God is the only Truth

As soon as her body was lifted to take it to the cremation ground, people around started chanting “Ram Naam Satya Hai! Ram Naam Satya Hai!”. There was nothing unusual about the sight, this is the most common way in how “Hindu” families carry the bodies of those departed to the crematorium.
 “Ram Naam Satya Hai! Ram Naam Satya Hai!” People kept on reciting the mantra but my thoughts went back to the context in which Upashak ji had once shared the meaning of this mantra. He explained that the mantra carries the message that ‘God is only Truth’, and this we also can study from searching on Google. However only on bit pondering we realize that this call has no use to the departed, rather this is the “gist” being shared with those alive (i.e. those in the body). One who has left this body has anyways now come face to face with the fact that body and material world is temporal, but people who are alive will continue to consider this material world as the Truth. So the purpose of chanting “Ram Naam Satya Hai” is to remind people who are walking, sitting, standing, eating, drinking, working, slumbering etc that you still have the body, there is still time left so arise and fulfill purpose of your existence.
 “Bhai Prapat Manukh Dehuria, Gobind Milan Ki Eh Teri Baria !!”
 The Holy scriptures provide guidance to man that this human form that you have received is a means to reach God and if this opportunity is lost, then nothing else will matter. So be wise, do not waste life in acts that are temporal rather value what is to be valued.
 And if you make use of this opportunity and realize ‘Truth’ in its essence then you will be free, you will be ‘Mukt’, you will be redeemed as is promised in commandment below
 “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”.
 The message “Ram Naam Satya Hai” is so profound and important that this is to be remembered every moment, in every situation, be it someone’s death or someone’s birthday, be it good day or be it not so good day. This is how we can make our living meaningful and death beautiful.

(July 2015)

For the living ones

(Jan 2014)

We all had gathered to pay our tributes to the departed soul in form of a congregation. There were few speakers who talked about the life of the departed and inspired those present there to a virtuous living. Near the end of ceremony, there was a concluding discourse given by one saint. Among other things that he shared, he brought our attention to the fact that none of the speakers before him had prayed that the departed rests in peace. All speakers had talked about departed’s life, virtues and heavenly abode but not one had mentioned about departed’s resting in peace.

The saint explained further in his discourse that the reason why no one prayed for resting in peace today after the death is because the departed was already resting in peace while he was in the body. No one doubted that departed needed any prayers to come to rest. Often we hear this prayer for the deceased - ‘May his soul rest in peace’ – although there is nothing bad in praying this way but the messages given by saints and sages are to inspire us to ensure this “resting” state while we are in body.

As soon as I heard these words, I started to reflect on the life of the departed and found it so true that each interaction I have had or heard from others for him – all signalled that he was already established in peace. It is true that I didn’t have a worldly visibility of what happened to him after he left the body but chances of him continuing to rest in peace were far more than his state being changed all of a sudden. The reverse also has to be true (although there could be exceptions); if I haven’t lived in peace it would be a real high expectation to assume that I would rest in peace after death.

In that light of understanding, I have now started to relate this statement ‘Rest in peace’ more for the living ones than the departed ones. More like the message, ‘Raam naam satya hai’, i.e. God is the only Truth. This message heard on funerals is a reminder for the living ones; ones who still have time, the opportunity to alter their lifestyles to live in the awareness that God is the eternal Truth. The one departed has already come face to face with the eternal Truth, therefore requires no further reminders.

Day to day, we meet so many people, from so many different faith groups, so many different ideologies and at times we have different opinions over the same statement but the real experience of peace cannot be different to any of us. We may have different colours of utensils, different languages to speak, different foods to fill our stomach but what it is to be on “filled” stomach - our experience cannot be different. It is this ‘same’ state of peace that we need to strive for. And one who is there – is already resting in peace!

New to business

Just after Sheelu returned from his Israel trip, we all gathered around him in 1998. He started sharing his experiences, and one of the things that he shared was the words of his Cab driver who had said, "I am quite new to the driving business, its been just 50 years I got into this Job". Quite recently these words came back to my mind, how beautiful would it be if I start viewing others around with the same vision.
At times when I see people around not able to do what they have been learning since so many years, or even while seeing my own self, there are times when I get disheartned. Take example of spiritual world, anyone speaking about tolerance for past 50 years and yet not able to tolerate things...Before I judge any other person, may I remember this line that person is quite new to this Spiritual world, its been JUST 50 years. When I myself fail on the scale that I have set for myself, may I rememeber that I too am quite new to this Gyan..JUST 20 or so years...It takes a life time to imbibe these virtues of humility, love, compassion, tolerance and everything...and for me its been JUST 20 years of Gyan.

Onions

Just 4 days ago my roommate returned to India. These days it’s just me who has to cook for dinner and eat. With him I had to eat onions daily which I disliked. But he was fond of onions; in all dishes he would put onions. I don’t hate onions it’s just that for these 27-28 years I haven’t been able to appreciate onions. Today when I went downstairs for cooking, I was happy. After 4-5 months I would eat dinner cooked without onions. I had to prepare dinner just for self & now no one who would ask me to cut onions and use those chopped onions for dal/sabzi/rajma etc. I was happy. I couldn’t believe that the first thing I put in Paneer Sabzi was onions. All the taste developed in onion-less years changed in just 4 months. I felt that the dish won’t be as delicious if cooked without onion. My thought is not of onion but of my roommate. Rightly was & is said, company matters a lot. For these 4 months I kept company of someone who liked onion and I started liking onion despite the fact that I disliked them since birth.
I believe that’s what spiritual texts say when those mention, if you want to know about God, ask from the one who knows god. He would help you realize this Almighty which is hidden since these many years or even janams. It doesn’t matter how long one has lived without realization of God, but one touch from such God Realised soul makes you fall in love with God, with 24*7 hours contact. This Almighty has always been here and infront, whom to search then ? Search for the one who can help you realize this one.
Rightly said by the prophet, ‘Kismat’ means “Kis ki mat lete ho”. Company shapes your destiny. A perfume cannot give a smell of poison, so does the opposite. I now am able to appreciate my parents for their teachings, “choose your friends wisely”. All my friends have shaped my life till date, be it good habits or bad ones, I have picked all from the ones who were around me. For all those people who believed that earth was flat, earth was flat, but that didn’t change the shape of earth. Only once they made a company of person who said earth is round, did the reality come into existence.
I never knew what depth does word “love you” carried until I actually came in contact with someone who taught me what love means though I had heard about Love and often denied its existence. From this small life till date I have just understood all technological fundamentals I have learnt have come from the texts,teachers of that subject. However I should also add the practical experiments stood far ahead of what all I read in textual books. Only once I did experiments in practical , I understood what those texts were saying.
Well I remember solving questions in Mathematics. After struggling for hours, someone would share with me a simplified method of doing it. And thank God, I would then shift to the easier method. I think advisable is to do things in simplified manner. The longer method may be able to lead to same answer but chances of getting struck in middle are too many. Like the Nirma ad we saw in childhood days, “jab wahi mehnge daamo waali safaai kamm daamo mein mile, to koi woh kyun le, yeh na le ?”.

ज़रा गुनगुना लें चलो

ज़रा गुनगुना लें चलो, ज़रा मुस्कुरा लें चलो, ज़िंदगी से एक लम्हा फुरसत चुरा लें चलो !!

पल दो पल का है छोटा सा तराना, ज़िंदगी का है यही ताना बाना, यही लम्हा यादो में आना जाना, बीती बातों को जाने दो !!

I remember Babaji saying in Mumbai samagam- All that saints have been conveying is very simple but is not easily understood by people, had they understood, world would have been a heaven by this date.

Life seems to be too simple as these lines from the bollywood flick. But dont know why often we fail to understand the beauty that lies in this life. Probably 'Gyan'. People often complain about life and how it has been planned for them. Only saints or few blessed souls have the courage to speak positive about their lives despite the things they see in their lives.

I often wondered how these Bollywood songs contain the beauty that Gyan possesses. Then came the thought... Babaji !! When He can work through Jagat ji, Maan singh ji.. then why not Akhtar ji.