Chanting and Affirmations – Mantras

Mantra or mantram are syllables, words, phrases, or sentences that are repeated verbally or mentally for a desired outcome. The outcome desired could be spiritual growth or material wealth or anything in between.
Mantras have been around since time immemorial and predate written communication. Many different terminologies that we use can be construed as mantras – spells, boons, curses, affirmations, hymns, chants, incantation and so on.

Mantra can be defined as constituting of :
• The word/phrase itself
• The process of repetition
• The emotion while saying it
• The vibration of the sound.

In effect, anything said with deep emotion, with repetition (if necessary) while in sync with the cosmos is a mantra. There should have been a time / plane where anything that was said manifested itself – and therefore every word was a mantra by itself. This can be seen in how we treat the old languages now – words in Sanskrit, Latin and other old languages have a ring to them, when pronounced right. This clearly shows that these languages emerged from a time when words were not simply uttered but given great thought before being let out.

Mantras are an expression of man’s desire for control. If the need for control stems from a cause that we believe is for greater good, then they are means for spreading love. If the need for control comes from fear, they spread hate. So just like money or most other tools, mantra itself is a tool and the reason of those who wield it makes or breaks them.

Looking into the definition of the mantra, it has a positive impact in aligning ourselves with the Universe :
• The word or phrase
o Usually is calling a God / deity / Universe
o This evokes feeling of thankfulness or gratefulness or surrender.
o The meaning of the phrase/sentence should be positive.
• The repetition
o Blocks out other thoughts from our minds.
o Over time, the mantra could be like a background soundtrack in our head, making our baseline so much stronger.
o Helps the mind stay focused on one thing.
• The emotion
o With so much collective consciousness regarding the mantra with high status, it allows us to access deeper emotions.
o The deeper the emotion, the more potent the mantra.
• The vibration
o Most mantras have a resounding effect.
o Said correctly, the vibration has an infinite effect.
o The sound or the vibration is what allows us to connect to the Universe.

If we live life, with a mantra running in our head and assuming that every word of yours is a mantra that manifests, you will firstly talk less, but also increase your true inner power manifold.

Onwards towards eternal peace,
Love,
V

Frustration and Overcoming it

Frustration is the bane of this generation. To understand it more, let’s define it.

Frustration happens when you are in a situation, where you seem helpless, and want to get out of it. To add fuel to frustration, could be the “knowledge” of what needs to be done – and you either don’t have the ability or tools to act it out. Essentially it is “knowledge” of what needs to be done, without its deeper understanding and hence it becomes in-actionable knowledge. This makes the frustration seem larger.

Metaphorically, frustration occurs when things freeze. Imagine, a flowing river or a lake. The river curves and winds through meadows with lush green grass on either side. The lake is the centre of attraction for nature and all animals and plants live off it. But all of a sudden, the river/lake is frozen. You are unable to move. The lake becomes cold – devoid of outer life. Can you feel the frustration of the sudden immobility? Can you feel the frustration of the lack of life?

Frustration causes paralysis. Paralysis of action – not of thought. To compensate for the lack of action, the brain over thinks, but does not take a decision. This causes great discomfort and amplifies what you are feeling.

There are two ways to solve this – internally or externally.

If we are to focus on externally breaking frustration – we need discipline. Hence, a lot of videos on Entrepreneurship talks of discipline and hustle. Keep going at it no matter what. Metaphorically, discipline is akin to breaking the ice with a chisel and hammer. The pros are immediate relief. A certain portion of water is immediately freed. The mind thinks this is the way and we move forward. The con of course is mental discipline fatigue and burn outs. Can you keep up the discipline for your lifetime? There are people who do, but do they grow as much as they can internally is a question.

Internally getting out of frustration, is akin to increasing the depth of the water. A large water body can no longer be frozen. If you are deep enough, frustration does not affect you as much. Internally growing through frustration, begins by first accepting it. Accepting the weather and accepting your problems. Instead of rueing missed chances or saying “if that had happened, I won’t be in this situation today“, let us first accept that we are stuck and facing a problem. Accepting does not mean, just saying it. Accepting is agreeing that this situation is the best for you. It means saying it wholeheartedly. Look at your breath when you say it – are you saying it with disdain and just want to not think about it or are you able to breathe deeply and wholeheartedly and really be thankful and grateful for your situation or problem.

So what is “internally getting out of frustration?” Let us take the example of wealth (money/wealth of any type). We are frustrated when we do not receive what we expect is the fair returns for our efforts. So when we do not receive that, we are frustrated and the more we focus on what we should get, the more we are frustrated. This leads us to think of ways and means – shortcuts if needed – to achieve what we believe is our goal or what we believe is ours. One of the straightforward ways is just discipline which we went into detail above. But internal growth comes completely changing the focus to a higher/deeper level. The “cycle” of money is a flow. And the more we focus on receiving (with a mindset of Mine,mine, mine coming from ego) the less we get. Instead focusing on what we can give and giving generously (you need not give money, you can give energy, you give ideas, you can share your intellect) transfers the focus to something higher. Giving always transfers the focus to well being of love and is therefore an expression of love.

By moving towards the higher plane, the lower plane is no longer frustrating. Instead your focus is on something larger – well being of the world, well being of your community etc – and this gives you the ability to look down on your earlier plane which was leaving you frustrated.

Grow higher, dive deeper and the frustration will melt because you have become warmer.

Going through life experiences,

Onwards towards eternal peace,

Love,

V.

Inadequate

Do this and that. Run here and there. At the beck and call of work. Helter and Skelter ran the mind, trying to keep up with your to-do list.

Time seems to fly and your mind wants to keep up,but at the end of the day, you are where you started.

Questions run amok. Is it me? Why don’t things get done? How do I prioritize?

Or is it my environment?How can I put up with my boss?How do I handle the stress?
How do I manage the team?

Efforts seem to have progress and then out of the blue just turn futile. The results seem so close, yet so far.

And you try again,

To fail again.

You pause.

What am I running after?

Am I improving my inner self because of this running?

How should I be more concious?

Am I failing because I am not concious?

Or am I failing because I am too concious?

When will life become effortless?

What should I do first?

Focus on the inner self or the outer result?

But by focusing on the inner self, I seem to go nowhere and you regret not trying for the result. Should I have tried more?

Work is never finished. And there’s always something more that you could have tried. You could have, may be if you had done that and so on. Your mind plays to produce so many ifs retrospectively, keeping you in a state of constant regret.

And then you are paralyzed by work. You freeze with the sadness and your own inadequateness. Why is this happening to me? I have the best of intentions. I know I have the potential to do it. I passionately want to do it.

You wallow in your sadness and lose a few days or maybe a few hours and then reality hits you and you run again. Run, run, run.

My mind sees a different reality. A reality where everything is organized. Where a system is in place. Where you have the time to do fulfilling work. Innovative work. Think about growth. Empathize with people and grow your people.

I know I will create this reality. It is in my DNA. It is in my blood.

But, when you are fire fighting, the question that you always ask is WHEN? When will I get there? What should I do now to get there? What should I do to get there quickly? How do I transform myself into the future me?

Meditate and see the cycles that you are stuck in. What happens repeatedly? Breathe it out. Don’t blame the external factors. They will melt when you change.

But am I such a state where my issues have manifested itself physically. And as you know physical ailment/injury is best treated at the physical level. Are we spirituality enough to cure your fracture from the inside?

The physical manifestations can be physically broken while you work on transformation. Physically to break things, get into a good routine. Grow good habits. And stick to it. Use your will power. Force yourself to do things.

And meditate. Meditate to transform.

Your routines will break. You will be weak and cheat. Get back to it. Stick to it.

Find small habits to do when you are restless and when you are looking for your phone to distract yourself. Watch your breath. Chant some Mantra. Clear your energy and clear your mind.

Attack it from both sides. Physical and Energy level. Results await.

But, WHEN?

Don’t be impatient my kid. For you the time is NOW.

Onwards towards eternal peace,

Love,

V

The Basics – The Human Body and Mind

Ahh, the human body – a miracle, an engineering marvel, a enigma, adaptable , strong and fragile… Words can barely do justice to the human body.

It’s the primodial question of man – what is my body? A lot has been talked and a lot studies have been done. But the more we dig, we seem to be getting more questions than answers.

Science has studied the body in isolation and the mind in isolation. It has ignored the spirit. Now, there’s a lot of work on mind-body relationship.

Even after decades and decades of work, Science has even discovered organs in our body as late as the 21st century. Science has just started work on the mind and is discovering its potential, fungibility and so much more.

So what is the human body? According to various spiritual books and scriptures – the body is a an expression of our soul. It is like a vehicle – a car – which was custom designed by the soul. The body itself is like a fractal with so many endings of the body representing different parts of it. Acupuncture, Reflexology, Ear reflexology, Acupressure all work on the fact that body is nothing but a interconnected repetitive pattern.

The vehicle comes with its own intelligence – much like Automatic Braking System in cars – which get activated in cases of emergency. On all other cases the operation is handed over to the mind.

The human body is designed to make the soul comfortable. A comfortable soul shines. But most of us are not comfortable in our own skin or our own mind. We reject so much of ourselves based on our societal upbringing. The more we accept ourselves, the more the body and mind can do their own work, while your soul shines.

Slightly off-topic, but does that mean societal upbringing is wrong? On the contrary, values and rules of our society are a guideway as to what is right, till the time you are truly in touch with yourself and are able to see your own ego and it’s actions for you to dissolve it. Kids and teens getting into drugs and sex leads to addiction where they find it very hard to get out of and struggle for most of their lives. The other side is people get so attached to these rules, that as adults they chastise themselves and reject parts of themselves because some of their thoughts don’t adhere to these rules. The balanced mid-way is accepting your thoughts, not rejecting them, but also not acting on them. Watch the thoughts and see where they arise from and dissolve that ego with pure awareness. This deserves a post by itself and you can comment to let me know if this is of interest.

Getting back to our human body, the genius of our body is that it is made from simple components. Just five elements make up our body, mind and soul.

But isn’t everything just one? Well, in our current form it is hard for us to understand the abstract everything is one concept. Hence we came up with duality – Dwaitham. But that is equally hard to see and has led to thinking of “Us Vs Them”. Going further comes the five elements, then the 7 musical notes, the 9 planets and so on.

The human body can be looked at from any of these lenses – Advaitham, Dwaitham, 5 elements and so on. At the level of five elements, there is enough division for our intellect to work with to understand it or to learn from the understanding of sages and Gurus. It is well explained and documented in Ayurveda of how the 5 elements are combined to the three doshas and the multitude of different plays that they have in the body to create the different types of tissues and so on.

With this gift of human body, let’s work on the true goal of life – understanding and watching ourselves – which will lead us to spiritual development.

Onwards towards eternal peace,

Love,

V

Pearls in an oyster

Rain drops of metamorphosis,
Where were you for so long?
The soaring energy,
Where were you for so long?

The trickling thought exploding into action,
Where were you so for so long?
Mesmerising little concept,
Where were you so for so long?

The answers so elegant,
So simple,
That even a simpleton will know,
But nigh can he execute.

Music resides in sound,
Rain resides in cloud,
Water resides in ground,
Answers reside in you.

Knowing means not doing,
Doing means not results.

Accepting it all,
Fighting none,
Without knowing,
Without doing,
Brings about the transformation.

Onwards towards eternal peace,
Love,
V

Your transformation is within you

Way inward

With the physical body we touch,
With the mental body we think,
With the spiritual body we experience.

We know that the journey is inward,
That pleasures are temporary,
Our memories transient,
And experiences momentary.

With a birds eye view of the path,
We may know the route,
But know we not,
The awareness to follow the path.

The rules are simple,
Take care of your physical body,
With a health diet,
Good exercise and
Sound sleep.

Take care of the mental body,
With focus,
Be it meditation or work or play,
With discipline,
Fighting your cravings,
And finally,
With positivity,
Keeping the negative thoughts at bay.

The spirit strengthens,
With belief,
Belief and understanding of all,
With practise,
To strengthen your finer perceptions,
And finally,
With love,
Living and giving with joy.

Simple as they seem,
Following them,
Not for ten minutes a day,
But for twenty four hours a day,
Will move us along the path.

Life is simple,
But not easy.
Most are trapped,
In the myriad of reflections,
Making life seem complex.

Few more,
Are stuck with their ego,
Ego coming from a sense of knowledge, wealth or power.

A small portion,
Can see the path,
But seem frozen and unable to tread it.

The rare few,
Who move along,
Shine brightly.

Move along,
Your rules are simple,
Practise and stick to it,
For one day,
You are destined to shine brightly for the rest of humanity.

Onwards towards eternal peace,
Love,
V

The way inward

In your power

In your power

In your power

The waves seem tall,
Relentlessly they fall,
The spirit withered,
The mind numbed,
And the body chilled.

Life, at times,
Throws you challenges,
Sweeping you off your feet,
Dizzyingly quick.

But the externalities,
Cannot extinguish the light within.
You and you alone,
With your mind, body and spirit,
Can control the brightness of your light.

You choose to dim,
Or rather allow others to dim your light,
But be rest assured,
You have the power to burn,
Brighter than the sun,
On a hot summer day.

Talk to yourself,
Condition your mind,
Excercise your body,
And within you,
Will arise a light,
That touches the souls of others.

In your power lies,
The decision to be drenched,
Or to surf the waves,
With joy and light.

Onwards towards eternal peace,
Love,
V

Hollow inside

We are born to shine,​
With our light from inside,
To show the world,
What our light could look like.

But as time moves on,
It is the world that dims our light,
Do this and then you are free,
Complete that and your life is set,
And so we dim ourselves,
To create a shadow world.

The shadow world looks all glittery,
A great job,
A wonderful house,
Loving family.

And so the world asks,
What more do you want?

But deep inside,
You feel empty and hollow.
The world does not believe,
That such a great life outside,
A good social standing,
And a comfortable life is not the end goal.

But what is it that is missing?

Then you realise you are no longer shining,
Your light has dimmed.

Now you can go either way,
The way most go,
Tell yourself you live for your family,
Drug yourself to drown your light – and call it fun,
Run from one place to another – and call it fun,
Believe a better house,
A better job,
And more money based pleasures will fulfill you,
Run and create a shadow till you fall down to your grave.

A walking zombie,
Or a running zombie,
These seem to be your choices,
And so you live,
A life without life.

Some, yearn for more,
Search inside,
And the search consumes them.
The search can be from the heart,
Or from the mind,
Whole-hearted or,
Sharp minded,
Where it will lead,
And if it will end,
Is unknown.

A rare few,
Cut through the conditioning,
The world has given us,
See through and change their life,
Changes which may not be visible outside,
But mean a whole lot inside.

Have you figured it out?
No.
But the intent is to,
With the heart and the mind.

Join us,
In this journey,
To support each other,
Encouraging each to live the lives they were always meant to live.

Onwards towards eternal peace,
Love,
V

Financial Freedom

Financial freedom, has become a rage of sorts today. People are enamoured by the word and this seems to be the goal of a good chunk of the population – a goal which is replacing the “Get rich” goal in the 90s.

So, when people want financial freedom what are their true intentions or the causes for yearning for this? As is usually the case, the intentions could be very different for different people, even if their actions on the surface seem similar.

Let’s take a few cases which possibly covers a majority of the people.

Case – 1 – Financial freedom or I don’t have to ever work again. A lot of people think of financial freedom as freedom from work. This comes from an intention of running away from work. What they really care about is not the money, but what they think will be absolute freedom from nagging bosses, or dragging themselves to do something just to earn a living. As we know, everything stems from only fear or love. And this intention clearly stems from fear of having to work. It is not “love for money” but rather an idea that the money will make them not have to work again. Even if these people succeed to be free for a bit of time, this love quickly turns into attachment and fear of losing money, making them live the same mundane lives that they were trying to escape. For example, few people could make money so that they do not need to work for a year or so, so they become obsessed with their spending and start penny pinching. Few others could just blow away all their savings in a few months and are back to looking for a steady income or a supplementary income. Yet others could have created a hustle which needs constant work, work that they do not like (just like their initial job) but are forced to do it now that they have increased their lifestyle and have no other option. All these scenarios play out based on the intensity of the fear – I.e intensity with which you really hate doing what you are doing.

Case 2 – Financial freedom for following their passion. Some people could be really passionate about a particular hobby or art or cause that they would love to pursue. But their current lifestyle and expenses do not allow them to follow this. This could lead to a bitter person who craves for financial freedom to do what they love – but coming from fear. Or it could lead to a joyful person who loves what they can do, which will eventually lead them to the freedom they seek. Same person, same goal, similar intent, but different reactions – could lead to very different life paths.

Case 3 – Financial freedom for “enjoying life”. Quite a few people have the notion that life is short and therefore pleasure seeking is the only activity worth pursuing. They look at money as a tool to buy time and pleasure. Their entire intent and philosophy of life stems from the fear of losing life – fear of missing out – fear of not enjoying it enough etc. It is fear, fear, fear at the core. They idolise people who seem to have it all – Richard Branson, Hugh Hefner people who have money and seem to be having all the pleasure that they can get. What they do not see is that even the ones who they idolised go through the same emotions that they are going through. As your taste in pleasures increases and the more you have, the less the number of things that actually bring you pleasure. So the guys who seem to have it all, on the covers of magazines, may not even feel the same pleasure as you would when you get a new car. For them everything seems bland and it is just another car, just another girl, just another party and so on. If the intent for financial freedom is pleasure seeking, it may make sense to delve deeper to understanding yourself.

Case 4 – Financial freedom or get me out of this mess. There are people who are stuck in a cycle of having to live below their means. Or have tremendous debt on their shoulders. They are looking for financial freedom as a exit ticket from this cycle or mess that they have created. Again the intent here is “I don’t like where I am. I deserve better. I should not be in this situation.” and so on. This stems from rejection of the current state of things. Rejection stems from fear. You could really deeply wish for it to change and will it away, but unless the energy and the intent changes the outside world may not change permanently.

Case 5 – The real financial freedom – Finance and money are a tool. A tool that you are thankful for, grateful for and something that enables you to do something bigger than you. As you start doing something bigger than you, you are working out of love. Love is nothing but the oneness and connectedness of everything in the Universe. So if your intention and energy is to move towards something much larger than you, while you are thankful and grateful for money to help you achieve this, it will lead to real financial freedom. In some cases, this could for following your passion (a segment of Case -2) in others it could be to create a community, a society or an organisation which stands for something much larger than yourself. When you achieve true financial freedom, you actually become much more occupied/busy than you were before. But you are doing something fun/something you love / following your purpose so it doesn’t seem like work. It is just you being you.

A caveat* to this which we should be very aware of is to get attached to the concept/goal of whatever that is larger than you. The motivation for change – however noble it is – could come from sense of injustice and an emotional need to counter injustice. This leads to attachment to the end goal and therefore the ego steps in “to fight”. Now the attachment has moved from “earning money” to “fight for justice”. Being aware of this helps you beat this.

Wishes and energy for everyone here to be able to experience being the state of true financial freedom.

Onwards towards eternal peace.

Love, V

Breaking free – in the true sense

* – This point was astutely pointed out by VK. It was wonderful discussing this with you.

Not Good – Search for the elusive

I stood searching in the sky,
You were in the depths of the ocean,
I dived into the ocean,
You rose to the sky.

You left me roaming the stars,
Without any sense of myself.

Not good,
Not good,
Good moon,
You are not good.

All searches for sound,
Ends in silence.

All the silence in this world,
Ends in self-knowledge.

When I search for you,
You took off into the stars.

Not good,
Not good,
Pole star,
You are not good.

As star dust,
You fell on the earth.
And with it bloomed a flower,
Whose nectar I yearn to drink.

But as I reach out,
The flower wilts,
In the sweltering heat.

Not good,
Not good,
Starling flower,
You are not good.

My search for you,
Have lead me,
Through skies and oceans,
Through sound and silence,
Through buds and flowers,
To the nectar.

When I attain you,
I will know,
The meaning of this journey.

Onwards towards eternal peace,

Love,
V

Commentary : All searches are for the truth. The elusive truth, which seems to slip away. The search seems so near and then suddenly so far. Sometimes you run after it, sometimes it seems to fall to you. The search, frustrating at times, beautiful at others, will give meaning meaning to this journey, when we finally realise the truth.

Elusive search – Stardust

– Inspired by a Tamil film song

Surrender – The right way

Surrender takes you higher

Oh God,
The one and only,
The only thing that exists,
The only existence which is aware,
I surrender to Thee.

Surrender is an act,
An act of giving yourself to another,
But the reason behind the act,
The intention of the act,
Will decide the success of surrender.

With a boulder on your shoulder,
You carry your worry,
Your ability is stretched by responsibility,
The world wants more,
And you surrender.

This surrender,
Stems from frustration,
From expasteration,
Which all springs from fear,
Fear of your failure.

The surrender seems like a balm,
A balm where you throw your responsibilities,
Onto to God,
And he shall be doer,
And you shall be free.

Does this surrender,
Lead to eternal peace?
Or is this surrender,
Partial of only your responsibilities,
And not your pleasures?

For some,
Surrender is an act of running,
Running away from your problems,
Problems which you can’t face,
Facing it which requires courage.

Out of cowardice,
Comes surrender,
And a external loci,
For you to blame.

For other,
Surrender is a deal,
I give you myself,
You solve my problems,
As I deem fit.

Expectation of a smooth life,
Is the seed this surrender,
Plants in your head,
But never shall that blossom.

True surrender comes,
From within the heart,
An act of unconditional love,
Irrespective of what life throws at you,
You surrender.

And your will, will be tested,
To see if your surrender,
Came from your Ego,
Or from your heart.

In surrender,
Your heart just gives,
And your ego melts,
Knowing that you are one,
With the only one there is.

You may not at first,
Understand your actions,
Or understand if you are doing it right,
But when the world opens its arms,
Keeps you close to its bosom,
You feel peace,
Not because of circumstances outside,
But because of the surrender inside.

Onwards towards eternal peace,

Love,
V

Focusing the mind inwards – First Steps

Need to do this and that, But I should focus on silencing the mind.

Will silencing the mind get my work done? Will it pay the bills and the debtor who comes knocking

Maybe yes and maybe no, but I deeply and strongly believe that silencing your wandering mind will calm the clamour outside as well.

Does it mean I shouldn’t work and sit still and meditate all day?

It means you should work with a silent mind – the mind which allows you to focus on the task at hand, without thinking about a thousand other thoughts that slowly and steadily deplete your vital energy.

It barely stays silent for a second and there’s always some thought which seems important or which allures you into a thought train

Who said it will be easy? Just as you have practiced all your life to let your thoughts wander, and even praised yourself for having so many thoughts and for thinking things through, it will take time to change this conditioning. From one second to ten, from ten seconds to a minute to keep your mind still will take time. It will take months of constant practice – practice with every breath.

But, the results are worth it. On the other side is a new you – A vitalised, focused you who achieves what you need to. And the calm mind will direct you to your purpose. The purpose which you came here for. The purpose which is keeping you breathing.

The rewards are plenty, but the path arduous. It is the first step which is the hardest, so what do we do? Watch your breath and repeat a phrase – your Mantra – any phrase – any Mantra. It gives your wandering mind something to hold onto, just like hugging a deep rooted tree in a storm.

With that start your journey. The journey of turning your mind inwards.

Onwards towards eternal peace,

Love,V

Take the first step

The Mind Games

The universe seems to know,
How to keep you tense.
Just when you think,
Life is within your grasp,
Your mind blows up,
Thoughts run,
Emotions boil.

The bliss,
The universe made you watch,
And intellectually comprehend,
Flickers.

On and you know,
Know what thoughts you should have,
Off and the thoughts are haywire.
On and you know,
Know the response the situation demands,
Off and you react.
On and you know,
Know how to watch your emotions,
Off and emotions control you.
On and you know,
Know the cause of the emotions,
Know how to use these emotions,
Off and the emotions cause more chaos,
Off and the emotions use you.

The world knows how to play with you,
Play with you – just right.

Too much and you will throw this world away,
Away into a self-imposed exile,
Exiled into a monastery,
Monastery where you may think,
Think that the world will stop,
Stop bothering you.

Too little and your senses drive,
Drive you to pleasure,
Pleasure which disguises itself as bliss,
Bliss which seems like you created,
Creation that gives you an Ego,
Ego which tells you,
You are God.

So the world tosses you,
From too little to,
Too much and,
Everywhere in between.

The highs and lows,
Make you yearn,
For the bliss,
That the reality show,
Across the glass wall.

Onwards towards eternal peace,

Love,
V

Mind games – with all its highs and lows – Colourful

The Glass Wall

On the journey,
Like a mime,
You hit a glass barrier.

Thou can see through it,
Peer through it,
But you can neither touch through it,
Nor sense through it.

You think all that you see,
On the other side,
Is a reality show,
On the television.

But just like a gripping movie,
Deep inside you,
It has gripped you.
You feel you are the protagonist,
Your emotions rush,
Yours truly,
You think is on the other side.

But you know not,
How to get there.
But you know not,
If it’s yet another magic trick.
But you know not,
If it is the mind,
Or if it is truly you.

What won’t you give to make,
This reality show a reality.

Onwards towards eternal peace,

Love,

V

Glass wall – What will you not give to be outside

Basics – Five elements / Avatar (Cartoon) and spiritual growth – Part 1

Ayurveda and Vedic/Indic philosophy talks about 5 elements which make up everything in our world, namely : Aakash or Energy, Vayu or Air, Tejas or Fire, Jalam or Water and Bhumi or Earth.

The elements are mentioned in the increasing form of grossness. Energy can’t be felt/seen, Air can be felt, seen but not limited in its movement, Fire can be felt, seen, is limited in its movement but is not physical in nature, Water can be felt,seen, contained, is physical but cannot be structured and Bhumi is felt,seen,contained, is physical and can be structured.

The five elements, each have their own quality and this qualities are expressed everywhere around us and within us. We and everything that we sense are an expression of a mixture of the five elements.

I came across a very interesting cartoon for kids – Avatar – the last Airbender in which people live in 4 different nations – Earth, Fire, Water and Air. Some of the people in each of the nations have the ability to “bend” that is physically control a particular element. Earth benders can move rocks and boulders with a few movements of their hands and water benders can make water flow upwards and turn it into ice and so on. The Avatar alone has the capability to “bend” or control all four elements.

Just like the Avatar, each and everyone of us have the potential to control all the 5 elements. But today, most of us are non-benders I.e have no control over even a single element. Further we don’t even know which nation we are part of – that is we don’t know where to start and which elemental control comes naturally to us.

This series of blogs will look at each element, it’s qualities and the ways to control each of it. We will also attempt to look at a guide – a guide for you to look inside and question yourself to at least intellectually come to a starting point of elemental control.

Onwards towards eternal peace,

Love, V

Avatar and Spirituality

குருவை ஏங்கி

அடர்ந்த காடு,
பல நாட்க்கள் பயணம்,
சோர்ந்த உடம்பு,
வழிபோக்கனின் ஏக்கம்,
ஒரு சூடான உணவு.

தூரத்தில் ஒரு வாசம்,
மூக்கை பிளக்க,
காட்டில் வழி தெரியாமல்,
கண்கள் தேடின,
கால்கள் ஓடின,
தவித்தது மனம்.

இதை போல்,
வாழ்வின் மாயங்களின் நடுவில்,
தடைகளினால் சோர்ந்து,
ஏங்குவது அமைதி.

உணவின் வாசம் போல்,
பெரிய மகான்களின் சொற்கள்,
ஏக்கத்தை தேடலாய் மாற்ற,
தேடினேன் உன்னை,
கோயிலில், குளத்தில்,
மரத்தில், பூமியில்.

தவிக்கும் மனதிற்கு,
தர மாட்டாயா,
ஓர் தரிசனம்,
வர மாட்டாயா,
ஓர் வழிகாட்டியாய்.

எனது குருவே,
உனது பாதமே,
எனது அடைக்கலம்,
அடைக்கலத்திலே தான் அமைதி.

அமைதியை நோக்கி,
அன்புடன்,
வி.

Poem in Tamil

The yearning for a Guru

O Guru, where are you?

One who has walked the path,
One who sees beneath the layers,
One who sees beyond the apparent,
One who is full of compassion,
One who is a tangible form.

Where art thou?
Where art thou in my life?
Where art thou in the vast cosmos?

Why am I struggling to find you?
Why am I unable to reach you?
Why am I here without you?

Oh Compassionate, Unconditional,
Wise, Loving Guide.
Communicate with me,
Show me a sign,
That you are watching me.

What shall I not give,
To be able to receive,
You wisdom and love.

My Namaskarams to thou,
Bless me to have you,
Always in my heart, mind and soul.

Onwards towards eternal peace,

Love,
V

Mind Mastery – Obstacles

Walking the path,
Keeping the mind quiet,
Not for a few seconds of silence,
Not for a few minutes of meditation,
But for the entire day,
Through daily actions and motions,
Is the goal.

You set foot on the path,
Your habits call you back,
You resist the temptation,
Strong as the old oak,
Is your resolve to walk ahead.

So life tests you,
To show you your strength,
There comes a situation,
Where your routine is gone out the window,
Could be that your body takes a break,
Could be you have to stay outside home,
Could be an important decision that can change your everyday life,
A job, love, moving to a new city, or something more somber.

Now in this situation,
Your mind is back,
The need to think through,
The need to be back in control,
This time you can see your mind race,
But your resolve may just give way.

Let this be,
Let this situation blow over,
And then mind can be controlled,
Is what the mind tells you.

You give in,
But never give up,
Mind wants you to forget,
But you never should,
Be it a day or a week,
Stand up on your feet,
Face your mind,
And with all your heart,
Say you believe,
Believe that your heart can get you through,
With the mind just as a tool.

This was nothing but a detour,
A detour with the allure of logic,
A reason to get back to being controlled,
By the mind.

Keep this in mind,
Get back to your path,
Continue your journey,
For the journey is all that there is.

Onwards towards eternal peace,

Love,
V

Obstacles!

Mind Mastery – Overcoming Habits

A habit we are taught,
Can be good or bad,
It is an action,
That we allow to grow to be a part of us.

Habits, mindless repetition of action,
Lead to addiction,
A mindless craving for a action.

Some are addicted,
To chemicals from outside,
Some to chemicals inside,
Some to thought patterns,
Which release the chemicals they crave.

A human without habits,
Is in touch with his true self,
And with that his journey begins.
He is at peace,
If he does or does not.

Monks seem addicted to meditation,
You may ask,
But isn’t meditation the only non-action?
Meditation is nothing but an art of doing nothing.

As we start to walk on the journey inward,
Our habits feel threatened,
They may initially be silent,
Assuming that you will give up the path,
As you probably have countless times,
But if you stick with it,
It comes back with vigour,
Creating a craving,
That needs immense will power and discipline to get over.

You will fail,
Failing is also a victory,
Victory which makes you conscious of failure.

This consciousness grows,
Grows until it gives you the power,
Power which will overcome the habit.

By overcoming one,
You see what lies beneath,
Subtler and subtler habits,
That you were unaware of.

Mother Earth, the Body and the Mind,
What tools, what an environment,
To study our souls deeper and deeper,
To become free,
Free from all habits.

Onwards towards eternal peace,

Love,
V

Overcoming habits!

Mind Mastery – Walking the path

I know the path I should take,
Breathe in,
Keep the mind out,
Bring your focus to your home,
Deep in the heart.

In a second, the mind wants to show who is the Master,
Thoughts float,
And the mind takes you on a train ride,
Your breath is watched no more.

You walk in to work,
And the mind gets to work,
Not in a focused immersion,
But in a frenzy of distorted diversions,
Half do this, half do that,
Write the email, pick up the call,
Talk to the person walking in,
And your mind is back to being boss,
Boss not at work, but in your spirit.

Things subside,
You have a bit of quiet,
But by now you are tired,
Catching your breath not watching it,
And your mind ends up,
Catching up on social media as your relaxation,
Not that one deep focused inhalation that spikes your vitality.

Work is done and you take stock,
And then it strikes you,
Today was the day,
You were to focus internally and not externally.

Nevertheless, better late than never,
And you do it for a few minutes,
Before you get on with your chores.

But whatever said and done,
Giving up is not in your dictionary,
Tomorrow is a new day,
A new chance,
And even if all I achieve,
Is one additional mindful second,
It will be the motivation,
To move on to the next day.

There will dawn a day,
Not far from today,
When being mindfully present,
Is a part of me,
Where allowing my mind to play with my spirit,
Will be a rarity.

Onwards towards eternal peace,

Love,
V

Mind as the Master

Mind Mastery – First steps of the journey

Should I focus on this or that?
The nuts and bolts of survival,
Or taming the running mind?

You know the answer do you not?

Will it get my work done?
Will it pay my bills?
Will it answer the debtor at the door?

Maybe Yes or Maybe No.
If you believe,
The calmness of the mind,
Will calm the clamour outside.

So shall I let it all be,
Sit in silence and meditate,
Isn’t that the fastest path to calm the mind?

Work.
Work on silencing your mind while you work.
Focus is the result,
And is the fruit you seek.

Do you not know,
About the sprinting mind,
Which depletes your vitality,
Alluring you from one place to another,
From one desire to the next,
For even a second it doesn’t stop,
And this clamour is what you see outside,
This clamour is what keeps you busy,
This clamour is what makes you tired.

Now, I know the path,
How fast can I reach my destination?

Knowing the path,
And walking the path,
Two different things.

Through this life,
Your focus has been outward,
Your mind has ran helter skelter,
And you believe your mind is you.

Practise with every breath,
Control your mind,
Your true self first needs to be revealed,
Then show the mind it’s place.

You, the true you,
Vibrant, Focused,
Will guide you to your purpose,
The purpose of life,
The purpose which gives meaning to your breath.

The rewards are aplenty,
But the path arduous.

Now I know the path,
But how do I act?

Watch your breath,
Repeat a phrase,
Chant a Mantra,
Create your Mantra,
Focus on one task,
Dissolve yourself in it,
Or you can do all of these.

Meditate and choose your action,
Stick to it,
Take the first baby steps,
And with grace you will run soon.

Start your journey,
The only journey that matters,
The journey inwards.

Onwards towards eternal peace,

Love,
V

Journey to the True Master

#Unplug from the Sensory Overload

Sensory Overload

When the lookout is corrupt,
In comes what we know nought.

Attention is what it seeks,
Energy is what it sucks,
Listlessness is what it infuses,
And addiction is what we get.

Our senses, our sentinels,
Now our shortcoming,
Falls prey to sight, sound and taste,
Yet, we stop it not.

The temporary sensory pleasures glorified,
Exemplified by society,
Our minds are made to desire,
Fooled into thinking this pleasure is what humanity has always seeked.

Sharpen your mind,
Grow your discipline muscle,
And slowly it will dawn,
What you searched for was within,
And that you were never without.

Onwards towards eternal peace,
Love,
V

Conversation with The One

My excited heart,

Seems to want something.

Without pausing for a beat,

My soul seems to floating towards you.

I come willingly,

I give myself without you asking.

With your glance I rest,

With your touch I melt.

Memories melt,

The Present melts,

Place and matter melt,

Boundaries melt.

Dear small spark,

Dear small miracle,

Give me a small sign,

Give me a small place in your heart,

Let our eyes dance,

Let our eyes talk,

Let me touch your soul,

Melt into the oneness that is you,

And the bliss never ends.

Onwards towards eternal peace,

Love,

V.

Mother Earth

You are my life,
You are my body,
You are my mind,
I am but a part of you.

Borne in your body,
Fed with your life,
You have given us a identity.

The sky,
The soil,
Wind, Rain and Oceans,
Gifted to us.

We conquered your peaks,
We dived to your depths,
We believe we are your master.

Tears is what we have given back.

Teardrop which melts oceans,
Eyeglance which explodes mountains,
Shudder which shakes continents.

Agonized and Anguished,
We prostrate at your feet.

Forgive the petty ego,
Forgive for forgetting our roots,
Forgive and show us the path.

Onward towards eternal peace,

Love,
V

—
Inspired by a Tamil film song.

Beliefs about Money

There are two extremes of beliefs about money.

The first one is the more prevalent one, which is money is everything and is essential for our survival.

The other belief which is glorified by asectism is that money is not needed/money is evil. This belief is popular in religions like Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Let’s call the effect of this belief the “God and money are opposites”

So what are the consequences of this belief?

1.) You have spiritual gurus who “potray” having given up money, who have a huge following.

2.) If you are remotely associated with religion, you have an internal battle “Why should I toil so hard for something evil?”

3.) The masses have a poverty mindset. They hoard money, but splurge on religion to wash away their sins for making money.

4.) Spiritually included people believe that giving up money will bring them closer to God.

Each of these thoughts have a negative impact on your spiritual progress and is an indication of a block in you.

So what’s the truth?

Money is a tool.

You should be comfortable living like a king and living like a beggar.

If you don’t need money for your spiritual goals, don’t fall for its glamour.

If money is needed for your spiritual goals, don’t push it away. Don’t be averse to money. Feeling guilty about making money, thoughts about am I making too much, grading people based on how much money they have are all indications of blocks. Work on dissolving the blocks.

Onwards towards eternal peace.

Love,

V

Journey towards You – Poem

My heart pulls,
My life moves,
Towards where,
I know not.

Let me come myself,
Let me give myself,
Without you calling.
Why?,
I know not.

When our eyes meet,
I rest.
When our hands meet,
I melt.
Why?,
I know not.

I forget my memories,
I forget the present,
I forget time and space,
I forget what is mine,
Where I end,
Where you begin,
I know not.

O tiny little secret,
O tiny little wonder,
One tiny little touch,
One tiny little experience,
And going back,
Is something I cannot.

Our eyes dance,
Our conversations flow,
Our bodies touch,
Our lives touch,
The bound for joy which makes me dance,
It knows not.

Onward towards eternal peace.

Love,
V

—

Inspired by a Tamil film song.

Lost in God – Poem

I asked for flowers, you gave me nature,
I asked for water, you gave me nectar
What should I ask for, for you to give yourself?

I was lost in the forest, you showed me the way.
I was lost in the dark, you showed me light.
What should I do to lose myself in you?

I fell into an abyss, you made me reach the peak.
I fell into the flood, you safely made me reach the bank.
What do I fall in, for you to make me reach you?

Am grateful for conversing with you,
But my heart won’t stop until I am you.

Onward towards eternal peace.

Love,
V

Inspired by Tamil film/classical song.

https://spiritualityinroutine.wordpress.com

The Dichotomy – Poem

Duality arises from oneness,
Understanding duality leads to oneness.

Opposites fight,

Opposites attract,

Opposites are poles apart,

Opposites are within you,

Opposites are parallel lines,

But they meet at the infinity in you.

-Onward towards eternal peace.
Love,

V.

The Master and the Mind – Poem

Close your eyes,
Cleanse your breaths,
Clear your thoughts,
Clamp your senses,
Connect with the cosmos,
And the master in you awakens.

So beautiful seem everything,
So mundane seem your trials,
So joyous seem the souls around,
So loving seem your adversaries,
So compassionate seem your haters,
So peaceful you feel.

Ahh the time when the mind sleeps.

Ding goes the calling bell,
Up goes your eyes,
Away goes your peaceful state,
Helter-skelter goes your thoughts.

With the mind in control,
Control which makes you think you are back,
Back to reality,
Reality with real problems,
Problems which need doing,
Doing things which never end,
Ending your connection with your true master.

A sudden whiff of fresh air blows,
A moment when the sun glows,
Your mind slows,
Your heart overflows.

How do you stay connected,
While being worldy wise?

Your mind has no answers,
But millions of excuses –
Food, friends, fortune,
problems, politics, power,

And life…

Excuses can take it thus far,
But one day,
One fine day,
You will break the mind’s control,
And be in connection and contentment.

• Onward toward eternal peace.

Love,
V

Light and Love

Fill yourself to the brim,
And there shall be no fears to trim,
Fill yourself with light,
And there shall be no more flight or fight,
Remember to spread your love,
Because you need it more than they do,
In your own depth lies the inexhaustible source,
The source to all there is – Light and Love.

-Onward towards eternal peace.

Love,

V

Frustrations and yearning for the eternal connection – Poem

Can I get back the days I lived eternally connected with you?

Will my searching in the darkness lead me to the light?

I yearn for your connection to be whole again,

But, I don’t need your company – Go away.

Without you, I wander like a lifeless zombie,

But, I don’t want life – Go away.

My breath is yours and I live because of you,

But, I don’t want to breathe – Go away.

You showed me an unforgettable taste of true love,

But, I don’t want to love anymore – Go away.

Every place you touched me is burning,

But, I don’t want to be touched anymore – Go away.

Thou who searches for the truth – Go away,

But, let me merge with you forever.

-Onward towards eternal peace,

Love,

V.

(Inspired from film songs)

The Basics – Cycles and Patterns

The Universe is just energy. Just like any energy it can be converted into many forms, some of which we can see (light) and feel (heat) and some are hidden/inherent – like atomic energy inside the atom.

Any energy can be expressed as a wave. A seemingly steady expression which you have to deeply look into to understand it as a cycle. A never ending cycle of ups and downs.

Therefore cycles are how we experience this universal energy. Everything is a cycle – creation and destruction, time, rise and fall, happiness and sadness, the weather, your thoughts, – everything. Some of these cycles we can easily see – day and night, seasons in a year and some are inherent/hidden – cycle of creation and destruction, time etc.

But if we dig deep enough we see that everything is a cycle – Mountains and valleys – something which seems immovable to us is also a cycle. A giant cycle over millenniums, but a cycle nevertheless.

The comprehend able Universe is also in a cycle. Let’s take what science says – Big Bang and now the every expanding universe. Before the big bang everything was in a wave of contraction and now we are in the expansion mode. And at one point way, way ahead in the future the comprehend able Universe will standstill and then start to contact again.

Since our energies and lives are a microcosm of this, we are also made of cyclical patterns. Humans are also in a cycle. Hence are thoughts, words, actions and deeds are also in cycles.

Lets clear the meaning of a cycle. A cycle is a repetitive pattern. It does not have to be of equal time. As in it doenst need to be a 12 hour day and 12 hour nights to be in a cycle. A cycle could be skewed as well – 8 hour nights and 16 hour days etc.

Cycles, do not have to be made of only 2 components. It could be a cycle with a lot of different components. An example is the seasonal cycle – spring, summer, autumn and winter.

It could be an amplifying cycle or a declining cycle. I.e travelling into a spiral or expanding from a spiral. Earth’s path in the universe is helical, a rose petals are in spiral pattern , a lot of nature’s innate designs are spiral. Notice nature and her spiral designs when you connect with her.

Noticing our own cyclical patterns can help us tremendously understand ourselves better – after all this the ONLY goal of human life.

• Onward towards eternal peace.

Love,

V

The Basics – Understanding of the Universe and the comprehend able Universe

Deep inquisition into life and universe always boils down to this – What is the Universe? – Who am I? What is life? Is there a soul? and the list goes on. Many seers, scientists, physicists have explained this from their perspectives and understandings and we have/ have had truly advanced souls expounding their knowledge – some of which have been captured in various books – about this.

To all this incredible knowledge and to the Universe, here is my humble offering – my perspective on this question.

Everything is energy. Everything you see, hear, touch, smell, think of and even dream of is all just energy.  To our utter disbelief, all this energy is also “your” energy. “You” have access to the highest forms of energy and the lowest forms of energy and “you” are everything. You are the victim and the murderer, you are the hunter and the hunted. These are just ways of explaining that you are much more than what you think you are.

But, what you experience and what you feel are also reflections of “your” energy. The comprehend able Universe reflects your energy. Your world – being rich/poor, being happy/sad, your relationships, your parents are all reflecting your own energy to show you what your own unique pattern.

So it is confusing – your energy is everything and the world is also a reflection of your energy??!!! How can both statements be true? Well, it is a bit like wave and particle theory in Physics. Everything is a wave and a particle. In today’s parlance lets take gaming. Consider you code a game and you play a massive multi-player online role playing game (MMPORPG). The game (the Comprehend able Universe) is an expression of you, but at the same time “you” are also just a small character in the game. Your character still lives by the rules of the game – eating, sleeping etc etc. And a group of characters come together form a clan (society) and each character is unique and helps the clan on the whole in some way.

This is the duality which we all live in. We are a tiny speck of dust in the vast comprehend able Universe, but we are also much more than all Universes combined (Multi-verses etc.)

This basic understanding allows us to switch between the two at our will and allows us to accept and appropriately respond to different situations which we face in our life. The blog will have a series of basic understandings and then we will dive into specifics about situations which we face in life and use this perspective to understand the clues that the Universe is giving us and our response to them.

• Onward towards eternal peace.

Love,

V