By Sunil Sarpal

Paramatma defines as Param Atma (first soul).

When nothing existed, no creation, Param Atma appeared.  With his discretion, every thing was created vis

1)     Earth

2)     Ocean

3)     Sky

4)     Forests etc. etc.

The evolution of these and so many things was possible because Param Atma was all-encompassing and pervading.  It had the ‘creative power’.  Whether it be called as ‘creative power’ or shabd, it is one and the same thing. 

Shabd holds and manifests in each and every atom of this creation – that is why it’s existence is possible.  Satsang teaches when nothing existed, shabd was still there, and the shabd was with God or Shabd was God. 

When Satguru was questioned which path will lead to salvation from 84 lac yonies, he replied, any spiritual path which connects you to shabd dhun will lead to salvation. 

Human being in general is slave to sense pleasures viz Kaam, Krodh, Lobh, Moh and Ahankar.  Attachment to sense pleasure binds a person to this creation which means birth – death – birth. 

On the contrary, detachment from sense pleasures leads to salvation.   Detachment to sense pleasures is possible thru the practice of ‘shabd dhun’- Celestial Sound

Shabd Dhun appears from right ear or third eye when we do daily meditation of Naam Bhakti, bestowed by time’s satguru. 

In a nut-shell, attachment to ‘shabd dhun’ detaches a person from sense pleasures.  A person, by virtue of his attachment to sense pleasures, is so much engrossed to them that he needs the company of Shabd Guru, who, thru his satsang keeps enlightening him of the benefits of meditation and resultantly ‘shabd dhun’.  In this process, the person develops some kind of love and devotion towards his Satguru. 

‘Shabd Dhun’ is so melodious that it takes a person to an altogether different wave-length.  By listening to ‘shabd dhun’ his attachment to sense pleasures starts fading on a gradual basis and moulds him into a Gurmukh. 

In fact, association with ‘shabd dhun’ entails a person to come into contact with Param Atma or God. 

These are the post pandemic times when wellness has become the most spoken, admired, coveted and desired word. Never has the quest for people to feel well, comforted, at ease within themselves, healthy, stress free and especially mentally calm been more flagrant. Years of living in so much unnecessary fear aggravated by an onslaught in the press and media of Covid related over-information have wreaked havoc. Erratic unstable work closures and lack of work, as well as changed work situations, have left millions financial depleted.

Spiritually this translates into accepting and realising that a new beginning, a new reality is taking shape. Our ways of life were no longer sustainable. This itself is a vast subject, but suffice to say that insane working hours and demands as well as many levels of unrealistic living, have suddenly become redundant. Many are questioning their lifestyles.

Recently statistics have shown waves of resignations in Europe and elsewhere and also scores wanting to go back to smaller cities or towns in nature seaside mountains, or living off the grid, or trading their cushy corporate jobs for countryside ones.

Irrespective people want to feel well as they did few years or decades back. They’re willing to make drastic changes in their professional and personal domains just to get there. What matters and what does not are shifting dramatically and many want a balanced harmonious and peaceful living – even if a little divorced from too much technology .

Yoga, meditation, a zillion forms of healing are super fashionable and definitely the trends now. Massages, organic and natural beauty and healing products, Reiki, past life regression and also I know of people practicing Quigong, Taichi and Martial Arts to balance out . There will definitely be an enormous resurgence of all forms of healing in the coming years. It is the need of the hour and many more shall succumb to their magical mystical healing.

When we pass thru a market place and come across a beggar, a weak sounds resonates the ears “Allah Ke Naam Pe De De” . Listening to this, we murmur ourselves “Mainu Ki!”. How pathetic we are and our mind-set. Cannot we share the alms the God has bestowed on us by providing with income. It is quite simple to make evasive action. What pleases God if we share something with the beggar.
We always consider ourselves “privileged” and the beggar a pathetic soul. In general, we do not like beggars and their state-of-affairs.

We are always in search of somebody of our level.
Are we here for partying or entertainment purposes?
Life of a human being is not to please the ‘mind’ or ‘mood’ but to do service to ‘soul’. Because soul is the particle of God and God realization should be the ‘aim and objective’ of life.

Same soul exists in each and every human being. Whether a beggar or a rich man. Why don’t we share the alms received from God with those who ‘have not’. The creator is one and we all are his creation. Whether rich or poor. Money cannot provide peace. If we are in search of real peace, then we should always help others who ‘have not’ , and not always please our ‘mun’.

In doing so, then one day God will be pleased with our deeds and will, perhaps merge our soul in him, if that is the aim of our life.

Our desires and emotions – happiness, anger, sadness, greed, etc. come to us as thoughts only. Life comes to us in form of thoughts. Everything is related to thoughts and the mind.

As the mind and thoughts are so important, we got to take good care of them like other parts of the body. As we need to shut down the computer system for a few minutes when it gets hang up, likewise the mind.

You might say sleeping at night does that job. That is true, but the subconscious mind is always working. It is mostly our physical body which is resting during sleep. The mind can only be peaceful by making a conscious effort.

An image can be seen in still water clearly, not when it has many ripples and disturbances.

When I was young, people used to advise me to think positively and to be a good listener. It always puzzled me! Are they asking me to pretend? Because I don’t feel in the same way.  

Yet, I thought everyone cannot be wrong so I tried hard to hear others attentively but I got a headache. I started reading a lot of books on practical physiology. It mainly mentioned outer behavior, which seemed to be theoretical to me. Be open-minded, patient, calm, balanced, etc. I thought these all are inner qualities, not chocolate, you give me and I enjoy.

It also mentioned some simple breathing techniques, count 10, reverse the counts, etc. Mediation is not a side subject either. It is the main subject as we lack peace of mind, and inner love mostly. It needs our effort in an isolated way.

Mediation is much more than just breathing techniques. Kriya mediation technique provides a combination involving breath, awareness, mantras, energy centers (chakras) and observing own thoughts.

Gradually, it helps us to break our thought patterns in a natural way and takes the mind to non duality (and beyond) from where life came to existence.

The taste of the beyond brings the qualities of Him. The techniques make it all easy. The techniques are designed according to the nature of our complex minds. Techniques take care of all the elements in the most simple way. A practitioner just has to sit in one place with closed eyes and rest is done by the techniques.

Guided meditation is provided to initiate disciples. A step-by-step process, such as, when to breathe consciously, when to relax, where to take attention. All is done in such a simple way that 20 minutes are gone within no time.

The simplicity and effectiveness of the techniques make it remarkable. One can feel peace just after a single practice, and that is the motivation to continue the practice. No difficult postures and no hard pranayama.

By practicing consistently, inner struggles evaporate more naturally. Gradually one becomes independent to deal with inner conflicts. The absence of inner conflict makes the inner room clean and one can experience stillness. A calm mind becomes a natural listener, open-minded, receptive, and enjoys daily life and all its aspects. The mind has more space for creativity now, earlier it was occupied with many hidden conflicts.

The real knowledge flows inside out, not outside in. If it gets clear to us then the desire to mediate intensifies.

In mediation the knowledge of self is revealed; who we are, the purpose of life, and our existence. All these are experienced in mediation. One might not have heard anywhere else. It is beyond words and theories. Self- realization makes us fall in love with ourselves at first. Patience, tolerance, forgiveness, good listener, etc. are the product of growing inner love. This experience fills life with the light of happiness, contentment, and peace. All questions are answered, no more questions are left. Imagine the state of mind.

One gets knowledge from inside about the nature of mind, body, and purpose of thoughts, how to deal with them. One starts living in harmony with life and enjoys all aspects related to it.

At the end why talk about the taste of Ladoo better eat and know it for yourself.

It is Mahavir Jayanti today, one of the most important days in the Jain religious calendar. As the Jain community celebrates the birth anniversary of Bhagwan Mahavir by exchanging greetings on email or whatsApp messages, it seems Nature has taken upon itself to celebrate this auspicious day on a grand scale, Universal in nature. The Universe knows no geographical boundaries, hence the divine celebrations are playing out on the entire planet.

The Corona virus has mandated we rethink how we live, consume, and treat others. I will briefly mention only two principles that Lord Mahavir gave to the world that seem like a balm on the Corona-ed human soul.

The current state of the world is very appropriately reflected by the opening lines of Charles Dickens famous novel A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, …” It tells about a time of chaos, conflicts, and despair, as well as happiness. It, in fact, tells us about the time of extreme opposites without any in-betweens.

Something similar is unfolding on planet earth today.

As I sit pondering over the birth celebrations of Lord Mahavir since when I was a child, the images of community events where school-children performed plays and songs depicting the life of the Teerthankara, the liberated One, flash before my eyes. It was a time of community gathering, celebrations, much fun and socializing, followed by lots of sumptuous food eaten together. I recall with much nostalgia the annual speech I was asked to deliver, in English (at age 7 onwards, because I studied in a convent school!), on his life and principles. I knew by rote the main tenets of Jainism and Lord Mahavir’s three-fold path of Right Faith, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct. For many years it continued thus, and I could have rattled off the entire Four-fold or Eight-fold Path (they are different for ascetics and householders) without pausing for a breath. Yet there was no deeper thought, no time for reflection on the teachings of this noble, liberated soul. Posters and banners proclaiming the lofty tenets of the world’s most non-violent religion were put up all over town, but how much was followed by people is anyone’s guess. As indeed it often happens in most religions.

However, today, as I sit locked up in my house – Coronavirus indeed has locked up indoors practically all humanity, I am having some Eureka moments! Yes, the wisdom of all my Mahavir-Jayanti speeches, scripted by people more learned than a 7-year-old, is gradually dawning on me. I feel the lessons humans have failed to learn by volition are being taught by Nature, à la science experiments demonstrated in a lab. Humans are perforce made to sit back while Nature takes over and teaches. The coping stone of Mahavir’s teaching has been “Live and Let Live,” kindness to all beings and cruelty towards none. He even went to tell humanity that plants too have a life, and therefore deserving mindfulness from humans.

The fact that the deadly Corona virus most probably originated from wet animal markets in China has forced mankind to rethink cruelty towards animals. In India most slaughter houses are shut, people are shunning animal flesh, eating healthy and vowing to continue with their kindness towards other living creatures. Humans are not the only inheritors of this beautiful planet. We have encroached in most downright manner, the habitat of birds and animals, cocking a snook at the principle of “Live and Let Live”. Now when the world, locked up behind closed doors, sees animals hitherto unseen on the roads roam freely, does it realize that in our race “to live” we forgot to “let others live”. We need to let the animals and birds, the air and water, sky and earth breathe and own their space in the universe. Our rapacious ways and the choices we make will not only kill them, but spell our own doom. In fact, we can live only if we let others live. The choice we had in “Live and Let Live” is long gone.

Another important tenet that Mahavir gave to humanity, and my most favorite one, is the beautiful precept of Aparigraha, or, in simplistic terms non-attachment to material things. Aparigraha is one of the virtues in Jainism, and one that was uncannily prescient when Mahavir expounded it more than 2,500 years ago. It is also one of the five vows that both householders and ascetics must observe. Non-Violence, Non-Stealing, and Truthfulness we all believe are necessary virtues, but when it comes to Aparigraha we are neither aware nor believe the same is very important virtue in higher pursuit of life.

Aparigraha is the virtue of non-possessiveness, non-grasping or non-greediness. Aparigraha is the opposite of parigrah, and refers to keeping the desire for possessions to what is necessary or important, depending on one’s life-stage and context.

In my current ruminative mood, I was wondering that the end of winter is usually the time for big-ticket sales in all shopping malls as well as online commerce sites. At this time of the year, one would have seen teeming crowds stocking up on “discounted goods,” unmindful of their need. But forced lock-downs the world over have seen people managing with what they have and no one is any the worse for it. When man‘s avarice could not be checked by any wise person’s advice, Nature had to step in and teach mankind a lesson it is not likely to forget any time soon. Instead of hoarding unwanted stuff, most people are decluttering their homes and spring-cleaning wardrobes. The world is seeing the benefit of minimalist life. This minimalist lifestyle, or Aparigraha was preached by Lord Mahavir at a time when the world probably was still unspoilt by abundance of material possessions. While excess consumption leads to bigger houses, faster cars, fancier technology, and cluttered homes, it never brings happiness. This, the world is being forced to see in the times of Corona virus. “A tomb now suffices him for whom the whole world was not sufficient,” said Alexander, the great Greek conqueror about himself just before he died.

We don’t need a full house, we need a full life. This is going to be a life-changing resolution. Lord Mahavir’s other teachings of Forgiveness, Compassion and Sacrifice are as pertinent in the new world order when there seems to be a tectonic shift in human consciousness. Of that later!

My grandfather was a self-made and successful businessman. He was also the backbone of our big joint family. Every day after the dinner, he used to go for a long walk, really long…. and I accompanied him sometimes for the ice-cream on the way back.

to retire, why did he not do so?

Narad was a celestial sage. For many years he meditated on mountains and in the jungle. One day after great penance he boastfully said to Lord Vishnu, “I am your greatest devotee in the three worlds because I never lose focus on you, not even for a minute”. Lord Vishnu put him to a test. He asked him to take a full circle around the mountain carrying a pot of oil over his head. The condition was not to drop the pot and spill the oil.

Narad took the challenge, and after much difficulty, he managed. He happily returned to lord Vishnu, again bragging about his success. God congratulated him and then asked, “How many times did you remember me in the middle of this job?” Narad realized not even once.

I loved this story, and read it again and again. The daily struggle involves us in such a way that we don’t realize when the day started and when it got an end. There was no doubt left in me that this simple thing is not so simple “To relax in the middle of our daily responsibilities”. And relationship worries steal away the remaining peace of our mind. It got crystal clear in my head that it demands efforts to be effortless.

the butter.

The retreat was so relaxing. I forgot everything. There was no tension of past and future. I muted the phone and checked it once at night for any urgent messages. We had four times meditation in a day, simple food, resting, being by myself, nature walk. I came back home with new life energy and missed being at the retreat.

Unnecessary talking and resisting the need for talking steals the energy. Too much phone, television and gadgets multiply the restlessness. The challenge is something like walking on the edge of the razor. Kriya practice makes one more aware, observant and balanced.