To meditate in the right way a positive attitude is required; equally important is the physical posture. It is nearly impossible in a normal situation, to sleep in shirshasana, the head-stand posture. But it is pretty easy to doze off while lying down or even while sitting. Thus, when the body is in a comfortable position, sleep comes naturally. But in the standing position it is quite difficult to fall asleep. For meditation the right posture is a definite pre-requisite.

When one learns the art of meditation, then one truly understands the art of distancing oneself from the rumblings of the mind

If the spine is not erect but curved, the gravitational pull of the earth has a greater effect on the body – you feel like relaxing and there is an inclination to lie down. All through the day our arms are by our sides in a vertical position, so they do not hurt or pain. But if we are asked to hold our arms straight in front of the body in a horizontal position, it will be a punishment. Why is it so? Because in the horizontal position the area acted upon by gravity increases; in the vertical position the area acted upon by the earth’s gravitational pull is lesser as our arms span a smaller area.
In exactly the same manner, if we sit straight then the area of gravitational pull decreases and it becomes easier to be alert. Body posture also includes the positioning of our hands. The hands should be placed in the lap – one above the other – with the palms facing upwards. Or they should be in the gyaan mudra with the tip of the thumb and first finger joined.
When we meditate, vibrations and auras arise in the body; to contain them the hands should be positioned in the right manner so that energy does not flow out to the earth but remains in the body. This bio-plasmic energy travels; we have to ensure its smooth passage so that we get all the advantage and benefit of the rising energy. Once this energy is experienced in its full force, then you can definitely share it with others: human beings, the earth, air, water and animals.
The posture of the body is very important for proper meditation. In the Gita Sri Krishna says:

With the senses withdrawn from all objects
Spine kept erect and contemplating at the middle of the brows
Concentrate on balanced in and out going breath
Such a person is called a conqueror

Let me explain this in detail. Sri Krishna says that first and foremost a person should take leave of the sensory world for a while and let the sense organs rest. If the eyes yearn to see the world and the tongue to taste – in short, if you are seeking pleasure in smells, tastes, sights and fragrances, if you are engrossed in a futile search for material joys, how will you be motivated to strive for meditation? At least momentarily, for the time being, the senses have to be turned inwards and the spine has to be kept erect at a ninety-degree angle.
Sri Krishna says that all attention has to be brought to the centre of the eyebrows – an area which is also called the ‘third eye’ or Shiva netra. You should then focus on the breath which should be balanced. He says that a person who is able to do so will conquer the senses. Such a person is yatindriya – one whose senses are tamed and whose mind rests in peace and does not wander in search of joy; a person who has attained the right balance in life. Yatindriya is not a person who denies his senses or lives a repressed life, but a person who experiences immense joy from within. He is a person who is free of all slavery and bondage.
By constantly practicing sadhana and dhyana, the urge to seek the Lord’s blissful form can be awakened in the heart
Man is enslaved to woman and woman to man as both are dependent on each other for sexual gratification. But a person who attains inner bliss will communicate at a different level; there can be friendship and understanding, but there is no exploitation in the garb of social relationships.
Man is not the master of his life as he proclaims himself to be – in actuality it is material objects which rule man. I remember a Sufi story:
Once, Sheikh Farid was walking in the outskirts of his village with his followers. They saw a farmer taking his cow for a walk. Farid asked his followers, “Who is the master, the cow or the farmer?” The followers replied, “Definitely it is the farmer, sir.” Baba again asked, “If someone hits the cow and the cow runs, who will follow whom?” All the followers started thinking. Farid went and hushed the cow; it started running towards the fields and the farmer ran after the cow cursing Farid for playing such a prank on him.
Then Farid spoke: “It looked as though man was the master of the beast. But the animal is least bothered about ownership, and in a way it is the cow that is being followed by the man and not the man being followed by the cow.”
Such is the pathetic state of our mind that we have enslaved ourselves to objects, to money, to status and to prestige. But Sri Krishna says that man can become the master of his own world; a human being can become yatindriya by following the rules given by him for meditation. One has to learn to get rid of the shackles; all chains and all bondages are to be broken. Then for the first time in your life you will be able to breathe freely. In another shloka Sri Krishna says: “Anger and tension take leave of such a person and he is satiated once and for all.” For those who taste the nectar of spiritual wisdom, this becomes an experience and does not remain a scholarly discourse.
As I have mentioned earlier, in ancient times two stones were rubbed together to generate sparks to light a fire for a yagna. Similarly, by constantly practicing sadhana and dhyana, the urge to seek the Lord’s blissful form can be awakened in the heart.
You have probably heard innumerable discourses on dhyana and yet you have not been successful in understanding their essence. Why? It is because you lack the practical experience of meditation. Many may have a mantra which they repeat mechanically while telling the beads of a rosary. But have you achieved single-minded concentration? Or is meditation a mere formality, a chore that must be performed to satisfy the conscience?
Knowledge is established firmly only by experience and not when it is based on hearsay. For instance, there is a general superstition that prevails about solar eclipses. People confine themselves to the four walls of their homes with the curtains drawn, so that even the rays of the sun do not enter and harm them. The period of the eclipse is considered very inauspicious, but a student of science knows that there isn’t an iota of truth in this blind superstition. When a solar eclipse occurred recently, crowds collected at places like Neem Ka Thana, Bharatpur and Calcutta, to observe the phenomena through special dark glasses. Slowly awareness and understanding has grown in the general populace that it is the shadow of the moon that falls on the sun and partially veils it.

Tulsidas says in a verse:

Until I see it with my own eyes
I will not believe the words of my dearest guru

Without seeing with my own eyes, how am I to have faith in my guru’s words? Not that Tulsidas was an atheist or a non-believer, rather he was a devotee – a bhakt of Sri Rama. Although a truly conservative person, even he says that his belief can not be based on mere words. Without experiencing something for himself, he could not accept it for what it was. We value our shastras, our ancient textures, the Gurbani and the Gita, but why not experience the message contained in them and know the truth for ourselves? I call upon all who want to tread this path; belief in the scriptures is not essential.
You are aware that the mind is always on the move, never still for even a moment. It is like a mad monkey that jumps restlessly from one branch to another. So what then is meditation? It is taking the mind to a state where the thoughts are stilled and emptiness prevails. But how does that benefit us? Normally the mind is in a state of turmoil, filled with anger, jealousy, worry, hatred and ill-will. It is continually pulled in different directions resulting in constant restlessness. An unhealthy mind with polluted thoughts invariably leaves its mark on the physical health; stress and pressures of the mind lead to a disease-prone body.
The economically weak class spends most of its waking hours engaged in strenuous labour, thereby having no spare time for unnecessary and unwarranted thoughts. Where diseases like blood pressure and cardiac ailments were once common amongst the well-to-do sections of society, today materialism has entered the fabric of our society to such an extent that every man from a rickshaw puller to an owner of a posh car is in a rat race, thus facing immense stress and suffering from stress-related diseases. Mammon is worshipped openly; money is the new god!
Exhibitionism, possessiveness, attachment and thrill seeking have become the common hobby of this generation. Instant gratification is desired; this generation that belongs to the times of instant noodles and instant coffee can’t wait to experience happiness in the future; they want everything now – be it fame, health, wealth or celebrity status. The hunger for titillation is so strong that morals, ethics and religion have been left to stagnate.
It is only when serious damage is done that people wake up from this blindness. No one is ready to listen; everyone wants to acquire wisdom, but perhaps the harder way and not like you, sitting comfortably in your seats and listening to the words of wisdom. I wonder: Are you really listening even now?
Psychosomatic diseases are spreading like bush fire. People can’t sleep well; all six systems of the human body do not work properly. Have you ever felt real hunger? Today people feel like eating when they watch food commercials or see billboards of food advertisements. They get hungry when they see advertisements of burgers and pizzas on the television – a false hunger takes over and they call for home delivery. When you eat because of false hunger, how will your stomach digest the food? It will simply rot in your intestines and will lead to various diseases. And when stomach ailments affect you, then you need medicines for indigestion, constipation, ulcer and acidity! When a sedentary life style complements a high stress job, insomnia is the result! And sales of sedatives rise!
Today’s is a cola, coffee, fast food generation. The result is: rash, brash and trash – diseases of mind and body; no deep sleep – often no sleep at all – no real hunger and no real happiness.

Normally the mind is in a state of turmoil, filled with anger, jealousy, worry, hatred and ill-will – leading to disease-prone body.
In meditation, mind moves to a state where the thoughts are stilled and emptiness prevails

Therefore meditation is extremely vital to maintain physical and mental health. Recently a conference was held in the US entitled ‘Medicine of Tomorrow’. Leading cardiologists from Germany, Japan, Canada and America participated in it. I too attended the conference and elaborated on the fact that for a healthy heart, medicine in the form of meditation is a must. Today the medical fraternity completely agrees with the observation that the rise in incidence of cardio-vascular disease is due to unhealthy lifestyles and high levels of stress. Some doctors are themselves victims of these diseases.
Prevention is better than cure. Why not pay attention to this often repeated dictum? Rather than visiting doctors and incurring heavy hospital bills and unwanted worries, take charge of your life and bring a wise discipline into it. Eat right, sleep right, meditate right.
Once a man was admitted to a nursing home after a severe heart attack. A week later when he was discharged, the doctor cautioned the family members against anything that would upset him or cause any sort of excitement as his heart was weak and would not tolerate the stress. Hearing this the patient promptly turned to the doctor, “Sir, then I sincerely request you to refrain from presenting me with the hospital bill as my poor heart will be unable to bear it.”
Keep your heart healthy. The scriptures say that god is in your heart – do not defile it with vices and ill will. Let it be pure.

Sri Krishna says:

O Arjuna! Though I am omnipresent
If you wish to find me, I am always dwelling in your heart!

If you wish to see the Almighty, turn inwards for He is to be found in the depths of your heart. He who resides within should be sought within. The source of ‘I’ is God who is present where you are. What you need to do is to go back deep into the source of your roots.
Meditation is the process of plumbing deep within; it helps us to unburden the mind. The mind becomes free of thought and thus we are able to feel the Lord with heightened perception. One who meditates takes care to follow the master in spirit; in the process of meditation he remains extremely vigilant and alert. One who is on the path of peace cannot be careless, lax or ignorant.
A mind which is a compulsive thinker suffers and spreads suffering to others too. Therefore, for your own benefit and for the benefit of those around, we need to learn the art of mediation, which in other words is the art of managing the mind.

Let us try to understand this in another way. If you are given the choice of running or walking to a particular destination, which would you choose? Obviously walking will be the preferred choice as it involves lesser strain. Then again, between walking and standing the choice would be to stand as it involves still lesser physical strain. Similarly, between standing and sitting it is obvious that sitting would be an easier choice. Between sitting and lying down one would prefer the latter, and if the choice is between just lying down and sleeping one would opt for sleep. And now the last question: Would you prefer sleep or death? Shouldn’t death be more relaxing, more peaceful than sleep? Isn’t it so? But you will mess up your death as you have messed up your life. What does all this teach you? You must understand that happiness increases with decreased activity of the mind!
Happiness increases with decreased activity of the mind!
The lesser the activity of the mind the more integrated and calm it becomes. Just as the body needs time to sleep and relax, the mind too needs time to rest and relax. Although sleep is designed by nature to provide us mental rest, we human beings have polluted our sleep with more of dreams and less of deep sleep; the time of restful sleep has decreased considerably. In an effort to sleep, people toss and turn in bed and as a result they wake up tired. If you cannot sleep deeply, you will lose your sanity within days. Sleep provides natural respite from the constant chain of thoughts; had there been no sleep, the entire human race would have gone mad!
When a person is asleep, the mind is seeped in the slumber of unconsciousness and so you do not really enjoy being asleep. Sleep provides some relief from the madness of the mind. Have you ever wondered why an alcoholic cannot stop drinking, knowing well enough that it is destroying his health and family life? The reason is that the mental relief he gets in drunkard-ness is so alluring that he is deaf to all counseling and advice. Human beings can’t really be pulled away from intoxicants unless and until they learn to experience a state of mind where one is conscious and yet not disturbed because of the mind; when one knows how to manage one’s emotions and feelings with detachment. This can be learnt only through meditation.
When one learns the art of meditation, then one truly understands the art of distancing oneself from the rumblings of the mind. As the mind becomes empty and non-productive, stressful thoughts vanish and the mind becomes determined and focused. It is then our best aide in helping with external interactions and it stops being a nuisance. As awareness grows, a quietude envelopes the mind and calmness simply oozes from every pore of one’s being. Serenity pervades your being and a singular joy is felt deep within.

At the outset, I ask you a simple question: Do you love yourself? If your answer is yes, then why do you live in stress? Why do you create turmoil and frustration for yourself? Most of the people will say, Oh no…I don’t create stress, but I get stressed because people hurt and torture me. The truth is that until and unless you are not ready to absorb the  negativity of other people you cannot be frustrated or unhappy. You become stressed only when you open doors of  our mind and take in negativities of others. This is how you end up being upset – if you don’t take in the negativities of  other people, then can anyone make you upset?

When someone gives you a gift, you have every right to say ‘No’ or you can accept the gift. And when someone is saying bad words to you, the other person can be your husband or wife, mother, father, child, neighbor or your boss is giving you harsh treatment, you can remain vigilant and not respond unconsciously; you can listen to it very attentively but refuse to take it in. But you live your life so impulsively that you never think about this. You just unconsciously grab whatever is said to you and end up in a miserable state.When you know who you are and how you do your duties, then why do you react to the situations in which the other person is unloading his anger on you. If that person is being unwise, you be wise at least.

You should take responsibility of your mind, and see what is beneficial or harmful to your mind. You need to keep a watch on what you will take in seriously or what you will simply ignore. If you are given poison, will you eat it? I give you a situation: Someone invites you for food, you go to their home, and you see a cockroach floating in the soup which you have been served. Now out of politeness, will you take that soup? The host is serving you with great love to eat but you can see that there is a cockroach in your soup, will you take that? You are not crazy, you are not mad, you will point it out to your host about the is-happening.

But when odd situations arise in your relationships, you don’t use your judgment well. You can’t be honest in your dealings – in the hope of golden future you endure so much humiliation, pain, insults. You not only take it but you chew on your ugly situations. You talk about it again and again with your relatives, friends and sometimes even to casual acquaintances. You wash your dirty linen in front of all. I have observed, people find a very narcissistic pleasure out of their sad stories. If one narrates his story then soon another person will follow to talk about his agony and will magnify it more than what actually would have happened in reality. What is the cockroach in soup of your relationships – it is ‘Expectations’, the hopes you have from others, or others have from you; this cockroach is indeed spoiling the broth of your life.

One more factor which is responsible for your stress is that you are absorbing everything in your head, as you have a humongous list of likes and dislikes. This list of yours makes you biased and you judge people, things as per your preferences. You create an idea about anything and everything in your head and then you act according to that condition. You see world from these spectacles and so does other person. On the top of that, you passively take every comment, observation and remark very seriously. Other person might have said something in lighter mood but you are never lighter – you are always loaded with your perceptions hence confusion and discord is the result.

Only if you use the power of discrimination and think twice before taking any thought seriously, it would save you from unnecessary stress. If only  you be vigilant towards which thoughts you are going to save in your brain and which thoughts you would simply brush off – you would not create stress for yourself and maybe you wouldn’t give stress to someone else too. Do not accept every thought – use your intellect more.

In your day-to-day life too you have to use the power of discrimination – what you are going to consume and what you are going to reject; even whom you are going to interact with, etc. Even if you do not want to be with any particular individual, who is a walking tower of negativity, you can always use your intellect and secure yourself. You should save yourself from any kind of onslaught.

Stress is carcinogenic. It kills your body cells and infects your immune system. You may think, ‘well, I don’t have much stress – it is a small issue’ but be aware that poison even in small amount is enough to end your life. Do not say that you have little stress. Even this little stress can be equivalent to little poison; the only difference is that this poison of stress will kill you slowly.

Chanting is one of the most wonderful ways to live a stress-free life. A research study was done in Australia on the benefits of chanting Om. I would like to share the results of that study. When Om mantra is chanted in a correct way, it has a direct effect on the pineal gland. It is one of the most important glands in the brain from where vital hormones are secreted. What are hormones? Hormones are the chemicals which have neurotransmitters to run your body system perfectly. The pineal gland with pituitary and hypothalamus takes care of all your major systems in the body like musculoskeletal, circulatory, digestive, eliminatory, cardiovascular, etc. Brain is the computer of body, and there is such a complex lymphatic and glandular system which is running human body so perfectly. But this computer comes with a hazard that it can get corrupted.

When you chant Om, it has profound effect on the pineal gland. It means if you do it correctly, soon you will experience the changes. When you are in deep sleep all these glands are working and various chemicals are secreted by glands like thyroxin, melatonin and serotonin. When you worry for a long time, this system gets corrupted soon. More stress means glands will not secrete chemicals as it is needed. Because of continuous stress your sleep gets affected, and when you can’t sleep properly, then further hormonal system malfunctions. The Australian research said that if you chant Om regularly, your glandular system would start functioning normally. You will assimilate the power of the mantra, and this power will improve your health and calm your mind.

You may do a small practical now. Sit straight. Spine should be erect. Sit in a comfortable pose / asana, making sure you have a solid base. No movements of your shoulders, arms, fingers, toes, head – nothing should move. Stop every movement – sit like a statue. Keep your body immobile. Slowly close your eyes but do not close them too tight.

Stop all movements of the body. Take a deep breath through your nose and gently let it go out through your nose. It is very unhealthy to breathe through your mouth, so breathe through your nose. Fill the lungs with air – take deep breaths in and out. Try to inhale slowly, and gently let your breath become silken breath – devoid of any jerk. Feel the body movements – when the breath goes in you will feel the stomach expanding, and when you exhale your stomach will move in and rib cage lowers to the normal position. Be observant and see the changes attentively. By taking deeper breaths are giving your body and mind a rest; this is the best technique to keep the body healthy and to keep it free from diseases.

Step two is to take a deep breath, inhale deeply and while exhaling chant slowly Om….Om…Om…Om….Om…Om…Om….Feel the vibrations which are happening in your throat region and listen to the sound you are creating by chanting Om. Do it for ten minutes.

Now don’t use the word Om, but just a sound similar to a bee – hmmm…hmmm…hmmm. Do it in the mind. You can hum without saying the word Om but do not forget to inhale deep. Be focused on your breath, the sound, and while exhaling chant hmmm, hmmm, hmmm. After a while, chant the ‘Om’ mantra mentally, breathing deep, let the chanting resound in your mind.

Now be silent.

Let your mind be absorbed in this mantra chanting – in vibrations of the divine word. When it is done with the right method and aptitude, it produces mind-boggling results. But you have to do it every day. You cannot derive its great effects, if you don’t do it correctly and regularly.

These days laparoscopic laser surgery is done to remove kidney stones. Do you know why stones are formed- the reason is when oxygen doesn’t reach properly in the abdomen area and when there is lesser energy, calcium begins to deposit in that area and stones are formed. In laparoscopic surgery, they use sound waves to crush the stone and crumbled particles pass out through urine. If the sound waves have the power to crush the stone, then imagine the enormous changes these sound vibrations produced by chanting can bring in the body and brain.
If anyone has thyroid problem then they should do the Gunjan of Om. For Gunjan, plug your ears with thumbs and do chanting of ‘Om’. Gently plug the ear with your thumbs and gently chant Om. It will have a direct effect on your thyroid gland, and it will soon begin to function normally. So chanting Om is going to give you so much benefit – physically and emotionally.

So begin your day with the mantra and end the day with it. Wherever and whenever it is possible, do your chant – on the way to work, sitting in train, car – you can use your time in a much more creative way. Silently chant Om.

Do your Om chanting and stop worrying as worrying isn’t going to change anything. Rather it will take your health away. Keep your mind cool, live your life with grace and know that the law of karma is working – so be good and do good. If still some challenges and difficult situations arise, handle them wisely. Soon you will be beaming like a sun. Don’t believe my words, try for yourself.
Tat Sat Om

The human body is a part of nature – a microcosm of the universe. When it runs perfectly – as it was designed to run – it can be perfectly healthy. It does try to be perfectly healthy all the time, using its innate self-healing and selfregulating ability as it strives for a perfect balance, but we repeatedly interfere with this process. Nature has set us up with all the equipment we need to be perfectly healthy. Health is our natural state and ill health is unnatural. Every day our systems are exposed
to millions of bacteria, viruses, allergens, even carcinogens; yet our immune system has the intelligence and skill to deal with all the invaders and keep us healthy. However, when stress, inadequate nutrition, or fatigue weaken the immune system, the same invaders produce disease.
Every second the body is adjusting to thousands of changing parameters, keeping us in perfect balance. No matter what comes along to upset this balance, the body knows its own nature, knows what ideal temperature it should be and the correct chemistry it needs to maintain, and it keeps referring to that blueprint to maintain a proper balance. Ayurveda, the ancient holistic system of medicine from the vedic civilization of India, teaches that health is maintained by the balance of three subtle energies known as doshas: Vata, pitta and kapha. This system teaches maintenance and protection of the
whole person – mind, body and soul. Ayurvedic medicine is based on an individual’s characteristics and body frame rather than being oriented towards treating disease or sickness.
Each of us is made of a combination of the three doshas which are comprised of five universal elements: Space, air, earth, fire and water. Vata is a combination of air and space, pitta is mostly fire with some water and kapha is mostly water with some earth.

“Ayurveda, the ancient holistic system of
medicine from the vedic civilization of India,
teaches that health is maintained by the balance of
three subtle energies known as doshas:
Vata, Pitta & Kapha”

Vata Dosha

Vata governs all movements in the mind and body. It controls blood flow, elimination of wastes, breathing and the movement of thoughts across the mind. As pitta and kapha cannot move without it, vata is considered the leader of the three Ayurvedic principles in the body. It is very important to keep vata in good balance.

Formation of Vata
The action of swallowing enables us to take in food from the external world. This movement is ongoing and depends upon previously digested food, which creates the need for more food to sustain the processes already set in motion by previous eating. This results in a continuing process of ingestion, digestion and elimination. A direct relationship exists between energy and food absorption. The more energy we require in order to function, the greater the need for proper food to sustain it. For example, we need to eat more when we do hard physical work.
Vata dosha is described as the by-product of the digestion of food and includes the energy produced by digestion as well as the waste gases of the digestive process. Anna mala, the ejectable portion of food, equals vata dosha or the portion of vata that is produced. This absorbed energy is then utilized by the body for essential movements like breathing, heartbeat, digestion and excretion of waste products, which are the main actions of vata. These movements cannot be measured or weighed, therefore vata is perceived by the totality of its functions. However, if vata is produced in excess, it becomes a negative factor, drying or disturbing the various tissues and organs.
Functions of Vata Dosha
As the principle of propulsion, vata carries out diverse functions in the body and mind. It controls cell arrangement and division, the formation of different tissue layers and the differentiation of organs and systems. It conducts impulses from the sense organs to the brain and from the brain to the motor organs. Vata controls the expulsion of faeces, urine, sweat, menstrual fluid, semen and the foetus. It regulates respiratory, cardiac and gastrointestinal movements, as well as all higher functions in the brain and spinal cord. Vata governs the movement of the mind and its transmission of information; it provides the energy to perform all mental activities of thought and perception.
The five sub-doshas of vata, called vayus, are: Prana, Udana, Vyana, Samana and Apana: these are responsible for various movements.
Prana – Udana: These two forms of vata have opposite movements but operate together. Prana Vayu moves from the outside to the inside and is responsible for receiving air, water, food and impressions from the outside world. Whenever a sound, touch, taste or smell is attended to with concentration, it has an effect on the respiration (Prana). Prana vayu moves downwards from the head to the body. In the process, it brings in various external forms of nourishment and energy from food and breath to impressions.

Udana Vayu: This moves from the inside to the outside, mainly through exhalation and speech, but also through various forms of exertion. Food and water received by the stomach and rendered fine during digestion, are eliminated to some degree through expiration. Speech, which occurs through exhaling air through the vocal chords, is due to Udana. Memory, which is the bringing out of the knowledge that has been previously received by Prana, is also a function of Udana. Thus Prana is responsible for intake and Udana for output. Udana governs will, enthusiasm and motivation. Udana moves upward from the center of the body to the head and is centered in the throat.

Vyana – Samana: These two types of vata also have opposite movements. Vyana vayu is responsible for propulsion from the center to the periphery of the body. The movement of the heart in pushing nutritive substances to the periphery is a function of Vyana. It governs circulation to the limbs and the flow of blood and sweat. Vyana carries efferent impulses from the sense organs to the brain. Vyana pervades the entire body from its center in the heart. Physical exercise and stretching of the limbs occur mainly through Vyana.

Samana vayu on the other hand, is the propulsive force from the periphery to the center. Afferent impulses in the nerves, bring the fluid pushed out by Vyana back to the center and promote the process of digestion and are functions of Samana. Thus, the action of Samana is the central pulling action opposite to the outward pushing of Vyana. We could say that Samana is centripetal force, while Vyana is centrifugal force. Samana is centered in the navel and is responsible for the churning action in the intestines due to which we digest food.

Apana: In contrast to the above two pairs, Apana controls all downward discharges of urine, faeces, flatus, menstrual fluid, semen, and the foetus. All these are controlled for a particular period of time before being discharged from the body. The overall control of these for a particular period is beneficial for building or maintaining the tissues. Since this control is beneficial to the other types of vata, it is said that Apana controls all the different forms of vata. Apana also sustains the immune function that depends on proper elimination. Apana moves downward from the navel. It is often regarded as opposite to Prana, as eating is opposite to elimination.

Causes of High Vata
Vata becomes disturbed due to cold weather and exposure to wind or air-conditioning. Dietary factors that effect it are cold substances like iced water, refrigerated foods or foods cold in energy like green salads, food that is dry, rough or light in properties like barley, millet or corn, and irregular eating habits. Excessive physical exercise, particularly of a strongly aerobic nature, as well as improper movements of the body aggravate vata. Lack of proper nutrition and lack of proper rest are additional factors. Psychological factors that increase vata include mental and emotional stress and anything that disturbs the peace or security of a person.

Symptoms of High Vata
High vata is indicated by a desire for warm food, warm environment and warm clothing. Physical symptoms are constipation, lack of energy, loss of sleep, fatigue, emaciation, abdominal distention with flatulence, blackish coloration of faeces and urine, and defective sensory functioning. Psychological symptoms include fear, anxiety, insecurity, confusion, and aimless talking.
Management of Vata
Vata requires patience and consistency over a long period of time in its treatment. Treatment of vata is divided into two types based on whether the cause is tissue deficiency (dhatukshaya) or obstruction in the channels (srotorodha). The former is indicated by low body weight while the latter is indicated by pain.
For tissue deficiency, the best therapy is tonification or tissue building. Anti-vata diet should be given after making certain that the digestive fire has sufficient power to handle the heavy food required. If the digestive fire is weak, digestion-promoting herbs like dry ginger and cayenne or black pepper should be given. Then light oil massage should be given with warm oils like sesame or Mahanarayan oil, and a mild steam therapy. Herbal wines like Draksha can be taken before food to increase appetite, or after food as a tonic. Tonic herbs such as Ashwagandha and Bala should be taken. Seated yoga postures with silent meditation are helpful.
For obstruction in the channels, detoxifying and stimulating herbs such as dry ginger or fennel should be used. Oil massage is recommended, emphasizing herbs like Nirgundi or Vishagarbha oil. Special alkali medicines may be taken internally to open the channels. Mild laxatives and decoction enemas should be taken. Herbal wines prepared with jaggery and herbs like Dashamula are indicated. When the system is clean, then anti-vata diet and tonifying methods can be started.

Recommendations
1.  Avoid alcohol, hot spices, excessive oil or greasy food, and too much salt.
2. Vitamins: B-vitamins, calcium and iron are usually prescribed.
3. Wear an emerald set in silver on the middle finger of the right hand. Pearl and moonstone are also recommended.
4. Chant the mantra Sham. It has a cooling and calming effect.
5. Recommended herbs include Aloe, Arjuna, Barberry, Gotu Kola, Motherwort, Myrrh, Goldenseal, Saffron, Shatavari, Sandalwood and Katuka. Sometimes Chinese herbs such as Salvia and Coptis, and formulas such as Coptis and Rhubarb in combination are prescribed for acute conditions.
6. Apply sandalwood oil to the chest and to the ‘third eye’ in the middle of the forehead.
7. Practise meditation to reduce pent-up anger, hatred and resentment. Cultivate peace, love and forgiveness.
8. Limit exposure to sun. Avoid strenuous exercise.
9. Take Katuka or Barberry in equal parts with Licorice and ghee (Take two grams after meals).
10. Purgation is helpful in acute conditions.
11. Herbal combinations often prescribed for this condition include Arjuna preparations, Gotu Kola compound and Brahma Rasayana.

Nature has made the two genders of male and female different from one another. Their physical differences are evident, but they are different mentally too; they think differently. But one thing is common to them for sure, and that is that they cannot stay away from one another. Nothing can separate them, not even their multiple differences. A boy and a girl are apart only at the toddler stage, but once the hormone glands become active, nothing can stop them from coming together. Men can’t live without women or women without men. The truth is that nature has created these differences for a purpose. As the saying goes: Opposites will always attract. Mutual attraction between the sexes is nature’s handiwork.
Once upon a time, in primitive society, a man could have sex with any woman and vice versa – just like animals. Then, as man became wiser and started living in organized groups, the need for sex acquired another dimension – that of emotional attachment. This emotional attachment led to the further domestication of man and woman. The concept of marriage came into the picture and started taking shape slowly. When man started living in closed groups, the structure of society started to evolve, and society designed marriage around sexual attraction and emotional bonding.
Many people believe that marriages are tailor-made by god…….

……Most people I have observed feel that marriage is something which everyone should indulge in at a certain age in their life, as though it is a compulsion; maybe for sex it is! For girls it is a license to get good clothes and be the focus of attention, even though just for a few nights during the wedding celebrations. For boys it is most definitely sex, and lots of it; the best part is that they don’t even have to pay for it! And yes, it is also about finally getting a woman they can own and flaunt in their social circle.
Sex seems to be the only binding factor for many married couples, who are otherwise nagging and fighting all the time. At times the bond is the children who are accidently born of such encounters. Thus, for the sake of the children, social marriages are kept intact. I have observed many unhappy marriages that are still withstanding every onslaught, as a divorce would bring more complications and troubles for the couple and their children
Now  lets see how marriages are planned. In Indian society it is the parents or the elders who choose a bride or groom for their children. The norm is that this selection is made within the boundries of caste and religion. What is the criteria for selection? Religion, money, social status, looks: this is the order of priority. In arranged marriages it is not the union of two individuals but of two families. Therefore economic worth is given great importance and then comes the status and of course the appearance. In love marriages, the chart is topsy-turvy; first come looks, and then everything else.

Never are compatibility, like-mindedness, likes and dislikes taken into consideration…..

Ramesh was congratulated by his lovely wife Sunita, “Darling, it is our wedding anniversary. I pray to god to be your wife in my next seven lives too.” Ramesh whispered to himself, “O god, may this be my last birth, how else will I tolerate her for the next seven.”

Lets examine how marriage was viewed in the
distant past, from the point of view of tradition. In Vedic times, marriage was considered to be not entirely a social contract or a worldly commitment, but was seen as an
important part of one’s spiritual journey. Masters and students saw life in a larger perspective.

For a Hindu there are four pillars on which life should ideally be based: Dharma – the principle of life; arth – money; kaama – desires including sex; moksha – liberation. These were considered the four objectives of life. A human being should strive to experience all four in  order to bring about a total harmony, completeness and fullfilment to life.
All Hindu gods are married: Shiva & Parvati, Vishnu & Lakhsmi, Ram & Sita, Krishna & Rukmini. Most of our sages and rishis were married. Vashist, Atri, Vishwamitra, Agasthya, and Garga Acharaya, the list goes on and on. Marriage was considered holy; it was not entered into for the sake of sex alone. Undoubtedly procreation was a reason, but another very important reason was that marriage was considered a part of sadhana. Living through the body and experiencing physical and emotional closeness and security was expected to mature the mind and take one to a deeper understanding of life. Usually people live their lives without any understanding of how and why things happen. In order to understand every experience with total awareness, training was given before marriage, to both men and women.

Boys and girls received training of the mind by various means: studying of the scriptures, contemplation, meditation – serving the master for good eighteen years made them mature and responsible adults. This period of brahmcharya was a preparation for the future challenges in a householder’s life. When a person gets married, every bhoga – sensory pleasure – is within reach. This is the time to test whether man is the master of his body, mind and senses, or it is the sensory objects which will enslave him. Marriage means being in the world and of the world, and yet being firmly established in one’s spiritual practices; learning to remain distant and aloof from it. We live our life through this body; resisting the urges of the mind and body is like losing battle…..
Marriage was supposed to be a tool of sadhana, a testing-ground for one’s mind, to see how much it is attached to sex, wealth, house, name etc

My question is: “Did you marry nurturing the same sentiments and mind-set as described above? If unmarried, are you preparing to get married in a similar manner, as it is supposed to be? Everyone is so keen to get married but no one talks about this! Therefore, I say good! Go ahead and get married, but are you prepared for it? Do you know what marriage really means? If you get  married without the right understanding of marriage, then most probably it will become a curse for you. It will become a cross on which you will be martyred.
Please think before you leap. If you are well prepared for marriage, then it can be heaven, and if you are not, then it will be a curse. By itself, marriage is neither heaven nor hell – it is what a person makes of it.

The mind has strange ways of misleading and miscalculating things – and then suffering because of it. Although everyone wants to be happy, yet everyone does all the things which create the reasons for more and more unhappiness. It is very important to understand one thing: that one cannot live in peace if one is in bondage. If a person is bound in physical chains then that is a physical bondage that is very visible, but when the chains are invisible and subtle, then it is more difficult to overcome them.

A mind that is bound by its desires, attachments and dreams is a ‘pashu’

In the Hindi language the word for animal is ‘pashu’; the root of the word ‘pashu’ is ‘pash’ which means rope. Hence the meaning of ‘pashu’ is one who is bound by rope. Animals are tied, not human beings. One end of the rope is tied round an animal’s neck and the other end of the rope is tied to a pole. Have you ever seen an animal that is tied up? Such a sad state; its movement is restricted. If its drinking water or food is kept at a distance, then it has to suffer hunger and thirst and can’t do a thing about it. The animal is in an helpless position – it can’t complain or shout or submit a complaint against its owner with any court or authority. Man too is bound; man too is in chains; the state of man too is pathetic. Can a person who is in bondage be happy? A mind that is bound by its desires, attachments and dreams is a ‘pashu’ too. The difference between an animal and a man is not just of the body; the truth is that the mind of a human is also in chains. The only difference is that the rope that ties an animal is visible and the rope that ties a man is invisible.

One cannot live in peace if one is in bondage

Shiva is also known as Pashupatinath – ‘pashu’ means animal and ‘pati’ means lord. Hence the meaning of Pashupatinath is: Lord of the animals. We are born with the possibility of, and ability to, become pashupatinath, i.e., lord of the animal within. This name signifies that unless and until you are awakened, you are a pashu – an animal – a slave of the senses and the mind. When you are awakened you become a master of your senses and of your mind too. In Shiva is the objective and target of human life – that is to rise above the mind and senses. When the mind is the master, then you are the slave. When the mind knows only sensual physical joys, then it is bound to them – there is no other option left.
From birth you were dependent on your mother, father, aunt, nanny, or granny for anything you needed. When you were hungry, when you were afraid, when you were lonesome, when you fell down and got hurt – you called for help, and the one who was available to you most of the time was the person you got attached to the most. Slowly this attachment led to a sense of security, happiness and protection. This develops into emotional bondage and one begins to feel weak, vulnerable and sad if that person is not close or within reach. This emotional slavery clips your wings and imprisons you in an imaginary cage – one which you have created, and jailed yourself in.
I see people worrying endlessly about individuals they are attached to. Any small delay in a child or husband’s return home from school or work gives rise to fears of what may have happened. Thoughts of a possible accident or mugging plague the mind. People are in constant fear of their spouse being involved with someone else; they always keep a watchful eye over one another.  The mind begins to torture itself incessantly till the loved one or his message arrives.
These are some of the external situations which may arise in your life, but there is no end to the possibilities of such circumstances. If you are not free from emotional bondage, then neither can you ever be really free of worries and anxieties. And if you have a high level of anxiety in your mind, it will certainly give rise to a number of diseases in the body too. An unhealthy mind lives in an unhealthy body.
So the question is: Do you know how to keep your mind anxiety and bondage free? If you don’t, then you are really in bad shape – you are slowly inching towards disease and death!

An unhealthy mind lives in an unhealthy body

A stressed out mind is home to many psychosomatic diseases. I can honestly say, that if you wish to remain physically and mentally healthy, then you must keep your mind free of bonds and stress. Actually all the stress occurs because of bondages. You want  that a person who is a source of joy and security to you should stay with you forever; he should never leave you. Therefore, no matter how difficult it is to live with that person, you still carry on. Unhappy marriages continue because of such insecurity and mental bondage.

You don’t know how to survive without certain people so you put up with them and end up suffering a lot. And the more you suffer, the more you seek opportunities to hit back! In the name of relationships, individuals torture one another. Arguments and fights happen all the time between husband and wife, parents and children, friends, and lovers.
Are you aware of a state of mind, a state of consciousness which is bondage free where you relate well with yourself and with others – be it friends, colleagues or relatives. A person who has not struck up the right relationship with himself, cannot have a relationship with anyone else.
There are some people who cannot live or sleep alone; they need someone with them, be it a person or a toy. Fear of loneliness and darkness etc., is simply because you do not know how to live with yourself; you haven’t had a communion with yourself. Man has time to relate with others through mms, sms, phone and email, but he never has the good fortune to meet his own self. When you lose out on having a relationship with yourself, how can you have an in-depth interaction with others?

I saw an advertisement of a textile company on television. The ad said that their fabric makes you a complete man. I really wondered how a piece of cloth could complete a man! But the reality of life is that this is how people live. Some feel a relative completes them, some say a certain amount of money completes them and yet others feel that social status completes them! They feel incomplete without the object of their desire. How untrue these statements are!  So untrue! But people love the lies which offer false consolation. A fool’s paradise is what everyone is looking for; no one wants a real paradise – the fool’s paradise comes cheap and without effort too! But does such a paradise really exist? It certainly does not!
Human life is a gift from god, from nature, then why is it so difficult for a human being to see life as a precious gift? The answer is very clear: they don’t have the eyes to see; ignorance and darkness have blinded their vision. To put it simply and harshly: people are handicapped. The mind which is full of cluttered thoughts, scores of unfulfilled desires and hundreds of grudges, cannot see what lies ahead.
Jesus used to say that if you have eyes then see and if you have ears then listen to me. I always wondered what kind of a statement this was! He was not dealing with throngs and throngs of blind and deaf people, then why did he say this. The eyes we have are made to see the truth; the ears we have are made to hear the inner song of divinity. But those eyes are different and those ears are different. In ancient Hindu scriptures, it is said that the master is the healer; he is a physician. We are all born with deformities and handicaps, and until and unless you find a physician you will not be normal.

The diseases of the mind are many; of them, dependence on others is the worst one for it makes people’s
life a living hell

The diseases of the mind are many; of them, dependence on others is the worst one for it makes people’s life a living hell. A wife is dependant on the husband – physically, emotionally, financially and socially. Children are dependant on the parents, parents are dependant on children, the list goes on and on. In all relationships, one is weak and the other is strong. The weaker one is dominated by the stronger one to serve his selfish ends. Until and unless an individual is free – totally free – he cannot live in peace. Our mind is always looking for some shoulder to lean on – this makes one vulnerable and weak.
Ask yourself this question: Do I want to remain vulnerable and tied to someone or something, to the extent that that thing or person becomes my master and then treats me like an animal? There is no weakness that cannot be overcome. The only thing needed is the will to overcome it and I say: ‘Yes, I can overcome it, without any doubt.’
Once I heard the story of a trader who halted at a serai – a type of an inn. As he was tying-up his camels, he found he was short of rope. Exhausted and too tired to look for rope, he sat wondering what to do. A kind man saw his plight and asked what the problem was. When told about the shortage of rope, he said that he had a piece of advice for the man. “Just move your hands in a tying motion around the feet of the camels and talk to them telling them that now you have tied them up so they should just sit there and relax for the night.” The trader was bewildered and wondered how this nonsense would work! “Trust me, it always works,” said the kind man. Disbelieving the man, the trader anyhow did as instructed. Then he went into the inn to rest for the night. Early next morning he went to see his flock. To his amazement the camels were all there – as he had left them – not one was missing!
He started untying the camels and ordering them to move. One by one the camels started getting up slowly – but not all of them – some just kept sitting. He shouted at them, yet they didn’t move. He whipped them; still they did not budge an inch. He was flabbergasted. What had happened to his camels? On seeing the kind man pass by, the trader rushed to him for help, “What have you done to my camels? They are not getting up. The kind man smiled and he said. “Did you untie them?” “Yes, of course I did. What kind of a stupid question is that?” said the trader. “Including the ones you tied with imaginary ropes?” The trader felt embarrassed recalling the last night’s episode. He said, “No, I didn’t untie those who were tied with imaginary ropes. But how does it matter? They were not real ropes.” The kind man laughed and said, “If imaginary ropes can tie, then they can hold back the camels too. So go to your camels and untie them the way you tied them – talking to them and moving your hands around their feet.” The trader did as instructed, and Lo! the camels moved and started walking.
Human minds are also tied with imaginary ropes, and you forget when you had bound yourself. Someone is tied to his house, wife, husband, children, money or status – hence he can’t move – move on the path of self-awakening. We have to untie these ropes to move above and beyond the body, ‘I’ consciousness, pettiness and all the diseases of the mind. To begin with, you have to understand where you have tied your mind; one has to look for the unseen ropes and be free of them.
When you are unbound, only then are you totally free; free to be what you are; free to express; free to interact without any expectations, slavery or silly conditionings.
Meditation teaches you to be with the self in such a way that you are richer, happier, and more content with yourself. Then you do not need others to feel happiness, joy or completeness.

Desire for sex is natural. It is neither right to fight your body and mind, nor should you feel depressed about the sex urge. Nature has created this body and its glandular systems. These glands start functioning around teenage and they release chemicals called hormones. In the brain, the hypothalamus and the pituitary control the functioning of these glands. The male hormone testosterone is produced by the testes and the female hormones progesterone and estrogen are produced by the ovaries.
The sex hormones help the body of a boy grow into a young man, and that of a girl grow into a young woman. This leads to an attraction for the opposite sex, and happens only after the release of these chemicals. Before this stage, boys and girls have no such feelings in their mind. As children approach the age of 12 or 13, the sex glands begin to get active. Nowadays, due to exposure to media and television, these glands have started functioning earlier – sometimes as early as the age of 9.
Even a highly sexual and pornographic mind, such as of those people who engage in mental visualisations and fantasies, or of a totally addicted person, loses the sexual urge if we inject a special type of hormone in the body. This happens because the body clock is taken back to the stage when there were no secretions of the sex hormones.
Whenever there is an excess secretion of these chemicals – for whatever reason, it leads to addiction. Any addiction, whether it is for tea, coffee or sex, is just an addiction. You cannot say that one addiction is better than the other – that an addiction to cigarettes is better than an addiction to liquor. Addiction means a stage of dependence in which one cannot survive without the fulfilment of the addiction. It is a stage when one thinks and dreams about the object of one’s addiction and when one lives with it and for it.
The first thing to understand is that our mind is connected to our body and to our brain. Changes in our body and mind affect us. For example, if you have not slept well at night, there will be a deficiency of melatonin and serotonin, the two chemicals released during sleep. These chemicals relax the body and the brain, and their deficiency will make you feel tense. Your mind will begin to oscillate, your circulatory system will get affected and blood pressure will be raised. The restlessness will affect you to such an extent, that you will need to take some drug to balance the paucity of the chemicals.
This is how those people who drink more and more liquor, provide the chemicals the body needs, although alcohol does not supply melatonin and serotonin. The chemicals in the liquor have a drug like effect and they soothe the nerves and numb the brain; somehow this is experienced as relaxation by many people. Any form of drug, cigarette and liquor soothes the nerves. It is a different story that these are all poisons that destroy the body systems. This is the additional effect of these drugs which no company is ever going to advertise; they will just talk about how good you are going to feel. Thumbs up! How cheerful you will be when you consume the poison of this drug!
Similarly, during the sex act, chemicals are released by the brain and this gives you a high feeling – a good feeling. Some tests have been done on rats and mice, in which the areas of the brain which are activated at the time of sex were injected and made numb. Once those portions were numbed, the rats and mice lost interest in copulation; they were just not interested any more.
So basically what our body seeks is to experience the good feeling. Some feel good with food, but for others sex remains the only medium which gives them a high; nothing else does. For sex, one is dependant on another person. As I had said earlier, these days you can not only order a pizza and a burger at home, but also sex! Even that is provided!
The question is, what does sex give? It gives a feeling of elation and a feeling of being appreciated – although the person doing the appreciating may be doing it for your money, for the security you provide or for the gifts which you will shower on that person! So the process of give and take goes on. Dependency does exist.
No wonder husbands and wives blackmail and exploit one another; they know that the other person is dependent on them for sexual release.  Actually, if you take away the sex, there won’t be a husband and wife relationship left. Most couples are together because of the children or society; or because they don’t know how to live alone. They benefit greatly from the relationship, and so do not want to lose out on services like house maintenance, laundry, cooking and entertainment etc. All these things provided by the spouse make you further bind with the spouse.
The question is, if sex could give real enjoyment, a real high, then it should last for a few days atleast. But it does not endure for even a few hours! It is an unending process. Again and again a person is entrapped.
First and foremost, never condemn yourself for having a sexual urge. Through all your physical and mental experiences, you gain something – or maybe you will gain something. Those who never get a chance to explore these things may still harbour the seeds of desire in their subconscious mind. They just dream, repress and suppress their feelings.  At the same time, exploring this territory should be done with an understanding of what you will get out of it. Ask yourself: Am I getting the happiness which I hope for?  How long will this happiness last? Will I get dependent on the other person? Will I lose my freedom? Is this the only way to feel a high? Is this the only door through which I will get physical and mental relaxation? Most husbands the world over have sex to release their tension and not for love.
I would like to point out that a man who is really in love with his wife, will need less sex, because his satisfaction will then come from a higher plane. Attention, appreciation and companionship are more important than carnal pleasure. I am not saying that there is something wrong with sex, that it is sinful or that it is something one should not indulge in.
If sex had been ugly, or even worse – if it were a sin or something to be guilty of, then our temples would not have sculptures of couples copulating. Have you ever seen the expression on their faces? Have you ever visited the Khajuraho or Konark temples? Outside the periphery of these temples, there are hundreds of such images on the domes; they are carved so meticulously and with so much time consuming labour. A huge amount of the kings’ money went into the making of these temples. Dharma, artha, kama, moksha – all four are a part of life. It cannot be said that artha is important and kama is not. If we deny these facts then we are just being hypocritical.
All that happens in society – all the money, the wealth, the businesses, the jobs, the education – just  go to the core of it and see what everyone is striving for. You will end up with just one answer – sex. If you have wealth, you can have the most beautiful girl or the most handsome man. Your very being, your physical being is because of sex. Can you deny that?
But your parents are not guilty of sex. They might be guilty of sex in general but not of your birth. Are you guilty of your daughter? You are joyful for your daughters. You are joyful for your sons. You are full of joy for your children and even more joyful for your grand children. They are all offsprings of the sexual act. You cannot say that it is bad, ugly or sinful. This point has to be understood very clearly.
Society at large is under the sheets; behind the wall everyone is in it, and outside the wall everyone condemns it. They condemn it and yet they are in it!  The more they are in it, the more vehemently they condemn it – this is a vicious cycle. Throw away the attitude that sex is bad, ugly and sinful. What is bad about it? It is your body and if you wish to explore it in any way, just go ahead and do so.
The only suggestion I would like to make is that you should know what you will gain, what will you lose and why you are indulging in it?  It is true that the body chemicals – the hormones, are active and therefore there is attraction between the sexes. The stimulants are there right in your head – the sex organ is none other than the brain – that is the real sex organ!
So this means that you need to make some changes in the brain if you wish to make some changes in your lifestyle. How can that be done? There are many ways:
First, you have to balance your body and brain, so that you do the act when needed and you don’t think about it all the time. When you are hungry you eat food – you are never guilty of eating food, are you? If you have an itch in the throat, you cough – you never feel guilty about it. But if you have an urge for sex and you satisfy it, you feel guilty later on – whether you recognise the guilt or not is a different story.
When a husband and wife are in the sex act, all the scriptures, mahatmas and sadhus’ voices keep ringing at the back of their mind, telling them that what they are doing is bad. But the urge of the body is so strong that they cannot stop. It is somewhat like schizophrenia – based on all the discourses of mahatmas and books that you have read, the brain says don’t do it, but the body speaks a different language. Mind you, whenever there is a fight between the body and the brain, the body will win because animal instincts are more powerful than abstract thoughts and ideas.
Celibacy is just an idea which the mahatmas have given to people. That is not your experience; your experience is that when your body wants something, you have to get it. When a person is thirsty he will drink water from the most polluted pond – it has happened!  In difficult times, as during a war, what else to do?  When there is thirst and the body asks for water, people have been known to have drunk water from the ponds in which corpses were floating! The suffering from thirst, the pain was so great, that inspite of seeing the floating dead bodies, they just cupped their hands and drank the water!
The urges of the body are very strong. When hunger troubles you, when your body asks for food, no gyan will work – you need food by any means, anyhow. Normally you eat when you are hungry, you drink when you are thirsty, when you are exhausted you go to sleep and you are never guilty about it. But if you continuously think about food, then something is wrong. If you keep on eating and filling your stomach the whole day, then it is a disease. If a person washes his hands when they are dirty, it is ok for that is routine hygiene. But if he keeps on washing his hand a hundred or two hundred times, then it is an illness. It is a psychological disease if a person feels he is dirty, or the phobia of germs is prevalent in his mind; this needs to be treated. Similarly, healthy married couples do feel the real urge for sex.
Now this is something to be noted – distinguishing between the real and the unreal urge. The real urge comes from the body, and if you fulfil it, it is definitely as natural as a hungry man eating his food. But this urge can also be an unreal one. How does that happen? The society in which you live, your friends, associates, the woman you are seeing, the men whom you meet, the books which you read, the magazines which you flip through, every channel, every movie – all of them – titillate your senses and excite your mind. When the urge arises because of this titillation and excitement, I call it an unreal desire – it is not a natural desire.
You will have to see when it is a natural urge and when it is an unnatural one. When you have a natural urge, go ahead without the feeling of guilt or sin.  Marriage is a licence which society has given you; have sex as many times as you want to, but the moment you stray from your licensed spouse, the whole of society looks down upon you. This is bad, this is wrong, this is immoral! In a polygamous society, it is not considered wrong to stray, but as per Hindu law, and in monogamous relationships which are popular and widely practised today, it is considered wrong. I believe that if a man or a woman has an extra marital affair, it is not because they don’t get sex, but because they don’t get true love.
Understand that sex can never fulfil your mind – love can. Love should be the foundation of marriage. The more deeply you are in love with your spouse, the lesser is the need to stray. When a man and a woman do not appreciate one another, do not attend to each other’s needs, do not gel at the mental level, do not have similar choices, then there is sure to be trouble. Some people simply live with their situation; others move away. But this damages the institution of marriage.
There are many things to be considered. First: identify the real and natural urge. How to do that? Well, you need to discipline your brain and body, and to do that, yogic asanas are the perfect solution. When you do sarvangasana – the shoulder stand, blood rushes to your brain as your feet are up and head is down. Due to gravity, the blood rushes to the brain. The most important gland which is the master computer of the body, the hypothalamus, is in the brain. With this asana, fresh supply of blood and oxygen is carried to the brain nourishing the hypothalamus and the pituitary. The hypothalamus begins to work properly and it orders the right amount of chemicals to be released. Once this happens, you feel the sex urge only when needed and not otherwise.
Second: the way to balance the glandular system is to do pranayama. When you practice pranayama, your mind will be soothed, relaxed and cool. You won’t feel excited even on seeing an attractive woman; you won’t be titillated; titillation will have an effect only when you are ready for it. Sometimes, if you tickle a person, they are in peels of laughter, but there are others who roll on the ground at the mere sight of a tickling gesture. Just moving the fingers is enough for them to say, “don’t do it”!
Often people play with young children; they tickle them and walk holding their two fingers. They walk their fingers on the baby’s arms saying, “Here I am coming”, and even before you reach the forearm the child is laughing and pleading with you to stop. But as the child grows older, the same act will not have the same effect and could well evoke the response: “Papa! Grow up! What are you doing?”
The same rules apply to scantily clothed girls who show their bodies in such a way that it turns any man’s mind- just as a woman’s mind may be affected on seeing a half naked man who has a beautiful and muscular body. But this titillation can happen only when you are ready to be titillated. Let me say this very clearly: I do not condemn even titillation, but it has to have some objective.
In the sexual act, it is not that you lose just semen in ejaculation, but you also lose something more than that called ojas -  energy. It is not the semen which creates the baby, but the ojas in the semen which creates the baby.  This ojas can be used to make progress in your spiritual development.
Every food you eat carries a hidden energy in it. Our body has to digest the food and our intestines have to absorb the nutrients which go to the liver and from there to the blood and thence to the entire body. Our seers who understood this phenomenon, suggested that this energy should not be wasted for whimsical reasons, but should be conserved. The more you conserve it, the more energetic you grow and your capacity to do sadhana also increases. This energy also enhances your concentration and attention levels. The reason why the rishis suggested sexual abstinence was to conserve ojas, and not in order to suppress the sexual urge. The idea was not to suppress sexual energy but to sublimate it.
It is important to understand the sexual energy in order to manage it well. Deep down if the mind is insecure, then this insecurity can become a reason for excessive sexual behaviour. If you did not receive real love and comfort from your mother in childhood, then this can give rise to excessive sexual behaviour of the mind. If you have any kind of inferiority complex, it can also give rise to an overly sexual behaviour. If you were exploited or tortured during childhood, even this can lead to excessive sexual behaviour. There are multiple reasons and that is why we need to understand our mind; we need to go deep into our mind.
Every time the urge arises, do not condemn yourself, rather try to understand from where it is rising.
Our mind is a deep, dark and mysterious cave where millions of ghosts reside – the ghosts of our past memories. We are not very comfortable facing these ghosts, and that is why we watch television, we spend time with friends but do not like to invest any effort in studying the mind. We just do not want to face the complexities of our mind; this compounds the problem.
Now, how to manage the sex urge, whether natural or unnatural, real or unreal?  One way is to indulge in sexual intercourse; the second way is to masturbate; the third way is to suppress the urge by chiding yourself, taking a cold shower or going to a temple and expressing regret for having fallen again. Then there is a fourth way also – it is a particular technique given by Tantra to all aspirants who wish to work on controlling the sexual urge – the Ashwini mudra with kumbhak.
Ashwa means horse. Ashwini mudra is actually taken from a natural act performed by horses. Have you ever ridden on horseback?  Have you seen a horse defecating?  It moves its anus – actually it pushes out its rectum and you can see a layer of pinkish muscle. The horse pushes its rectum out of the body once it has defecated; when it has thrown the faeces out of the body, it pushes out the rectum, moves it and then pulls it in. This is called Ashwini mudra.
So with the practice of Ashwini mudra, you can develop control over the muscles in the lower regions of the body around the anus. The exercise is done as follows: you squeeze your anus, contract it, and then relax it in the first part of the mudra. In the second part you repeat the exercise with breath control – when you inhale you relax and when you exhale you contract – proficiency comes with practice.
Initially you should concentrate on the first part which is rather easy, and once you have mastered it then practice with the breath. Remember that you contract while exhaling and relax when inhaling. When you inhale, relax; contract with breathing out.
In the third part, you contract the anus while exhaling and hold your breath for a count of 3 and then relax. Inhale and exhale, contracting while exhaling. When you breathe out, hold your breath out – one, two, three. With time and practice, you can increase the retention period and can even take it to a count of 5 and then 10 – but it should be done very comfortably with no stress or strain.
This ability to retain your breath and contract your anus muscle will control the urge for sex – this is the golden mantra. Whenever  the urge arises – whether real or unreal – at that time if you begin to focus and start doing  the exercises in sequence, within 15 minutes, not only will your urge be gone but you will feel like meditating more – you will feel like sitting for some more time. Your mind gets relaxed and so does the body.
We should not ever fight with the body or the mind. If there is an urge for sex, it is no big issue, for every issue has a solution which can be learned and focussed on. So at the level of our mind we need to understand and respect it. Actually, the more you resist it, the more you get trapped in it, because anything that makes you feel guilty also gives you the joy of breaking the rules of society.
There is no fun in taking your wife out for dinner; it is more exciting to take your girlfriend out. Even the most lecherous person fears being seen, hence no one ever announces in the drawing room in the presence of friends and relatives that the last time he went to Singapore on a business trip, he had three prostitutes! No one ever announces this; no one ever boasts of this. Even the most lecherous and libidinous person will hide this.
We need to know and understand that sex is not the enemy; sex is not a sin; sex is not a shameful act that should lead to guilt. It needs to be appreciated that nature has given this to us and it is the reason for the entire procreation and recreation. Sex is not a means of releasing tension – for that you should do Yog-Nidra – it is indeed very relaxing! Sex should not be a means of releasing your frustrations either. It is and can be beautiful provided you know and understand what it is; provided you manage it with awareness; provided you are deeply in love with your spouse.
A loveless relationship is a sin. The problem is that in our society relationships are not based on love but on money, prestige and status – these three are most important – then comes the shakal [looks] and akal [intelligence] of the boy and girl. If the boy is a walking hippopotamus but has money, there are many girls who will not refuse him. Their attitude is that it is fine to marry someone like that, no problem at all; once married they plan to make the poor chap slim down. You too must have seen some weird matches – in fact they are no match at all, but the families get them married. Now after the marriage they are expected to love one another! How is that possible? I find it very weird!
But our ancestors had made a different system. They would get the boy and girl married at an early age but keep them apart. Immediately after the marriage ceremony the girl was taken to her parents home and then the entire society and family would pester and tease the boy reminding him that his spouse was at her parents’ home.  “Don’t you want to meet her?” Their bodies would be growing and their hormones raging. That is how psychologically they were made to like one another and to want to be with one another. This distance created the attraction. After another ceremony, when the girl was finally brought to her husband’s home, the boy was lusting and waiting for her.
Again, this is a drama which has been planned by society and families. I have nothing against arranged marriages but I do have some issues with it. Loveless marriages can never satisfy; love has to be there. If there is love in an arranged marriage then it is fine. Some amount of effort is needed on the part of the husband and wife to understand one another in order to seek and create room for compatibility – to be able to appreciate one another’s qualities, to ignore the errors and mistakes of the other person, to not condemn the spouse – appreciation will change the partner. These are important things. To manage the urges of the body and to be in a position to distinguish the real urge from the unreal one, yogasana and pranayama especially ashwini mudra with kumbhak, will pave the way for a very healthy married life.
Life with a dumb person can be hell – but marriage can be a great pleasure trip, an enjoyable experience once there is compatibility – for which one has to work for it won’t happen on its own. You have to work at it and the more you work with understanding and with an agenda, the more quickly will you see the results.

Every action has a reaction which creates a chain of follow up actions. What you sow you reap; though you sow one seed, it grows into a thousand new seeds which further give rise to new seeds and new trees. This is the eternal law of karma. There is a cause for every effect and every effect has a cause. We may be able to see the cause, and it is equally possible that we may never be able to recall it. This is due to the inability of our mind; we are so restricted in the knowledge held by the brain! Our brain does not remember most of the actions of this life, what to say of knowing or recalling our past karmas.
No one can evade, mould or change this all-powerful ‘Law of Karma’. It is not easy to fully understand how it functions, but let us make an attempt to know how it works.
Every action has a route which it follows. Our subconscious carries the sum total of all our desires, passions, good and bad experiences, which we carry with us from our numerous past lives. Our defeats, victories, pain, pleasures and all our animal instincts are embedded in it. At the top are innumerable unfulfilled desires and hopes which are waiting to rear their head.
Now here is the process you need to understand: First the samaskaras trigger the thought and then the thought matures into desire. This may happen with or without any outer stimulation. As this desire arises, it gets more attention or afflictions of our attachments, the deeper it gets. With time, it is further strengthened and then it changes into sankalpa (the conviction to achieve the object). When this conviction matures, it converts into action or karma.

This is the theory of how deep-rooted samaskaras or impressions shape our thoughts, convert them into desire, and desire into conviction, till finally the action takes place. The whole process may happen in just a fraction of a second or even in lesser time! Do you have any idea how many trillions upon trillions of samaskaras are lying in your subconscious? And consequently how many wishes and desires are lying unfulfilled in the deep recesses of your mind?
While strolling on the road, one sees scores of men, women, girls and boys. The mind registers all these faces and keeps making a non- stop commentary on them. Standing by the road and seeing the traffic pass by, how active your mind is! Seeing flashy cars, the desire to own one arises. A beautiful woman passes by and your heart aches with desire for her. Watching television has become a fixed ritual for modern men and women; seeing the glamorous lifestyles of actors and actresses on screen, how eager your mind gets to have it all. One wishes to go to all those wonderful places, to have sex with that curvaceous woman seen on TV and in films. The name, fame, glory and glitter of the silver screen lures the mind in a myriad ways. People living in an ultra-modern society want to have it all, see it all, do it all.
Know this: samaskaras have the ability to take the shape of thought – desire- conviction, and finally of action. Whether that action will be good or bad and what its consequences will be is a different story.
Upanishadic wisdom says that every action will bear a fruit which is of two types: one part is the happiness or pain experienced right there, in that moment; the second part remains hidden and gets added to the bank of other past karmas – it becomes a part of our ’sanchit karma’ i.e. the accumulated karmas of innumerable past lives. We are not new on this earth, we have been born here many times, and in each life we made a home, had a family, had some kind of livelihood and had friends and enemies. We were never idle even in the past births – we were doing something (good or bad) and every action that we did is going to bear some fruit.

The law says that if you do an evil action, the fruit will be dukha or pain, and if you do a pious karma then the fruit is sukha or happiness.

Well, no one wishes for dukha, yet we experience pain in our lives. The question is why? Yes, we do not wish dukha, yet we do get it. It is because of our lust, greed, ego, anger and attachments. We do so many actions, and though we justify our actions as valid, sometimes in reality they are not.
The police catches criminals and the courts punish them for their heinous crimes of theft, burglary, murder, rape, arson and loot. But has anyone ever been arrested for anger, lust, ego or greed? The answer is a very definitel no! But aren’t these vices the very reasons for a person’s criminal act? Society punishes a person after the act has been committed and the person has been caught. But in the court of dharma, when you do an evil act, you are punished in two ways, one part of fruit is received on the spot in the form of the turmoil felt by the mind, the anguish, palpitation, rise in blood pressure, the agitation and frustration of the mind. And the other part of karma fruit gets deposited in the bank of our past karmas, where, in time it causes pain, dukha, diseases, losses or unfortunate situations in life.
Vedas say that all actions are of two types: dharma and adharma. Actions that are endorsed by seers are dharma and the those which are forbidden are adharma. Servitude, donation, charity, penance, japa, chanting, compassion and humility are all dharma. And all actions arising from lust, greed, anger, revenge and ego are adharma. Dharma will give you happiness and adharma will give you pain. This means that if ones actions are of adharma, then it may be pleasurable at that moment, but later on the fruit will be of pain. And dharmic actions might seem unattractive but give purity, clarity and happiness in the end.
Suppose you are served delicious food which looks good to the eyes, smells good and tastes good too, but is laced with a slow poison; then there is food which is nutritious but not as inviting to the senses – which one would you prefer? Most of the time, a person who is a slave of the senses will prefer the first type without realizing that the end result would be pain.
The wise ones have said that karma is of three types – sanchit, kriyaman and agami. Sanchit karma are those which we did in the past, kriyaman are those which we are doing now in the present moment, and agami karmas are those which we will do in the future. Man, driven by his weaknesses, mental afflictions and vices, performs karmas without thinking about their consequences. When pain and failure result, he blames god for his misfortunes and never realizes that it is his own past karmas which are punishing him in the present moment.
This is the story of all human beings – they wish for instant gratification of the senses and do not wish to think about the fruits of their action. The wise ones think deeply and then make the right choices. Today it may not seem to be a thing of deep concern, but indeed it is. Actions of dharma and adharma are going to shape your mind and further desires; the desires into actions and the fruits of action. An uncontrolled mind gets motivated to act irresponsibly and then suffers from the ill effects of its own actions.

Your destiny is nothing but the sum total of your past actions. The past is gone but you have this moment in your hand. Every action you do now shapes your future.
But what about the past karmas which are going to reward or punish you? Can we do something about them today? The answer is no! Those fruits will come to you and you will have to accept them. No one can run away from his or her karmas – no one! This seems really depressing, isn’t it? Do not feel sad for there is a ray of hope. Read on.
The present moment is in our hands, and by acting responsibly we can use it to bring about a total transformation in our lives. If one performs pious deeds, serves all, is compassionate and generous – in other words if we develop positive karma, it will prove to be a great leveler and will slowly lead to a bringing down of the adverse effects of past karma.
The theory of karma says that doing pious deeds will slowly scale down the effects of negative karmas, bringing them at par, first, and then more in favor of, dharma. As dharma begins to dominate a person’s life, new and positive developments begin to take place. One gets opportunities for being blessed by pious souls and saints. As the Ramayana says, when good karma fructify, only then the chance of meeting a seer or rishi is possible. And the chance of meeting a saint means an opportunity to not only be blessed but also to receive wisdom and the tools of evolvement that help one come out of the cycle of karma.
The Bhagavad Gita says that the power of good karma makes a person a deserving candidate for receiving higher knowledge which will bring forth a whole new approach to living one’s life in dharma.
Good and bad actions happen through the mind with a sense of ‘I’ being the doer. As long as the doer is there, one or another kind of karma will keep on generating. All karmas create bondage – if bad karma is like an iron handcuff, then pious karma is a handcuff made of gold. Both bind you and keep you in the whirlpool of samsara. One has to understand the truth: mind- senses-body are entities totally different from the ’self’ which is beyond these corporeal elements. Once you begin to understand who you really are and begin to cultivate a distance and discrimination, all actions will happen without binding you. When all karma is performed with the sense of being a ‘non-doer’, and one follows the righteous path, then the person transgresses the cycle of karma.
The real self is unknown and this self-ignorance binds man. Once we have understood the real self, then life is lived while witnessing it. The present moment is lived in the spirit of a non-doer and the old karmas or sanchit karmas get burnt in the fire of gyana (true knowledge) and then what is left is kriyaman karma. Such a person with his new-found wisdom has great patience and tolerance, and accepts the fruits of his karma without discrimination.
Try to understand it like this: a person has some arrows in his basket, one arrow has been mounted on the bow and one has already been shot. This person can destroy the arrows in his basket, he can throw the arrow which is strung, but he can do nothing about the arrow that has been shot. The arrows in the basket are sanchit karma, the one on the bow is agami karma and the arrow that has been shot is kriyaman karma. The Bhagavad Gita says that we can destroy our sanchit karma with gyana and samadhi; the present actions can be performed as a non-doer; but the fruits of actions which are functional in the present moment cannot be wiped out. Remember that this statement is applicable only to a realized person. For an ignoramus, even sanchit karmas work along with kriyaman karma!
When ones actions are motivated by ill, evil, negativity, one doesn’t even realizes what one is doing. But when the fruits of karma fall in the lap, then the person either suffers meekly or is angry, dejected and agitated.
Impressions (samaskaras) and unfulfilled desires are the root of all the wrongs in a man’s life. Only if the root agyana is eradicated with true knowledge – can one live a life filled with happiness and contentment. We are responsible for our actions and the results of our actions.

Education in Tibet

He began his education at the age of six and completed the Geshe Lharampa Degree (Doctorate of Buddhist Philosophy) when he was 25 in 1959. At 24, he took the preliminary examinations at each of the three monastic universities: Drepung, Sera and Ganden. The final examination was conducted in the Jokhang, Lhasa during the annual Monlam Festival of Prayer, held in the first month of every year Tibetan calendar.

Leadership Responsibilities

On November 17, 1950, His Holiness was called upon to assume full political power (head of the State and Government) after some 80,000 Peoples Liberation Army soldiers invaded Tibet. In 1954, he went to Beijing to talk peace with Mao Tse-tung and other Chinese leaders, including Chou En-lai and Deng Xiaoping. In 1956, while visiting India to attend the 2500th Buddha Jayanti Anniversary, he had a series of meetings with Prime Minister Nehru and Premier Chou about deteriorating conditions in Tibet.
His efforts to bring about a peaceful solution to Sino-Tibetan conflict were thwarted by Bejing’s ruthless policy in Eastern Tibet, which ignited a popular uprising and resistance. This resistance movement spread to other parts of the country. On 10 March 1959 the capital of Tibet, Lhasa, exploded with the largest demonstration in Tibetan history, calling on China to leave Tibet and reaffirming Tibet’s independence. The Tibetan National Uprising was brutally crushed by the Chinese army. His Holiness escaped to India where he was given political asylum. Some 80,000 Tibetan refugees followed His Holiness into exile. Today, there are more than 120,000 Tibetan in exile. Since 1960, he has resided in Dharamsala, India, known as “Little Lhasa,” the seat of the Tibetan Government-in-exile.
In the early years of exile, His Holiness appealed to the United Nations on the question of Tibet, resulting in three resolutions adopted by the General Assembly in 1959, 1961, and 1965, calling on China to respect the human rights of Tibetans and their desire for self-determination. With the newly constituted Tibetan Government-in-exile, His Holiness saw that his immediate and urgent task was to save the both the Tibetan exiles and their culture alike. Tibetan refugees were rehabilitated in agricultural settlements. Economic development was promoted and the creation of a Tibetan educational system was established to raise refugee children with full knowledge of their language, history, religion and culture. The Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts was established in 1959, while the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies became a university for Tibetans in India. Over 200 monasteries have been re-established to preserve the vast corpus of Tibetan Buddhist teachings, the essence of the Tibetan way of life.
In 1963, His Holiness promulgated a democratic constitution, based on Buddhist principles and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a model for a future free Tibet. Today, members of the Tibetan parliament are elected directly by the people. The members of the Tibetan Cabinet are elected by the parliament, making the Cabinet answerable to the Parliament. His Holiness has continuously emphasized the need to further democratise the Tibetan administration and has publicly declared that once Tibet regains her independence he will not hold political office.
In Washington, D.C., at the Congressional Human Rights Caucus in 1987, he proposed a Five-Point Peace Plan as a first step toward resolving the future status of Tibet. This plan calls for the designation of Tibet as a zone of peace, an end to the massive transfer of ethnic Chinese into Tibet, restoration of fundamental human rights and democratic freedoms, and the abandonment of China’s use of Tibet for nuclear weapons production and the dumping of nuclear waste, as well as urging “earnest negotiations” on the future of Tibet.
In Strasbourg, France, on 15 June 1988, he elaborated the Five-Point Peace Plan and proposed the creation of a self-governing democratic Tibet, “in association with the People’s Republic of China.”
On 2 September 1991, the Tibetan Government-in-exile declared the Strasbourg Proposal invalid because of the closed and negative attitude of the present Chinese leadership towards the ideas expressed in the proposal.
On 9 October 1991, during an address at Yale University in the United States, His Holiness said that he wanted to visit Tibet to personally assess the political situation. He said, “I am extremely anxious that, in this explosive situation, violence may break out. I want to do what I can to prevent this…. My visit would be a new opportunity to promote understanding and create a basis for a negotiated solution.”

Contact with West and East

Since 1967, His Holiness initiated a series of journeys which have taken him to some 46 nations. In autumn of 1991, he visited the Baltic States at the invitation of Lithuanian President Vytautas Landsbergis of Lithuania and became the first foreign leader to address the Lithuanian Parliament. His Holiness met with the late Pope Paul VI at the Vatican in 1973. At a press conference in Rome in 1980, he outlined his hopes for the meeting with John Paul II: “We live in a period of great crisis, a period of troubling world developments. It is not possible to find peace in the soul without security and harmony between peoples. For this reason, I look forward with faith and hope to my meeting with the Holy Father; to an exchange of ideas and feelings, and to his suggestions, so as to open the door to a progressive pacification between peoples.” His Holiness met Pope John Paul II at the Vatican in 1980, 1982, 1986, 1988 and 1990. In 1981, His Holiness talked with Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Robert Runcie, and with other leaders of the Anglican Church in London. He also met with leaders of the Roman Catholic and Jewish communities and spoke at an interfaith service held in his honor by the World Congress of Faiths: “I always believe that it is much better to have a variety of religions, a variety of philosophies, rather than one single religion or philosophy. This is necessary because of the different mental dispositions of each human being. Each religion has certain unique ideas or techniques, and learning about them can only enrich one’s own faith.”

His Holiness often says,
“I am just a simple Buddhist monk – no more, nor less.”
His Holiness follows the life of Buddhist monk. Living in a small cottage in Dharamsala, he rises at 4 A.M. to meditate, pursues an ongoing schedule of administrative meetings,
private audiences and religious teachings and ceremonies.
He concludes each day with further prayer before retiring. In explaining his greatest sources of inspiration, he often cites a favorite verse, found in the writings of the renowned eighth century
Buddhist saint Shantideva: For as long as space endures And for as long as living beings remain, Until then may I too abide To dispel the misery of the world.
For as long as space endures And for as long as living beings remain,
Until then may I too abide To dispel the misery of the world.

A living master who is so ordinary in her extraordinariness!
She is a challenge to the intellect, a pleasing sight to the eyes,
humorous, and a lively new age Buddha.
She is the embodiment of love and knowledge.

Mesmerizing persona, piercing eyes, a crystal clear mind, the wisdom of the ages and a beautiful demeanour – such is the personality of Anandmurti Gurumaa. Defying definition, pragmatic, realistic, of liberal views, she is open-minded like the sky and intense like space. Gurumaa had a wonderful childhood – when other children were learning nursery rhymes, she was listening to the philosophy of Vedanta. While other children dreamt of dolls and cars, she was learning the art of awakening from dreams. A bubbly spirited teenager, she was not seen with girls of her age but with yogis and gurus. Meditating and lovingly serving spiritual masters, she had her awakening at the tender age of sixteen. Soon life groomed her to be a master and a guide to other seekers. As fish to water, so did poetry come naturally to her.

She is a sufi when she speaks on Sufism;
a rishi when she speaks on the upanishads and the Geeta; a Shankrachraya; a Buddha; a Zen Master; a poetess; a singer.
Gurumaa is all of these and yet, she is none of these!

Gurumaa has written hundreds of poems. She has also set them to music and sung them in her mellifluous voice. People sometimes wonder how an apparently simple girl has achieved such heights in such a small span of time. In thinking so, are they not merely looking at the physical and missing the important point that spirit is ageless and the mind carries all its achievements from one life to the next? Gurumaa’s early speeches carried such fervour that she was branded a rebel. While the young ones loved her for her modern thoughts, the elders felt challenged.

She has simplified meditation for the masses and made it of such ease that no one ever felt that this path was for a chosen few only.

People who witnessed her eccentric behaviour; her fervour; her fiery spirit; her zealous soul; her divine dance – soon realized that she was much more than what she appeared to be. An incident from her school days is worth mentioning. Gurumaa was in the sixth grade and a christian priest who was taking a moral science class asked the students if they had any questions. None of the students had any query but Gurumaa had so many! The priest was soon embarrassed as he found it difficult to answer the questions of this little girl. He dismissed the class and rebuked her saying that she was insulting him with her unending stream of questions. In his heart however, he had a different plan. Her father was summoned and presented with a proposal. He was asked to give this bright young girl to the church, for in her they could see a great evangelist. Her father naturally declined.
Gurumaa had a sober but happy childhood and a fiery youth. She was always seen meditating or sitting in silence. Soon the fragrance of her spirituality spread and people from all over started coming to her seeking knowledge and guidance. Busy meeting people and traveling to nearby cities, she was never restricted by her gender. Surprisingly, even her parents never restricted her or forced her to do anything she didn’t like to – which is pretty unusual for Indian parents.
Her satsangs were getting crowded and her popularity was soaring in the small city of Amritsar. One day she went into silence and after seven months of deep silence, she left her home and hometown for good. She started wandering and traveled mostly in North India, finally settling in Rishikesh – a holy city on the banks of the Ganges. Then her traveling started again, but this time to address conferences, meet people and to give them guidance. Later she started her meditation retreats which gave her a working ground. Thousands of people would come to unlearn the worldly ways; to rise above dogmas and doctrines of religion. She simplified meditation for the masses and made it of such ease that no one ever felt that this path was for a chosen few only.

Gurumaa says she does not belong to any one tradition, religion, path or label. She considers herself a citizen of world and is not limited by narrow considerations. She is a free-spirited, transendentalist and is carving out a path-less path for seekers. She says that no guru can grant you enlightenment; no master can awaken your kundalini; one has to toil hard oneself – but without making the effort seem a strain. Seek, but with patience; meditate, but without any goal; sharpen your awareness so that you rise above the ‘me-mine-I’ syndrome of identification with the self.
Today Gurumaa resides in a beautiful ashram in Gannaur, Harayana, India. Ever welcoming to seekers; ever inviting to all; a hard task master who will not appease your ego, Gurumaa says, “People do not need a living guru; they need a look-alike guru, a toy. As one has to surrender totally to the guru, people, who love their selves so much, find it difficult to do so. Therefore most prefer to stay away!”
Gurumaa has spoken on almost every subject: psychology, religion, family, society, mysticism. Her talks are interspersed with beautiful music and her soul stirring singing. She is a sufi when she speaks on Sufism; a rishi when she speaks on the upanishads and the Geeta; a Shankrachraya; a Buddha; a Zen Master; a poetess; a singer. Gurumaa is all of these and yet, she is none of these!
Anandmurti Gurumaa is a living master who is so ordinary in her extraordinariness! She is a challenge to the intellect, a pleasing sight to the eyes, humorous, and a lively new age Buddha. She is the embodiment of love and knowledge.

No guru can grant you enlightenment; no master can awaken your kundalini; one has to toil hard oneself – but without making the effort seem a strain. Seek, but with patience; meditate, but without any goal; sharpen your awareness so that you rise above the ‘me-mine-I’ syndrome of identification
with the self.