Right response is Meditation in action.

Yesterday and today was stimulator class in my driving training program. It is like virtual driving. Road will be seen on the screen and I have to drive the car virtually.  Since it was the first time, it was too difficult for me to see the rear view mirror, side view mirror and the road ahead.  I did not get the steering wheel in my control.  Yesterday I drove the car many times on platform and kicked few posts as well. Today, it was much better. With all my attention, I could able to drive in the lane.  Even if I loose one second attention, then anything can happen.

Attention is very very important.  Just as we give attention while driving we must pay attention to our living too. Body is the vehicle and the mind is driver. An attentive mind knows how to drive the car. It takes appropriate decisions at appropriate places.  Even a moment of inattentiveness may lead to accident.

While cooking a curry, suddenly a doubt came, whether I put salt or not.  I must be thinking something else while cooking, that's why I was not sure about whether I put salt or not. This is inattentiveness.  Thoughts of doubt arise when there is no inner sureness. Inner sureness can come only to an attentive mind.

 Attention is gnana shakthi. 

 Attention is the ability to know. 

 Now, I can see why people are often struggle to take decisions.  Most of us live our life with forgetfulness. We don't do anything with full attention.  An attentive mind is like a bright light showing the road and signals ahead clearly.  It is very natural for an attentive mind to find out its way, when to turn left and when to turn right, which speed to go and easiest route to the destination and the journey too will be enjoyable.

Right decisions are the fruit of right living. Right living is living every moment in attention.  Right actions can happen if we live our life 24 hours daily with attentiveness.

The right response is meditation in action. 

I am a little bubble

 I am a little bubble
Standing in between sky and ocean
Father the sky
Mother the ocean
As a combination of both of them
I hold his hands 
And roll on her lap
Fun and frolic
With winds of desire

May this bubble
Dissove and Disappear

I am Here and Now
One with Sky and ocean.
Forever and ever.

You are not the elements

Ashtavakra Gita
Chapter 1 - Verse 3

You do not consist of the elements - earth, water, fire, air or even ether. To be liberated, know yourself as consisting of consciousness, the witness of these. 1.3

If only you will remain resting in consciousness, seeing yourself as distinct from the body, then even now you will become happy, peaceful and free from bonds. 1.4

The body is born out of the earth. It is growing by getting energy from air, water and sunlight. When it dies, it disintegrates and get back to the elemental level.  The cellular functions, respiration, digestion, formation of blood, bone and muscle are happening on its own without our intervention.  It's fully controlled by Nature and it works smoothly according to the predetermined programming.  

Son, do not associate yourself with those elements.  This association is the bondage. 

You say, I am ugly or beautiful. I am young or old. I am stupid or wise. I am healthy or sick.  Beauty, health, sickness, young and old are related to the body. Mind is nothing but a subtle part of the body.  Just as the body hormones fluctuates, the moods of the mind swings.  Either of them are not in your control.  The food only converts into body and mind in a course of time. World is nothing but  the play and interplay of bodies and minds which are basically elements.  

You are not the body or mind and you are not the enjoyer of both too.  

The only relationship you can have with this world is to be a witness. 

 The movie is on the screen of your mind and you be seated and watch the show.  You are not the screen, you are not a character, you do not go through the experiences.  You are not lost in the drama. You are mere the witness of all happenings.  

To be liberated, know yourself separate from all these happenings.  Seeing yourself distinct from the body, you are happy, peaceful and free now. 

Ashtavakra gita - The five principles

Ashtavakra gita
Chapter 1
Verse 1&2

Janaka: 

How is knowledge to be acquired? How is liberation to be attained? And how is dispassion to be reached? Tell me this, sir.

Janaka would have felt that something is missing in his life in spite of having huge wealth, fame and pleasures that life can offer. There was yet something to be acquired, attained and reached. He wanted to have knowledge, liberation and dispassion. He must have felt suffering because of ignorance, bondage and passion. So, he asked for the opposites, knowledge, liberation and dispassion.  

He was not only a great king of a huge nation, but he was scholarly too. He has studied the Vedic literature and have enough skills and knowledge to rule the kingdom. But, he felt that the knowledge was not sufficient to dispel the darkness in his heart. So, he wanted to acquire knowledge from Ashtavakra who was a liberated sage. 

What is the bondage? What made him ask for liberation?  He was a king and he had all the freedom to do whatever he wanted to do. He could go wherever he wanted to go. Still, he felt himself to be bound and constrained. He wanted freedom.  Freedom from what?  Freedom from his habits and patterns. 

 Everybody wants to be happy and free, but what does not allow one to be happy and free is their own habits and patterns. They are bound by  body and mind.  Body and mind go through tremendous change every moment influenced by the environment and circumstances. The state of body and mind is fluctuating and this fluctuation causes pain and suffering. 

Freedom is freedom from fluctuation. 

As an intelligent man, Janaka has noticed that his passions were not letting him to rest and relax.  They had put him in never ending chains of actions.  He found himself to tormented by his passions and rolling like a football hither and thither pushed and pulled by desires. He has seen that this passion had not taken him anywhere but made him like a  restless wanderer and deserted one on the road. He wanted to have the cool comfort of a home within where he could sleep and rest. So, he asked Ashtavakra how to reach the destination called dispassion.

Ashtavakra:

If you are seeking liberation, my son, shun the objects of the senses like poison. Practise tolerance, sincerity, compassion, contentment and truthfulness like nectar.

The mind seeking satisfaction in objects is the cause of misery.  What we hear, touch, feel, see and smell have the potential to bind us with them. They give us a little bit of pleasure but take away the precious gift within, the joy. They elude our mind and clouds the intellect. They are poison to our intelligence. Son, shun the object of the senses like poison.   

Practice tolerance, sincerity, compassion, contentment and truthfulness like nectar. 

Tolerance: Not grumbling or complaining or have bitterness when life brings unpleasant experiences in front of you.  This ability to withstand the pain with calmness is tolerance. Pain, hurt and discomfort are inevitable in this world. Navigating through the pains and pleasures without resentment or bitterness is tolerance.

Sincerity:  Whatever we are doing, doing with honesty is sincerity. Saying one thing and doing another thing is not sincerity. Do it completely and do it honestly. This is sincerity.  

Compassion: Daya is the word used for compassion. Daya is not only towards others, but towards oneself.  

A good doctor would remain calm, collective and detached while treating his patients, otherwise, he will not help the patient.  When he himself gets infected, he must maintain the same calmness and detachment and look at the disease from distance and treat it. Often, we are compassionate towards others faults, but quite uncomfortable with our own faults. We punish ourselves severely.  

Not shaken by the dirt, filth and tears of others as well as one's own dirt and filth is compassion. 

Contentment:  Contentment is a state of needlessness. Contentment is the understanding that the objects of the world cannot fulfill me.  Contentment means not to be hungry for pleasure. Contentment is absence of hopes and expectations.

Truth:  Truth is what is right now.  Ashtavakra says Janaka to practice Truth.  What we see in forms are all changing. That which changes with time is false. What is that which does not change in time?  The one who is watching all the changes is not changing.  Watching the falseness honestly is the practice Ashtavakra suggests by the word Truth. 

Recitation means constancy in remembrance

 Recitation means  constancy in remembrance. 

They could be physical or mental according to the person who is reciting.

Say whatever you want to, let Him be present in all your utterances.

Think of whatever you want to, but let Him be present in the stream of your thought like scented water.

Let your actions and thoughts be like scented water.

That's Recitation.

 A continuous presence of Holy within which everything is happening. Hence, everything is rendered Holy by the Presence.

~Acharya Prashant ji

End of Story, Beginning of Reality

Mind is a dream.  Presence is awakening.

Mind is noise. Presence is silence.

Mind is chaos. Presence is peace.

Mind is walk out to the road. Presence is being at Home.

Mind is fear. Presence is security.

Mind is wavery. Presence is stillness.

The one who catches this mind's attention and directs it towards Presence, is the Lover.

Only the lover of Truth can do this - Attracting the mind and capturing it.

When the mind finds such a lover, it stops running hither thither. It finds rest in his feet.

The lover roots out the dream tree created by the mind.

That would be the end of STORY and beginning of REALITY.

Protein Saseme sweet for vegan diet

Sesame Sweet Ball

This will surely help you to build up bones and get weight. I would use Sesame seeds, peanut and palm candy. I don't use Ragi because it would be difficult for you to make.  Ragi is very good source of protein, yet, you may find it little difficult to prepare it. So, we will go with peanut. That too is very good.

Sesame seeds black - 300 gms (you can mix black and white, because black contains the husk, husk is full of protein, but it will be little coarse) So, we can mix black and white for taste.

Peanut - 100 gms

Palm jaggery - 200 gms This is not same as sugar cane jaggery. You can get it in all south indian shops. This is rich source of iron and vitamins. So, use palm candy. If it is not available, use jaggery.

Method of preparation:

1. Clean the sesame seeds for stones. Dry fry in a pan till it splutters. Keep it aside to cool.

2. Dry fry the peanut. Keep it aside to cool. You can remove the husk.

3.  Powder the palm candy/jaggery.

4. Grind the sesame seeds separately.  Not too nice, but little coarsely.

5. Grind the peanuts nicely.

6. Add all the ingredients and mix them well either with hand or using mixer. If they are not sticking, you may add little sesame oil to bind them together. It will be like a soft ball.  Make small balls and keep it in a dry container. It will come for one week.

It is very easy to make and delicious too. Take one or two balls every day.  Do not eat in night time because it will not be digested properly.  It may increase the body heat. If you feel that, you can use less.

Note: Pregnant women should not take it.

Inner Confidence

I have always had this belief that knowledgeable people are confident as we have grown up hearing that knowledge is power.  My son knows much more about my Mac Book, than me. He is passionate about computers. Obviously he is confident in operating computers and mobile phones.  I am not much interested in knowing the details. My knowledge about computers and its application is limited.

Knowledge is strength, whether it is cooking, changing an electric bulb, filling up a form in bank, riding a car, investing money, health and even mind.  The more I am informed, the more confident I am. This is true. Knowledge about the world makes life easy and secured.  If I don't know about the functioning of my body, then, I may end up spoiling my health by wrong habits and wrong medication.  I can't just go and buy a pill from the pharmacy and swallow to treat the fever.  I must certainly have proper understanding about  what it really means to have fever. Unless I have the right knowledge, then, I can become a victim to this symptom based treatment, which will further complicate the health condition.  I must know what's going on in the world politics, so that I can judge the right leader.  The more I know, I become less dependent on others. Dependency is slavery.  Knowledge is smartness.  Skills and talents need to cultivated.  We must have basic knowledge about each and every field.  Otherwise, one is not fit to live in this world at all.

 Knowledge is never complete.  I never felt confident 100% in any subject or I can say that I had been conditioned to believe that I don't know much.  I would be reluctant and hesitant to express myself and talk to people.  To combat this fear, I started reading more with the hope that I can be more confident if I gain more knowledge and skills.  It was not quite comfortable  to be dependent on objects, people and knowledge to feel myself confident.

As a writer in Quora and everyday I get at least one question on how to be more confident. In fact, I thought confidence to be a positive term until I got in touch with Acharya Prashant Ji's teachings.  It was an amazing revelation to me.

Actually, when confidence depends on knowledge, essentially we are trying to safe guard ourselves against some bad happening in the future.  Hope of result is at the root of fear. Any amount of knowledge cannot help to eradicate the fear because the root of the disease is in hope.  Confidence is just a mask to hide the fear.  Those who look confident outside are literally shivering inside. Confidence is a make up, a jacket or armor, where fear is hidden inside.

Real confidence does not come from knowledge, skills, money, people, strong and beautiful body or possessions one have acquired.

If you are already assured that existence is taking care of you, that you are alright if you win and you are alright even if you loose, then there will be no situation in which your inner confidence will be dented. 

 "Whatever will happen, I am okay with that" -  Declare this boldly and honestly. 

~Acharya Prashant.

Really I must have guts to declare this. I must remain untouched by both victory and defeat.  If I am victorious, I will not go mad. If I am looser, no big deal.

This is inner confidence -  Whatever there is, in the middle of all of it, I am okay.

Winning or loosing, appreciated or criticized, accepted or rejected, weak or strong, I will not cry, I will not worry, I will not shake inside, I will not run around and cover for security,  I will not go and hide somewhere. I will stand up to life, like an intelligent woman.

🌸🍃🌸🍃🌸🍃🌸

I am not needy

Asking myself again and again: From where did I get this belief, "I am needy"?  When did I start believing that I am in need? Probably, from birth onwards. Breath was my first need.  Cried for milk and comfort. I needed support from everything and everybody around me. I was fragile and delicate. My hands and legs were soft and tender that I could not do take care of even myself.

 Is that how I got this belief that "I am needy"?

 Deep inside the heart, there is always an expectation that somebody will come and hold my hands and walk with me.  Why do I look for  support in each and every step?  Why do my eyes look for a light bearer?  Why am I begging for love?

This body has come from the earth, the earth will take care of it.

This mind has come from the world and it knows how to respond to the world.

Let them depend on others. I can't be a beggar.  I don't need support. The gut feeling says so.

But, this little mind does not accept that I am independent and sufficient. I have to prove it.  Have to remove this belief from the mind, the age old belief that I need crutches. I must try and test my legs. I must even test if I can fly.

Hey! Why do you stay all the time at home?  Go out and watch the world.  It is great to walk, run and jump!  Rivers, mountains and people are yours. This earth is your home.  Don't keep telling yourself that you are not needy.

Need facts and proofs, to show you are mature.

Real treasure of life

Reflection: 13th April 2019

Tomorrow is Tamil New Year. My sister sent me wishes through what's app along with a photo which was taken in her pooja room.  It has been decorated with lamp and flowers. Also, she had kept so many things like variety of fruits, grains, nuts, coins, rupees, jewels etc.  Tomorrow morning, she will go eyes closed in front of the altar and open her eyes and look at those objects as first sight.  She called and reminded me too to do the same thing today. Make arrangements today itself so that morning we will wake up and see these wonderful things. 

Actually once upon a time, me too had been doing such things.  Now, I just smile at them.  I wrote a reply message to her.

It all looks wonderful, Bhanu. But one important thing is missing.

Keep a book of wisdom along with these objects. With out wisdom, they will not give you peace, freedom and joy which we really want in life.

We hope that these objects will bring that great joy to us, so we want to acquire them. But, the real means is, wisdom.  We have forgotten to include it in our life. That's why we are suffering in spite of wealth and prosperity. 

Its not too late. First day of the year has just begun.  Start reading one page of wisdom literature, songs of saints and gnanis. They are real treasures.  Keep it in the centre of life. Then, everything will follow you.

🌸🌸🙏🙏🙏🌸🌸