Apple Tree

"Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won’t either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could."

— Louise Erdrich

Towards freedom from corruption

From being perceived as a country of snake charmers to becoming a hub of IT and rediscovered spirituality, the image of India has had a makeover in recent years. Only the power of spirituality can help resolve the problems we face today. M K Gandhi used this power to help India secure independence.

While India has been fortunate to have an entire generation that dedicated itself to the cause of freedom, there is another that has driven the country into the morass of corruption and crime.

We need people of character and honesty to check corruption. Corruption begins where a sense of belonging ends. Corruption is present at many levels of society; the first level is in the minds of the general public. We tell God that if You do this work of mine then i will offer something to You. Let alone our bosses, we don't even spare God. Secondly, there are bribe givers and takers at the official level. The third level of corruption is at the ministerial level. The Lokpal Bill seeks to address this problem.

Lack of faith, belongingness, human values, sacrifice and service attitude are all causes of corruption, as also selfish motives and a sense of insecurity. It is when you feel so insecure and think that money is the only power or strength, then you become corrupt to the core. There is a lack of role models and inspiring examples at the highest levels. Also lack of stringent laws and effective enforcement of existing laws engender corruption at all levels.

Corruption starts where belongingness ends. Nobody will ever ask for a bribe from his family and dear ones. The means through which we can spread belongingness is spirituality. Work hard, be self-sufficient and stand on your own feet. We have to instil the belief that whatever is yours, you will get. Inner strength and awareness needs to be awakened. Only then, constructive change is possible.
The younger generation has to resolve to save the country and its people from corruption and crime.

They have to take responsibility on their own and strive for sustainable development and realise that they have a huge potential and strength to achieve whatever they want. The youth need to believe that it is possible to be creative and productive without losing the humanness that is intrinsic in us. Spirituality kindles, sustains and enhances enthusiasm and enthusiasm is what drives us towards achieving our goals.

One Hand Clapping

Zen story that offers deep insight through a master-seeker interaction on the latter’s search for Truth..

Master Mokuray lived in the Kanin temple. He was known as Silent Thunder. Lightening is always accompanied by thunder. So, the oxymoron ‘silent thunder’ appears to be contradictory because thunder means presence of sound, whereas if one is silent, can there be any sound?

A young boy, Toyo, would come to the temple every day. While working there, he would observe people entering the master’s room. They would sit there for some time and then emerge from the room. This happened daily. Curious, Toyo wanted to know what happened inside the master’s room.

The Zen Routine 
Once salutation to the master (vajrasana) was over, the disciple entered the master’s room and asked for a koan, a kind of a puzzle that cannot be solved by rational thinking, but only by instinctive knowing. Then the disciple meditated upon that koan the entire day. The next day, he would go to see the master and tell him whatever answer he would find or understand. Now, the answer would be right only when the disciple was supremely awakened. Before that one could never get the right answer. So the disciple went to the master, answered the koan and if the answer was wrong, the master would say so.

One day, when master Mokuray came out, Toyo ran to him and said, “Master, I too want to become a Zen disciple, a student.” Mokuray said, “My dear, you are still very young.”

One Fine Day 
Finally, one day, the master relented and said, “Okay, today you too may come in.” Toyo was elated. He went home, had a bath, wore clean, fresh clothes and returned to the temple. Then he followed all the steps that he had learnt by observing all the disciples. With eyes lowered to the ground, he walked slowly, sounded the gong and after performing the salutation three times, he entered the master’s room. Mokuray was sitting on the chair. Toyo sat down in vajrasana and with folded hands requested Mokuray, “O Master, please tell me what you tell the others.” The master replied, “Well then, go and listen to the sound of one hand clapping.”

Toyo offered his obeisance and came out of the master’s room. He went to his own room and sat down trying to listen to the sound of one hand clapping. It so happened, that a geisha lived close by. On hearing her song, Toyo thought, “The sound coming from her throat does not involve clapping of two hands.” He eagerly ran to his master and said, “Master, I have found the answer in just one day.”

Mokuray said, “So, what is the answer?” Toyo instantly replied, “It is the sound of the geisha’s singing”. Mokuray said, “This answer is not correct. Go and meditate again.”

Toyo returned to his room and started to contemplate on the sound of one hand clapping. And after much thinking, his mind started to calm down when he heard the dripping sound of water coming from a tap. “Aha,” he thought, “this sound doesn’t involve the clapping of two hands, so this must be the right answer.”

Sound Of One Hand Clapping 
Again he ran to his master and enthusiastically said, “I have got the answer — it is the sound of water dripping.” But the master said, “Wrong! When the water drops, it drops, it hits the stone below. This means the drop is one hand and the stone below is the other hand, hence this cannot be the sound of one hand clapping.”

Toyo returned home disappointed. Soon he started to contemplate again. Weeks passed by.... If you were to try to understand the meaning of such a complex, enigmatic question, what will you do?

You are simply sitting and initially you will be aware of your body. Slowly you will start becoming aware of your breath — without even realising, you will have started to meditate. And the same happened with Toyo. In such a subtle way, he started to enter the state of meditativeness.

One night, he heard the sound made by an owl. In the morning, he ran to his master and said, “The sound made by the owl is the answer.” Mokuray said, “Wrong.” Neither was the answer the rustling of the wind.

Toyo began to spend more time in meditation, and one fine day his subconscious mind became completely quiet, stilled. Complete thoughtlessness happened to him. And that day he finally got the answer.
The sound of one hand clapping — he finally knew it, he understood it. But this time he did not run to his master. The day he realised the truth, there was no need left for him to run to the master, no need left at all.

Raksha Bandhan

This full moon is dedicated to the seers -- the Rishis. It is also called the Raksha bandhan. Bandhan means bondage, Raksha means protection. A bondage that protects you - Your bondage to the knowledge, to the master, to the truth, to The Self, all Save You. A Rope Can Be Tied To Either Protect Or Strangle You. The Small Mind and Mundane things can strangle you. The big mind or knowledge saves you. Raksha Bandhan is that bondage that saves you.
You are bound by your bondage to the Satsang. Your bondage to the master, to the truth, to the ancient knowledge of the rishis, and that is your saviour.
Bandhan is bonding and bonding is essential in life. Let the bonding be divine in a life free from bondage.

Calm inside...

 

Sri Sri: Be calm from the inside and act whenever required. You should stand up and fight if necessary; but don’t keep the fight inside yourself. Usually we fight inside and keep quiet on the outside. We should do the opposite. With meditation, it becomes easy to bring about this change. The power of satva and the power of meditation make it easy.

 

Temple of Love

The temple of love is not love itself;
True love is the treasure,
Not the walls about it.
Do not admire the decoration,
But involve yourself in the essence,
The perfume that invades and touches you-
The beginning and the end.
Discovered, this replace all else,
The apparent and the unknowable.
Time and space are slaves to this presence.

Shravan Maas, Shravan Mahina

The month of Shravan is the fifth month of the Hindu calender beginning from Chaitra, and is the most auspicious month of the Chaturmas. On Purnima or fullmoon day, or during the course of the month the star 'Shravan' rules the sky, hence the month is called Shravan. 

This month is spread out with innumerably religious festivals and ceremonies and almost all the days of this month are auspicious. 

Legend has it that the Samudra Manthan(Churning of Ocean) took place in this month and Lord Shiva drank the poison HalaHala to save the world and as a result of it the throat of Shiva became blue in color and he came to be known by the name of Neelakanth.

Shravan is considered the holiest month of the year. Each monday of this month, known as Shravana Somvar, is a special day of Shiva worship/ Rudra Puja. Temples where the dharanatra hangs over the linga or the idol to bathe it with holy water, day and night. Devotees pile the linga high with Bel leaves and flowers and fast till sunset. The nandadeep (24 hour lamp) burns steadily in the temples.

Cleansing

I'm astonished by the man who wants purity
And yet trembles when the harshness of polishing begin...
When a man beats a carpet again and again
It's not the carpet he's attacking, but the dirt in it.

Science of Breath (S.K.Y): Effective stress relief through the breath.