Story about a Cave and Light

There once lived a cave, deep down under. Once a voice called upon it and said - Come up into the light and enjoy the sunlight. The cave said, I do not know what is light, all my life I know only darkness.

The cave, however with sincere effort, reached the ground, where there was light everywhere. It was so amazed to see  how life thrives with peace, love and joy above.

The cave asked the light to come to its home now. The light agreed and when it came, it asked where is the darkness, for the darkness was nowhere to be found.

The Light dispelled the darkness - where there is light - peace, clarity, understanding, joy, calmness in Us -- there cannot be darkness near or around.

Let us sincerely strive to come above our caves, or bring light to our caves within. In both cases, the light will shove away the darkness.

That Time Can Still Be Now

There was a Time
When we Smiled without any Reason,
When we Heard without any Noise,
When we Saw without any Cloud,
Remember that Time can still be Now !!

There was a Time
When we Played without getting Tired,
When we Sang without any Music,
When we Sensed without any Touch,
Remember that Time can still be Now !!

There was a Time
When we Helped without any Return,
When we Grew without getting Old,
When we Won without getting Lost,
And Lose without getting Hurt,
Remember that Time can still be Now !!

There was a Time
When we were We, and not Else,
When we were WithIn, and not WithOut,
When we Understood, and just not Learn,
Remember that Time can still be Now !!

Understanding Faith and Devotion

Ramakrishna Paramhamsa, the great seer once narrated a story to his disciples. There was a priest who asked a milk maid to deliver milk daily, at early morning hours. The lady had to cross a river for which she used to take a ferry boat. One day, the milk maid got late - the priest was very angry on her, as he could not perform religious rituals on time.

The lady enquired what she could have done, as it was the situation that made her delayed. Out of anger, the priest said, "Say the name of God and you can travel any terrain or landscape, without fail - Have faith in Him".

Next day, lady was quite earlier than usual. Priest jokingly enquired how did she made it early. She said "I kept unconditional and complete faith in Him, I came walking on the water". He saw from his own eyes that she was literally doing it. He tried enacting the same, but his mind was more on his clothes getting wet and hence, could not do so. Of all the years he chanted verses for God and performed rituals, he never really believed. The lady did and miracle happened.

Of course, the point here is not to walk on water thinking that God will ensure that we dont get drowned.

The real point here is to keep that wholesome, unwavering and complete faith, devotion and belief in Him (the one who is Omnipresent, the Omniscient, the Omnipotent) with such a strong conviction that even an iota of doubt won't flutter and delude our minds.

I believe that a person who can keep and maintain that kind of heart, mind and body state continuously & with that kind of devotion & faith, he can, should and will definitely go on to make his dreams, a reality.

Slowing Down To Be At Par

In the midst of keeping up and constant rigmarole of gaining momentum ahead of situations and circumstances, we sometimes move faster than needed. 

We ignore the pause buttons in our lives to ponder and understand the situations and possibilities around us and most importantly to live the moment.

This is a fact of the matter, where every one of us, unknowingly and sometimes unfortunately knowingly, go into the fast lane, driving at full speed. 

The wear and tear of our physical and emotional realms slowly produces its after effects sooner or later - sometimes taking us far from whom we really are and aspire to be. 

If we are in sync and harmony with our inner dimensions, the inner voice of our souls would hold our hands and guide us to move forward in life's endeavours with the right pace and tempo. 

This would allow us to hit pause and resume at just the right moments, making each and every moment, cherishable.

Let's slow down the reasoning logics and just feel the things around. It can be as trifle as an ant moving on ground or a baby laughing, or swooshing of trees, or listening to birds songs, or spending quality time with your family or calling your old friends and catching up, or re-igniting your passion or hobby, or going to a place of worship, or taking a vacation or just making someone smile, selflessly or just express your love to near and dears. There are so many things out there to do.

Sometimes, one moment is enough to live a life and sometimes whole life is not enough to live a moment !! Let's make the choice and slow down !! It is indeed a wise advice, "To go fast, row slowly".

Holi - A Festival of Colours

Holi - the festival of colours has been celebrated across India with much fervour and enthusiasm. It marks the beginning of spring season and is symbolic of leaving behind past and embrace the present and future with both hands, physically and spiritually.

In Hindu mythology, the story of Bhakt Prahlad (an ardent devotee of Lord Narayana) is always recited and shared among children and families. Hiranyakashipu (Prahlad's father) was an egoistic demon king who had forced his people to only worship him. He was quite irked by his son's behaviour and had asked his sister (Holika, who had a boon that fire won't do her any harm) to sit on a bonfire with Prahlad on her lap. As was destined, Prahlad came out unscathed as Lord saved him.

Bonfires are lit a day before Holi to mark this occasion and signifies the burning of all the past and evil thoughts within us (which includes fear, worry, anxiety, jealosy etc)  and thus purify our hearts and soul with good desires and thoughts (love, happiness, brotherhood, sharing, caring etc).

The multitude of colours that engrave the occasion signifies the concept of Unity in Diversity - each colour representing every shades of our life (Diversity) and how when all these colours come in unison, in (Unity) Within and Without, with the right and balanced textural mix, it can make us a real witness to our dreams.

Nearing and Living the State

When Everything and Nothing becomes same thing,
When Right or Wrong no longer holds difference, 
When both imposters are treated the same,
You know, you ought to know,
You are nearing that state !!

When nature is consciously experienced,
And no longer ignored in ignorance,
When external positives and negatives carry the same response,
You know, you ought to know,
You are nearing that state !!

The state of blissfulness and serenity,
Lies within the kingdom of thyself,
As we think, so we are,
Tatvam Asi is what Lord Ayyappa told,
Caring, thinking and rearing the meaning,
Mind and body being in harmony,
You know, you ought to know,
You are Living that state !! 

Books - Our best friend

Books represents content about many genres and topics. When we were child, books were the most hated - mostly because we were forced to read them word by word to pass annual exams. At least for non studious students can affirm the above said.

As we increased our age count and stepped into adulthood, we had numerous so called important tasks that ate all our precious time and energy. One thing that I have seen or felt myself is that as we get digitally advanced, we seldom view real gems that can transform a person in a sec. 

Of all the gold freely available and lying  around, one of them are books. Since olden times, they have been written by scholars and great personalities, sharing their biographies, life principles, stories, novels depicting everything that a human can experience and imagine.

There are times when we face the dilemma of which one to read - depending on our likes or nature, it can be chosen. But the important point which may work most of the time is read books which has more value than what you are spending for. Read books which have stood the test of time and is still in publication for more than 20 years.

When we transcend beyond our self and get immersed into a character or a point, the way we feel and ponder upon, lighting a spark to our imagination makes it all worthwhile. It is like listening to the author with all ears and senses and feeling the vibrations and frequencies.

Who knows maybe a book, a chapter, a para, a line or even a word may have something so wonderful and precious that you may never be the same again - and may get transformed into the best version you can ever be.

Nothingness

Is it possible to be in nothingness-a state where you are neither attached not detached to a material or moving thing. It is said that this state makes us think at a higher level of intelligence and consciousness where we transcend beyond right and wrong of a moment.

Living the moment one by one and not even a single thought judging the intricacies of that second makes it almost impossible for us to tread in its true essence. Imagine the state for some time and you will get flooded with flurry of thoughts, which in itself is opposite to what we are talking about.

Perhaps, bliss is subset of Nothingness, where we sometimes fail to describe how our experience was or is. Describing the indescribable cannot be put forth in any form of writing or speech. It just flows through our selves, illuminating each and every body cells etching an unforgettable contentment in memory.

A song to hum

Hans Christian Andersen, a Danish author, once said, "When words fail, music speaks" - so true.

Have you ever listened to a song, closed your eyes and became nostalgic and just felt the moments of bliss.

Some tunes have that ability to make us hum continuously and make us traverse through a benign flow of contentment in our veins.

They say music has the ability to transcend our minds and souls to a higher level - a level which is so beautiful and perfect that each second spend listening makes your day and the energy that it carries on us and our near & dear ones through us, makes it really something to spend time on.

I believe everyone of us has that playlist of their own. Keep that playlist handy and whenever your adrenaline needs that push, listen and get immersed on the opportune moment. After all, in this age of mind carrying unnecessary clutter and traffic, much needed essence of melody helps us unmind and unwind.

What is Real Peace

A king once organised a painting competition in his kingdom. The theme of the contest was to showcase peace.

There were so many entries but at the last, there were only 2 paintings selected for the finale. One painting was about a serene and calm lake, surrounded by snow capped mountains. It was a perfect depiction of peace, where everything was soothing to the eyes.

The other painting showed torrential downpour on a deserted land where everything looked opposite to a calm surrounding. The King saw something else. He saw a small bird perched on a tree, giving food to her tiny fledgelings in her drenched nest.

The second painting won. King explained that real peace is not what we feel when everything around us is good or calm. The real peace is when despite tribulations, worries, problems, we still continue to remain in sync with ourselves and do what is the best thing to be done at that moment.