RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

I am a journalist. Earlier I was very much spiritual and used to go to temple daily. But when I came in journalism line, during my field job, I saw that pujaris are all fake and they do not have any shraddha. Now I don’t go to temple to pray. Please give me guidance what to do because when I go to temple all the ill scenes come in front of my eyes. Ruby

Gurumaa: Going to temples doesn’t make you spiritual. It is just a religious affair. Prayer has nothing to do with the priests and sadhus; it has everything to do with your feelings and emotions. So if you have it then how does it matter even if all sadhus and priests are corrupt! There is no need to go to temples. Temples were schools where people would go to learn the art of praying and the art of life. The teachers were saints, sages and sometimes they were true brahmins who were true practitioners of dharma. Nowadays there is dearth of true teachers, and temples have become more or less social clubs; there is no one to teach, it has become just a place to do ritualistic puja. But were you going there to see conduct of preists? Why should you bother about them? Your relationship should be with God and god is in you. Your relationship with god has nothing to do with external circumstances. Choose a guru who can teach you intricacies of prayer and bring the prayer in your life.

REAL PURPOSE OF OUR LIFE

I have been stuck in life since childhood. Not in a physical way but stuck in a philosophical way. Now my mind has become somewhat helpless: why religion is seen as part of philosophy? Is there any real purpose of our life? What one can do? Rakesh

Gurumaa: As such, there is no meaning of life yet it is the meaning which we give to life. This is the freedom given to us by divinity. What one needs is peace and clarity of mind to know and see the beauties of world, and if one doesn’t have this then life can be a hell. Philosophy is for those who are blind as they can’t see life hence they have to imagine, create theories about life and speculate further more. Religion without wisdom too is dead. A living religion gives you eyes to see truth and not a belief system to follow. Systems are meant for fools; a living person lives the life, lives the truth.
Blind person needs a cane to walk safely, what use would the cane be for the one who has eyes. Religion and philosophy are great dreams and many people live in it. The real person has eyes thus those are called Seers- one who has eyes to see truth – sees it and lives it. Rest just think about it. And the more they think about it, the more confused they are. Thinkers never agree on one point, they just argue and wrestle with their thoughts – always.
What use is the theory of life which doesn’t enrich you; what worth is that religion which doesn’t make you bondage free. Path to truth is via meditativeness so look for that alone.

THE STATUS OF WOMEN

Women in India are a battered and tortured lot. Why do they endure this?
Answer: the reason for women enduring all this is hidden in the misuse of certain things. Let’s look deeply into it. Surrender, humility, patience and tolerance are the natural attributes of a woman. Sure these are feminine attributes, but society has unjustly used them to suppress women. “You are a woman, so be tolerant; you are a woman, so be patient; you are a woman, so be giving. You are a woman, don’t question. Your job is to nurture!” And thus does society crush women and their rights, right there under its cruel thumb!

These noble qualities have nothing to do with your gender. But it has every thing to do with your mind. It is the feminine qualities of the mind, which, irrespective of your anatomy – whether male or female – the qualities of patience, endurance, tolerance and kindness – that make you human. It is not just women who are or should be kind, compassionate and giving, but these attributes – which are noble to say the least – should be expected from, and cultivated in men too.

If a mother complies with every wish of her son, then how will she teach him discrimination between good and bad, between long and short term goals? How can you say that command and authority are attributes alien to women? The ability to command and the ability to exercise authority are qualities intrinsic to womanhood, to motherhood, yet, they are qualities every individual should have. One should be able to discern when a command becomes a dictate.
Command need not necessarily be used as a tool to benefit another, but can also be used as a means of boosting one’s own ego, as a tool for tyranny. It is important to understand the difference between being ‘in command’ and being ‘a tyrant’. In India, a woman is always conditioned and often expected to display and practice her gentler feminine qualities, when she should really be doing the opposite. But no one ever taught her that! No one ever taught her how! So when her husband kicks, punches or slaps her, and even deprives her of food and freedom, she remains faithful to her upbringing and education: ‘Be patient, you are a woman’.
Well, men can do anything! Because a woman needs a man, he has been given a license by society, to have other women too. He always has an option. Therefore the fear of losing her nest, her shelter, her status – all given to her because of her husband, makes a woman so weak, that she becomes a door-mat. She becomes a punching bag for her husband, father-in-law, brother-in-law, mother-in-law, sister-in-law, or anyone else who cares to exploit her, subjugate her and torture her mentally and physically.
I feel very strongly that awareness is needed. We need education, we need to inform. I plan to publish a document, a small booklet maybe, in which we can give all the empowering information to young girls and women regarding their rights and duties. Our education system doesn’t give this information to girls, even women teachers are not informed. This flier will be distributed free to all girls’ schools, first in my own home state of Haryana, and then later on in Punjab, which is one of the worst affected regions, even more so than Delhi and Gujarat.
Money has to be raised for such activites; we are talking about reaching out to millions of girls. In each district there would be about forty to fifty thousand girls, and we are talking about providing them this information which is so vital, so important. It is really a big missing link, for they are not being taught or informed about the dignity and value of human life.
The right attitude has to be created which balances their personality, and then that balanced attitude can come into play when a woman interacts with other people.

Anachronism

“Why are you sitting at the crossroad, Mullah?”

“One day something will happen here and a crowd will gather. When that happens, I may not be able to get close enough. So I’m putting in my time now.”

Last years nests

“What are you doing in that tree Mullah?”
“Looking for eggs”.
“But those are last year’s nests!”
“Well, if you were a bird and wanted a safe place to lay eggs, would you build a new nest with everyone watching?”

Why ask me?

Nasrudin was riding along one day when his donkey took fright at something in its path and started to bolt. As he sped past them at an unaccustomed pace, some countrymen called out: “Where are you going so fast O Nasrudin?”
Mullah shouted, “Don’t ask me, ask my donkey!”

Old graves for new

“When I die,” said Nasrudin, “have me buried in an old grave.”
“Why?” asked his relatives.
“Because when Munkir and Nakir – the angels who record good and bad actions – come, I’ll be able to wave them on saying that this grave has been counted and entered for punishment already.”

Incomplete

Mullah Nasrudin surprised everyone by building his own tomb. At last, after one shortcoming after another had been corrected, the mason came to collect his money.
“It is not right yet, builder.”
“What more can be done with it?”
“We still have to supply the body.”

Truth

“What is truth?” a disciple asked Nasrudin.
“Something which I have never, at any time spoken, nor ever will.”

The Speculator

Nasrudin bought a large number of eggs and at once sold them at a lower price than he had bought them for. When asked why he did so he said: “Surely you don’t want me to be called a profiteer?”

One disciple is bragging about his master to the disciple of another master. He claims that his teacher is capable of all sorts of magical acts, like writing in the air with a brush, and having the characters appear on a piece of paper hundreds of feet away. ” And what can your master do?” he asks the other disciple. ” My master can also perform amazing feats,” the other student replies. ” When he’s tired, he sleeps. When hungry, he eats.”

Just for now, do not worry Just for now, do not be angry Honor life in all the ways Show gratitude for everything

What is Reiki?

Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by ‘laying on hands’ and is based on the idea that an unseen ‘life force energy’ flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. If one’s ‘life force energy’ is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy. The word reiki is made up of two Japanese words – rei which means ‘God’s Wisdom or the Higher Power’ and ki which is ‘life force energy’. So reiki actually means ‘spiritually guided life force energy’. Reiki is one of the more widely known forms of energy healing. Energy healing involves direct application of Chi for the purpose of strengthening the clients energy system (aura). Chi is the term used by Chinese mystics and martial artists for the underlying force of which the universe is made of. Mystics in all cultures have talked about the physical universe being made of an underlying form of something, much as modern physics research is now coming to understand that the universe is made of energy which is subject to (or affected by) thought. Just as modern physics says that this energy is affected by thought, the mystics also say that this underlying form is affected by thought, going as far as to claim that we create our own reality from our thoughts and those we share amongst us every day. Stop and reflect on this for a moment. Imagine the implication of the fact that the universe around us is made from energy and can be shaped and manipulated by thought.

I invoke the healing Buddha and the Master Spirits of Reiki. I ask that my channel be pure and clean. Without fear and with honor and love for all.

The Ideals of reiki happened to Dr Usui after years of meditation. These principles came in part from the five prinicples of the Meiji emperor of Japan, whom Dr. Usui admired. The Ideals were developed to add spiritual balance to his practice. The purpose is to help people realize that healing the spirit by consciously deciding to improve oneself is a necessary part of the reiki healing experience. In order for the reiki healing energies to have lasting results, the client must accept responsibility for his healing and take an active part in it. Therefore, the Usui system of reiki is more than just the use of the reiki energy. It must also include an active commitment to improve oneself in order for it to be a complete system. The Ideals are both guidelines for- living a gracious life and virtues worthy of practice for their inherent value:

The secret art of inviting happiness The miraculous medicine for all diseases Just for today, do not be angry Do not worry; be filled with gratitude Devote yourself to your work.
Be kind to people Every morning and evening, join your hands in prayer Pray these words to your heart Chant these words.

The power of energy is the reason for matter to exist. Thought is more powerful than any thing in the world. One thought can bring a revolution, transformation, upliftment. Can we really say that a thought which is not even visible to the eye can change the destiny of an individual, of society, of a country or of the whole world? Indeed it can!
Modern physicist say energy has formed the whole world and mystics said that this very energy which is inherent in the world can change form too. A thought can bring abouy a change in the body, as the body is nothing but a form of energy. Hindus called it ‘shakti’, the Chinese called it ‘chi’ and scientists call it ‘energy’. This is the implication of both quantum physics and ancient metaphysics. Could this make some diseases easier to explain, especially those which have no apparent physical cause? Could this make miraculous cures easier to explain? Today modern science accepts that 70% of human diseases are psychosomatic, i.e. the mind is responsible for the disease – therefore, until we cure the mind, the body cannot be totally healthy.
There was a research study done a couple years ago, which showed that prayer improves the health of those who are prayed for. The focus of intent in the prayer sends thoughts out in the form of ‘I wish such this to happen’. So, if the world is energy which is subject to the power of thought, then prayers must work (depending on how clearly and carefully you hold and elaborate on the prayer or thought). Remember this while practicing reiki or while praying.
Reiki is very easy to learn, very simple to use and beneficial for all. It is one of the many forms of healing through the use of natural forces which were given the name of ‘chi’ by ancient Chinese mystics. Some forms of healing using chi energy forces are Chi Gong, Pranic Healing, Chelation (as taught by Brabara Brennan and Rosalyn Bruyere), and Polarity Balancing. All (apparently) use the same energies, with the difference being in the techniques of application.
A treatment feels like a wonderful glowing radiance that flows through and around you. Reiki treats the whole person – the body, emotions, mind and spirit – creating many beneficial effects that include relaxation and feelings of peace, security and wellbeing. Many have reported miraculous results.

Reiki is this love which allows us to transcend our wounds and helps us remember our true nature

An amazingly simple technique to learn, the ability to use reiki is not taught in the usual sense, but is transferred to the student during a reiki class. This ability is passed on during an ‘attunement’ given by a reiki master and allows the student to tap into an unlimited supply of ‘life force energy’ to improve health and enhance the quality of life.
Its use is not dependent on one’s intellectual capacity or spiritual development and therefore is available to everyone. It has been successfully taught to thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds.
While reiki is spiritual in nature, it is not a religion. It has no dogma, and there is nothing you must believe in order to learn and use reiki. In fact, reiki is not dependent on belief at all and will work whether you believe in it or not. Because reiki comes from god, many people find that using reiki puts them in greater touch with the experience of their religion rather than having only an intellectual concept of it.
But one issue has to be addressed seriously: many people have used this humanitarian service as a business. You cannot be a true reiki practioner if you have worldly or ulterior motives for its practice, or where the patient is not your friend but a client who will fill your coffers. Compassion, universal brotherhood and selfless love should be the basis of your practice. While reiki is not a religion, it is still important to live and act in a way that promotes harmony with others. Dr. Mikao Usui, the founder of the reiki system of natural healing, recommended that in order to promote peace and harmony, one practice certain simple ethical ideals which are universal across all cultures.
Energy is present everywhere and the teacher helps the student to tap into his or her reservoir of energy. Energy is in abundance and present everywhere, the healer just becomes a channel through whom the energy or force flows to the patient. I’m reluctant to definitively say that reiki uses chi, because I am not an expert on what the Chinese mean by this word. To me the force referred to by the name of chi is the same as prana, orgone or odic – they are all names for the same force.
As the word reiki means ‘universal life force energy’, it, strictly speaking, refers to the energy and not to the specific techniques taught by reiki masters. The techniques are more properly called the ‘Usui System of Natural Healing’ after the founder of the system, Dr. Mikao Usui. However, as reiki is the common name, and a fine name at that, this is the name we will use here.
A reiki healing is performed very simply. The practitioner places his or her hands upon the person to be healed with the intent of healing to occur, and then the energy begins to flow. The reiki energy is smart since the ‘universe’ is a very smart place indeed. The energy knows where to go and what to do once it gets there, or else is being directed by a higher intelligence. The energy manages its own flow to and within the recipient. It draws through the healer exactly the amount of energy which the recipient needs. All this happens without direct conscious intervention by the healer. The healers job is to get out of the way, to keep the healing space open and to watch and listen for signs of what to do next.

Reiki’s Capabilities

Reiki is a simple, natural and safe method of spiritual healing and self-improvement that everyone can use. It has been effective in helping virtually every known illness and malady and always has a beneficial effect. It also works in conjunction with all other medical or therapeutic techniques to relieve side effects and to promote recovery

Reiki is capable of healing anything because it works at the fundamental levels of reality. Even though the capability is there, this is not what always happens. The limits to reiki seem to be in the recipients willingness to cast off old habits and patterns, to accept change and to accept healing. The level of reality where reiki operates is the underlying energy structure of matter, as the physical matter we see around us is a solidified form of energy. Remember Einsteins famous equation which says that each unit of mass is equivalent to a certain amount of energy? At the level where reiki functions, anything can be changed because all is fluid-like and very malleable. Or so is the theory and the experience of reiki practitioners. Emotional problems are just as healable as physical ones, as emotional issues are even more directly present in the energy structures.
In this context, the word ‘healing’ has a somewhat different meaning from the widely accepted one. The widely accepted meaning for healing seems to be a curing of symptoms, for that seems to be what medical doctors and the like seek to do in their practice. The other meaning of healing, used in the practice of reiki, as well as other related systems, is the return to greater wholeness.There is an ideal form each of us has; this ideal form being the highest and clearest expression of who we are. Pain or disease comes from any deviation of the persons current form in the three dimensional physical world from his ideal form. Healing then, is to bring the physical form in closer alignment with the ideal form.

The way we deviate from our ideal form is by accepting limitations in our life. Most of this comes from early childhood, because that is the phase of life where we are the most open and inquisitive about life. A limitation may be a parent yelling “BE QUIET!!” so often that the child learns to not speak. Another limitation may be a limp that continues long after the physical injury has healed, maybe even with phantom pain. These limitations are behavior patterns, eating patterns, physical limitations, imagined physical limitations, psychological, mental or emotional ways of being, living, expressing or loving that are not in alignment with our personal highest expression.
In any healing, the goal is to find the limitation, recognize the pattern, recognize where it came from and then to let it go. Reiki accomplishes this by providing the recipient with enough to step above (metaphorically), to see all that, and to have the courage to let go. Usually this does not happen consciously as a result of reiki, but sometimes it happens that reiki gives the recipient the conscious awareness of the pattern and recognition of where it came from. Our lives are a constant flow of patterns of activity (like the pattern used to accomplish eating breakfast) and it is our choice to have these patterns remain stuck in limited expression or to release the old patterns and try new and shinier ones.
Reiki is also a gateway, shining pure love into the universe. It is this love which allows us to transcend our wounds and helps us remember our true nature. My vision is to have everybody in the world know reiki and use it in their lives. This is not a utopian vision that instantly creates a world of complete harmony and total peace. Yet having reiki allows greater peace and harmony to flow. Over time, the healing of the worlds ills will be accomplished, and with reiki in the hands of everyone, that day will come more quickly.
Reiki is a wonderful gift which can be shared by all.
In this vision, each new teacher of reiki increases the rate at which reiki spreads. The growth is exponential, as more people teach and spread this gift. It is like a flame being passed on from person to person, lighting a light within each person it touches – like lighting a candle does not diminish the flame, rather there is more light.

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.

• one is eating more than required
• second is the lack of exercise

It is wrong to consider the lower metabolic rate and the deficiency of thyroid activity, the ultimate cause; these are just the symptoms resulting from a cause. Sedentary life style coupled with binge eating is the recipe for fat accumulation and overweight. The fat belly is not only unattractive, it can be downright dangerous for your health. Extra fat around abdomen increases the risk of high blood pressure and heart diseases. This may lead to a situation where one has to even face the isolation risk from the society, which further aggravates the serious condition.Reducing fat levels requires a natural approach that doesn’t come from popping diet pills or gulping down foul tasty drinks. One has to maintain healthy nutrition and control dietary habits. Here are some quick tips to stay healthy

• Food should be consumed in smaller portions with more proteins and slightly less processed carbohydrates.
• Drink maximum water as it aids in digestion, fullness and fat burning and flushes out toxins from the body.
• Avoid sedentary life as much as you can.
• Instead of taking a bus, walk.
• Instead of using the remote to change the channel, get up and do it yourself.

These are just quick examples to get you started.

For keeping the body healthy and fat free, yoga plays a vital role. Yoga is considered as a three way approach for body, mind and soul. Where stress is one of the grounds for binge eating, yoga controls everything. Yoga can be performed in many ways- in the form of asanas, pranayamas and mudras. Nadishodhana, suryabhedna and anulom vilom are the best pranayamas to keep body fat free. Not all the pranayamas are advised for everyone until and unless you are totally healthy.At last but not the least, adopt positive approach towards life. Positive thinking and natural living are the ways to life a healthy and joyous life.

Dr. Manushi Sood.

Be patient

It is not easy at first to be there as the witnessing Presence, especially when the ego is in survival mode, but once you have had a taste of it, you will grow in Presence power, and the ego will lose its grip on you. The ultimate purpose of human existence, that is to say, your purpose, is to bring that power into the world.

Do This Now

Sit erect. Your spine should be straight. You can sit in any posture – on a cushion, in a chair; just be comfortable; it doesn’t really make a difference as long as your spine is straight and you don’t move your body. And you need to keep your eyes closed all the time. Be aware of your breath; feel the air flowing in and out of your body; feel your inner energy field. All that you ever have to deal with, cope with, in real life—as opposed to imaginary mind projections — is this moment. Ask yourself what ‘problem’ you have right now, not next year, tomorrow, or five minutes from now. What is wrong with this moment?
Breathe in through the left nostril, exhaling from the right and then inhaling from the right and exhaling from the left. This completes one cycle (chakra). You need to do fifteen such chakras.
Be conscious! Experience the flow of air going in through your nostril and then feel the expansion of the lungs. You need not breathe with an effort; just take a deep long breath and the rest will happen on its own. When these bodily changes are taking place, be aware of them; feel them.

It is not easy at first to be there as the witnessing Presence, especially when the ego is in survival mode, but once you have had a taste of it, you will grow in Presence power, and the ego will lose its grip on you

Breathing in the right manner is a wonderful meditation technique by itself. Anybody who learns to do this, will usually not need to do anything else. Now we will start and do fifteen cycles.
Take the posture described earlier and start with your right hand. Do not jerk it – let the movement be as smooth as silk. Enjoy every breath that is going in; every breath is life, precious life!
Listen to my words attentively. Take your awareness towards your feet. You don’t have to move your feet, all you have to do is feel them wherever they are. First feel your right foot, keep moving upwards slowly towards the calf and then the knee, the thigh and the hip. Then slowly move towards the left foot and slowly feel your whole leg, moving the awareness upward. Now, sitting cross-legged as you are, feel both your legs together, you don’t have to move them; just feel them.
Now bring your awareness to your hands. Starting from your right, wherever it is, take your awareness to it, and starting from the palm, go on to the wrist, lower arm, elbow, upper arm and then the shoulder – just feel them one by one. Now move to your left arm and go upwards slowly in the same fashion. Feel your fingers, thumb, palm, wrist and so on. You don’t have to move them, just feel them. Now bring your awareness to your stomach and feel it. Feel the entire stomach and then the chest. Your stomach is expanding because of the deep breathing and it goes in once you breathe out. Feel the movement of the stomach – on inhalation it expands and on exhalation it contracts. Breathe and feel the expansion and contraction of your stomach.

Now feel that when you breathe in, all divinity, all purity, all sacredness is going into you and with every exhalation, all your negativities and all your darkness is going out

Keep your concentration on your stomach. Every time you breathe in, do so as if this is your last breath; take it in with all your enthusiasm. If you are unable to feel the movement of your stomach, then bring your attention towards your chest. Maybe your breath is too shallow. So, if your breath is short, then in that case as you inhale, your chest expands and as you exhale your chest contracts. So feel either your stomach or your chest in this inhalation and exhalation exercise.
Now again take all your attention towards your hips; hips that are touching the floor, and from there to the rug, to the asana; starting from there, move upwards towards your back. Starting from your hip, go up your entire back up to your neck and then take all your awareness towards your head! Now move towards the front to your forehead, feel your forehead then your eyes, which are still closed, your nose which is taking in the breath, your mouth, tongue and teeth; feel your jaws and then your throat. Now again, from the throat to the jaws, the mouth, nose, eyes, forehead, head, nape of the neck and then the neck again. Just feel them all!

Every time the breath goes in, divinity goes in

Now feel your entire body, starting from toe to head. Then visualize your own body sitting, see your own body sitting, right from the toes of your feet to the crown of your head. Keep taking deep breaths and keep exhaling deeply; concentrate your whole awareness on your breath and your entire body.
Our body is getting purified. While taking this profound breath, every breath that is going in is filling you inside with all the divine qualities, with beautiful, chaste qualities; visualize that every breath you exhale is taking all your vices, all your impurities with it. And every time the breath goes in, divinity goes in; sublimity comes in. Now feel that when you breathe in, all divinity, all purity, all sacredness is going into you and with every exhalation, all your negativities and all your darkness is going out; out! In comes the good health and out go the diseases of the body and the mind, and you are becoming pristine; you are becoming divine. You are becoming pure and chaste, you are becoming beautiful!
Breathe in as if god is going in with your breath. Breathe in as if god himself is going inside you with all his energy. Keep your eyes closed all the time. And keep your attention on yourself, your body and on your breath.
Now all of you fold your hands and keep them right in front of your heart and say this prayer with me:

The ultimate purpose of human existence, that is to say, your purpose, is to bring that power into the world

Thank you god for these moments!
O god, I thank you again and again for these moments, these moments of meditation, these moments of acquiring knowledge about you, these moments of devotional practice that you have given to me. I bow my head and offer salutations to you in all humility.

O god, I bow my head to you. O god, I want to live my life only on your faith, and with your benevolence I wish to devote my whole life to devotional practices. O god, I thank you for these moments and seek your blessings. I need your shakti and your grace to live my life on the spiritual path. O god, please guide us.

Q: What is the cause of the inequality that exists among mankind?
Q: Why should one person be brought up in the lap of luxury, endowed with fine mental, moral and physical qualities, and another in absolute poverty, steeped in misery?
Q: Why should one person be a mental prodigy, and another an idiot?
Q: Why should one person be born with saintly characteristics and another with criminal tendencies?
Q: Why should some be linguistic, artistic, mathematically inclined, or musical from the very cradle?
Q: Why should others be congenitally blind, deaf, or deformed?
Q: Why should some be blessed, and others cursed from their births?

Either this inequality of mankind has a cause, or it is purely accidental. No sensible person would think of attributing this unevenness, this inequality, and this diversity to blind chance or pure accident.
In this world nothing happens to a person that he does not for some reason or other deserve. Usually, men of ordinary intellect cannot comprehend the actual reason or reasons. The definite invisible cause or causes of the visible effect is not necessarily confined to the present life, they may be traced to a proximate or remote past birth.
According to Buddhism, this inequality is due not only to heredity, environment, “nature and nurture”, but also to Karma. In other words, it is the result of our own past actions and our own present doings. We ourselves are responsible for our own happiness and misery. We create our own Heaven. We create our own Hell. We are the architects of our own fate.
Perplexed by the seemingly inexplicable, apparent disparity that existed among humanity, a young truth-seeker approached the Buddha and questioned him regarding this intricate problem of inequality:
“What is the cause, what is the reason, O Lord,” questioned he, “that we find amongst mankind the short-lived and long-lived, the healthy and the diseased, the ugly and beautiful, those lacking influence and the powerful, the poor and the rich, the low-born and the high-born, and the ignorant and the wise?”
The Buddha’s reply was:

Karma includes all that comes under the phrase “thought, word & deed”

“All living beings have actions (Karma) as their own, their inheritance, their congenital cause, their kinsman, their refuge. It is Karma that differentiates beings into low and high states.”
He then explained the cause of such differences in accordance with the law of cause and effect.
Certainly we are born with hereditary characteristics. At the same time we possess certain innate abilities that science cannot adequately account for. To our parents we are indebted for the gross sperm and ovum that form the nucleus of this so-called being. They remain dormant within each parent until this potential germinal compound is vitalised by the karmic energy needed for the production of the foetus. Karma is therefore the indispensable conceptive cause of this being.
The accumulated karmic tendencies, inherited in the course of previous lives, at times play a far greater role than the hereditary parental cells and genes in the formation of both physical and mental characteristics.
The Buddha, for instance, inherited, like every other person, the reproductive cells and genes from his parents. But physically, morally and intellectually there was none comparable to him in his long line of Royal ancestors. In the Buddha’s own words, he belonged not to the Royal lineage, but to that of the Aryan Buddhas. He was certainly a superman, an extraordinary creation of his own Karma.
According to the Lakkhana Sutta of Digha Nikaya, the Buddha inherited exceptional features, such as the 32 major marks, as the result of his past meritorious deeds. The ethical reason for acquiring each physical feature is clearly explained in the Sutta.
It is obvious from this unique case that karmic tendencies could not only influence our physical organism, but also nullify the potentiality of the parental cells and genes – hence the significance of the Buddha’s enigmatic statement, – “We are the heirs of our own actions.”
Dealing with this problem of variation, the Atthasalini, being a commentary on the Abhidharma, states:
“Depending on this difference in Karma appears the differences in the birth of beings, high and low, base and exalted, happy and miserable. Depending on the difference in Karma appears the difference in the individual features of beings as beautiful and ugly, high-born or low born, well-built or deformed. Depending on the difference in Karma appears the difference in worldly conditions of beings, such as gain and loss, and disgrace, blame and praise, happiness and misery.”
Thus, from a Buddhist point of view, our present mental, moral, intellectual and temperamental differences are, for the most part, due to our own actions and tendencies, both past and present.
Although Buddhism attributes this variation to Karma, as being the chief cause among a variety, it does not, however, assert that everything is due to Karma. The law of Karma, important as it is, is only one of the twenty-four conditions described in Buddhist Philosophy.
According to Buddhism, there are five orders or processes (niyama) which operate in the physical and mental realms.

They are:

Utu Niyama – physical inorganic order, e.g. seasonal phenomena of winds and rains. The unerring order of seasons, characteristic seasonal changes and events, causes of winds and rains, nature of heat, etc., all belong to this group.

Bija Niyama – order of germs and seeds (physical organic order), e.g. rice produced from rice-seed, sugary taste from sugar-cane or honey, peculiar characteristics of certain fruits, etc. The scientific theory of cells and genes and the physical similarity of twins may be ascribed to this order.
Karma Niyama – order of act and result, e.g., desirable and undesirable acts produce corresponding good and bad results. As surely as water seeks its own level so does Karma, given opportunity, produce its inevitable result, not in the form of a reward or punishment but as an innate sequence. This sequence of deed and effect is as natural and necessary as the way of the sun and the moon.
Dhamma Niyama – order of the norm, e.g., the natural phenomena occurring at the advent of a Bodhisattva in his last birth. Gravitation and other similar laws of nature. The natural reason for being good and so forth, may be included in this group.
Citta Niyama – order or mind or psychic law, e.g., processes of consciousness, arising and perishing of consciousness, constituents of consciousness, power of mind, etc., including telepathy, telaesthesia, retro-cognition, premonition, clairvoyance, clairaudience, thought-reading and such other psychic phenomena which are inexplicable to modern science.
Every mental or physical phenomenon could be explained by these all-embracing five orders or processes which are laws in themselves. Karma as such is only one of these five orders. Like all other natural laws they demand no lawgiver.
Of these five, the physical inorganic order and the order of the norm are more or less mechanistic, though they can be controlled to some extent by human ingenuity and the power of mind. For example, fire normally burns, and extreme cold freezes, but man has walked scatheless over fire and meditated naked on Himalayan snows; horticulturists have worked marvels with flowers and fruits; Yogis have performed levitation. Psychic law is equally mechanistic, but Buddhist training aims at control of mind, which is possible by right understanding and skilful volition. Karma law operates quite automatically and, when the Karma is powerful, man cannot interfere with its inexorable result though he may desire to do so; but here also right understanding and skilful volition can accomplish much and mould the future. Good Karma, persisted in, can thwart the reaping of bad Karma, or as some Western scholars prefer to say ‘action influence’, is certainly an intricate law whose working is fully comprehended only by a Buddha. The Buddhist aims at the final destruction of all Karma.

What is Karma?

The Pali term Karma literally means action or doing. Any kind of intentional action whether mental, verbal, or physical, is regarded as Karma. It covers all that is included in the phrase “thought, word and deed”. Generally speaking, all good and bad action constitutes Karma. In its ultimate sense Karma means all moral and immoral volition. Involuntary, unintentional or unconscious actions, though technically deeds, do not constitute Karma, because volition, the most important factor in determining Karma, is absent.

The Buddha says:
“I declare, O Bhikkhus, that volition is Karma. Having willed one acts by body, speech, and thought.” (Anguttara Nikaya)

Every volitional action of individuals, save those of Buddhas and Arahants, is called Karma. The exception made in their case is because they are delivered from both good and evil; they have eradicated ignorance and craving, the roots of Karma.
“Destroyed are their germinal seeds (Khina bija); selfish desires no longer grow,” states the Ratana Sutta of Sutta nipata.
This does not mean that the Buddha and Arahantas are passive. They are tirelessly active in working for the real well being and happiness of all. Their deeds ordinarily accepted as good or moral, lack creative power as regards themselves. Understanding things as they truly are, they have finally shattered their cosmic fetters – the chain of cause and effect.
Karma does not necessarily mean past actions. It embraces both past and present deeds. Hence in one sense, we are the result of what we were; we will be the result of what we are. In another sense, it should be added, we are not totally the result of what we were; we will not absolutely be the result of what we are. The present is no doubt the offspring of the past and is the present of the future, but the present is not always a true index of either the past or the future; so complex is the working of Karma.
It is this doctrine of Karma that the mother teaches her child when she says “Be good and you will be happy and we will love you; but if you are bad, you will be unhappy and we will not love you.” In short, Karma is the law of cause and effect in the ethical realm.

Karma and Vipaka

Karma is action, and Vipaka, fruit or result, is its reaction.
Just as every object is accompanied by a shadow, even so every volitional activity is inevitably accompanied by its due effect. Karma is like potential seed: Vipaka could be likened to the fruit arising from the tree – the effect or result. Anisamsa and Adinaya are the leaves, flowers and so forth that correspond to external differences such as health, sickness and poverty – these are inevitable consequences, which happen at the same time. Strictly speaking, both Karma and Vipaka pertain to the mind.
As Karma may be good or bad, so may Vipaka, – the fruit – is good or bad. As Karma is mental so Vipaka is mental (of the mind). It is experienced as happiness, bliss, unhappiness or misery, according to the nature of the Karma seed. Anisamsa are the concomitant advantages – material things such as prosperity, health and longevity. When Vipaka’s concomitant material things are disadvantageous, they are known as Adinaya, full of wretchedness, and appear as poverty, ugliness, disease, short life-span and so forth.
As we sow, we reap somewhere and sometime, in his life or in a future birth. What we reap today is what we have sown either in the present or in the past.
While we are born to a state created by ourselves, yet by our own self-directed efforts there is every possibility for us to create new, favourable environments even here and now. Not only individually, but also, collectively, we are at liberty to create fresh Karma that leads either towards our progress or downfall in this very life.
According to the Buddhist doctrine of Karma, one is not always compelled by an ‘iron necessity’, for Karma is neither fate, nor predestination imposed upon us by some mysterious unknown power to which we must helplessly submit ourselves. It is one’s own doing reacting on oneself, and so one has the possibility to divert the course of one’s Karma to some extent. How far one diverts it depends on oneself.