Swami Vivekananda

First believe in the world - then there is meaning behind everything.

Dont look back - look forward, with infinite energy, infinite enthusiasm, infinite daring, and infinite patience - then alone can great deeds be accomplished.

I, for one, thoroughly believe that no power in the universe can withhold from anyone anything they really deserve,

“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is way great spiritual giants are produced.”

“You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.”

“We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.”

“In one word, this ideal is that you are divine.”

The will is not free - it is a phenomenon bound by cause and effect - but there is something behind the will which is free.”

“That man has reached immortality who is disturbed by nothing material.”

The Making of History!

In the past few months - I have been amazed by the people in this country. The whole process of the elections, the campaigns, the supports, the cheers, the degree of responsibility on the individual level! And it finally paid off - last night November 4th 2008 - marked the beginning of Change.

I was fortunate enough to witness it and be present in Grand Park Chicago - screaming and cheering with the crowd. I have never seen anything like it before. The coming together of an entire city on the streets - the support - the love - the hopes on peoples faces - the connection that every single person made with another - just to express their happiness and validate it - in others as well. I even heard an adorable 4 year old girl scream "Obama" in her mothers arms - it was all surreal.

Just before the results - I texted one of my friends - "Happy Election Day" - in response to that I got a text back that said - "I don't Vote." My mind blanked for a minute. How can you not vote? Are you seriously kidding me?

After the election results - another friend of mine put his status on facebook as - "I dont really Care..." - I thought I was going to faint - in shock! How can you not care? May be if I sent you to live in countries like India, Afghanistan, Iraq or even Pakistan - then you will really know what it means to "Not Care." The only thing that is worse than war and hatred is "indifference."

I am Indian by birth - I was born and raised there. A country that is politically challenged - the people who run the government are the ones who have committed the most heinous crimes possible - they are full of greed, have no education, the don't give a damn about the common average man and they usually get their votes by sheer use of force and pointing a gun at anyone who wont support them!

The reasons are obvious of why I chose to move and live in the United States.

This country amazes me. Every day. I know no country is perfect. We all have our struggles. And yet the United States of America - is way more blessed - way more fortunate than so many other countries. And yesterday was a big example of that.

Although I live here - I cannot vote - because I'm not an American citizen yet.. someday I will be - but not yet. And it pained me that I was left out - I wasn't allowed to vote. But that didn't stop me for supporting my leader in every way that I could. It didn't stop me from praying towards it, for it. I voted in my heart and in my mind.

And when I see Americans who don't vote - who don't care - who don't use their individual power towards change - it just aches me - I wanna tell them give me your vote and I will use it to support the right people. I would like to use my power towards change.

I ask all of those people again - how can you not care? How can you take for granted this country that you live in? How can you not know that a country is what it is and what it can be only through the people who live in it. "You are your country." The whole is only as good as its parts! Wake up - to the responsibility and the power within you as an individual. No man can live in isolation. We are connected in innumerable ways. Whether we know it or not - we impact and influence each other with our thoughts and actions. There is no denying it.

So lets just wake up to it. There is no time to waste. All of us right now have the good fortune to live in this time and age - its the making of history before our very eyes - each and every one of us right now has the responsibility towards creating a better future - a different future. Choosing a great leader is just the beginning. It brings great power - to everyone. How are we going to use our power? What are we going to create? What will we change? As individuals and as a nation what are we going to do now that will change the lives of the coming generations?

Think about it - we owe part of our lives now to the people who lived before us - the lives of the people in our future will be impacted by what we do now. We all stand on somebody's shoulders. There is no denying it.


PS - A few quotes to reflect on :

"Although the connections are not always obvious, personal change is inseparable from social and political change." - Harriet Lerner:

"We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future." - George Bernard Shaw:

"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small ... Read Moreportion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation." - Robert F. Kennedy

What is The Ego?

We use this word so easily, but do we really know the depths and the extent of it and what it really means? Dr Wayne Dyer - one of my favorite writers, mentors and good friend describes - EGO - as “Edging God Out!” A good definition I would say! Gautam Buddha even after attaining Nirvana said “I am still not Free!” Free of what? The ego and all its layers - accumulated over lifetimes! If the Buddha is not free even after being enlightened - then what can be said about the freedom of you and I?
In eastern philosophy - the Vedic texts in India - describe the Ego as an aspect of “MAYA” - the beautiful Goddess of Illusion -(on the Macrocosmic level.) When a soul takes on a human body, Maya confers upon it the veil of an Ego -(Microcosmic level.) From then on - this veil of the Ego hides our true nature of the Spirit - of pure consciousness - untouched, all knowing, all pervasive consciousness that creates the universe and all the worlds in it - the source of all life and all species. This unfathomable all powerful Spirit that takes on the form of one little individual human being for a little while - (hiding behind the ego) - starts believing in limits and boundaries, in the concept of time, the idea of separation and of opposites. Simply put - from a state of unity to a state of duality. Now even though I’m trying - Its almost completely impossible to describe and fully understand the Ego in words! Just because the symptoms and the layers of the Ego are just so vast - this illusion runs so deep that even the wise awakened ones like the Buddha still feel the remnants of it lurking around somewhere in their beings! So what does that mean for us? What is the way out? Even though you and I are no where near “Buddha-hood” - there are still little things that we can do - take baby steps along the way! That is to say we can identify some of the symptoms of the ego and every time we recognize some of it in ourselves we can make a conscious shift from Ego to Spirit.

• The constant feeling of “I” - me & mine - accompanied by pride - I did this, I own this, I need to do this in order to prove something, my house, my job, my car, my body, my money, my reputation, etc etc. This feeling of “I & Me” also makes stronger the feeling of separation - of Me Vs Them - on some level or the other you are always at war against the people who don’t agree with you. When you recognize this - try to drop it - and see that there is no difference between you and anybody else! You only have separate bodies - other than that we all share the same spirit and the same ego and we are all just waves in the same ONE Ocean!
• Feelings and emotions of embarrassment, anger, jealousy, irritation, frustration etc - all of this really just boils down to one thing - That something didn’t happen “Your Way” - the way you expected or planned! So what? What’s the big deal really? If for just one moment you can put your ego aside and look through the eyes of your spirit - then you will know - that no matter what happens - its ALL Good! Without the limits of the ego - you truly ARE everything that exists - it is always “your” way - you(spirit) is all there is - all things and events exist in you! I know - this is a hard concept to grasp - easier said than done - but we can definitely try and relax into life! No matter what happens we can at least try and be accepting of things without getting fired up each time! Relax! Be happy and grateful about every curve and eventually you’ll be able to see the bigger picture and the rainbow behind it all.
• Fear, Doubt and Unworthiness. In a strange way they are all inter-related. When I was young - my father described FEAR to me as False - Evidence - Appearing - Real! Aka - its an Illusion. And this definition has stuck with me ever since! I love it - it totally dissipates the negative emotional state! Now I think that this same definition of fear can be applied to the feelings of doubt and unworthiness as well. All 3 of these are false beliefs that we accept as real. Its ridiculous! And all of these 3 can have a strong grip on us - only because we lack real understanding of what they are! The feeling of Fear exists usually because we don’t fully comprehend what we are fearful of? We believe that the thing that we fear is going to harm us in some way! I had a fear of heights - and the only way I thought I could move beyond it was to face it head on - and so I went Sky Diving! And I cannot find enough words to describe how much I enjoyed it - it was one of the most liberating, thrilling, out of this world experiences of my life. I would do it again in a heartbeat! Nothing can ever harm you - the only thing that harms you is your fear of something. It limits you from fully expressing yourself and from being open to all possibilities. Doubt - on the other hand is a condition that makes us believe that something is Not possible. The ego looks at everything as “finite” - while the spirit only knows “infinite”. The next time you doubt something - Imagine that you created all of the universe! You are the source of all things. How can anything be impossible for the power that is responsible for all of existence? Think about it. And lastly - Unworthiness - is nothing other than a sub-conscious feeling of lack because you didn’t match up to somebody else’s expectations! Expectations is a whole other subject that needs its own discussion - but for now - lets just try and answer this question - Do you think God is worthy? How would you define the value of God? I know the question in itself sounds insane - thats how insane your feeling of unworthiness is. There is no difference between you and God. Sai Baba - one of the greatest spiritual teachers in India says - “The only distance between You and God - is the distance between You and Yourself.”

What If ?

What If...
What if you knew you could never fail...?
what if you knew that the all consuming love you are looking for has been with you all along?
What if you could comprehend your body’s innate intelligence and all that it is capable of?
what if you knew - really really knew that there are no ordinary moments?
What if you knew that you are never alone? You are connected to everything - and anything that you want is only a thought away....

How different would your life be if you really knew all these things?

There is no such thing as Failure... There is only the law of Results!
You perform a certain action in the direction of your goals and if you don’t get the results you want - then you simply try a different approach! If what you are doing is not working then you have to change it, adjust it, improvise it, be flexible, bend, reach out, reach higher! Thomas Edison - made 3000 attempts before he successfully invented the light bulb - but before it happened people laughed at him and called him a failure! His reply simply was - “I haven’t failed - I know 3000 ways in which it wont work! Every wrong attempt discarded is a step forward!” Genius! The only thing that comes close to the idea of “failing” is Not Trying... or Giving Up all together! So march on - your journey isn’t over yet!

The Love of your Life? ... is YOU yourself!
Almost all of humanity thinks they need to meet that perfect soul mate - this love that will find you and make you whole so that you can end your story with a “happily ever after!” You might even be lucky enough to have some exciting hollywood romances in your life, you know the ones that make you stupid happy, smiling for no reason, magic in the air yada yada yada! But how long does it last? Before you fall from the sky and into the abyss of yourself? Starting from scratch and searching all over again? Few enlightened awakened people know and have been teaching these words all along - Love is not something you search for or wait for - It is “Who You Are!” Most people recycle the same relationship issues - move from person to person - first bask in the warmth of the “new” found love - but when that sun sets they find themselves back in the same darkness that they have been running away from all along - lonely even within a relationship! Don’t know what went wrong? Golden words here - when realized will result in a major life shift, change in paradigms, an awakening! "You are forever complete - any partnership you enter in is only to share the love and joy that you already are!" You cannot recognize what a soul “mate” is if you don’t know your own soul? You attract who ‘you’ are - hence any relationship issues you face is a direct reflection of you (& your partner)! You cannot have a promise to an external love unless you take those very sacred vows of love with yourself first! All the love you will ever need flows from you - within you - recognize it, acknowledge it and live it everyday! Lastly love comes in all forms, from all directions - from all kinds of sources! Its always there - everywhere! Wake up to it!

Your Body is the Temple you live in...keep it Sacred!
“The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human body, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.” - Thomas Edison!
Your body is the most miraculous, living breathing, dynamic, infinitely intelligent machine created - for You - so that you may express yourself in the best way you can as a human “being” in this short visit on earth! Good Health is the natural state of our body - to make you thrive is your body’s only job. And all it needs in return from you is a lifestyle that supports its intelligence! Your body will do anything you want it to - its potential is practically limitless! But how many of us really have the awareness of the body that we live in? What it needs? Do we listen when our bodies are talking to us? A few natural laws to live by : - 1.) Your body is 75% water - a diet rich in “water content foods” keeps your body in a thriving state. Make fresh fruits and vegetables the main part of your daily diet! 2.) Your body is not designed to ingest excessive meat, alcohol & processed “junk” food! Such foods vibrate at a very low energy and are toxic to your body! In fact they draw energy away from your body which leads to a state of imbalance and disease. 3.) Stress - is one of the biggest causes of imbalance. Know that there is no stress outside of you - All stress is only “you” having stressful “thoughts”! Meditate! Relaxing and slowing down the mind not only relieves you of stress but helps the energy and the life force in your body flow more efficiently! 4.) Rest and Activity - the 2 dynamics of life - reward yourself with both! Rest when you need to and follow it with intense movement - exercise in any way that you enjoy. Exercise can be a great way for mind - body meditation! 5.) Finally - Respect your body - everyday in every way. How you treat it - what you put in your mouth? How do you fuel your body? Whom do you share your body with? Slow down - be aware of what your body is doing for you day in and day out - be mindful while eating your meals - eat slowly, chew more, stop eating when you are half full - you need less food than you think! Stop eating 3 hours before bed time! And more importantly - LIVE CONSCIOUSLY! - "This is the Only Body You Have!"

There are No Ordinary Moments...
Every tree and plant in the meadow seemed to be dancing, those which average eyes would see as fixed and still” - Rumi
The most common complaint, the most widespread mental human condition - Boredom (&loneliness)! How can you ever be bored? There is dynamic life everywhere! Your ego is the only thing that can ever be bored. Because by nature the ego is always chasing the “next” thing, looking for fulfillment “outside”. Nothing is ever enough... more - more and more! Trapped in the illusion of time - the ego is always ceaselessly swinging between the past and the future. Your mind is always racing, worrying, planning, doubting and the worst of all - getting bored! But when you make the conscious shift to live from the place of your spirit - you know that “this” moment is all there is! So whatever you do - you do it with awareness - with a 100% of your attention & commitment! “Non-doing” becomes equally important and joyous as”Doing”. Just “Being” still can be extremely rewarding and entertaining! When you start observing life with an internal awareness - you wake up to everyday magic! When you align yourself with your spirit - you live on purpose - you let a higher energy flow through you that makes all things possible - without much effort! There is so much to do, to share, to experience, to learn, grow and evolve in a lifetime - and all of this coupled with the constant feeling of connection to all life - just makes the whole ride even more exciting and worth while! So take a moment to re-connect - with yourself and your surroundings! I guarantee, you will never be bored or frustrated again - There are NO Ordinary moments - and boredom like most other things is just an illusion!

Aham Brahmasmi - a Sanskrit Mantra that translates to “I AM Totality!”
Boredom and Loneliness - a condition that plagues all human beings. With 6.7 billion people on our planet - how can anyone be Lonely? Or Bored? The answer actually is quite simple and obvious - the human EGO - the illusion of separation! Our egos make us believe on a conscious level that we as individuals are separate from the rest - we are unique, we are different, we have our own personal life agendas going on - and if things dont go as we plan then all hell breaks loose and its all so unfair! On a more sub-conscious level our egos inflict us with the beliefs of unworthiness, of doubt, of separation, of disconnect - it builds invisible walls around us! And most of us don’t know how to get out of this? Again - its all very simple - we believe we are all chained down with limits - when in actuality we are all free - always have been - always will be. We believe we are born - we live and then we die - in actuality - you take on a human body like a costume for a while to enjoy some time on earth - to express yourself - You are eternal spirit - consciousness that is never born and will never die. We believe we are our egos, our minds - we identify ourselves with everything - get attached to fleeting things - in actuality your personality, your thoughts, everything you accumulate mentally, emotionally, or the “stuff” in your bank - its all just layers - that you will discard like a snake skin when you leave this life! So what do we do now? Make the shift from your ego to your spirit - from the unreal to real! Recognize that we are ALL connected - just like the same electricity runs through all the gadgets & appliances in your house! The same spirit - divine source runs through us all - we are only separated by our egos. Reach out and make that connection with whom so ever you interact with. Share your “being” your time, your smiles, your kindness, your knowledge, your care with everyone. The only real purpose you can ever have in this lifetime is to “Serve” and connect with your fellow human beings! To influence, to reach out, to help and improve the quality of life of the people that come your way! To make someone else happy even if its just for a moment! Its the only way you will know real happiness yourself that is grounded deep within your core - an unshakable happiness - unreasonable happiness! And finally - the only thing that matters when you leave your body - is not how much you achieved or accumulated in your life - but how much you grew and evolved in your consciousness and how much you helped others do the same! So live well - live now - make the most of it - you are not alone - never have been - and never will be!

For the Love of RUMI

“You were born with wings. Why prefer to crawl through life?” - Rumi

“Every tree and plant in the meadow seemed to be dancing, those which average eyes would see as fixed and still” - Rumi

“All day I think about it, then at night I say it. Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing? I have no idea. My soul is from elsewhere, I'm sure of that, and I intend to end up there.” - Rumi

“I died a mineral, and became a plant. I died a plant and rose an animal. I died an animal and I was man. Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?” - Rumi

“Why do you stay in prison
when the door is so wide open?

Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking.
Live in silence.” - Rumi

“Silence is the language of God, all else is poor translation.” - Rumi

If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished? - Rumi

“Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.” - Rumi

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. - Rumi

“The minute I heard my first love story I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along.” - Rumi

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I will meet you there.” - Rumi

The Good, the Bad and the Ego!

"If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable,you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is compromise." - Robert Fritz Humanity's biggest dilemma is how we choose. Whats the best decision? Whats right, whats wrong? Should I listen to my head or my heart? And then of course, there is the dreaded "What if?" and "Now what?" that comes before and after making a choice. After some thought, it appears the real question is: Is there such a thing as a good choice or a bad choice? If yes, then how do we know the difference? Everybody's life, at every moment, is paved with multiple choices. Choices that will shape and reveal the next step, the next experience, the next joy or sorrow. For most people, making a choice or a decision can be quite stressful. They are torn between two options cannot figure out which of the two is better or right. This stress can be accompanied by anxiety, fear and the risk factor that comes with choosing one path over another. Some people use the "pros and cons" method to clear their confusion, while others just end up procrastinating or taking no action (which is also a choice in itself.) Every choice has a consequence - and the truth is that we cannot choose our consequences, we can only choose our actions and intentions. Sometimes our consequences don't turn out the way we expect them to, even though the choice we made felt totally right. Why is that? It's because we live in a society that sees everything as two: right or wrong, black or white, pain or pleasure. We refer to this as the perception of separation, the world of duality, or of "either-or" - simply put - the world of EGO! This ego based perception is what leads us to falsely believe that there is "a choice" to be made in the first place. And what is the choice really based on? It is based on our limited perceptions. As humans - blinded by the ego, we cannot possibly see the bigger picture; the grand scheme of things. So the ultimate question of a good choice Vs bad choice simply boils down to nothing more than - "A choice from the Spirit Vs A choice from the Ego." When it comes to the dilemma of making choices - instead of getting tangled up in opposites & choosing between this 'or' that - we can start by clearly looking within us. We can reach for the field of the spirit, that energy, that voice within that speaks to us all - Slow down, Listen to the silent whispers... your Inner Being - your consciousness is always showing you the way! It is "A knowing" that has no opposite, no alternative, a feeling of "This is it!" This option is aligned to our higher purpose. The answer is not "out there" it is "in here." The next time you find yourself in a situation where you feel the need to choose, step back, observe your urges, your old thought patterns. Notice how your ego automatically divides things into good and bad, this or that. Release these images. Channel your energy differently. Affirm your intentions. Make positive affirmations. Let go of all previous expectations. Relax into the moment. Surrender yourself. Move beyond ego. Reconnect with your true self. Breathe deeply, meditate, or walking silently through a park. Become aware of the trees and plants around you. Slow down the compulsive chatter in your head. Have faith that the next step will reveal itself. Know that the "right" answer is always the one you end up choosing. It will feel natural and automatic as if it was made for you, not by you! - Radhika Kinger