Skip to main content

Being Rooted in Ourselves

These are few questions which will put us in touch with our true self, our essential nature. The following can be a simple, but powerful daily meditation.

- Are we the constantly changing life situations that we go through or are we the constant underlying life below the life situations?

- Who are we? Who were we before this life, who will we be after this life?

- Who are we without our names and our life stories?

- Are we human beings with a spiritual experience or spiritual beings with a human experience?

- Are we our feelings or the feeler of our feelings?

- Are we our thoughts or the witness of our thoughts?

Answers to these questions are beyond the grasp of the mind and intellect, they put us in touch with our true spiritual nature, our very soul. 



As long as our sense of identity comes from our life situations, thoughts and feelings, we will be constantly tossed around, face constant anxiety and instability of mind. But if we derive our sense of identity from our spiritual nature we can hope to experience stability and peace of mind irrespective of our external situations, just like an ocean, which appears very rough and agitated on the surface but deep down it is calm and serene.

We need to learn and practice the techniques to connect to our inner world on a regular basis. A tiny glimpse into our true nature is all that we need for the puzzle of life to fall in place.

As it is said - The only way to solve the problems of this world, is to transcend it.

- Achyut Gopal Das

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

When O When

When O when will I become a Vaishnava... Who is humbler than a blade of grass and more tolerant than a tree, Free from any sense of hatred and animosity. When O when will I become a Vaishnava... Who is free from lust and greed, And from unwanted wants and needs. When O when will I become a Vaishnava... Who is free from pride and envy, And from wrong company. When O when will I become a Vaishnava... Who is ready to embrace other's sorrows as one's own, And not bother about sorrows of one's own. When O when will I become a Vaishnava... Who is ready to forgive and forget, And not be caught in Maya's net. When O when will I become a Vaishnava... Who is eager to offer respects to all, And expect none at all. When O when will I become a Vaishnava... Who chants the Holynames incessantly, With love, devotion and humility. When O when will I become a Vaishnava... Who considers everyone better than himself, And loves everyone more than oneself. When O when will I become a...

MAKE IT A POINT TO MAKE THE POINT

A few days ago, as I was traveling on the ferry that takes us to our ISKCON Center at Chodan island, a relatively young man approached me and started to talk to me. My Vaishnava (devotee) attire probably attracted him to me. He was asking me if I was a preist in a temple. To which I said "Yes". I asked him where he stays and what he does. He told me that he stays in Panjim and runs a chicken shop in Porvorim. I asked him his name and as I guessed, he happened to be a Muslim. I could see marks of dried up blood stains in different places in his shirt. I at once told him to try to switch his profession to one which involves less violence. I suggested to him to start a vegetable or a grocery shop.  He seemed to be taken a little aback by what might have appeared to him to be a stange suggestion by a stranger. I told him that killing innocent animals is not right. They too have life and feelings like us. He was hearing me out. He then asked me, if one can eat chicken ...

HEROES OF COMPASSION

"To show compassion to others in this world is the greatest way of pleasing the Supreme Lord." - Radhanath Swami. Compassion is one of the core quality of a civilized and a refined person. And for a spiritual practitioner who wants to experience higher levels of consciousness and please the Supreme Consciousness, the quality of compassion is of utmost importance. Compassion is defined in the Oxford dictionary as "a strong feeling of sympathy for people who are suffering and a desire to help them." In the Sanskrit language, compassion is denoted by several words - daya, karuna, kripa. Chankaya Pandit, one of the greatest scholars of India mentions that "the ability to see other's suffering as one's own" (aatmavat manyate jagat) as one of the main characteristics of one in knowledge. In the same mood, the Vaishnava acharyas define a devotee as "one who becomes sad seeing the sadness of others" (para dukha dukhi) . If we study the Vedi...