Silence often has the perfect answer !!!

Sympathy and advice are the two freely available commodities in the social circle apart from olx... Because really people rarely understand and think....solving something is a far fetched idea in fact...so what can they instantly offer ???? Lots of sympathy, thinking  they are in the best situation and doing their best but unfortunately their vision is often myopic, restricted... Probably problem of society at large and Indian mindset in particular....The second thing they have in abundance is free advice whether asked or not, appropriate or not, needed,discarded, useful, distasteful... They will not pause and think but advise... As they themselves have really never done something themselves... So the superficial surfing of a goody goody gesture... Unfortunately or fortunately often a logical mind should be poor taker of both as it probably doesn't solve any purpose ever neither have any evidence of being realistic... So sit quietly, laugh at the confusion, sympathize with the sympathizers and put the advice in the closet and move to a better time,a better person, a better place to have really worthy eternal solution... Which u can feel in silence.. Words are not needed for that when it touches soul....
    Spare a moment ! Spare a thought !!!

Let's look a bit higher !!!

For a long time i always think we are really obsessed with our goodness, our greatness so much that we never think there can ever be an iota of possibility of improvement... The moment someone ever points out something be even anyone amongsts us...we immediately resort to ' offence is the best defence' strategy and leave no stones unturned to ridicule the person in front,and it is needless to say that... the said topic dies a premature death and the question of improvement is sure not to be reborn... Whenever someone somewhere says India needs to be safer, cleaner, more disciplined country etc...our patriotic guns are already up in arms with defensive examples of countries like A,P,I,S and what not....why we never bother to look a bit higher? If someone is making his/ her country worse it's their issue. Let's look up to better places in the world. Today everyone traveling length and breadth of the world has no dearth of knowledge of more disciplined, more honest,more ethical , more punctual and progressive countries.... so why we don't give such examples? Why knowingly or unknowingly we love to level ourselves as ' we r doing the best' and ' India hai,idhar sab chalta hai'... why and how long ? We are the best workers, the most productive brains,the best human hearts and the most disciplined lot till we reach the Indian border and inside  India, we ....start spitting incessantly even in the so called worshiping places,pushing someone to go ahead,bribing to give a seat to our own undeserving ward when deserving ones are standing in line, crossing every traffic light till traffic police takes a Rs.100 note or there is death warrant for self and co commuters...the list is endless... why am I writing this? There is an intention... I feel someone someday may read my thought and feel how I feel.. and will feel and act and may be that will make a difference and will let me die with little more satisfaction.. we all can do our bit..it reminds me a story read in my son' s Hindi prose. "Desh prem "...where the writer has given insight how each of us can make or break our country's pride and never to think ' what can I do alone'?The story somewhat is as follows in short..." An Indian monk goes to Japan and that day as he was fasting, was searching for fruits and did not any in that area and says in disgust" what a country, you don't get a fruit !'...Suddenly a boy comes from behind and offers him a basket of fruits"..Happily the monk thanks and asks how much to pay and he politely says
" welcome, my price is this....."please don't tell anyone that my country does not produce fruits and take care of guests"... what a way of loving one's country!!! Even such can be patriotism..! The story has a contrary example too ! Another boy from a different country goes to a foreign University to study and in library when he thinks no one is watching tears away few pages of a book and leaves,but gets caught in the flawless detection system and his punishment was " no one from your country will be allowed to study in the University". So is our power to bring pride or shame to our beloved country.... So let's go positive...We all can do, our small little bit and the drops will make the ocean... So let's look a bit higher, let's take our country little further, let's make it safer and better... u and,me,we can do it....sometime.... someone will remember us...forever.. forever.....
       Spare a moment ! Spare a thought!!!

Power of truth

Speak the Truth, Nothing but the Truth...
   Truth can not be hidden forever and ultimately one will have to pay the price for withholding truth from people. As Emile Zola has said, " If you shut up truth and bury it under the ground,it will grow and gather to itself such explosive power that the day it bursts through,it will blow up everything on its way"....

How much land a man needs,revisited for soul !!!

Spare a moment! Spare a thought!

          Your life is precious than anything else you can imagine ever,more exhaustible than any other natural resource available on the Earth, but has potential beyond your expectations! Spend it rightly, spend it wisely!

      We are tirelessly busy polishing our skin, shaping the mortal body,spending the precious life time collecting perishable paper notes and so called precious metals and properties. How rich is rich? How famous is famous? Do they matter at the end of our life? Tolstoy wrote  'How much land does a man need?". whose beautiful Hindi translation is being taught in school 'Akhri kitni zamin?"If we spend a fraction of our time to uplift our thoughts,polish our souls which have eternal values than spending entire life in futile search for a rich,successful life,then not only our lives,but the world around us will surely head for positive change.A point to ponder over,'can I eat more than my stomach capacity, can sleep in a larger space than my body dimensions,can I live a moment beyond what I am destined for? Then why not spend it simply, honestly, purposefully, wisely in true sense wherever you are, whatever you are doing.For this one is neither needed to be a rocket scientist, nor to have a million dollars or a villa in Paris.Just be simple,just be honest to yourself, just be thankful for every dawn,just be you. Who can be a better judge for you than yourself! You know the best. Live for your soul! A poet rightly said 'Kafan me na zeb hai,na kabra me aalmari,ye maut ke farishte bhi rishwat nahin lete'...Spare a moment, spare a thought...---

The travel,the traveller,the destination...

It was an usual twilight session in shravasti...
 Tathagat Buddha was completing the discourse for the day,the gathering was prepared to leave for their schedule ahead ...A man gets up from his place and says...."Oh God,the enlightened one, I have been coming to your abode since long time and attending each of your discourse and have observed that there have been many people who have truly been enlightened,liberated by coming here,by listening to your discourse, getting your blessings....But there are some like me who are still there where we had started... In spite of me attending each of your sessions with rapt attention I am still not enlightened,still not liberated,still don't know the truths,why do you not liberate us,why do you do partiality in blessing us to the liberated world?"... Buddha pays his complete attention to the man's confusion and smiles at him, the way he understood his fellow traveller's  dilemma,no one probably ever could do...
        Tathagat knew the hearts of people, could read the confusion everyday life poses at humanity,walked the path himself and healed humanity with his unparalleled art of kindness and wisdom ...That made him Buddha...The knower,the enlightened one..The liberated one...
       Gautama,the Buddha puts his kind hand over the shoulder of the confused traveller of life and asks.." Oh gentleman,Just tell me where do u stay ?" The businesses man replies back.."Oh Lord, I stay in Shravasti only"... Buddha, as always,in his kindest and wisest way of teaching knew how to give best of its wisdom to humanity... Asks him again, " No,gentleman,you don't seem to be belonging to Shravasti originally,tell me where u actually hail from"...He says, "OK then ,I actually hail from Rajgriha,but have been living in Shravasti and doing my business for very very long"...Buddha puts him through another simp let question " Do you go to Rajgriha sometimes? Do you know the road from Shravasti to Rajgriha well?".. Enthusiastically the man replies..
" Of course, I do often  travel to Rajgriha and the road is so very well known to me". Then in his beautiful and yet sublime smile, Tathsgat asks one more time " If someone travelling to Rajgriha from Shravasti asks you to help finding the directions,the difficulties they may find on the path and how to reach in the easiest and safest way there,do you tell them or you keep that information secret,?"...His enthusiasm doubles," how can this happen,my Lord? why should I keep the information secret and not give a fellow traveller who seeks my help and needs to reach Rajgriha? What am going to lose by helping him with the directions and is not it but natural to anyone who knows the path to help a fellow new traveller to guide?" Why the question at all?... Tathgat looks at him with his kindest gaze and asks further..."Then do I believe that all of  the fellow travellers seeking your help  reach Rajgriha being here in Shravasti itself !' and smiles again...The still confused man says
" Lord,those who have  traveled have reached and those who have followed my directions have reached safely and on time,but the how can the ones reach who are yet to take the journey? And baffles inside,why such a mundane question to me? He ponders.
         Tathagat pauses and explains further,
 " Dear gentleman,fellow traveller,life is exactly the same journey... We start somewhere, take it as Shravasti and need to travel to Rajgriha, the destination for example... Someone who has travelled it well,may guide us,help us, show the directions,even can walk with us, but my dearest soul,it is as simple as you already know," No one can travel for us"!!!...Your question has exactly same answer, I am not knower,the enlightened or the path breaker...I am just a truth seeker...truth of everyday life and nature,I am just an  eternal learner...There is no monopoly of Siddhartha,Gautama over any kind of enlightenment or knowledge...Each of you have that knowledge,the truth inside you. You just have to seek the truth from within,walk the path yourself to cover the distance from so called Shravasti to Rajgriha,may be someone who is your well-wisher, who knows the path, can help you with directions or troubleshooting , will guide you,stand by you,hold your hands and walk along...But the journey is yours and you and only you have to walk the path"...

     A pin drop silence encompassed the evening,the disciple had  tears rolling his cheeks and the simple yet magnanimous way of Tathagat's way of unraveling the vital truths of life did  wash away the dusts of doubt, jealousy,the immaturity and the sheer insensitivity from the mirror of his mind ! ...In a moment of silence and surrender he attained the sublimity of enlightenment,the veils were lifted ,the clouds were clear from the horizon of his misconception...And gratitude healed his soul and drenched his consciousness...In a moment he was at the gate of liberation knowing well the path has to be travelled by him alone and he realized how fortun ate he is  to be under the auspices of tender care of none other than the Buddha,the traveller,the seeker,the path finder,the eternal guide and teacher....The evening became the brightest of his life and the darkness of  his illusion were cleared by Buddha,the true healer  and he learned the eternal  truth awaiting each of us...
    "Life is a journey and we are the path,we are the traveller and the destination too"... We are here to walk the path,from aloneness to oneness ....And we have to walk here and itself...
     Spare a moment ! Spare a thought!
        

"Growing older is like going up in airplane". The higher you go, your vision of the things on the ground becomes smaller and smaller and becomes oblivious at one point. You can't see anything on the ground and only know you are on a journey to reach your destination...Life is exactly like that... The older we grow,nature keeps a balance and allows us to detach us from everything transitory and only concentrate on the eternal journey,but the pilot is as alert and as equanimous as he is on the ground... He does his job without  lapse of concentration even  for a moment and carries all of us,every passenger on board to the destination  without any discrimination... Nature does it all the time and teaches us vital lessons every single day... To detach ourselves from the transitory ,worldly bondages as we grow older and stay alert and equanimous in our everyday yet eternal journey...

      Another 15th August passed,a year passed by and I grew older a year, a year closer to the divine destination... Family, friends, students,staff, patients... Everyone blessed me immensely from their heart and soul... I always consider myself fortunate one to get so much of love and affection all the while and my gratitude to each of u knew no bounds!!! Words are not enough to thank you all to walk with me,walk beside me,hold my hands in difficult times and share my simple everyday joys of life ....
    The year passed by brought many  changes in my life, going through lots of difficult times of sickness  of self to family...to uncertainty, difficult times to  deal with number of issues and a death of loved one in the family and ....leaving a 20 years old job... But at the end I believe
 " who knows better than Him"?... The creator of all of us, the divine power that send us to an unknown world every single night and the force that wakes us up in the dawn... So I just follow His directions,the path laid by Him with unflinching faith...Not possible to understand why and how all the time... But I firmly believe He is there for us to lead... So let me walk the path as  unmistakably  as humanly possible and leave the rest in His hand!!!

   My prayer as always remains same..." Oh Supreme Lord,give me the serenity to change what I can, to accept what I can't and the wisdom to know the difference"...
     Again my heartfelt gratitude to everyone around me and my prayer to  Almighty to give  each of you a life that matters and lots peace and Divine blessings....

Aina aur waqt

आइना और वक्त कभी झूठ नहीं बोलते....काश यह  हमें  कभी टूटे हुए शिशे और बीते हुए लमहों से सिखना न पडे...

The morning drizzle...

The morning Drizzle…

  It was 7.30 in the morning. I just came out of kitchen to have a usual look through the living room window and it was beautifully drizzling outside! The tiny droplets were mesmerised in their own beauty and were lovingly splashing  over the lush green garden around the walking track and the majestic Gulmohar and Peepal trees alike!!! It was a lovely feast to view a beautifully landscaped skyscraper laden yet earthly painted green hue as far as my vision could extend…Silence was at its best…But nature was whispering its lesson nonetheless wisely and calmly… I stood beside the window pane for a while to listen to the silence while observing the wise tiny droplets…

              The droplets of water, the morning drizzle, the mesmerised rain were giving a lesson to mankind… What were they teaching? I observed keenly… Each of them were so tiny but yet so special, so unique in their own way! Each of them travelled an unknown distance but with no fear or fervour… Each one contributed in their own way not even thinking once whom they are competing with ! Each tiny drop had all the secrets of the mighty ocean hidden inside it but was neither bothered for pride nor to prove its importance… Each one followed  their own designated path and place, not replacing, not demanding someone else’s corridor or corner… Each one contributed to the Earth’s beauty and grace yet remained humble to forget their existence the moment they touched the destination… Each one travelled the uncertain path but was sure to touch each and anyone’s life coming their way..

         God made mankind the most developed species of the universe but I was just wondering when can mankind imbibe the lessons taught by nature each moment? Why we don’t understand we are all companions of each other on this Earth and not competitors? Why we don’t follow the simple secret the tiny droplet holds? We all are here for our purpose and have to travel our own path in our own time and designed space and direction … Universe has already designed everything else, we just need to walk our path… Each of us holds eternal possibilities if only we focus on our inner strength and journey and not waste our energy in proving our existence or supremacy to others….Life will truly be a sublime experience the moment we change our focus from completion to contribution and look more to the inside world than to the outside world…

                               Spare a moment! Spare a thought!!!

Foot prints....

The foot prints....Had read a write up in this title in a school while waiting outside when my son Shashwat was writing his exam...May be some 14 - 15 yrs back...But the essence and gist got printed in my mind and on numerous occasions when I quietly recollect or realize the life events... I felt how true it is even if normally we don't look at our experinces...Will try and recollect the write up to put it in my own way as don't remember the words... It said this in nutshell...A man who was devout believer of God...Just asked God.."Oh supreme Lord, please don't leave me anytime"...He was such a honest and principled soul...God promised He won't leave him ever...Then he asked.." Oh Almighty,but how will I know u r there with me?" God replied... There is a stretch of sand here,look on that everyday...U will see your and mine footprints... Then a long time passed and the man looked on the sand and found 2 pairs of footprints...He knew one pair is his and other pair is God's, walking along ... As life went ahead,he faced lots of difficulties and debacles...Hard times and trouble on all fronts...He looked on the sand ...But could only see one pair of footprints...He became sad but never compromised on his honesty and principles...Time changed and good things started coming on his way and he started noticing 2 pairs of footprints coming on the sand stretch...Tears on his eyes...He asked God..."Oh Lord...I have only one question my mind...Why did u leave me on my most difficult days?Did I not live up to your expectations?" God smiled and asked"my dear child, I never left u,why do u think I ever deserted u ?"  He said " As u had advised I looked over the sand stretch everyday to see your footprints to know u r with me,but on the most difficult days of my journey of life I only could see only one pair of footprints,so u were not there"...God blessed and explained..." My child, those one pair of footprints were mine,not yours".  Surprised with the answer he asked" then where was mine?" God answered my child,on those difficult days I carried u on my shoulder....So there was no footprints of yours..." I was there all the way..
The man could not feel he could have ever get a greater blessing than this...
We all are on same journey...

He is there to take care....

Often in life's rough road we loose our faith and composure, ....We tend to loose our firm faith on God and doubt His existence... It's but humane to do so...But when we realize deep inside He was,He is and He will do the best and nothing but the best even when the world looks torn apart.... And our own life times are  so tiny and even our  toughest battles are so trivial in the vast eternity and God's world,life becomes a sublime experience....Time and Almighty are not only omnipresent,they are omnipotent and impartial to each of their creation.
We as tiny and mortal beings are not even equiped to understand His creation... Leave aside judging Him...Even we in everyday life do not do whatever we must and do many times many things knowing they are against cosmic laws...If at all we need to judge anyone that is us only and if we need to safeguard anything that is our "karma" only....Our thoughts,speeches and actions all inclusive...May God grant us that serenity in this life time at least...

The journey is ours, let's walk ourselves...

Can anyone live for or walk for us ??? Certainly no. Life is an unique journey,has to be undertaken by the very individual...Others may help,walk by side or may hold hands as well, but can never walk or live for us... It's a journey where we are the path, we are the traveller and we ourselves are the destination as well... Tathagat Buddha beautifully explains this..
Once a businessman comes to him and requests him to grant him nirvan means moksh or liberation ....And Gautama,the Buddha smiles and asks" how can I do that?"...Then he replies because you are the enlightened,the knower,the Buddha,the God... Buddha realizes the fellow is illusioned and doesn't understand what it means to be liberated..He helps him to understand... Buddha finds out he is a native of Rajagrih and stays in Shravasti for long...Then Buddha asks " You must be often visiting Rajagrih and must be thorough in knowing the route and direction...If anyone asks you to help find the direction of Rajagrih from Sravasti,you must be helping him whole heartedly and explain him the best you can... do you?"...He replies..."Of course I do my Lord..." Tathagat smiles again...And asks him..."Does that person reach Rajagrih with the help of your direction and route explanation and demonstration or does he have to physically travel to reach..?"....The businessman man comes to the reality... Though looking a very simple fact...How difficult it is to understand,realize and live the truth..
However someone helps us, however anyone guides us,how much we read, see also...all these will certainly help and ease our journey...butWe can't reach the destination unless we take the journey ourselves...
One of the simplest but vital lesson of life..

So let's walk...

Illusion to detachment.... Mahabharat's greatest lesson

At the end of Mahabharat, when the greatest personality of all times, Pitamah Bhishm was about to leave his mortal frame,five pandavs with Shrikrishna stood before him to get his final blessings...All the Gods were seeing the never seen before scene of a mortal being transcending to immortality in front,....As a final blessing, Krishna requested Pitamah to give some lessons to Yudhishthir to follow in life while performing duty as a king. Bhishm smiled and said..."O Madhusudan, when u r there with them what kind of advice can I give them? You are ultimate friend,philosopher and guide to them'.... Krishna explained..."I am there,but I don't have the experience you have, please teach them something from your vast experience"... Bhishm said..."Hai Keshav, on this bed of arrows I realized the flaw of my life,now I realized the life I lived as an unmistakable principle to follow was a terrific attachment to my oath and my attachment to make my father happy...I sacrificed but didn't realize it's actually not doing good to Hastinapur innocent people and I was illusions to adore the king whoever sat on the throne... Thinking that I am keeping my oath and the promise I made to my father.... Even when I saw Hastinapur disintegrating and numerous wrong doings were happening in front of me"....It was only sheer attachment to myself....My oath...Vidur was only one who though utmost respectfully but firmly  pointed that to me...But I didn't  listen.
I was blinded by my illusions...So Hai Putra Yudhishthir...Never get attached to such illusions...Your praja are everything...The king,the kingdom and the throne are mere symbols.." while making decisions in life if needed,change strategy as long as you are caring basic principle of your duty.... And he closed his eyes... Leaving a legacy which was neither existent in past...Nor can be repeated in future... Humility unparalleled...