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

Who is a Guru, what is Guru’s strength, what is Guru’s power? Is it because he is sitting on a bigger chair – Can anyone who sits on that chair becomes a Guru? If that is so then I will get up and leave this seat and sit somewhere else. I can leave this couch and sit comfortably anywhere in the hall. Any one from the audience can sit here – will this seat make you a Guru? It is not even the color of robe or style of clothes, which makes Guru – a Guru. Is the one who wears ochre colored robe a Guru? If so, tomorrow I will wear pink, day after that I will wear purple or something flashy to dazzle you. Guru’s attributes are not in the clothes. Guru’s wisdom is the secret of being a Guru. Now I am wearing a long tilak on my forehead, tomorrow I will not wear it, would it change my status of being a Guru? Who is Guru – one who speaks Sanskrit language, which you will not understand? Guru is not even the one who can lecture you or narrate you stories.
Guru is Guru because of the wisdom, experience, and state of consciousness. So if you have to follow Guru then follow Guru’s sadhana. Do it as Guru did sadhana with dedication, sincerity, and intensity. Be dependent on your experience and not on the words spoken by the master. Master’s words can be a map, but you have to travel with the aid of map. Don’t sit with the map – walk with the map.
Guru is your friend, guide and motivator; don’t turn Guru into a crutch. Guru is the powerhouse. Who is a Guru? The one who has the wisdom, vision, experience and the power of discrimination. Guru is the one who has awakened, who has evolved. Once upon a time even Guru was as foolish as you are now and did same mistakes. Anyone who is wise today was a fool once upon a time, and then the fool grew up and became wise.
Who is a Guru? The one who has learned from his or her mistakes – who has the life experience and learned from it and matured.

Who is a fool? The one who will never learn – neither from his mistakes nor by listening to the discourses or by reading great books. A fool will always be a fool. If you import a donkey to U.S.A, he will still remain a donkey. India very recently has sent a satellite named ‘Chandrayaan’ in space; say if you send a donkey in the rocket, will he become a man? It will still remain a donkey. This is the bitter truth: a fool will remain a fool – well most of the time.
The Guru is not ashamed of his past foolishness. Guru knows that the entire journey has made him mature. When Guru sees his disciples, he sees his own reflection in them. Guru can also see the future of present fools, and knows that one day the fools will become a gyani – wise. In Sanyas tradition, Anand is added to the name of a sanyaasi, like Akhanadanand, Satyanand, Anubhutanand, so even a ‘moorh’ (fool) in Hindi language is called Murkhaanand. Respect is must and it should be given to all, whatever the status might be. To call fool, a fool is disgrace. One day in the life of a fool, a Satguru comes and slowly transformation happens. Negativities like greed, selfishness, anger and lust persist in him but with Guru’s guidance and with the fire of sadhana slowly one after another all negativities are removed.
So there is a hope for every fool; one day he too can become wise. But first a fool has to know that he is a fool – this is the first step in the direction of becoming wise. Once this first step is taken then the journey of fool begins. So your real search can begin only when you know that your present condition is not good – you realize that you have to do something about it. Most of the people are living as if they have no senses or intellect. They are happy in their self-inflicted miseries; they don’t know that life can be lived in a much better way. I do not want your life to be filled with sorrow, pain, and misery.

Who is a Guru?
The one who has the wisdom, vision, experience and

the power of discrimination
It is part of Guru’s responsibility to help the disciple to become emotionally and spiritually strong but Guru alone cannot do this. Kabir has sung glory of master in lofty words. But at times people misunderstand it. Now and then, there are going to be ups & down – turmoil in life. Unintentionally, people depend on the Guru as a person and not on the teachings.
Kabir’s verses explain how to behave with a Guru. Kabir gave a beautiful name to Guru, it is ‘Sahib’ – meaning my Lord.  Guru is seen as a form of God. Many Sufi masters have said that we have not seen God with our eyes but after seeing Guru we know God does exist, otherwise how can a mortal being be such luminous, pious and compassionate.
What does Guru give? Maybe in the beginning it will be just a mantra. Mantra is not just plain set of words. They are sound waves, which have very specific effect on human brain. Every sound has an effect on body and our ancient masters used mantras to create much needed changes in seeker’s brain. Brain is the place where the most important glands are working, namely – pituitary and pineal gland, which are further related with hypothalamus. Mantra is a sound wave which has a great effect on these organs. For spiritual practice one needs concentration, equanimity, focus, de-fogged mind and with mantra recitation practitioner creates such waves which are slowly going to bring these desired elements in mind.
Initially, the Guru gives the mantra and one should practice the mantra sincerely. Mantra works like a bridge in between Guru and disciple. It connects both – the Guru and the disciple. When Guru gives the mantra to disciple, it is not only mantra which is given but also powerful energy gets transported. Chanting mantra regularly can give lot of strength to your body, and it unclutters the mind so that intellect can be made pristine and clear.
Shishya, the disciple, benefits from love and compassion of Guru. We need Guru hence we seek Guru, not vice versa. Our scriptures have been written by those individuals who themselves had gained everything from their respective Gurus, thus it goes without saying that to excel in this life one definitely needs guidance from the master.
Seek master with understanding, love and surrender. But do not ever think that once you have found Guru it is solely the duty of Guru to give you Samadhi – the total absorption state; disciple has to work hard with the Guru to match his steps – step by step.
Seek Guru’s guidance but don’t be dependent on the Guru, as it can be a dangerous affair – as any such bondage is a hurdle in this path. By being dependent, you turn your Guru into another angle of emotional dependency. If you follow the guidance of the Guru meticulously then Guru’s blessings will shower on you – that too without asking. And if you become dependent on your Guru then you have turned your Guru into a crutch. The seed of emotional dependency is rooted deep in the human nature – first it is on mother, father, and then it is wife and children. You depend on your money, prestige, and this tendency keeps on growing. When everything else has failed you, then it is your Guru on whom you begin to depend on. Guru can be a guide but Guru cannot walk the path for you.  Solely depending on the Guru and not practicing what Guru has taught, won’t work at all.  Just listening to the discourses and not implementing the words won’t serve you. In the end it is you who can redeem you – not the Guru.

Kabir has called this world ‘Nahirwa’. This word from Hindi language means girl’s home. In Hindu marriages a girl leaves her father’s house to live with her husband. As every girl’s dream would be to get married and be with her husband, Kabir says, ‘I don’t like being here in this world, I wish to go to my husband’s home.’ Who is the husband? God is the husband. It’s a very poetic expression. In India God is not only just your father; God can be your husband too and what a wonderful husband. Sufis and saints have loved God like a woman would love her husband. In India there have been two types of bhakti movements – in one bhakta is masculine and in other feminine. In one tradition devotee is woman and God is man, and in other bhakta is man and God is considered a woman. There is a deeper angle to this form of devotion which we need to understand fully.
God is invisible, and it is beyond mind and senses; a devout wonders how I can find thee. The pursuit to find God is very masculine. We have to work, we have to woo, and we have to provoke God to come out of her veil. The other movement was where devout sees himself as female and God as a man. Hence, as a woman waits for her beloved to come and take her away, similarly devotee waits for God to sweep him into the divine world of lord. Kabir in these verses is singing in feminine notes – “Nahirwa humka na bhaway” i.e. I don’t like being in this world and I want to be with my Lord. The urgency, longing and the pain of love are spun in these words.
This world which seems so enchanting and entertaining to you is not a source of joy or happiness for the lover of God. For the lover of God going within oneself is the perfect way to have a rendezvous with the existent. It seems so amazing that the world in which you are entangled, and you find it so difficult to come out of, seems to the eyes of devotee just a heap of dust. For the lover of God it is nothing more than dust.

The world that seems so solid and physical to you – in reality it is not!  The reality which seems so distant to you is something most close to you.
Some people wonder how can someone leave everything and just follow God and just do meditation, chanting, yoga, and mantra all the time. “How can one be so insensitive that one leaves the world which is so beautiful – such wonderful sights, great delicious food to eat, wonderful sex. How can one leave all this and run after God, which you don’t even see.” However, the truth is that what seems to be sparkling like diamonds to you is nothing more than a dewdrop, which is merely sparkling in sunrays. It seems to be shining like a diamond and you wish to, hold it and, become rich with it – but can you become rich by holding a dewdrop in your hand? The moment you touch the dewdrop it is gone…it dies, dissolves.
The world that seems so solid and physical to you – in reality it is not!  The reality which seems so distant to you is something most close to you. But you can’t see this because the veil of darkness & ignorance has clouded your mind. Even now you are unable to relate to all this.
This poem of Kabir, a great mystic poet, is oozing with love, with real love and he says so because he experienced the godliness but you don’t feel such love for God. As you have no idea who God is; for you God is just an idea propagated by priests and believed by masses. God is nothing more than a belief for most of the people, although it is a different story that people can die or kill in the name of God.

‘Action is life and no one can remain without action.’

You have to do the action; your body, senses, mind, everything is in action – no one can remain without action
Life is not a problem – the only thing is that you have taken your life seriously. You have forgotten that it is just a dream. You have forgotten the fact that before this body you were formless. The day this body dies again you will become formless until your next reincarnation. In between birth and death the drama of the forms is happening. All of you have names, addresses, characters and attributes, and this interaction which is happening in the midst of different forms, bodies, identities is the real time drama happening. Why can’t you enjoy that?

The problem is that you don’t flow with your life. Life is always going to give you a new situation and a new challenge, but you should never be comfortable in any situation – good or bad – as everything is going to change.
When you sleep at night and dreams begin, you forget the so-called real world. When the dream is over, the cycle of deep sleep comes and then you leave behind the dream world too. Deep sleep brings the transition from real to dream world and this happens so smoothly that you are not even aware of its happening. Death too brings the change from this life to next, from this body to next body, and when death comes this life which seems real will be forgotten like a dream. As long as it is there, enjoy life!
But you cannot enjoy life if you don’t know what eternal is i.e. what is that which is non-changing. You can’t enjoy life if you are not aware of real joy which is not dependent on any outer source. Simply stating, if you do not know the art of being joyful how can you be joyous. For this, deeper understanding of life and its ways is to be learnt; one needs to be trained to be in joyousness. Now you are all trained to be pessimistic that is why you are picking on the negative points of people and nagging with people. But you are not able to pick up the good things in life. You are always looking at the half glass empty, not the half which is full. You never look at what you have but what you don’t have. Then you say, ‘why am I in misery? Why me?’

If you do not know the art of being joyful, how can you be joyous.
Know this one fundamental rule: ‘Change is the law’. Things are going to change; you should not be dependent on individuals or situations because they all can change anytime
Know this one fundamental rule: “Change is the law’. Things are going to change; you should not be dependent on individuals or situations because they all can change anytime. A friend can become a foe and a foe can become a friend anytime. When it happens you will be flabbergasted. You wonder how that happened. The only person or the only being you can depend upon is God alone. Learn to trust God; those who trust, they never feel sad, dejected or frustrated.

Surdas, a great blind saint said in one of his compositions that there is no better friend than Hari (God). He gave many examples sourced from mythology to prove his point. In Vishnu Purana there is a story of an elephant that was caught by a crocodile. Hari came running to crocodile’s rescue. He gave another example from Mahabharata where Krishna helped five brothers, the Pandavas, from every obstacle and they attained paradise with Lord’s grace. So, nobody can be better than Hari. Surdas says, “God will remove all your sufferings, sadness and difficulties, but the question is: Are you ready to be with God?” Now your love and attention for God is conditional. You think: God saved them, why shouldn’t He save me also? But it is not possible until your love for God is unconditional.

God will remove all your sufferings, sadness and difficulties, but the question is: Are you ready to be with God?
Who is a devotee? The one who can surrender to Lord without any question, whatever may happen. You have come to this world naked and you will go naked. In between these two situations, you see some people are with more money and stuff than others, some got name, fame, etc. but what is the difference? When you came out of your mother’s womb, you were not even wearing a nappy! You came out all naked. The day you die, as per Hindu custom, the body is covered with kafan (shroud) and taken to the cremation ground. Your daughter-in-laws, sons, daughters and all siblings together will make sure to remove all the jewelry, designer watches, solitaires which you savoured and wore with pride. If you had not made a will then they will get the thumb impression on the faked will. Today you have no time for doing sadhana or to seek God, your whole time is consumed in worldly pursuits. Wake up before it is too late. Pay attention to your upliftment now.

God cannot become your experience unless and until you make it as your priority and put all your energy, capabilities, will and volitions in exploring this
One old man went to a doctor as he couldn’t see clearly. Doctor examined him and said “you have cataract and surgery is required and it should be done as early as possible”. The old man thought why should I go for operation – I have 8 sons so I have 16 eyes, I have 8 daughters so another 16 eyes, my wife has 2 eyes, so in total I have 34 eyes. I am living in a house with thirty-four eyes, so why should I get operated. These eyes are more than enough for me and moreover how long will I live? Why waste money. One day a fire accident happened in his house and the whole house got engulfed in raging fire. Soon all the thirty-four eyes rushed out to save their lives, and old man was stuck as he had totally lost his vision. Once family was outside the house they realized that the old man is still in the house. It was too late for them to go inside. Since the old man couldn’t escape on his own, he got burned and died.
Who do you think is going to help you? You have no time for God. You are ‘ok’ with the concept of God. You have not explored God. You have not discovered God. You have not experienced God. For you God is just a concept. This concept has no root; it is not grounded and any communist can slash it away. Any misfortune, any hard situation shakes you up, and you begin to wonder – does God exist? It is just a concept, nothing more than that. You haven’t made it an experience. You just believe in God, and beliefs don’t work.
Once people used to believe that earth is sitting on the horn of a bull, and when the bull gets tired he shifts the earth from one horn to another which causes earthquakes. This is what people used to believe. Is it true? Once upon a time people believed that the earth is square and flat but now we don’t believe that. Now we know that the earth is round. Once it was believed that sun does the circumambulation of the earth and poor Galileo was executed in the king’s court for just saying this – It is the earth which is revolving around the sun and not the sun which revolves around the earth. But do we believe all this now? All beliefs keep on changing.
God should not be your belief. God should be your experience. God cannot become your experience unless and until you make it as your priority and put all your energy, capabilities, will and volitions in exploring this. If you are happy in the very convenient belief system, I have nothing against that. So be happy, as such the idiom says ‘fools live in paradise’. Fools are happy in their belief system. But wise ones will always explore what Truth is, what reality is. Surdas did that and found the fact that no one can be my true friend and I fully surrender and leave myself in His hands and whatever may happen in my life I am fine.