Discipline in Meditation

'Resolve to master the senses through meditation and follow it steadily, systematically and regularly, at a stated time and place, without changing them as the whim takes you.... Baba '


Courtesy - - Sai Inspire for the day (12 Mar 12) from RadioSai


An inspiring quote on meditation... But sharing, because of the stress on following 'steadily, systematically & regularly, at a stated time & place...'
I have received this thought from multiple sources in the recent past. It seems, when we stick to a strict & specific schedule, 'GOD will be waiting for the devotee'! 


Surprised?! Not at all. That is Divine Love & Grace. 


Worth testing !

Life on Earth

“Each of us has been put up on earth with the ability to do something well. We cheat ourselves and the world if we don’t use that ability as best as we can”

…Gracie Allen


Let us cheat ourselves... or the Divinity within ourselves.

The Hindu : Arts / Cinema : An actor par excellence

Devotees of Sathya Sai Baba will remember a kind, old lady dressed in white, collecting footwear from fellow devotees or sweeping the premises at Sundaram in Chennai or Prashanthi Nilayam in Puttaparthi. She was an active member of the Seva Dal, a service brigade. She never let her celebrity status come in the way of her desire to serve humanity.

The Hindu : Arts / Cinema : An actor par excellence

Valentine Day SSpiritually

A friend lamented, ' my valentine (hubby) is with his valentine ' !! I did not want to rub salt asking her, 'why is he not your valentine?' Point to ponder :)

So, it is a working day ! How are you spending this day ?
At work in office or elsewhere, studying at school/college, working at home or just watching cricket ?
The most loved cricketer is out early - three batsmen out at 15 ! His 100th ton still away !


Start the day with Love 
Fill the day with Love 
End the day with Love 
This is the way to God - - Baba

True love is love for God. But often we end up reducing it to a worldly level.

BTW, did you check my very special new year gift ? Pls do read the book "Zero Limits" by Joe Vithale.

It talks about the power behind the prayer, "I Love You". Not a mere filmi 'I L U', but the 'You' here refers to Divinity. Initially, even if we feel we are chanting mechanically, no problem. We will see the shift in intensity, slowly but surely. It is a natural process...

Hence God says, 'take one step towards me... I will take hundred steps towards you'. We just need to make the first step....towards permanent bliss.

So, this Valentine Day, let us visualize Divinity, our favourite form, and chant, ' I Love You'. The concentration, the intent and focus, very criTical.

Let this be be today's chant 108 times, still better 1008 times. Test & see the "experience", bliss guaranteed.


God, will you be my Valentine today ??!!

Thrash Can

We live a life of comfort... 

This morning, I felt guilty of not switching off the geyzer. I was not being environmentally responsible :(

Then entered kitchen for my water-therapy ( still stuck at phase-1, just one glass of H20 !)

I looked at the thrash in the basket - no waste at all, surely. But, the packaging/plastic/etc to make our foodstuff remain hygeinic & tasty. And, all that goes in to the earth. I felt more guilty...

In our effort to live a comfortable life, we continue to pollute Earth, big time... !

I silently prayed for apology to Mother Earth... I promised to be a little more responsible, environmentally. 

We all need to make these small adjustments, quickly. We have no much time left to make these small shifts... 

It is our choice. Let us make a wise choice and 'stick to the agreement' with ourselves, with Divinity. 

Beautiful example of selfless philanthrophy

Inspiring story on the eve of Valentine Day... we may be keen to celeberate merely materialistic way,  instead of filled with Divine Love...

Here is a story of a person, from humble background, finds ways to send divine love to people in need... helps them, all over in different countries, to overcome difficulties.

He is practising the Chinese proverb, '...teach him how to fish, you have fed him for his lifetime' !

He was inspired by a book of Sri Sathya Sai Baba....and picked up the important message, 'Love All, Serve All'

Read on...

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/sunday/2012-02/12/content_14584810.htm

Quote

It is easy to conquer anger through love, attachment through reasoning, falsehood through truth, bad through good and greed through charity - S S S 

Inspiring Quote

All work is God’s; He inspires, He helps, He executes, He enjoys, He pleases Himself - SSS 

Morning Prayers

Last evening, read an interesting report on Dr SSahni's talk on 'being Divine Instruments', in the role of brahmacharis/thyaga jeevis... So inspiring...

Got to know about the importance of prayers during the Brahma muhurtham. I have always felt 'duty-bound' to continue with chanting suprabhatam, even after leaving hostel...
Dr Sola's talk gave a new perspective on the 21 omkara. Dr SSahni's talk highlighted the prayers during the early mornings are purely for SSpiritual growth! How beautiful... overflowing with sincere gratitude...

Wonder if that was the reason, I was awake at 430AM! Very unusual!  Wanted to sleep more so that I would not doze off at the day-long off-site today. But could not sleep. Got up and started the day, very early indeed. But, felt blessed throughout the day...  'Take one step....'

Meditation @ Blore

Tender hearts, holy thoughts, loving speech – these invoke the divinity within you. - Baba

Republic Day greetings

Greetings to all Indians, in India & abroad... also, to people of Indian origina... and most importantly, to all Bharatheeyas, as defined/explaned by the Master. As such to all around....
Take a few moments off... pause for a few minutes... in loving rememberance for all who made India happen. Let us not in any way dilute the inherent spiritual strength... 
Oprah made a comment about the underlying calmness in India's noise. So well said.
(Thanks to NDTV, the girl, little Hegde from a slum in Kolaba, was just-blowing in her comments about Oprah. These wonderful children are the future of India... surely)

Beatles to Steve Jobs...they all travelled to India in search of Peace. Going by their life-story, wonder how much they got it.

That is why we, Indians by birth and also bharatheeyas by practise, are so very fortunate. To get the nectar-like spiritual vibrations of India.

That India, is above caste, creed, religion, language, demography, etc. At that level, it is Just SSpiritual.

Sharing an inspiring thought....let us Live SSpiritually

You should cultivate an attitude of inseparable attachment to the Lord, Who is your very Self. If He be a flower, consider yourself a bee that savours its honey; if He is a tree, be a creeper that clings to it; if a cliff, then feel that you are a cascade running over it; if He is the sky, be a tiny star that twinkles in it. Above all, be conscious of the truth that you and He are bound by Supreme Love. If you feel this acutely, with subtle intelligence, then the journey will be quick and the goal can be achieved. There is a difference between subtle and gross intelligence. Sthula buddhi (external knowledge or gross intelligence) keeps you walking, but the subtle intelligence will make you fly to your destination. The gross is too much tied to body consciousness where as the subtle transcends the body and will lighten your burden -SSS

Alice Coltrane's Beautiful Music for Soul

Fortunate are those who are able to raise their music to spiritual levels...

Read on....

Courtesy:

http://www.legacy.com/ns/news-story.aspx?t=alice-coltranes-beautiful-music&id=667

Bengaluru Travelogue

Oh Bangalore !

Over the previous decade (1990's), I used to visit Bangalore regularly. Then, it dropped as it became strictly official ! While the city evolved from a green, cool & quite spiritual city to a IT hub, the frequency dropped dramatically. It also became ‘Bengaluru’ and I moved out of the country. Hence, it was after a big gap of nearly a decade ( how time flies!) that I travelled to the city of gardens… ( as it used to be!)

·         The leaves of BLR are not green ! ! ! They are brownish, yes only ‘ish’, as the plants & trees are covered with dust…at most parts of the city, I travelled over the three days.

·         Just as I observed about amchi Mumbai earlier, ‘namma Bengaluru’ has become very aggressive too!! We are not known for observing traffic discipline. But, at least we used to respect others & had basic courtesy for fellow human-beings.

·         For the majority of young techies, and others (from Blore/Karnataka/India and abroad), how much we ‘own up’? How many of us think of the world around us ? For how many of us the city is actually ‘namma’ city !

·         I found the city very polluted & noisy also. The area outside the city was very cool, clear and peaceful, compared to the city. And so much construction activity... ! But the roads continue to be inadequate. Cleanliness has dropped to a new low !! 

·         Have you disrespected nature? Confess now ( courtesy – DNA @ http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_have-you-disrespected-nature-confess-now_1634048). If we believe God is the Purusha and the entire creation is Prakriti, we should all head to a confession booth & also start working on how to reduce addition to pollution. 

• Top brands seemed to be more ‘affordable’ for a lot more people ! Is it increased affluence or just going up the materialistic curve ?

·         A friend commented when you hire an auto, ‘we will have to go where he takes us, and not where we want to go’!

         

·         All over India gold-loan is a category of loan that is growing…B’lore seemed to be no exception.

Cities like Chennai, Mumbai, Blore, Kolkota, Jaipur, Chandigarh had their own individual identity… a unique character. I felt, most of our cities are losing it, quite fast.

     

How much the city has changed…

Oh Bengaluru!


PS - here is what Mr NRN Murthy, ( Infy founder) has to say ....
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/editorial/op-ed/‘our-system-encourages-people-not-behave-right-way’-920
We need to get in to execution mode... ' what you must do, do it quickly'... Time is running out folks !!

My New Year gift for you...a very special one.

This is one of the most inspiring, practical & spiritual books I have ever read.

As the author says, there are 3 stages in our lives -'first we feel we are victims, second we think we are under control & third, if we are lucky, we are Divine instruments'

We are not ' living ' at all, if we are in the first 2 stages. Very often we may feel we are victim/under control, at times, Divine instruments. But, when we interospect, we will get clarity.

How to live as Divine Instruments...? Just read this book. Pls do read . . .

This book idea is my Spl gift. Go pick up from your book store, or order on-line, from Amazon or Flipkart. ZERO LIMITS by Joe Vittale. Happy reading


Let us try ......to Live SSpiritually...

Blissfully,

Short break @ Bengaluru, Whitefield

Reached Blore yesterday... Back from a blissful trip to PSN.

There is surely no better way to welcome the new year. His Grace, multiple trips to PSN, over last couple of years :)

Few friends enquire, " still around/ benched / on a sabbatical / kitna chutti milta hai.....", with expression ranging from surprise, sympathy, naughty smile to occassional jealousy :)
Every trip has helped me to shift gears, SSpiritually ! This trip no different !

Wish you all a great year ahead... May it fill with bliss

Merry Christmas

Let us put up lights & Christmas tress day after day... not just today !

Let us not remember God just today.... but day after day, every day, every moment !

That is true spirit of Christmas.

Let us Live SSpiritually, every moment !

Blissfully,

Inspiring Week end

Into the last week of the year... 

Will head HOME for a SSpiritual new year celeberations... 

Reading a lot... listening a lot... cutting off all the clutter, physical & mental... to be closer to the true state... ZERO STATE. To be in sync with Divinity.

Few inspiring messages received today :

• Talent is not God's gift...'Talent is God' !
• Music is God
• Whatever be the area of our activity, descipline, is key - whether a corporate guy/teacher/banker/sportsperson/musician... 
• Essence of Bhagvad Gita is to perform duty....that is my dharma

Of course the test for any thought/word/deed or action is ' will He be happy ? ' So simple, but so powerful. So difficult to implement, but not impossible. The challenge is to remain 'focussed', or be in ZERO state, to enable divinity to work thru me... 

O Lord that lends me life, lend me a heart replete with thankfulness

Bllissfuly, 

Just books

here is a list reco by Intelligent Life ( not by me, so may be actually 'intelligent'!!)

http://moreintelligentlife.com/content/arts/maggie-fergusson/six-good-books


In an era when news ( mostly useless/irrelevent/sensationalised) in all types of media and televesion ( with all depressing contents) are taking away lot of our precious time, it is good to get back to the good old habit of reading !

Pls opt for Kindle Edition, to save paper :)

A Normal day... Cold outside, less cold inside !

A normal day... not an unusual one... should call for thankful prayers...

But everyday, with its ups/downs, needs infinite gratitude, being part of the journey... though last few days saw more downs than ups !! But got to go on... to live SSpiritually.

Today was better. Sun appeared, though the weather continued to be cold-winter day !

Got several responses to an inspiring mail-forward from many members of alumni group, across world! Felt nice.. to be connected.

Met a friend... a fellow-alumnus. Felt truly connected in this city, thousands of miles away from 'Home'. Afterall, we are just two alumni in this city !
( BTW Harsha Bogle was awarded by his alma mater, IIM-A. Congratulated-tweet-ed him)

Both of us, alumni, had gained weight. True sign of prosperity ! We both will get back to the treadmills at respective homes, with increased regularity and lose some flab !
Shared mutual concern about the evolving situation back home : the falling rupee, political chaos, lack of political leadership, overall depressing economic outlook, etc.
Of course, we did not focus on the negativity, but on better things around our lives.
Thank God for everything...

After a long gap, clocked 75 minutes on treadmill... Need to be more regular... While on treadmill, got an 'urgent' mail from a business contact ( key relationship).... his auto signature had the quote : Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness", Edward Stanley

Fitness should be one of the pillars of the efforts to LIVE SSPIRITUALLY.... hence sharing thoughts...& joy of meeting the fellow alumnus !