Keep the faith

Reproduced from a column by Sri Sri Ravishankar

Keep the faith Shraddhveerya smrutisamadhiprajnapurvaka itaresham (Sûtra 20) meaning “By faith, by vigour or courage, by memory of having experienced the self and through the deep state of equanimity, a state of heightened awareness is gained.” This is a vital sûtra. Shraddha means faith. Faith makes your consciousness stable, steady and solid. Doubt in the consciousness makes you vulnerable, fearful and uncertain. Faith brings out the totality in you. It pulls together all loose ends of consciousness. It integrates your whole personality. Doubt scatters you. Doubt destroys you. Doubt disseminates you and your energy. Doubt is something that pulls you apart. Dissemination of energy is doubt. Consolidation of your energy is faith. Are you getting what I am saying? The very feeling of your having faith is a sort of consolidation. That is why Jesus always said that faith is your strength. They are synonymous — faith and strength. When you are strong and bold, you have faith. When you are weak and feeble you have doubts. Doubt is a sign of weakness. When there is faith, then samâdhi (Equanimity or meditative ness) is also achieved. Veerya is vigour or valour. For example, the force with which a soldier marches on is Veerya. Have you not noticed how valour rises in people when they say, “We fight for our country, my country. My country is in danger, my religion is in danger.” You think they simply do it without getting any joy out of it? In that moment of valour or extreme sense of patriotism, they get such a tremendous joy. That is why this world is facing wars again and again. If people would completely condemn war, if nobody liked war, then war cannot and would not happen. Though the result of war is not palatable, the process of war is very thrilling for people. Every cell of your body becomes united and the whole defense system in you gets awakened. That is again strength. When defense against fear comes to its peak, it is joyful because there is also equanimity there. There is a sense of gratitude. So, a sense of patriotism or valour or vigour also takes you to the state of meditation. Smruti is the memory of it. Once you have had a very peaceful, beautiful state of mind, the very memory of it will come back again and again and make you relive the moment. Memory of samâdhi reproduces memory of one’s being. It brings the memory of self, memory of freedom and memory of devotion. Memory of surrender, memory of love, memory of joy brings you back to yourself. Often, we do not remember nice things. What we keep remembering is bad things. We do not remember compliments but we remember somebody’s insults. But yoga is turning the wheel full circle. Remember those wonderful moments you have had. Sit and be with that very memory. Your entire being gets back to the state. Then through samâdhi, through deep meditation, through deep equanimous mind, awareness is gained. Pragna or heightened awareness is the result of samâdhi. So these many ways, these many avenues are there so that you can blossom in life. And that beings us to the next sutra — Teevrasamvëganamasannaha meaning “The spiritual path is very easy for one who gives first preference to it, who gives it supremacy over all other things.” What do we often do? We give priority to worldly things or survival and anything spiritual features last in our list. Patanjali says, Teevra samvegânâm âsannaha. When you give first preference to your spiritual practice, then it is easier. If the focus of your life is spiritual growth, then all other things will be around that. Your first and foremost commitment in life is to be with the truth, to evolve in truth. So, it is very easy for one who gives first preference to it, for one whose mind really wants to move in this direction.

My favorite stuff

• Amelie (Movie)
• Chak De India (Movie)
• Chariots of Fire (Movie)
• Chris Isaak (Songs)
• Chupke Chupke (movie)
• Dead Poet's Society (movie)
  
• Dil Chahta Hai (Movie)
• Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (Movie)
• Eagles (band)
• Forrest Gump (Movie)
• Golmaal (movie)
• Gone with the wind (movie and book)
• Indian Ocean (Band)
• Jerry Maguire (movie)
• Johnny Cash (some songs)
• Kite Runner (book)
• Life is Beautiful (movie)
• March of the Penguins (Movie)
• Miles Davis (Jazz)
• Pink Floyd
• Pretty Woman (Movie)
• Ray Charles (Jazz)
• REM (Band)
• Scent of a Woman (Movie)
  
• Shawshank Redemption (Movie)
• Sound of Music (Movie)
• Taare Zameen Par (Movie)
• The Alchemist (book)
• The Beatles
• The diary of Anne Frank (Book)
• The English Patient (movie)
• The Last Samurai (Movie)
• The Police (Band)
• U2 (Band)

Back to blogging

Back to blogging. So much to write, just don't know where to start from :). So much change has occurred over the past few months! Well, lets start from the good news-Me back in India and enjoying every moment of it, trying hard to catch up on the things I missed in the 6.5 years I was away. It's fun and the change and transformation (both good and bad) that India has seen in the last few years is really something hard to believe. On one side, I hate the traffic jams, pollution, the depleting green cover but I so much love the new found energy, the bubbling enthusiasm...that is so contagious. The new can-do, nothing-is-impossible attitude really makes-up (I am still debating this point) for the traffic-jams and the pollution. For now, I am enjoying every bit of my experience here and looking forward to this weekend hiking trip to Uran and Nhava-Sheva in Navi Mumbai. There is still so much more to write - well that's for another day :).

There is always something to laugh about

Hot Air
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A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced the altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted. "Excuse me... can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The woman replied, "You are in a hot air balloon approximately 30 feet above the ground. You are between 40 and 41 degrees North latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude."

"You must be a Scientist," said the balloonist.

"I am," said the woman.

"How did you know?"

"Well", answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I am still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help so far."

The woman below responded. "You must be a politician."

"I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

"Well," said the woman, "You don't know where you are or where you're going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise which you have no idea how to keep,and you expect me to solve your problem."

She continued after a moment of silence: "The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault."
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Labor of Love
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My first job was working in an orange juice factory, but I got canned ... couldn't concentrate.

Then I worked in the woods as a lumberjack, but I just couldn't hack it, so they gave me the ax.

After that I tried to be a tailor, but I just wasn't suited for it.

Next I tried working in a muffler factory but that was exhausting.

Next was a job in a shoe factory; I tried but I just didn't fit in.

I became a professional fisherman, but discovered that I couldn't live on my net income.

I managed to get a good job working for a pool maintenance company, but the work was just too draining.

So then I got a job in a gymnasium (work-out-center), but they said I wasn't fit for the job.

I finally got a job as a historian until I realized there was no future in it.

SO I RETIRED, AND I FOUND I AM A PERFECT FIT FOR THE JOB!

My mantra for success

Here is the sum total of my experience that I would love to share.
To me success comes :
- When I do my best and let the Universe or God take care of the rest
- Do what I love to do
- Manage thoughts , emotions, time and energy well - i.e. have happy thoughts, feel positive, be punctual, systematic, methodical and never procrastinate.

My Mantra for success in life (not from self-help books, but based on my experiences) :

• Work hard - Know all that is there to know.

• Keep commitments

• Focus and concentrate
  

• Be creative

• Be passionate - it shows

• Network well - i.e. build relationships, you never know from where it comes

• Relax and let go - This is most important so mark it well

• Laugh and play often- it keeps spirits high and makes you light and attracts more good to you

• Set timelines or deadlines - but let go of the time frame in your mind, i.e. don't freak out when the expected thing doesn't happen in the intended time-frame

• Be very specific with what you want - i.e. the only way you can ever reach your heart-cherished destiny - write all the details in paper very very clearly but don't be attached to any specifics. Let go and always have your mind, heart and soul open.

• Be open to adventure

• Let go of fear and worry

• Communicate well. Ask good questions till you exactly know what was the intended meaning. It saves a lot of pain.
  

• Never take anything personally. Remember when people are mean to you, it's not about you but about them

• Always do your best and let God take care of the rest

• Help everyone from the bottom of your heart and soul. Be good and do good

• Watch your words. Say what you mean and mean what you say

• Thank God always! Say a gratitude prayer often

• Be patient...always!

• Always visualize the end goal that you seek with a lot of feeling and emotion

• Be very excited about what you want
  

That's it, you've conquered the world! Now chill :).