Share/Care/Count your blessings

Hearing a real story about a old man has made me very sad.This person is more than 65 years of age and has two daughters who are married.He has been working as a supervisor in a hostel and was earning around 6000 rupees Per month.From April there has been no salary since most people in the hostel have vacated and gone back to their native place and the owner himself is  Suffering from loss.Also this old man could not travel Since there is no  public transport. If he could travel to office everyday he can get something but due to transport issues he couldn’t go.

Both of his daughters are working and give him rupees 3000 and  rupees 2000 respectively. That is the maximum they can afford.That is the only source of income for him and his wife.Luckily he educated both his daughters and they are graduates.

Since I personally Know this family I felt really sad hearing this.The hostel owner is actually a businessman in Oman, I don’t think affording 6000 Rupees a month for his employee should be a big burden.

This has put me into lot of thinking.

Employers have to be considerate of their employees.Investing on child's education is really important.There is no point thinking that each person undergo their karma, we need to be empathetic and see what we can do to reach out to others.

Be a minimalist, how much ever we earn it’s not right to live life in an extravagant way. Be simple. Learn to share. What we earn is not for us alone. It should be like a ripple extending from ourselves, to our family, to extended family and to the whole society. Charity is our duty, not a choice. To set aside certain portion of our income for the needy is a must.

Always remember “ Anonymousity is sacred”.

I am reminded of the definition of communism from the tamil  movie Kathi. “ The next idli you eat after your hunger is over, does not belong to you”.

Count your blessings. If we have food to eat, a house to stay and a family to care for us we are indeed very lucky and blessed. Never complaint. Be Thankful.

Hymn:

“ When upon life billows you are tempest toast,

When you are discouraged thinking all his lost,

Count your many blessings name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

Count your blessings name them one by one,

Count your blessings see what God has done,

Count your blessings name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord has done”.

Synchronization between the inner and outer

 Have you wondered what “Reaching  God” means?

Yes it’s a blessing to visit a holy place or to see God in our dreams/ meditation. But that is not reaching God. Reaching God means imbibing Godly attributes like love,kindness, compassion, empathy etc.

Man cannot become God but his nature can become God like. Yes character formation is the highest morale and it seems to me like the most superior goal/ the end.

What kind of character we should aim at?

As human beings we are first of all expected to have a discrimination between good and bad. 

When we have good thoughts and feelings which does not materialize into action, it is incomplete.

Similarly a good deed if it’s not backed up by good thoughts and feelings it is incomplete too.

There is completion only when there is a perfect synchronization between the inner thoughts and feelings and the outer action.Once we establish this flow our work is done.

First of all we need to question if our thoughts and feelings are good, and if so are they transformed into right action, if not identify what are the blockages(eg: we may have good intentions but may be lazy to put them into action )and work on removing them.

Same way if deeds seem good but intentions are not good the blockage has to be identified and removed.

( eg: we may do something just out of compulsion or namesake without good feeling in the heart).

Once we remove our blockages there can be further test from nature in terms of new situations which will reveal to us part of ourselves unknown to us, slowly we should work on maintaining the equilibrium between our thoughts, words and actions even  while facing tests. Once we are able to achieve this balance/equilibrium between our inner and outer we are almost done. Such a character is a priceless jewel and indeed the real goal which we should target.This is the moderation we need to achieve.May God bless us all with wonderful character.

Why meditation

 Well I started meditating from age of 18 without really knowing why we need to meditate. By chance I came across a guru and was convinced by His teachings and I started my journey. It does give you wonderful experiences but why should anyone really meditate?With passage of time have learnt And still learning about the need for meditation in everybody’s life.

1. Meditation beautifies the place we live

Well we don’t really live in India/ Dubai/ Europe nor do we live in a villa/ a studio or an apartment.

Wherever we may be physically, we actually live in our thoughts and feelings. We dwell in our consciousness and continuous practice of meditation makes our consciousness pure and clean.

2. Learn to enjoy our own company 

Well we may be a group leader with a great social life or may be blessed with a bestie always by our side to discuss about everything. Well there is no harm in socializing, but still everyone should realize not always all the people can come with us in life. Sooner or later every human being will be confronted to situation where there may be alone.When we practice mediation regularly we will never feel lonely even if we are alone. It will teach us to enjoy our own company.

3. Meditation will give us attitude shift

There were times when I have not meditated due to hectic schedule.Sometimes this has prolonged to a greater span of time. Then when I take a break and restart meditation within a weeks time I could notice shift in attitude. Meditation converts irritation to empathy, anger to love, fear to faith, worry to Faith and anxiety to joy.

4. Not all is well all the time

When things go fine in life naturally we will be in high spirits but what about the times when things don’t go well. Even in those desperate moments meditation helps us to maintain calm.

5. Meditation is not a escapism from the duties of life

Yes meditation is a passive activity. But it’s not a escapism from our worldly duties. It gives energy to do our duties well.

6. Induces Acceptance 

Prolonged practice of meditation induces a feeling of acceptance in our heart. Life is always full of changes. When we accept, we are with the flow of nature and co operating  with the flow of life makes the journey easy for us.

7. Makes us open and removes shyness 

My guruji says that “shyness is a manifestation of ego”.With regular meditation practice, shyness melts away and a person becomes more open and courageous to reveal themselves or express their thoughts and feelings.Meditation gives a person the courage to accept their mistakes and always speak the truth.

8. Supports simplicity 

When we understand joy lies within, we no longer have interest in complex things.No more interest to go here and there or buy this and that to find joy.I would say simplicity and meditation are twins.It brings simplicity in our thoughts, attitude,words and lifestyle.

9. Meditation is a way of life but misunderstood as something to be done at old age

Most common misunderstanding about meditation is that it’s something to be done after retirement as it is something which is associated with liberation or higher goal of life and young age is the time to enjoy the material aspects of worldly existence. But I would say that meditation is a way of life not something to be done at end of life(first of all we never know how long) and secondly it helps us handle the ups and downs of life in a matured and brave manner.Suddenly we can’t learn to meditate when things go bad, we should keep learning/practicing  it all the time.

10. Meditation is not associated with any religion 

Whatever may be a our religious background, there is no barrier for meditation. It’s open to all human beings who are only “willing” to try.

These are only some hints about the benefits of  meditation.Meditation offers much more.I only pray that we all take some time to meditate everyday and to gradually live every moment in a state of meditation. May God bless us all in this pursuit.

Check out Heartsapp to connect to a Heartfulness meditation trainer. Visit www.heartfulness.org for getting more details about meditation.