I feel that ...

The lark doesn't sing because the sun is rising,
the sun rises to hear the lark sing.

The sea doesn't roar because the moon shines,
the moon shines to see the waves soar.

It doesn't rain because the earth is parched,
it rains because the sky yearns to kiss its beloved.

Wind doesn't carry the fragrance because the rose bears it,
air wraps the rose to unwrap the fragrant gift. 

Theist vs. Atheist

A theist sought God and found only himself.
An atheist sought himself and found only God. 

Tears roll a lot nowadays

I know not how to share the love that swells within me,
or to express the gratitude that often overwhelms me.
I fail to contain the bliss that breaks the dam inside.
I can't have enough of what the present brings for me.

The freedom of my unencumbered spirit breaks the chains,
the vastness of the universe gushes within the bodily remains.
The eternity of now implodes and explodes in turns,
as I wallow in the divine gurgle of many a streams.

I don't know how to let this moment pass
without electrifying my being's existence.
I can't help getting burnt in this blaze,
so blissful tears roll a lot nowadays.

Observing

Whenever someone compliments me, I do feel happy. However, I immediately move to witness consciousness and see a part of me feeling happy. I also notice that the part that feels happy wants more of it, the compliments sound like music to that part and it expands. 

Whenever someone criticizes me, I do feel sad. However,I quickly move to witness consciousness and see a part of me feeling sad. I also notice that the part that feels sad wants less of it, the criticism feels like poison to that part and it shrivels. 

And then I ask myself, who am I? The part that expands or contracts depending on the external stimuli or the part that observes myself reacting, feeling. 

The more I stay in this mode, the more I realize that I'm the latter. And it starts to feel good without any external influence. In that moment, I realize that 'I just am' and the moment becomes bliss.

Amen!

Presence

I feel the tap of my foot as I walk

and the hum of my throat as I talk.

I hear the hiss of the wind in my ear

and the ruffle in the breeze of my hair.

I see the shift in the gear of my mind;

the future and the past it runs behind.

I see the guilt trips I take so often

and the anxieties I invite all of a sudden.

I witness the fear that traps me

and the delusions that lure me.

I take cognizance of every thought I think

and observe also its demise in a blink.

I accept these digressions and bless them as me,

they peter out as I let them just be.

As my thoughts dry, silence pervades;

as time ceases, the moment prevails.

The conscious me gives way to consciousness.

What remains is omnipresence and only presence.

When he chose

When he chose to hear his heart's symphony,
he became a musician.

When he chose to wrap his thoughts in words,
he became a poet.

When he chose not to curse,
he became blessed.

When he chose not to resist,
he became a channel.

When he chose not to be a hero or a villain,
he became divine.

When he chose not to do but to be,
he became a spirit.

When he chose not to 'mind',
he became the soul.

When he chose silence,
he became enlightened.

When he chose love,
he became God. 

The epiphany in Ramadan

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

Mohammed was driving merrily, humming the Hindi song playing on FM when a loud, irritating honking from some mad fellow behind him drew his attention over the melody. He looked from the rear view mirror. A black Dodge Charger was behind him. 

Mohammed realized that it was the same car he honked at two minutes back as it tried to enter the main road from a service lane barely a couple of meters ahead of him. Mohammed had to swerve slightly even as he honked to draw the attention of the driver. Mohammed knew it was not his fault for he had the right of way by virtue of being on the main road. Mohammed was relieved that no damage was done. The matter was forgotten. He moved on. 

Apparently, Mohammed was wrong. On closer observation he found that the driver was wearing a white headscarf. In Dubai, this meant only one thing: Mohammed –and he prayed hard that the honking was not for him - had brushed a UAE national the wrong way. It was a bad state to be in as it is but Mohammed couldn’t have chosen a worse time: Ramadan, the month of fasting and 4 pm in the august heat – a perfect recipe for road rage. An Indian expat has a better chance at winning a bullfight in Spain than an argument with a starving , crossed UAE national. 

Mohammed had heard stories of plain-clothed CIDs roaming around Dubai catching law breakers. He pulled over fearing that if he had bumped into one of them then any further delay in complying would only make matters worse. Mohammed switched off the radio. The charger stopped parallel to him. Mohammed heard angry outburst as the window rolled down and the face behind the tinted glass revealed itself from top to bottom like a photo materializing on a slow internet connection. A black rope called ‘aqal’ securing a white headscarf called ‘gotra’, a tuft of white hair hanging lazily, lines marking the forehead, eyebrows kissing each other in livid frenzy portending of a soon to be materialized fountainhead of abuses, dark eyes glowering on its prey, a nose that was flushed red, cheeks hanging loosely over his face like an appendage and vibrating forcefully with every sound he produced, his mouth alternating between gnarling canines and spitting invectives - a fuming octogenarian hurling abuses in broken Hindi. 

“What do you bloody think of yourself, you mother**%$er? You think this is your dad’s road, you sister**%$er? Who gave you the license?” 

Mohammed’s heart sank. He couldn’t have chosen a worse luck – Ramadan, a hungry, angry UAE national and to top it all, an 80 something old man. The last factor increased manifold the odds against Mohammed who had occasionally seen impatient, temperamental, aged UAE nationals breaking in the queues at various government offices and forcing their way through. The authorities would give in meekly with those in the queue seeking consolation in exchange of frustrated glances. As the damage was done, Mohammed realized that the only way to prevent further murkiness was by surrendering. This was a battle he could not win, so he had to lose – in that loss was his pyrrhic victory. 

The old man jumped out of his car, repeating the same questions and abuses in the same order as if rehearsing a dialogue with the intensity of a maniacal actor. He placed his hands at the car door, tried shaking it violently. He yanked Mohammed’s seat belt, pushed the head cushion to startle him, all the while continuing to abuse. Mohammed was calm and non-reactive. That seemed to have angered the old man a lot more. 

“How dare you honk at me?” The old man revealed his real problem for the first time, “You bloody mother**%$er, not knowing how to drive and honking at me. How dare you? I will show you now.” 

“But you were in the service lane –” Mohammed couldn’t resist justifying, in-spite of having decided on surrender.

“Shut up you bastard,” the old man interrupted him thumping his frail, shaking hands on the car door and then in one frustrated motion punched Mohammed on his cheek.  

Mohammed’s heart stopped, his fists clenched, hair on his body stood up, the calmness on his face flushed out and was replaced by seething indignation. Although the old man’s mild punch did not hurt him, Mohammed could not stand being punched for something that was not his fault. He immediately transported himself into a virtual reality where he punched the old man and broke his jaw, punched him again causing him to bleed profusely, shoved him to the ground, crushed his head between the tar road and his hands and pulverized him to dust. 

Mohammed didn’t hear anything after that. He was shaking internally with a revenge he could not take, a rage he could not release, an insult he could not pay back – simply because he was stuck against a mad man in his own backyard. 

The old man blabbered a lot more, noted Mohammed’s car number and silently drove off. Mohammed stared blankly at the Charger that went off silently, quite a contrast from how it approached him. He sat there, livid, shivering and yet motionless as if the whole body had gone numb. The old man, having vented his anger and gratified his vanity, passed his state of being to Mohammed with that one touch – a game of passing the parcel. 

After what seemed like an eternity, Mohammed returned to his senses and blinked. He rolled up his window and drove off slowly. He didn’t bother to switch on the FM. 

At home, he tossed his office bag, sank into the sofa and kept staring blankly at the floor. His mind still replaying the punch and what he could’ve done in reciprocation, but didn’t. The shivering subsided but the suffering seemed to be growing with every passing moment. 

Mohammed thought that the spirit of the fast was broken in the way the old man acted. If a fasting man cannot take in the right sense a cautionary honk that ensures his own safety then who else will? Ego was at its peak when it should have been seeing the bottom. Whatever happened to compassion and forgiveness? Mohammed was drowning under a deluge of fundamental questions. He was tired and wanted to run away and stop the thoughts. 

He switched on the television to divert his mind. A monk with a divine peace on his face was addressing a small gathering. But Mohammed wasn’t interested. He tried to change the channel but the TV stopped responding. Having just had the most anti-spiritual experience, he was in no mood to listen to a spiritual discourse. He cursed his room-mate Kapil for watching this stupid babble and worsening his misery. Mohammed tried to ignore the proceedings but he was not at peace, the disturbing thoughts stalked him all the time. Reluctantly, he resigned to listening to the monk.

“Have you heard of the parable of the soul?” asked the monk with a simple, unadulterated smile. 

Mohammed sighed as he realized that the monk was about to give some moral science lecture. The camera showed some of his disciples shaking their head in response to the monk’s question. 

“There was once a soul who wanted to experience forgiveness.” said the monk, “The soul asks God to help it experience forgiveness as an aspect of Godliness. Another soul comes forward and offers itself for helping the first soul fulfill its wishes. But why will you do that asked the first soul. Because I love you said the second.”

Mohammed chuckled, not being able to gather what was going on. But in spite of himself, he started getting curious. 

“But what will you do to make me experience forgiveness asked the first soul." the monk continued, “We both will go to the physical universe, to the planet earth, and I will cause to hurt you in some way said the second. But if you love me, why will you hurt me, asked the first soul, confused. How else will you experience forgiveness my beloved if I do nothing that you perceive as hurt, asked the second soul rhetorically. 

I just ask one thing in return, the second soul added. Anything, said the first, overjoyed at getting the opportunity to gratify its desire.

When I do the worst possible harm to you, when I’m unkind to you, when I insult you for none of your fault, please remember who we both are, don’t forget the promise you made me. Don’t curse me for hurting you or you will not experience forgiveness, the very purpose of our interaction.

Oh, I will always remember you and my promise - my dearest one, promised the first soul.” 

The monk closed his eyes for a while and asked the gathering, “Do you remember your promises now?” 

The monk now opened his eyes and looked straight at the camera, “Whenever you have been hurt, have you remembered the promise you made to your beloved soul? Do you now recollect that any harm done to you is an opportunity for you to grow through forgiveness? Do you now realize that a hurt in the physical world is an act of highest love in the astral world?” 

The monk’s loving eyes pierced and startled Mohammed who instantly realized that the question was meant for him. Tears rolled down his eyes as he grasped the lesson behind the disturbing incident. He cried profusely at the revelation, at the feeling of true love and compassion, and for this most amazing remembrance. The tears washed away his anger, indignation, hurt and the feeling of revenge.  

The octogenarian was no longer a thorn of a memory. Mohammed had now remembered his true self and the promise he made to God through this old man. Mohammed not only forgave the old man but he also felt he could give him the biggest loving hug of his life if they ever met again. He even thanked his roommate for watching this channel, which gave him the biggest leap of faith during one of the toughest trials in his life. 

Mohammed now realized that life at every moment gave us a choice between modesty and pride, love and hatred, forgiveness and revenge, joy and suffering, compassion and anger, faith and doubt. The one we choose will define the quality of our lives. We may get where we want to be in any case, but choosing the first will make the journey much more enjoyable. 

Mohammed got goose-bumps as he realized that this learning was like an epiphany straight from Allah. A divine blessing that helped him live the spirit of Ramadan through forgiveness. 

Lost in deep thoughts, he inadvertently pressed the remote buttons and lo! The channel changed. Mohammed chuckled and looked up at the ceiling. He smiled, for he knew the secret now – the whole universe conspired to give him this experience. 

Demystifying faith

Faith is a science that science has yet to fathom.

Faith is beyond hope.

Faith is the exhilaration of a kid knowing he is safe even as he is thrown playfully in the air.

Faith is the song of a lark that knows that night is about to die.

Faith is the swagger in the dance of a peacock welcoming the rain.

Faith is what makes you shiver in winter and perspire in summer.

Faith is what brings night after day and day after night.

Faith is a knowing of a certainty that it is given to you even before you ask.

Faith is a gratitude in advance for its deliverance.

Faith is a knowing that the question is not ‘if’ but ‘when.’

Faith is not having to worry.

Faith is not believing in an alternate possibility.

Faith is knowing that oneness. 

Faith is pure love.
Faith is surrender but not cowardice.
Science says seeing is believing.
Faith says believing is seeing.

The hare and the tortoise

Once upon a time in a jungle,

there was a hare and a tortoise.

Proud was the hare of its feet - so nimble,

slow was his friend, but oh - so wise!

Bragged his way to glory one day,

the hare spoke thus, with a swagger,

“Heavy as a rock you better stay,

while I cut through the woods like a dagger.”

“What good are your feet that make you lumber?

Ugly, thick, can’t run you out of danger.

What use is your sheath, this constant encumber?

Every few spaces, it forces you to slumber.”

“Soft as a velvet, I am my dear friend,”

thus he mouthed his praises galore,

“swift as a lightning am I through the land,

and faster I get forever more.”

Wise as he was, the slow tortoise,

silence he chose over repartee.

He moved on, slowly, at his own pace,

without joining in the hare’s party.

The monkeys overhead started howling,

sounding a sudden alarm bell.

Scared, the hare ran off jumping

while the tortoise shriveled within his shell.

Soon enough, a jackal came hurtling,

bared its canines to tortoise for biting.

The tortoise’s bane was now his blessing,

for it sent the jackal further for hunting.

The tortoise moved on and later found,

tufts of velvet-soft hair strewn around,

and beautiful, bloody feet scattered on the ground,

the hare’s pride couldn’t keep him sound.

Saddened, the wise tortoise spoke aloud,

“Let pride never be the rudder of your life,

for your judgments, it will forever cloud,

and shred you to pieces with its sharp knife.”

“There is always someone faster than the fastest,

and surely there is, stronger than the strongest,

your real strength is but inside yourself, 

so learn to go within when facing a tempest." 

I dare life

My life is

a miracle waiting to happen,

a lark singing in the dawn,

a peacock ushering the rain,

a pleasure that follows the pain,

a lotus about to blossom,

a seed pushing earth’s bosom.

For I have now known

that I have nothing to do,

only to be what I choose to be,

and hear the voice of my heart,

and sing my soul’s tune without a doubt.

I’m beginning to believe,

that I’m the creator of my destiny.

To the universe, hence I declare my intention,

and dare life not to let me live my passion.

Towards a new education system

Our current education system is fact rather than value based. However, even here, we have not done a great job at 'honestly' sticking to facts, for they are manipulated by various agenda. History is written by the victor instead of being a joint exercise involving all the parties. To transition the education to value based, I list below some concepts that can be taught to our kids.

These are listed in the book 'Conversations with God.' The purpose of sharing it here is to create an awareness of the new thought process and to expand the list. Someone may need it someday. Atleast the young parents can start teaching their kids some of these values.

I request all the readers to add their own thoughts to it.

1. Understanding Power
2. Peaceful Conflict Resolution 
3. Elements of Loving Relationships
4. Personhood and Self Creation 
5. Body, Mind and Spirit: How They Function
6. Engaging Creativity
7. Celebrating Self, Valuing Others 
8. Joyous Sexual Expression
9. Fairness
10. Tolerance
11. Diversities and Similarities
12. Ethical Economics
13. Creative Consciousness and Mind Power
14. Awareness and Wakefulness
15. Honesty and Responsibility
16. Visibility and Transparency
17. Science and Spirituality

We may argue that most of these are taught in Moral Science. But the idea is not to have a couple of units in a year long course. The idea is to have these as year long courses from the very childhood. 

Here then is my list:

1. Valuing team work 
2. Learning to let-go 
3. Winning is not everything 
4. The art of sharing 
5. The science of abundance 
6. Redefining success and failure 
7. Life is beautiful 
8. Forgiveness 
9. The art of acceptance 

Looking forward to your inputs. 

Quotes that occurred to me

1. Forgiveness is a favour you do to yourself, not to others
2. Be it arranged or love marriage on earth, it is all arranged with a lot of love in heaven
3. Life is all about creation. Even destruction is an act of creation - when you destroy a building, you create rubble.
4. God is an observer, not a judge- Conversations with God (CWG)
5. Faith is a science that science has yet to fathom
6. A medicine to one is a poison to another
7. If life was an advertisement, every problem would have an instant solution
8. Love, free, unconditional, God, unlimited, eternal. If you are not one of these, you are none of these -  (CWG).
9. Truth at various levels of reality is different and often apparently contradictory. Our level of evolution determines the truth we choose as our reality.
10. Outward complaint should never be at the expense of inner acceptance, love and forgiveness
11. Smoking Zone : A place full of fresh air where smokers go to pollute their lungs
12. Sex is the spirituality between two unwhole beings seeking wholeness. Spirituality is the sex between two whole beings sharing their wholeness
13. The more I fathom spirituality, the more I realize its proximity to sex. Wonder why mankind lauds one and pompously loathes another.
14. Envy is great for earth. It makes the world go green
15. Don't bother to be in the good books of everyone. You won't succeed. The feat has eluded even the Gods.
16. Your life is not about what your body is doing. Yet, what your body is doing is a reflection of what your life is about. - CWG
17. V-Day moral police: those who find making war in public better than making love
18. Pat your back when you overcome your tendency to classify things as better or worse, and simply accept them as different
19. Making your highest choice is only half the challenge; doing so without condemning the choices you reject completes the circle
20. The real character of a person is known not when the relationship starts but when it ends
21. Respect and obedience are not the same things. You can choose to disobey without being disrespectful.

Dinner with God

This evening I had dinner with God.

He waited for me at the table

as I scanned Him in the menu.

One of the Gods very kindly

poured water in the glass.

God, as water, quenched my thirst

even as God brought me the order.

God, as food, was delicious too.

I thanked God lovingly

and He became tastier

with every morsel.

I couldn't help smiling

and horripilating

when I saw and felt

God all around me,

my little Samadhi.

The Gods that waited

were all amused

at the radiant joy

on my face.

I smiled for I knew a secret

while they reciprocated ignorantly.

I smiled even more

for I knew their secret as well;

for my secret

was no different from theirs.

It was a moment of remembrance. 

Esoteric Ramayana

The Ram Janma Bhoomi verdict of Allahabad high court was declared yesterday (30-Sept-2010). There is wide spread media coverage of the event and analysis-paralysis of the situation on ground. All self-pronounced stakeholders have their versions of truth around it causing wide spread conflict and distrust.

This seems to be a good time to take a step back and see what Rama and Ramayana – the epic -inherently stand for and to introspect whether the whole conflict stands you in good stead.

I have gained this understanding from a very nice book ‘Kundalini’ written by Svoboda as a dialogue between him and his revered Guru Vimalananda who is an Aghora Master.

===========================

Symbolically speaking, the story of Ramayana is a story of an individual soul’s spiritual journey and the interplay of various chakras and the expressions associated with each other. We all live some aspect of Ramayana in our daily lives.


Before we understand the symbolic esoteric meaning of Ramayana, it is vital to understand the symbolism associated to the main characters of Ramayana.

The characters

Rama - the indwelling spirit – the soul who is the king of the 72000 nadis. Nadis are to energy body what blood vessels are to physical body.
Lakshman – Rama’s brother represent the power of concentration which helps the soul regain it bride – Sita. He did focus his entire attention on his brother Rama – the individual soul.
Sita – Rama’s wife represents the Kundalini Shakti, the dormant energy located at the Muladhara Chakra. It is the dormancy of this energy that helps us identify with the body which we call the ego.
Dasharatha – ‘Ten Chariots’ meaning the ten senses. Five of these are cognitive incoming senses (Gnanendriya) of smell, taste, see, touch, hear and five are external expressions (Karmendriya) of eliminating, reproducing, moving, grasping, speaking.


Ravana – The devil King represents the limited ego personality that constantly contemplates its greatness.
Hanuman – He represents the prana which when properly harnessed clears the path for Kundalini (Sita) to meet her beloved soul (Rama).

The story

Sita was found when her father Janaka was ploughing a field. She was found from the earth which is an element associated to the Muladhara Chakra where Kundalini Shakti resides. Janaka is a symbolic representation of the creator who awakens the Kundalini (Sita) by removing her from the earth, nourishing her as she grows (rises upwards) before meeting her consort Rama (the soul) through the marriage. Soon after the marriage, Ram and Sita – accompanied by Lakshman - leave for the forest. When Kundalini unites with the soul, they are blissfully immersed (focused – Lakshman) within each other and immediately withdraw from the senses, which wither and die. That is why Dasharatha (the 10 senses) dies soon after Ram and Sita depart.

This was all fine until Sita chose to disobey Lakshman and strayed from her focus on Rama. As soon as this happens, Ravana – the devil – abducts Sita (the Kundalini Shakti) to Lanka which represents the earth element, the Muladhara Chakra. This means, that as soon as your concentration shifts away from the soul, you are bound to be dragged down to your limited self state.

Vimalananda says that Rama (soul) now lost Sita (shakti) to a strong adversary – the limited demonic human personality that uses her for his own gratification. Rama had to wander far and for long before He could reach Sita even as we all must search incessantly for the Kundalini once she has self identified with something other than the soul.

Rama (soul) needs the help of Lakshman (power of concentration) to search for Sita (Kundalini). Rama also needs the assistance of Hanuman (prana) to eliminate Ravana (the limited ego) and liberate Sita again from Lanka (the Muladhara chakra).

===========================

This is the purpose of our soul - to awaken the Kundalini and experience its true universal consciousness. The day we realize that Rama dwells within all of us, the outward symbolism of Ram Janma Bhoomi or Babri Masjid will cease to matter. We will become the living embodiments of God.

Jai Shri Ram.

The moon and me

Scared as a child when I was
of the frightening dark,
the moon in the sky I was shown,
in my heart to create a spark
of a semblance of support
up in the distant sky.
That waned in my heart
the fear of the dark nearby.

In youthful love when I was,
in the wild years of adolescence,
the moon in the sky I was shown,
with beauty being its quintessence.
I likened my love to the moon,
wherein I searched for her face,
her lashes in the lunar shades
and her smile in its nightly grace.

The first heartbreak devastated me,
as the season of love altered its stance.
The moon in the sky I was shown,
pale it was even in resplendence.
Its light for me carried no hope,
as it lumbered through the clouds
in eternal state of remorse
even as I wrapped my soul in shrouds.

Lost in a desert I was for days,
hunger and thirst battered me bad.
The moon in the sky when shown itself,
water in its shine, I perceived.

The moon was the same at all times.
I always discerned it differently.
It was always about me and never the moon,
for it only reflected the inner me.

Suicide

I burn myself every moment
in the fire of introspection.
I drown myself often
in the ocean of self-abnegation.

I hang myself sometimes with
insults whose memories I snooze.
I bury myself with my ego
through fights I choose to lose.

I butcher myself in the moments
I abstain from reacting.
I run into the wire when
I refrain from judging.

I slay myself in
moments of real observation.
I pulverize myself to dust
in a state of meditation.

I kill my old self everytime
I choose to refine
I commit hara-kiri whenever
I preempt my whine.

I mutate my parochial self
when I exercise charity.
I discard my old skin,
when I live out of spirituality.

Whenever I change myself for better,
my worse self commits suicide.
Humanity, in every moment,
executes a collective genocide.

We all kill ourselves in
our moments of transformation.
Shame - we recognize the only suicide,
to our eyes, which is visible.

A Quest to Define

What, why and how?
asks man's mind.
For his own good,
must answers he find.

He is in a hurry
to know and identify.
He must name the discovery,
to label and classify.

All he ever comes across
must be controlled;
a friendly discovery must be tamed,
an adversary conquered.

Only in knowing the unknown
he feels more secure.
But every knowledge leaves behind
a hint of something more obscure.

The more he knows,
the more there is to know.
The more he defines,
the more he feels insecure.

He feels safer
not in the strength of his adversary,
but in the knowledge of
the power of his enemy.

His bigger fear is not the known
but the fringes of the unknown.
For in his knowing, lies
the genesis of conquering.

The mother of all fears
is his not knowing himself.
These conquests are a means
to define his own 'self.'

This quest to define
he must win,
to conquer his own
fear of the unknown.

Until he knows his true self
the fears will drive him.
The day he truly 'knows,'
his fears will cease within.

So will end his urge to control
and with it the need to define.
He will not want to rule everyone,
so he will let everything just be.

The Holy Sex

There are not many words in English language that can match the range of emotional reactions evoked by or outnumber the adjectives attached to the word ‘sex.’ Lip smacking, fascinating, fist pumping, anticipation, ecstasy, joy, winking, smugliness, curiosity, eyes opening wider, agape, surprise, shock, denouncing, shame, hatred, satanic, sacrilegious to list a few. What is it about sex that evokes so extreme reactions from different factions, genders, age group and so on?

I always wonder what is it about sex that human society has always tried to keep it under wraps but it still resurfaces? Why the values like honesty and integrity taught everywhere but found nowhere? Ironically, sex is not taught anywhere but is found everywhere. Why is this multi-billion dollar porn industry thriving in-spite of so many moral, statutory, technological, societal curbs around the world? Why were Indians – who pride themselves on their spirituality – the people whose most googled word in 2007 was ‘sex?’

I was convinced that there is more to sex than its physicality; that it is not as abominable as our society has made it out to be. On the contrary, I felt there was something divine about it – why else would sex be the source of creation of new life? My search led me to Osho and his book ‘From Sex to Superconsciousness.’

Osho says that our apparent yearning for sex is not actually a yearning for sex. It is a yearning for something way beyond. Sex is one of the channels to reach there. Sex culminates into an orgasmic climax. This orgasm we experience for a fleeting moment has two innate states that we actually yearn for. They are Egolessness and Timelessness. In the moment of orgasmic ecstasy, there is no ‘I’ or ego and no sense of time. It is in that condition that our consciousness is closest to God. Any wonder then that we can create a new life only when we pass through that state wherein we are closest to God.

Osho adds that it was only in the moments of love making that human beings realized for the first time that so much bliss was achievable. Those who introspected on the phenomenon of sex saw that in the moments of love making mind becomes free of thoughts. For a moment, all thoughts disappear. And this emptiness of the mind, the no-thought, is the cause of showering of the divine bliss. What mankind has all along been calling ‘the original sin’ was actually the first doorway to divinity. Man also discovered that if through some other process the same no-thought state could be achieved then the same bliss could be attained. This was the origin of the idea of yoga and meditation.

God is that orgasmic ecstasy multiplied many times. Imagine this: with a fleeting experience of this bliss we can create a new life. What would happen if we can practice and learn to be in blissful state for as long as we want? Self realized saints live in this state and hence can refrain from sex. That condition is true celibacy. Celibacy is not avoidance of sex; it is rising above sex.

Sex is no less a truth than hunger or thirst. At our current level of existence, God is still far away. By not accepting the existing fact of our life, we are not getting any closer to God. An average human being cannot pray to God if he is denied water and food for days. So it is with sex. Only when we accept sex will we open a doorway to rise above sex. If we force a person to stay hungry, someday he will steal food. Similarly, when sex is denied to someone, the person 'steals' sex from any source - resulting in sex crimes. Our own society is the real creator of sex crimes. By denying the naturalness of sex, we are denying the design of God. There is no bigger sacrilege than calling sex anti-religious or sinful. This world will only be free of sex crimes when we become capable of having a normal and healthy dialogue about it. Only by accepting sex as a natural phenomenon we will be able to understand it. Only by fully understanding sex, we will be able to transcend it. Only by transcending sex, we will be able to knock on doors of divinity.

Think of the contradictions we have built within our lives. From childhood we are taught that sex is sinful. Girls are also taught that their husbands are their Gods. So when the husband tries to have sex with his wife, she is confused; how could her God lead her into sinful act? We are also taught that children are a gift of God. This complicates the contradiction even more. God is leading her into a sinful act and giving her a divine gift. All these contradictions hinder a wholehearted acceptance of sex. These contradictions might not matter so much, if not for a deeper truth. The kind of soul that chooses to take birth through you, depends on your state of mind during the sexual intercourse. The more accepting, serene and positive you feel about sex, the more evolved soul will choose to experience its life with you. Similarly, the more negative you feel during sex, the more negatively oriented soul will choose you. Do we now see why, generations after generations, we have only given birth to same type of men? Do we now see why there are so few spiritually evolved souls that visit earth? Our sexual contradictions do not create an inviting atmosphere for them to uplift our own experiences. Hence, resolving this contradiction is very important.

Lightning in the sky is a wild force capable of killing people. But we did not antagonize or try to stop its power. Rather, we befriended that power, tried to understand it and now we have used it so wonderfully to light our houses. Similarly, only when we understand sex, we will be able to realize its true potential.

Our antagonism to sex is so deep and widespread that the recovery has to be gradual. The first and the foremost step is to drop this antagonism to it and develop an acceptance. Accept your children’s sexual curiosity as normally as you accept their hunger. Nothing in nature happens without a reason and before time. A flower blooms when it is ready to pollinate. Children get curious about sex when nature wants them to. Treat their sexual discovery with acceptance. Once the coming generation befriends sex, there will a downpour of spiritual evolution in the generation thereafter. There is no peace in this world in-spite of so many revolutions: industrial, technological, social, renaissance. This is because we have not allowed a spiritual revolution. Only after a spiritual revolution, the world will become a much better place to live.

Ever lifted a person with your finger?

'Is this possible at all?' you might wonder. The answer is yes, it is. And I did this on 28 oct, 2009.

A spiritual Guru called 'Nithya Shanti' was visiting our company this day. He was explaining to us the power of the mind when he asked five volunteers to get on stage for an experiment. I was one of the five enthusiastic volunteers.

He then asked us to join our palms (like a namaste) and then have only the index fingers standing upright, with the remaining fingers interleaved to form a fist. He then asked one of the volunteer - a man weighing 85 to 90 kgs - to sit on a chair and asked the remaining four to lift him only with the index fingers. Two volunteers standing in front of him had to put their fingers under his knee and the two behind him had to squeeze in the fingers in his armpits.

We tried but we failed to even lift him an inch. I even had to crack my knuckles after it since I had never subjected my fingers to such experiments before and it started paining.

So then he made us all put our hands over the sitting volunteer's head and made us close our eyes. He then started saying some affirmations and asked us to start believing that his body is getting lighter for our fingers to lift him and our fingers are getting strong enough to lift him. After about one and half minute of this affirmation, he made us take three slow and deep breaths.



Then he asked us to try lifting him. As we four tried lifting him, I could hear gasps of disbelief in the crowd and some mute shock in the volunteers breath as we were all left agape. We had lifted this person well over two feet from the chair with only our index fingers.



That is the power of our mind. In one moment, the Spiritual Guru, turned over its head the age old saying 'Seeing is believing.' For now we saw what we first started to believe and not the other way round.

Below I embed the video of Nithya Shanti proving the same with a different group of people.

Ambition

In a world bent on winning over others,
a quest for winning over yourself - is ambition.

In a world passionate about knowing the outside,
a passion for exploring the inside - is ambition.

In a world ruled by subjectivity,
maintaining objectivity - is ambition.

In a world possessed with strife and sorrow,
keeping a smile - is ambition.

In a world seeking things for happiness,
seeking happiness sans things - is ambition.

In a world that magnifies strengths and hides weaknesses,
acceptance of both - is ambition.

In a world chasing infinite power,
chasing the infinite – is ambition.

In a world preferring one over the other,
living without preferences – is ambition.

In a world seeking scapegoats in others,
acceptance of what is – is ambition.

In a world burdened by past and worried about the future,
living in the moment – is ambition.

In a world seeking control to allay its own fears,
letting freedom take control – is ambition.

In a world swearing by judgmental observation,
simply observing – is ambition.

In a world obsessed with beautifying what is seen,
beautification of the unseen – is ambition.

In a world believing only in ‘either or’,
considering ‘and also’ – is ambition.

In a world ruled by the mind,
enslaving the mind – is ambition.

In a world fighting noise pollution,
silencing the inner voices – is ambition.

In a world seeking providence,
being that providence – is ambition.

In a world projecting forgiveness as a favour to others,
believing it to be a favour to oneself – is ambition.

In a world worrying so much despite faith,
believing that worrying is lack of faith – is ambition.

In a world that doesn’t care for any of these,
valuing them all – is ambition.