Hiranmayi

The sacredness of just being all by yourself is so beautifully overshadowed with concepts of loneliness. Various situations bestow this most sacred space of a lifetime. Many times missed miserably by many yet never too late to realize. Space crowded with people especially of your own clan brings in some security and comfort that the mind is used to and when the same clan drops out in the name of separation(marriage, work, seeking or death), the individual feels so lost and lonely. Coming to terms with reality turns out to be the biggest challenge. The root cause for this loneliness primarily belongs to the fact that he or she considers himself or herself as an individual and hence always is in need of wanting something or someone to have that space filled whether its inside oneself or outside. What shocks the most is not just the one who has not even heard the word, meditation but even the so called spiritual seekers go through if not the same but much more sense of loneliness...

Stop running around, at least for a while In search of the money Shut up and sit, at least for awhile You may bounce on the Real booty! Delight in the dissolution From the limited to the unlimited be with the form be aware of the awareness Interact with the manifested Realize the unmanifested That abides within and without as one and the same Consciousness....

Let us a take a look at the transformation of a simple metal plate into a knife. The metal plate when processed through various stages gets shaped into a sharp instrument used primarily for cutting etc. Have you noticed, the process doesn't get completed in just sharpening the blade. It takes a complete shape only when a wooden handle is provided on one end. The one edge of the sharpened blade gets fixed into the wooden case, thereby, providing strong and comfortable access to the usage of the instrument. Left without a wooden case to hold, the blade still remains a sharpened tool but dangerous even to the user. Try holding a sharpened blade and make use of it. May be, your hands would bleed first even before making use of it. When looking at the mind, intellect and its connectivity to the Self, i felt it is easier to understand and relate it with the example of the knife. Intellect, as a sharpened blade is essential to discriminate, execute. It becomes a dangerous tool only when i...

Born in the natural garden of fragrant flowers, fortunately or unfortunately, we tend to drift to the garden of artificial flowers over a period. As a newborn, fresh as the beaming fullmoon to as a little kid like a sparkling star, we go through various stages. Neither the fullmoon nor the star are aware of the beauty and it for the rest to bask in their glory! Along the way, the mind shifts the gears and predominantly likes to live in a fantasy of flowers of the senses alone, the fragrantless artificial ones. Have you observed the role of these lovely artificial ones(created by the human mind) that come handy, cost effective and supposedly to remain for a long period with less maintenance. One bouquet made from them can functionally occupy the space as a decorating corner of a banquet hall or just wield the colours of combination as a centre piece at a dining table. Functionally occupying the space yet not filling the space. The missing fragrance can never fill the space that is both ...

Even though , most often complete and perfect are used as one and the same, a closer look clearly brings out the subtle difference. A complete personality need not be a perfect one. But a perfect one is indeed a part of the complete personality. Complete consists of both the perfect and the imperfect, both the good and the bad, up and down. The journey to have a darshan of the God, up on a hill consists of both the climbing up and the climbing down phase too. only then it becomes complete. Of course , the most memorable moment at the time of darshan is indeed valuable. But, before and after also play and contribute a vital role in that completeness. Life, indeed is also complete. Some known and unknown, some pleasant and unpleasant, some to understand and rest to accept -- all become a part of this complete journey. When any one part of this is ignored, then it becomes depleted. Depletion can only have depleted results. Probably, i may wish to address creation as complete than perfec...

Yet another dance show to witness and experience the communion. Not just performance on stage but that which involves competition , elimination too! Rules that existed but could never bind these two in their expressions. They had crossed the boundary of the mind, probably where rule can't rule. The theme was "romantic round" and indeed it was the ultimate expression of union in love. It appeared as though the guy had the major work of lifting the girl and dancing(apparently, they were not real couple). No doubt, it is an additional weight on himself while moving around. But the truth, the girl too had played a major role in letting herself be uplifted so gracefully and probably that's why none could notice the moment of lift and drop. It was watching two flowing into each other and just emerging as ONE. When the dance came to a graceful conclusion, everyone even forgot to clap in appreciation for a moment because it was The Silence that pervaded and had drowned ever...

Most of us at some point of time would have been through this experience of either receiving a gift or giving it . Those moments have always been special even if it was momentary. The art of choosing a gift -- i would like to mention it as an art and not a purchase, simply because it is an extension of the self as expression. Any form of art - dance, music, painting is an expression of the individual. During a discussion on the topic of choosing a gift, things started to unfold naturally. Firstly, the person to whom it has to be gifted is the main focus. Considering his needs and complimenting it as close as possible with the constraints of budget, the gift turns out to be a useful gift. Unless the one who chooses the gift has a concern for the other, such details gets diluted while executing. When you choose a gift for the one whom you adore, you can clearly notice the intricate details and the rest that follows in that action. It is that love that gets reflected and never seen as an ...

Beware of the interpreting mind Be aware of the integrated Self! Eyes wide open we drive down the same road many times in our day to day life. Watching the tree filled with flowers is a treat to the eyes. The flowers act as a magnet to our vision and the mind terms as wonderful sight. Few days later, passing by the same way and noticing the tree with less flowers or no flowers, the mind usually tends to compare it with the experience of the previous full bloom. The general comment may be, "how wonderful it used to look earlier". Have you ever been with the fall of a flower from a tree? Mostly, we are only caught up with the interpreting mind and ending up with concluding comments. When awareness happens, there is a shift in perception from seeing to being with it. The senses witness the expression but the Self remains in the essence of the expression. Tree in full bloom, tree with less or no flowers -- all have their intense moments of stillness. Changes that happen so natura...

A sapling planted on the road side is fenced initially, mainly to get it protected. Selection of the fence, space between the fence and the sapling, provision for watering the plant etc lies in the hands of the gardener. A good gardener knows the importance of each stage, facilitates the sapling to have its natural growth and at the right time removes the fence too. When a parent was expressing his concern about bringing up adolescents, i was reminded of the gardener and the sapling relationship. many parents in the name of providing the fence out of love invariably try to impose all that's possible on the sapling and eventually literally suffocate the growth. A little deeper look reveals the insecurity, fear and failure of the parent to express as closed fencing. Acceptance of the plant as it is(not imposing all that was not possible for him) and confidence in one's own self lets the beautiful birth of the individual. The importance of one's own clarity is so vital for th...

Ignorance blinds one's Self Compassion sustains in stability When a human is stuffed with the byproducts of ignorance called hate, jealousy, possessiveness, insecurity, fear etc -- it remains like a stuffed doll and loses its sense of love and compassion. This can be witnessed mostly in strained relationships, like between mother and son, married partners, friends. The strained relationship between two individuals can severe the link with one's own self if the individual lives in ignorance. This was so evident while witnessing the partners of a strained married life. The wife failed to take notice of the sudden deterioration in the health of the man until the daughter arrived in time to take the medical assistance most needed for the man. Its not that the wife was heartless, but just that ignorance virus named hate had spread all over her mind and she just could not even notice the seriousness. She did realize her foolishness how her ignorance had blinded her and didnot let her...

Nature strickes me with yet another astounding truth. Many descriptions emerge from many minds to describe the falls as wonderful, beautiful, amazing etc. But many times, many of us miss out on the subtler aspect or probably the lesson that we can imbibe from it, ofcourse, the river by itself may not be aware of it too. One such -- its our mind which attributes descriptions that fit our imaginations. When we exercise the same principle in life with people and situations, it can lead to distortions. Distortions to disturbances and then to derailment. So therefore, nothing wrong in describing the nature for all its wonder it presents but also one needs to be aware of not getting caught in the concept and seeing it as it is. This is the essence of the teachings of our Masters. When we practise to do this with nature, it surely helps us to deal better with the rest of the world. That doesnt mean, one should freeze the flow. Just need to be aware and apply appropriately as we keep moving ah...

Mundane to Moksha is the measuring scale for one's own use to have the actual understanding of moment of total awareness or being in the now. Simple mundane activities like having a bath, cutting vegetables, cleaning the house etc which are usually performed without much awareness can really be used as a tool to observe one's own progress towards witnessing the being in the now. If we notice, mostly when we do these activities, the mind would be busy planning something else ahead or reliving in the past because these everyday routine jobs do not need our attention much. Its indeed a great opportunity to make use of these mundane moments and turn to make it moments of now. Thats when even a mundane turns to moksha. Then comes the adversities in life wherein the same mundane jobs can go for a toss. Sometimes, one in adversity would just fail to perform these jobs because the mind is in turmoil with the past or the future and it becomes a task to even focus on the regular routine ...

Just two simple words used often to express the final decision. However eloquent one is, its few who are precise in using these two little words. Rest mostly beat around the bush or just slip and slide away. One who is well connected with one's own self is also very clear in expressing the same. There is clarity in speech as much as in action. Speak but speed away at the need of the hour is someone who is strong in the ego but yet to be connected. so is it when it comes to emotional attachments too. Someone would be a very responsible citizen in the eyes of the society but invariably fails to extend the same justice when it comes to deciding on his kith and kin. simple cause -- emotional attachment as relationship. But one who is expressing from the source is clear with the decision and doesnot suffer or enjoy with hatredness or happiness. The words carry no attachments either happy or sad. Its only the need of the hour and the person is totally responsible for it. Suggestions can...

Worship - The ship that takes you to the shore. Its not the permanent residence, a temporary transit accommodation that protects you from the weather outside, gets you acclimatized with enough time. Its a vessel to cross the ocean of birth and death. Enjoy the comforts(Bliss) of worshipping only to get ready to alight in the land of awareness. From the shore, watching the ocean, the ship -- one still remains a part of it with abundant gratefulness. Only when wor -ship gets into a turbulent weather of ignorance as possessive, fear etc, it turns out to be a warship. Endless fight with one's own mind reflected in the swaying of ship from time to time, some get drowned, some learn to stabilize... until then its a waiting period for the sailing to happen. So making use of that wonderful ship as a Transit Home or a Turbulent one, worship or warship depends on the mind of the individual. Just like a knife in the hands of a doctor -- a tool in his hand to cure enables many to seek his ...

Just a rope but what for? To connect or To bind Rope to connect made of faith and love Rope to bind made of fear and selfishness Strengthening or weakening depends on the weaving of the content To connect is to liberate to bind is to perish Its the rope, the mind that plays the game Lets learn the rules to play it well and keep going...

Relationship is like a person walking on the road. He is not independant of the road yet he is not the road. The road may have pits attimes but its purely dependant on how he relates to the pit. One can relate only if one is aware of the pits like the swinging of moods, basic nature, perception of the individual etc...are some of the pits to be aware of in a human relationship. Probably, they didnt name it as relateroad because comparatively its much easier to visualize the pits on the road than on the sea. May be thats why its called relationship. Once you are aware, next comes relating. This is the most challenging and an interesting one too. The intention which is simple, direct and good need not always result in good too, if one fails in this step of relating. For an example, lets say one approaches a calf to caress. The calf so willingly enjoys the strokes on its head. Now imagine the same person, approaching with the same intention to a snake. It would immediately go on a defensi...