, it is a great achievement. Please tell us what yagna, tapasay you have done that you have reached swarag lok along with your body.

Yayati got flattered. He felt very important. He explained to them he has done so much daan, punya, so much sadhana and tapasay. God is so pleased with my good work that he has given me such a high post. The devtaas were very smart. They wanted to hear from his mouth about his good deeds. They went on flattering and Yayati did not realise this. He went on praising himself about his daan, tapasay etc. Till now whatever he said was true. But after that he went on boasting to the extent that he has done such good deed that nobody has ever done such tapasya before him on this earth and in future also nobody can claim to be equal to his good work.
On saying that nobody can be equal to him in daan, tapasya, sadhana on this earth, he had actually insulted the respected Saints,Rishis, Munis and Mahatmas who have done more than him on this earth. After continuously talking about his good deeds and comparing himself with other highly respected saint, Devraj Indra told him to stop. He said "Yayati by disclosing your good deeds to others, you have lost all punya work you gained. All your good work has become nil. Now you have to return to earth.

If you have Gyan, daan, tap, knowledge whatever good things in you, you should not get lost in them. You should not make show of it to others. You should feel happy about your good deeds and good qualities but you should not show of it(Harshounmad). Don't get lost in it.

When Yayati was thrown out of Swarglok, he realised his mistake. He felt very disappointed and felt that we should remain calm and quiet about whatever we achieve. You must hide these qualities, somebody else will take advantage of your habit of talking and boasting. Anyway it was time for Yayati to return back to earth as he had lost all the punya by narrating it to devtaas. He apologised for his mistake and requested them to send him on earth to a place where there are saints and true bhakt of God, where there is satsang. Devtaas agreed and sent him to a place where true satsang was being done.

The Mahatmas picked him up in their arms. They told Yayati that now we will prepare you again for your good deeds. You should become fearless and should not bloat out your qualities to others. Do not bloat up like a balloon. Keep calm. This way Yayati again got place in swarag lok.

This is a story to make us feel and realise that we should not leak out our good qualities to others, it can have negative impact. Save your good deeds to get better and more interest by the Almighty. Our Lord knows better and through his blessings only we are able to achieve good work and do good things on this earth. Count on his blessings and not about what you have done

A true gyani Bhakt is always happy. Under any circumstances he smiles. He has No Ego or any desires. Even if he gets anything he does not get lost in them. He knows that things which he possess today are temporary. Nothing is going to remain permanent with me so why get attached to them. Just enjoy and lead a normal. Do not get anxious and worried about future or regret for past. Everybody has to pass through upheavals of life.

In Japan there used to be a saint(fakir) named Rinjhai. He has written in his autobiography that first time when I met my Guru(teacher) he was sitting near the bank of a river. As I saw him from far, I felt as though some magnetic power is there in him. He was getting attracted towards him like an iron getting attracted to magnet.

Rinjhai has said that when I bowed in front of mu Teacher's feet, I felt I have achieved some supreme power. I was speechless. All my desires and wishes came under control. Everything was very peaceful. I felt very light like a paper which would fly. I was away from the world.

My teacher kept his hand of mercy on me, he patted me. When I opened my eyes, they were moist. With heavy heart, I told my Guru that I have come to become your disciple, kindly accept me.
My Guru said one sentence "Are you fully prepared" Do you have full faith?" I replied immediately and without hesitation "Yes, there is full faith and I am fully prepared."

My Guru said "I accept you Rinjhai as my disciple"

After three days Rinjhai took a notebook and a pencil. He told his Guru to tell me what is right and what is wrong, I will note down in my notebook. Whatever is right I will accept and learn and anything that is wrong I will leave it, I will discard it from my life.

Rinjhai says "My Guru smiled. He said "Oh! Rinjhai throw this notebook and pencil. You stay with me. Observe me and see how I eat, how I drink, how I wake up, how I walk, how I sleep. Hear my voice, my talking style, my behaviour, notice my day to day action and behaviour. Observe me deeply from outside and from within."

The Guru further said with confidence "whatever I do in my routine work is Right and what I don't do is Wrong." Only a true bhakt or saint can say such words.

Rinjhai has written that I was very surprised with my Guru's words. I bowed in front of my Guru and politely asked him "Gurudev, you don't make any mistake, you don't make any error?"
The Guru answered "Rinjhai, I am not that I. I am totally immersed in my Lord. There is no question of I. I have no desires. They are all dead. There is no anger, no greed, no attachment, no Ego. I am fully immersed in my Almighty. I have nothing of these things because these desires of anger, hatred, greed, Ego, attachment only make mistakes. When there is nothing of that sort and when there is no gap of "I and You" between me and my Lord than the question of making mistakes and errors does not arise. Your Ego is the barrier which does not allow you to do right and it does not permit you to say with confidence that whatever you do or act from outside and from within is Right. The thing which instigates you to make mistakes have been erased from my mind and body."

Rinjhai found a true Guru and he himself attained the position of his teacher. The true bhakt is not carried away by money, he does not demand any respect or importance. He is contented.

Desire dont leave us, we have to stop them

A sufi fakir was lying under the shade of a tree. Peacefully sitting and relaxing. A billionaire man passed by. He stopped his car and kept ten thousand golden coins in front of him. The saint got up looked at that man. He asked him that what are these coins for.

The rich man said "please accept this gift from me, I shall be highly obliged. The fakir replied "this is not a small gift. It is very big because there is a tag of Ego attached with it. My dear friend please take back these gold coins immediately. I don't accept gifts from beggars and poor people."

The man said " does a poor man have ten thousand gold coins? A Poor man may not have ever seen or ever dream of so many coins. He may not have seen in your hands also"

The saint(fakir) politely said "Friend, do not tell lies. In fakir's darbar you are telling lies."
The man said that he is not telling lies. He is telling the truth. He is not poor.

The fakir then said "tell me one thing. Whatever money you have accumulated now and whatever luxuries and comforts you have now, would you like to have more. Do you have the desire to get more." The man honestly replied "Yes, I do have."

The fakir replied "then what does it mean to be poor. You want more and more. That means there is no difference between you and a beggar, a poor man. You are like them. They also want more and you are also doing the same thing. You are not satisfied with your earnings.

Desire means Not satisfied

Desire means I am not satisfied with what I am. I want more. The demand to have more is never ending. This body will decay but the demands don't end. It means that whatever qualities and specialties I have, I am not aware of it. The God (atma-Paramatma) who is residing within me, I have No knowledge about him. I am only looking for satisfaction from outside the world. But unfortunately these desires don't allow me look within. We have forgotten our qualities or intentionally we are not interested in knowing them. There should be a well wisher to remind us about good qualities within us.

There is a bird named Maina. The child of Maina is crying. The mother asks the baby maina that why is he crying. The baby replies "Mother, see there on the stem of the tree a peacock's baby is sitting, how beautiful he looks. He has beautiful and colourful feathers. Why I am not like him. why I did not get those looks?"

The baby maina's mother carried him to the other side of the tree. The baby maina saw that the baby peacock was crying. The mother asked the baby peacock that why is he crying. He said "Look Mother, on the stem of the other tree Maina's child is sitting, he has got melodious voice, he sings so beautifully. Why don't I have this beautiful voice?"

See the Maina's baby does not have knowledge about its beautiful voice so he is not happy. He want to look like peacock. Same way the peacock baby does not know the value of it's beautiful body so he is not happy and wants to have beautiful voice like Maina.

We are all like that. Not happy with ourselves. Want to copy others or feel jealous. Same way those others may not be contented with themselves. They also must be feeling jealous and want to look like us. But the true beauty lies within where we don't want to tread. Satisfaction is the true beauty of life.

Do your Job but Remeber your creator

God says do all your routine jobs systematically. There is no harm in working hard and making money. Close your eyes for a second and talk to God by saying "I am going to work, please accompany me." This way you will enjoy doing your work and you will feel that you are not Alone, The Almighty is with you.

Then while having your meals, just for a second Thank to God for the good meal you had. There is no harm in eating in hotels or eating outside food. Just say that "I am eating with you." The food will taste delicious and your stomach will not get upset because Almighty has eaten with you.

When you finish all your regular chores and retire to bed, just close your eyes and say "Today I had a good day, I am going to sleep, my Lord. I am sleeping in your lap, wake me up if you so wish.

Next day morning when you wake up thank him for sound sleep he gave you and for the beautiful day ahead. This way you will always be with God.

A bhakt does not have unnecessary desires. He is contented with whatever little he earns. But the desire to be with and near God should always be there.
Once a King went abroad. He had four queens. He told his wives to write and tell him whatever they wanted so that he could buy for them from abroad.
All the wives gave their demands in writing. One of the queen just wrote one simple word and gave him.
When he returned he brought things for the queens and sent them to their respective rooms. Then he entered the room of his first wife who had written only one word for him. He said I could not understand what you wanted so I have come personally to ask you. She smiled and said "I have got what I wanted. I wanted you, my husband, the King to be with me. I don't need anything else. You have come that is enough for me."
Same way if we demand only God, then everything of his is ours. Like how Arjun wanted only Krishna. He did not demand for weapons or big army, nothing of that sort. Only Lord Krishna, the true friend, true guide was enough to win over Kauravas.

Master and Servant

We are also God's servant. We cannot question him. Bhakti means God's Yes is also my Yes. I cannot say No to God. If everything is going smoothly in life, we forget about God. But when something goes wrong we start getting angry with him. We stop going to temple, stop doing our
pooja and aarti. But will that serve our purpose. If anytime such hatred feeling comes in our mind, we should beg sorry from God. Apologize for your mistakes. We should be satisfied with whatever he gives us. We should accept the reality of life and say "whatever you make me wear I will wear, whatever you make me eat, I will eat, wherever you make me sleep I will sleep. Whatever you tell me to do I will do. There will be Nothing like No in between Yours and My relationship. I am your dedicated Servant. You are my Master, my guide and my true friend.
Just plain feeling of satisfaction makes your life easy to sail.

Once a businessman wanted a servant. He had advertised for the same. Many poor boys came for that post.
One by one he started calling them for interview. As soon as any boy would enter, he would first ask him to fetch him a glass of water.

The boy would bring him a glass of water. Then he would tell him to throw the water. The boy would obediently throw the water. Then he would ask him "Why did you throw away the water?" The boy would say you told me to throw so I threw it. He did not like such boys who give him flat answer. This way he rejected many boys.

Then after many days one boy came. The businessman ordered the boy to get him a glass of water. He obediently filled the glass of water and handed over to him. Before taking the glass in his hand he told him to throw away the water. The boy politely threw the water.

After sometime he asked him that why did he threw the water from glass. The boy replied "I did it by mistake. I apologize for the same." He was very pleased with him and kept him as his servant.

Satisfaction and Jealousy

Once a poor man did strong bhakti, sadhana , tapasaya to please God. God was pleased by his bhakti, he appeared in front of him. Without his asking God gave him vardaan. God said "Whatever you demand, however and whichever way you demand anything, I will immediately fulfill that demand of yours. But one condition that how much you get, your neighbour and your village people will get double of yours"

The man replied " Is this a vardaan or a sharap? Why should my neighbour and my village people get more than me."

God said "there is some suspense to check your true bhakti. This is my condition of vardaan. By then God disappeared.

He reached home looking very sad and low. He had a small hut and very little food to eat. His life was like a beggar. He would roam about here and there to get some food and make his living. He was muttering to himself "I would rather remain like a beggar than allow God to give double of mine to others"

He took suggestion from one of relative and explained to him that God is ready to give me anything I demand but on condition that double of that will automatically go to my neighbour and village people. I can't believe this condition. The relative said just try it for once, there is no harm in trying.

He started asking God "Please give me a palace of seven floors." Immediately his desire got fulfilled. He saw his hut turn into a beautiful bungalow with seven floor. But when he turned around to see his neighbours house. He was shocked that his neighbour and other people of his village got big house of fourteen floors. He felt very disappointed and dejected. he felt very jealous. He said "I want to grow big, but others are getting more bigger than me.

Then the relative of his told him to ask that in front of your house big wells are provided. Immediately the demand was fulfilled. He saw two big well were dug in front of his house. But when he turned up to see his neighbour and other villagers house, he saw that they had four big and deep wells in front of their house. This made him very angry. He became restless. There was so much of hatred and jealousy. He wanted to grab all that his neighbours got.

His friend then told him to ask God to take away your one eye only so that others will lose two eyes. They will become blind. This idea suited him. He was very angry and not in his senses so without thinking and reasoning, he listened to his friend and started demanding from God to take away his one eye. As he wished God took away his one eye and the neighbours lost both. They became blind. He was very happy and amused to see this. To break others two eyes, he broke his one eye.

Aren't most of us foolish like this man. Why do we make more money. We don't earn money for ourselves. We collect more money to prove to others that we are more richer than them. We go to parties wearing heavy ornament, wearing rich clothes to show others our riches. Why should anybody be more richer than me. This is jealousy. This feeling does not allow us to move forward. We are blinded by this hatred and superflous life. We are not living our true self. We are covering our shortcomings by this show biz(dhong). There is so much of hatred in the society because of this feeling. We don't want others to have more than us.

Bhakti Yog

Bhakti means everything is You my Lord. I am nothing. There is no I in between love of God and Me. We are completely attached and bound by the love of Almighty.
Bhakti means to accept the fact that these Eyes see because of You, these Ears can hear because of You, this tongue talks and tastes because of You, these limbs of my body move because of You. My mind can think because of You. This intellect argues and thinks because of You. Because of You I feel hungry, I feel thirsty, I get sound sleep. Whatever changes and movements that are happening within and outside the body are all because of You. To remember this atleast is called Bhakti.

We forget all this. We think everything I am doing. To remember this and thank to the creator of all this is true bhakti. Bhakti does not mean you have to go to temple, do aarti, do chandan and tilak etc. Even there is no need to bow in front of God or attend any satsang whatsoever, but Just remember and thank from your heart's content that whatever physical and mental stability of life I am enjoying despite all odds of life(like loss of dear ones, loss in property or anything that makes us feel sad), is because of You.
We are the barriers between the Lord and ourselves. It is because of this 'I'. If there is no obstacle of I feeling, only You, then you have won over many battles of life. Your day to day routine work will become smooth and normal if you don't disrupt it by saying to yourself that "I have done it" In your mind atleast you should know that who is running our life and who is giving and taking back things from our life. Acceptance of this fact is enough.

Since when Death and Life are not in this "I's" hand, how the middle path be in the hands of this "I". Be it a rich person, poor man, sanyasi, pandit, any person, the end and beginning of everybody is same. When we are born we don't register our Birth Certificate in Municipality, somebody else does it for else. Same way Death is also registered by someone else. Even the registration is not being done by us. Our this "I" cannot move withour the support of the omnipotent power which runs this Universe. So stop this "I" to control your Ego. Ego should be our servant, not our master. Our sensory organs should also be our Servant and not masters. When they become our masters, we become Egoistic and jealous etc. Use your senses for good purpose and within limits. Don't let them drag you towards wrong direction. Keep the reigns or sensory organs and this "I" neither too loose nor too tight, just keep a balance. Once you have mastered this trick, you are close to God. You will learn to keep balance in your life.