Principles of Creative Fidelity

‘Come, my son, sit here in front of me… ‘Let us understand our great mission, the Integral Revolution, and see how can it be made really fruitful for the glory of God and good of the world’… The Baba invited Atma Prakash. Like an ever trusting and obedient child, Atma Prakash sat down where his guruji indicated.

The Baba then said to his God-sent disciple: 

‘From today, my son, you and I share a divine mission for which we are brought together by the Lord of light and love…

‘I am called to help you to understand that great mission for which the Lord has called you from death…

‘I will also help you to prepare yourself for your divine mission…

‘But, please remember, it is your divine call and mission. Hence, you have to take the full responsibility of preparing yourself well for it. I am here to help you, not to play your role….

‘You have to use the library extensively. Learn from the life all around you… 

‘Go for long walks into the forest. Listen to the songs of the birds. Sit at the river bank and observe the river flowing. The universe is the best University. Nature is the best teacher….

‘Do your yoga and go for your swim regularly. Take care of your body. Keep it healthy and well disciplined…..

‘Learn to communicate with  nature. Be in harmony with all life, all flora and fauna in the jungle. Send out waves of friendship to all living beings in the jungle. We are part of the nature. We are one with all life….

‘We will have one interactive session per week. You will have to devote the rest of the week for swadhyaya and sadhana as well as for Ashram seva…. ‘Swadhyaya’ means self-study, and ‘sadhana’ means self-effort. It is spiritual exercise for one’s own spiritual development .... 

‘Let what you learn go deep into your heart and mind. Study the subject well. We have a good library as you have already seen….

‘Help out Mataji whenever and where ever she needs. She is an enlightened person. She will always be a loving mother to you, as she has been to all of us. She also holds a Ph. D in ‘Environmental Science’. But that is nothing compared to her spiritual strength, and such spiritual strength does not come from academic qualifications, but through surrender and devotion… She has great spiritual power….

‘Be a loving host to the people coming to the Ashram. Welcome every one with a warm smile….

‘Be compassionate to all, especially to the animals. They may be crude and ugly. But, remember, they are your less evolved brothers and sisters in the Earth Family….

‘If you have any doubt at any time you can come to me. I will be always available to you, my son. But my own role will be only to facilitate your self-study and self-development…

‘You have within your own self everything that is needed for your great mission. When the Lord calls someone for a mission, He also gives what is needed for the mission. You only have to discover them and bring them out into action. I will help you in this process of unfolding of your being and realization of your mission….

‘You are not bound by what I teach you. You need not repeat later on what is being taught to you here by me….

‘More than repetitive loyalty, what is needed of an enlightened disciple is creative fidelity to the guru’s teachings. This means that you have to understand and assimilate the essence of what is being taught to you, and give it new creative expressions of your own in the contexts of your own life and mission….

‘You must own up full responsibility for your words and deeds. Don’t blame it on the guru….. Only then you will have the wisdom and power to do justice to a great and original mission.’ 

The Baba said and looked into the eyes of Atma Prakash.

Excerpts from Integral Revolution  

A Simple Way to God

God is simplicity. God is flexibility. God understands all: you and me. We are in God and God is in us. We cannot get any closer to God than we already are. Then why is this fuss about getting closer to God? When God is with us, when we are in God, why should we find a way to God? Ours is the anxiety of a child whose mother is hidden from its view momentarily. What can we do then? To be more and more aware of the reality of us being in God. To more and more appropriate and live in that beautiful, ever-consoling reality which is the best gift and the only real gift God has bestowed on us. Now I understand the saying of Paul of Tarsus that absolutely nothing can ever come between us and the love of God.

God loves us and accepts us unconditionally. We have a great – nay, all-consuming desire – to love God. In the final analysis, we ought not to have any other desire. In reality no other desire is worth having. God loves us and we have this insatiable desire to love him. So we already have the sure way to the heart of God.  Long ago I stopped asking God for anything rationally as God promised us that God knows our needs even before we ask for. Yet I found myself asking God affectively or emotionally for health, security, courage, serenity, etc…Now I do not ask for anything. Because God, the Great Cosmic Energy, provides me with everything I need. So what do I do? I bask in the presence of God being aware of that energy’s awesomeness and goodness.

Having studied philosophy, education, theology, and psychology, I came to the conclusion that the more I learn the more I realize how little I know. The only worthwhile knowledge and insights that come from others are from their integrity and lived experience. Our wonderful God has given us all that we need right from the beginning. No mediation is necessary.  Neither any doctrine nor any dogma is required. Nor any religion, for that matter. God wants to connect with us more than we even want to. Heaven is where we experience God. Hell is where we do not experience God. Heaven or hell begins for us in our own disposition, and to the degree we experience God and God’s bliss.

Having said all this, do we really need a way to God? Not really. What we truly need is an intense awareness of God. But for starters, what is needed is to be faithful to one’s conscience. For God unmistakably and faithfully communicates to us through our conscience. One invariably connects with God through creation, especially with other human beings. So from all that I know it will be very difficult to find God among hoarders of wealth and earth’s resources that God has given for all. It will also be very difficult to find God among those who diminish the precious human freedom through autocratic power and control in spite of their avowed claim of using their authority for promoting God as they understand God.  In the end, I believe everyone will be saved on account of one’s ignorance in which all of us participate in some degree.

 Interestingly, God recognizes only those who recognize the least among humans. While I do not want to get into the theological squabble related to predestination and free will, humans through their own choices dispose themselves to damnation or bliss. It may be of interest to note that all theological disputes arose from the way the undefinable God was defined. God is fine; we need to be fine in our belief of God for who we understand God to be and who we are as God’s children. Finally, a simple way to God is a simple way to us in God.

Swami Snehananda Jyoti 

Rarest of Rare

The phrase “Rarest of Rare” connects your mind quickly to capital punishment. These days there is lot of halla gullah regarding the sanctity of capital punishment. Every time a capital punishment is announced, some nears and dears and some self proclaimed experts on the topic start surfacing. We start questioning whether we as a society have a right to murder someone, who has not acted as per norms laid down by us. Whether the crime was sufficiently rare enough to qualify for the phrase “rarest of rare” to be applied in a particular case is not well established. In a world of continuously changing definitions nothing can really be called rarest. On the other hand, if we see it with an altogether different perspective everything can be called unique in itself.

Here I would like to quote a story I read quite some time back. A painter wanted to visit a jail to paint the face of the prisoner who was sentenced the capital punishment. He wanted to capture the face expressions of a hard core criminal. With some contacts he could arrange this meeting. When this painter met the prisoner, the prisoner started weeping. Painter could not understand why a hard core criminal is weeping in front of him. Actually the prisoner had identified this painter. He had created a painting of him many years back and that time painter had made a remark that your face is very innocent. This time prisoner was worried if the painter will paint him now he may no more be impressed with his expressions.

Relationship of earlier goodness of a person to the extreme crimes a person commits is a matter of debate. Without going into any debate I just wanted to express my feelings about the system of punishments. I was impressed with a famous story ‘Panchlight’ by a great Hindi writer Phanishwarnath Renu. This is about a man from a village who was punished by his Panchayat for a social boycott. Later he was called back as he was the only person in the village who knew how to burn the petromax lanterns used for marriage functions. A punishment system should be something which can help a person realize his faults and then the person’s abilities and skills can still be used for benefit of the society. I also read a lot about reforms in mental makeup of prisoners when IPS Kiran Bedi was In-charge of the Tihar Jail. So dear readers! I feel if we could also change our punishment systems to match the world of changing definitions.

Dr. Sunil Ji Garg 

A Nation Without Wings!

Today, India is upset - upset like a bird which lost its wings, all on a sudden. Dr APJ Abdul Kalam whom India lost yesterday was wings for the nation. He was the first ‘president of the people’ of India, who knew the nation by the people who lived in it. He was not a Muslim born in India but an Indian born in Islam. He was not a child born with platinum spoons in his mouth; he was just an ordinary boy who knew the pain of hunger. He later taught a whole nation how to dream. It was all the difference he made in India. After 5th September 1997 on which India lost its’ Nobel Laureate – Mother Teresa of Missionaries of Charity, I should say that it is Dr APJ Abdul Kalam whose death shook the nation so awfully. M Teresa was a Christian and Dr APJ Abdul Kalam was a Muslim. Whenever I realize that these things happen in a Nation in which 78% of people are Hindus, I am delighted because it is the type of solidarity Indian Thoughts envision and work for. Quite recently, I heard a similar touching story from Kerala. The heart of a clinically dead upper class Hindu man from Trivandrum was transplanted successfully to a poor Christian auto driver in Kochi (another city in Kerala, away by some 200 kms. approx.) The story never ends without a comment on the Muslim who financed this. Unless religions interrupt in, the heart of India always has a soft corner for its brethren beyond considerations of caste and culture.

Dr Kalam taught the nation to respect each other beyond caste and religion barriers. Without Dr Kalam somebody would have brewed up powerful satellites and rockets but nobody would have taught the nation how to dream; nobody could have written so powerfully motivating books for the future. Look at his important quotes:

 

“Don’t take rest after your first victory, because if you fail in a second, more lips are waiting to say that your first victory was just luck.” 

“All birds find shelter during rain. But eagles avoids rains by flying above the clouds.”

“Failure will never overtake me if my definition to succeed is strong enough.”

“Man needs difficulties in life because it is necessary to enjoy the success.” 

“If you want to shine like a sun, first burn like a sun.”  

“It is very easy to defeat some one, but it is very hard to win someone.”

“All of us do not have equal talent. But all of us have an equal opportunity to develop our talents.” 

“Be more dedicated to making solid achievements than running after swift but synthetic happiness.”

”Thinking should become your capital asset, no matter whatever ups and downs you come across in your life.” 

“Without your involvement you cannot succeed. Without your involvement you cannot fail.” 

Indian Thoughts fraternity is bowing respectfully in memory of this legend who tuned the sensors of a proud Nation. Thank you Kalamji …thank you! Amar Raho Aap!

Joseph Mattappally

The Photograph Has Changed

I belong to a town in district Muzaffarnagar of U.P. After initial education in my hometown, I studied there for five years before going to Roorkee University for my Engineering degree. Fortunately I have kept myself in touch with all these places and frequently visit them. As a result I have a good number of friends and well-wishers at all these places. 

As is its nature, life has seen lot of changes during this period. Perhaps it has been more so in my case. After passing Engineering, I did not stay in that profession for long and shifted to Indian Administration Service. In this service also I was assigned U.P. Cadre which provided me opportunity to visit my home town and the district frequently. I also developed interest in the spiritual aspect of life and its relevance to day to day life. This made me to think deeper and I started interpreting day to day event from spiritual viewpoint. Soon these thoughts took the shape of books which draw attention of many. This also became helpful in adding my friends and well-wishers. 

One such addition is in the form of a group at Muzaffarnagar consisting mostly of local doctors. All of them are not only successful in the career but are also blessed with the quest of seeking truth. This common interest brought us together and whenever occasion comes we meet to share our views. It is always an elevating experience and greatly helps me in contemplation. 

During one of such interaction a very interesting observation was made by one of the participant. Two of my books had different photograph at the back cover. There was a gap of about eight years between them and naturally they appeared different. Noticing this difference, he made a very natural saying "Your photograph has changed." Somehow this phrase drew my deeper attention and we shifted our discussion to this interesting aspect of life. 

We all know that out photograph is only a sketch of our outer personality and that too of only the body. The body keeps changing every moment but the change is so slow that we hardly notice it. Only over a period of time, these changes of body are noticed and a day comes when it totally vanishes. However, all through this period from birth to death, there is something which is permanent and does not change. That is why we always address ourselves as 'I". Most of us waste our time and energy only on the vanishing part of our existence that is the body. Only fortunate few pay attention to the permanent part which is beyond bodily existence. Once our quest is directed to this aspect of the personality, all conflicts which belong only to the body start disappearing and we reach the state of bliss in increasing manner. Greater is the quest and effort, greater will be the achievement in this direction. We then rise above the changes of the body which in any case has to undergo this process. If so, why not to spend our energy on the development of our inner personality which gets refined with time, contrary to the outer personality which diminishes with time despite all our efforts. This is what is known as spiritual search or the process of self-realisation. Once on this path, photograph changes cease to be the cause of worry and we make best use of our energy both physical as well as spiritual. 

Rakesh Mittal IAS

Initiation of a Revolutionary

Next day early morning the Baba took Sudhakar to the river. There, the guru of light and love then kissed his disciple on his forehead and whispered into his right ear the ‘mantra’ that he will always have to recite as part of his ‘sadhana’. To Sudhakar’s great surprise the ‘mantra’ was the same ‘Sadguru Nama Japa’ that his mother had taught him. Now he was absolutely sure….

This was the guru of light and love appointed for him by the Lord of light and love, as foretold by his mother in the vision. The Baba held Sudhakar close to his heart and said: 

‘From today, from this very moment onwards, you are a new person, a spiritual seeker, a ‘Brahmachari’, my son. ‘Bowenpally Sudhakar’, the ‘young lion’ of the naxalite revolution in Andhra Pradesh, is dead and gone……..He was shot dead by police…Inspector Narasimha Reddy and his team had also received the prize money for shooting him dead.…

‘You can now begin life afresh and anew, like a newborn child. You are blessed with a ‘second life’. From today you will be a Brahmachari, a student of spirituality and divinity….You are specially chosen and anointed by the Lord of light and love for a great mission. I am appointed by Him to guide you and help you in your mission….Do not ever think of the past again, or mention it to anyone hereafter……You are my spiritual son by divine providence… I have spiritually begotten you on this day as willed by the Lord of light and love. This Ashram is your home. I am your father. Mataji is your mother….Your new life begins from today…from here… Your new name shall be ‘Atma Prakash’.

‘You will ever be a prophet of light and love with the power and wisdom of the Spirit. You will inherit the earth as your divine legacy…..‘You will be a proud son of Mother India, the ‘crown prince’ of this ancient land of religions.’

The Baba led ‘Atma Prakash’ to the shore of the river. There he gave him a pair of white dresses. ‘White is the colour of the dress of a ‘Brahmachari’, the young man who walks towards God, and who walks with God… 

‘White also represents purity. Purity of thoughts, purity of words and purity of deeds…Purity of intentions and means…. A Brahmachari is called to be pure…. ‘Blessed are those who are pure in their hearts, they shall see the face of God…..‘Blessed are those who have peace in their minds, they shall hear the voice of God… ‘Remember, my son, it is in the purity of our hearts that we can see the face of God, and it is in the silence of our minds that we can hear the voice of God…..‘You will not only see the face of God, but you will also radiate the light and love of God… ‘You will not only hear the voice of God, but you will be a prophet of God for an ‘Integral Revolution’ for a culture of peace in the world…..‘An ‘Integral Revolution’ whereby religion and politics will be integrated, whereby economics and politics will be spiritualized, and whereby science and technology will be rebuilt on a new foundation of love, is your divinely ordained mission. I am called to help you to prepare yourself for this divine mission of the millennium’, the guru told his disciple. 

Atma Prakash prostrated at the feet of his God-given guru

Excerpts from: 'Integral Revolution'

The Blame Game

In an earlier article I have mentioned that reformers themselves need to be reformed before they go about the business of reformation. As Gandhiji said, they need to be the change that they are working for. They need to discreetly model the change that they are looking for in their own life and surroundings. In other words, we have to walk the talk. The compelling need for change has to come from within so our voice would have an inner authority of service coming from a relentless search for truth. That way we truly sound authentic and genuine. It is not them versus us. We are all in it together. The Idukki bishop, for instance, seemed to have put his foot into his mouth when he talked about Catholic girls too willing to let go of their religious up-bringing/vales when they fall in love and get married to Hindu boys. He voiced the concern and fear of many Christians. We need to ask ourselves a question, though. What happened to the rigorous training Catholic girls and boys received at least for 18 years before their marriage?

Was that training according to the mind and teachings of Christ? These boys and girls come from our families. They are our relatives. The church leaders including bishops are also our relatives. We rarely take on the priests and the bishops when we get an opportunity. Because we do not want to rock the boat. What are we afraid of? What about the prophetic role that Christ has given us through his teaching?! The aforesaid bishop pointed out a symptom. Yet he has not pointed out, to my knowledge, other symptoms. For instance, many poor Catholics in his diocese joining other Christian denominations that are mostly Pentecostal. Or there are quite a few poor Catholics committing suicide in Bisonvalley Panchayat in which, it appears, most suicides in Kerala take place.  Dabbling in politics and aligning opportunistically with a political party to pit one Catholic candidate against another in the recent parliamentary election was not kosher. Or, for that matter, a Catholic parish school is competing with a public school started earlier by mostly prominent Catholics in the same parish with the blessings of the Church authorities. This unhealthy competition resulted in bringing another Catholic Church of another rite into the area. The point that is made is that opportunism, not solid Christian and moral values, often guides important decisions. All these symptoms point out to a syndrome of pharisaism (hypocrisy) indicative of spiritual bankruptcy, chaos and confusion, lack of vision and direction. We can rant and rave against individual bishops. There are also good bishops including the Pope. The Pope certainly is a whip of fresh air giving some hope in a stuffy and suffocating Church. In our enthusiasm we can heap all kinds of praises on him. 

As someone who had the same kind of training as he had in the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), I am waiting for signs of some substantive changes related to major issues such as women’s ordination to the priesthood, married priesthood, family life especially in the context of same sex marriage, democratizing the entire Church, not just the semblance of democracy in the election of popes, and unity of Christians (ecumenical issues) facing the Catholic Church. I do not think he was wise in the outright rejection of women’s ordination as there is no real theological objection to women priests. While his ministry of reconciliation paving the way for bringing USA and Cuba together over a half-century of bitter alienation was truly admirable, I think he lost a wonderful opportunity to build a bridge between Communism and Christianity when he was presented recently by the Bolivian president a crucifix on hammer and sickle designed by a Jesuit martyr.  

I also realize the very difficult, almost impossible, reality of the Pope moving all the people of the Church with him. But he also has to be realistic in that he cannot please everybody and dance around major issues as his immediate predecessors have done. Currently he has an enormous capital of admiration and good will. He has a certain amount of time to do God’s will Meanwhile what can we do? We have to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. That means we continuously engage in discernment and expand our own awareness. The kind of meetings distracted by so many things that we have right now may not be of much use for spiritual growth. We may need prolonged period for in-depth sharing and prayerful reflection. What we need now may not be new institutions but use already existing ones. We are not here to sensationalize certain issues and celebrate individual victories. We are here to do a job and not take credit for who did what. We need to question the shallowness and ignorance or integrity of certain reformers in our own rank. We cannot wash our hands by disclaiming responsibility for their own lack of awareness and knowledge. We need to give the same empathy that we give to ourselves. When we try to reform an entity that stands in the name of Christ, we need to have enormous humility, and employ the same spiritual methods taught by Christ and not follow the ways of the world. We may have our own axes to grind. So working through our own issues before we reform others will be very important. Respect for facts and purity of intention in everything is of paramount importance.

Swami Snehananda Jyoti 

Inner Voice

We keep hearing various types of voices all around us. Every voice has its own agenda, whether it comes as a part of a radio programme like ‘Maan ki Baat’ from prime minister of India or it is the “expecting something” voice of a family member or an office colleague. We all have definitely heard sometime in our lifetime a unique voice from our own mind, which we call our inner voice. One can read a lot about this inner voice from a popular creation by our father of nation Mahatma Gandhi, a book named “My experiments with truth”. The word most nearest to inner voice according to this great thinker was definitely ‘Truth’. After reading Gandhi Ji I started thinking about the equivalence of truth to inner voice. 

The story of my career selection was related to this conflict between truth and inner voice. After senior secondary school, according to my inner voice I wanted to opt for a college that can give me a career in writing or in painting. As my inner voice itself was contradictory, my parents wanted me to become a doctor or an engineer. I was one of those rare breeds those days who had both mathematics and biology as my senior secondary school subjects. I got selected in engineering, but was not sent there as my parents had planned a medical career for me. This was simply because my elder brother was already there in engineering line. Later another elder relative of mine guided my parents to let me become an Engineer that too from the same college where my brother was studying. The inner voices of so many people around me shaped up like a truth often labeled as ‘experience’ and my inner voice accepted everything like a destiny.

 

Today situations have changed. Inner voices of young individuals have become stronger than inner voices of people around them. Experience is not relevant any more. Desires have over- powered everything. Desires of writing destinies can land many people into trouble. This is because desires are driven by peer progress rather than truthful needs of individuals. The inner voice starts catching the frequency of other desire driven people around. Introspection takes the back seat. So friends! Before I conclude, I would like to make a final remark. “Inner voice that comes after introspection can help us find the truth in a better form”. Please talk to yourself, before you react any further. 

Dr. Sunil Ji Garg 

Just My Opinion!

LL 265 200715 Just My Opinion!

Everybody asks for justice, no matter saint or criminal. Unfortunately, the idea of justice embedded in our minds is mostly the picture of a criminal being punished. This is definitely a negative attitude, for sure. Justice is defined as a virtue, which primarily is concerned with others; it is a noble virtue by which we to give others what is their due. A just person is said to be always working upon his obligations more than on his rights. Obligations? Does everybody owe something to anything else? Since the whole universe is a combination of everything in it and everything in it is dependent on everything else in it, the truth is that everything owes to everything else. Here, justice becomes living in consideration of other things and beings. But the general concept is that we owe only to humans and not to sub humans, slave humans or living beings of any nature or things of any quality. Declaring something else as not proper humans and justifying the injustice done to them continued to be the tactics of the powerful. Jews were sub humans to Hitler, so were all salves to their masters, so are all animals to non-vegetarians. 

Our obligation to other elements in the universe is justified only when we see everything else in the perspective of Gods infinite love. The moment we divide everything else into atoms and elements, the stage we set fits only widespread injustice. In another words, the moment we go beyond needs and wander in the realms of wants, we serve injustice, knowing not that our happiness invariably depends upon the measure of justice we serve. When we graciously remember that we owe the universe for everything we have so far received, we also realize the magnitude of our obligations and there, religion becomes a matter of justice. Justice to others means good relationships. Justice and mercy are different; in justice we treat others with what they owe and in mercy we give others with more than they deserve. For a thriving relationship it is mercy that we want. The fact is that there is no justice without mercy. Our model should be the Divine Mercy, which is the abode of forgiveness and reconciliation. In justice, we develop relationships, in love we develop oneness. Without crossing the barrier of justice love is impossible to reach. 

Joseph Mattappally 

The Entropy Law

We all know that the society has passed through its four stages of Satyuga, Tretayuga, Dwaparyuga and Kaliyuga. At present we are in Kaliyuga and it is said that even this stage is reaching its last phase. The present is considered bad because the evils in society have assumed gigantic proportions and there are very few who think of the larger good. Most people have become selfish and think only of themselves. The result is that society is in a hellish state and nobody knows how to come out of this chaos. We also hear that the situation was most ideal in Satyuga but then deteriorated over the centuries. Thus values have fallen with time. Dwaparyuga was better than Kaliyuga, Tretayuga was better than Dwaparyuga and Satyuga was better than Tretayuga. I have been thinking about the reasons for this fall in values and was seeking a scientific explanation of this phenomenon when I found a book, which gave me the answer, which tallied with my own intuition.

The above phenomenon is explained by the second law of thermodynamics. There are two laws of thermodynamics. The first one is the ‘Law of Conservation’ which says that energy can neither be created nor destroyed but can only be transformed from one form to another. The second law of thermodynamics says that every time energy is transformed from one state to another, there is a loss in the amount of that form of energy, which then becomes available to perform work of some kind. This loss in the amount of ‘available energy’ is known as ‘Entropy’. For example, if we burn a piece of coal, the total amount of energy remains the same but, due to the process of burning, some part of the coal is transformed into sulphur dioxide and cannot be reburnt to get the same work out of it. This kind of ‘loss’, 'wastage' or ‘penalty’ is called Entropy.

The second law of thermodynamics explains that the total entropy in the world is constantly increasing. An entropy increase, therefore, means a decrease in ‘available energy’. Further, not only does the available energy decrease every time something occurs in this world but the unavailable energy spreads as pollution. Thus, the world is moving towards a dissipated state and pollution is constantly increasing.

Now, this has very great implications for the society. In practical terms, it means that the society deteriorates and becomes disorganised gradually. There is a degeneration in its’ moral force, its spiritual stamina, the vigour of its character, the effectiveness of its religion and the sense of law and order. Thus the moral and spiritual energy of the society goes on degenerating so that, ultimately, it reaches a stage of maximum entropy when God has to intervene. The trend has to be reversed to bring about Satyuga or Golden Age when all material things have maximum energy concentration, i.e., are Satopradhan and the souls also have maximum ‘available’ moral and spiritual energy. The process of degeneration then begins again and the cycle goes on. The need for God’s action in such a situation is evident because, according to the Entropy Law, in a closed system, entropy increase cannot be reversed without increasing the entropy in the surroundings and, therefore an outside source of energy is required to raise the energy concentration without lowering the energy level in the surroundings.

Thus the ‘Entropy Law’ explains the degenerative process of the society. This is a natural process and need not unduly upset us. The only option we have is to mould ourselves into a closed system so that our own entropy does not increase and our moral and spiritual stamina is maintained. As far as the whole or universal system is concerned, God will take care of it at the appropriate time. Therefore, it has been rightly suggested that we should live in the world but the world should not live in us.

 

Rakesh Mittal IAS

Curing and Healing

Sudhakar soon recollected himself. He brought his mind back to what the Baba was saying. The Baba seemed to know what he was talking about, a kind of certainty that the Naxalite leaders never demonstrated. He remembered the many ‘underground study classes’ that he had attended in which Marxism and Leninism were shown as the ultimate solutions for the crises facing the world. 

The ‘Red Book’ of Mao was their text book….

‘Naxalism’ was projected as the latest modified version of the Communist ideology in which the drawbacks of both Marxism and Leninism were also corrected. 

Charu Majumdar wrote 8 articles to provide a strong ideological basis for Naxalism. 

But Naxalism could not solve the problems of the poor and down trodden in India. In fact, it seems to have only added to their problems! 

Naxalism today is also being seen by many of its early sympathizers and supporters as a great threat to peace and development in the country.

‘Where have we gone wrong?’ Sudhakar asked himself.

The Baba seemed to read the mind of Sudhakar.

‘You treat the symptom of the sickness, my son. I treat the cause of the sickness. That is the basic difference between our two revolutions. And that is where you went wrong.’ The Baba said and paused, looking intensely into the eyes of Sudhakar. 

Once again Sudhakar felt a fire being kindled within his heart. This time it was an all-consuming fire. He could not resist the power of the great magnetic attraction that was pulling him towards the Baba. Sudhakar fell at the Baba’s feet. 

A dam burst within him. 

Excerpts from ‘Integral Revolution’ - the true story of a great transformation

This Illusory Life

Humans engage in all sorts of crimes and try to get away with them. Accumulation of enormous wealth on the back of the ordinary workers with low pay is indeed a human tragedy. Corporations that make windfall profits, that benefit only a few executives with scandalous salaries and bonuses creating a class of filthy rich, are able to do that with very low wages for most workers. Societies that allow this kind of cancerous arrangement in the name of human rights are unenlightened to say the least. Only materialism and consumerism can create a soulless, wealthy elite who are held in high esteem. Communism, that experimented with a utopian society of egalitarianism, ended in authoritarian oppression and materialism. It made the common person the slave of the state who was deprived of human freedom to direct one’s life. It finally landed on the rocks, and in one pathetic explosion blew itself up into smithereens. If uncontrolled capitalism takes comfort at the death of the misguided communism, there is shocking news waiting for it. The uncontrolled capitalism is digging its own grave. Millionaires and billionaires can be produced only by a society that does not have effective controls and minimum common good and social justice in its purview. To have the will to create these controls without destroying wholesome freedom and  legitimate human aspirations is not at all easy. Humans need to be conscientized very early on to voluntarily surrender part of their freedom by putting a lid on their greed for the good of the entire humanity. We are all in one global boat. If it sinks all humanity sinks. As uncontrolled eating and the resulting obesity is destroying individuals, the uncontrolled wealth resulting from capitalism and market economy is destroying the human spirit. In my considered opinion unrestrained capitalism and consumerism will fail as the mindless authoritarian communism failed. Uncontrolled capitalism needs to be reined in as construction is guided by building codes.

What role religions play in creating a society that is human and humane, compassionate, empathic, and sharing? Currently religions’ role is minimal. Religions are sidelined as they preach but do not practice what nourishes the spirit life to attain the avowed goal. They fight among themselves and do not see all humans as children of the one and only God. For instance, currently Christianity, the biggest religion, has the highest number of millionaires and billionaires. Islam, the second in numbers, has a poor record in human rights, and tries to spread itself through oil wealth, human propagation, and imposing its will on others. I do not want to compare religions with regard to human rights. Because, historically they all failed miserably with regard to human rights in varying degrees. 

Freud, the great psychologist, in his application of psychology to the study of culture came up, at the age of 73, with his book on religion: The Future of an Illusion. For him there is nothing beyond reason, and everything needs to have a rational basis. Therefore religion is an illusion, a false belief system, even a neurosis, a mental disorder in which we project to God the father (security) we like to have. For the economist Marx: “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of the heartless world, the soul of the soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.” For the existentialist Sartre, we are condemned to freedom because there is no God. For the philosopher Russell: “I am firmly convinced that religions do harm as I am that they are untrue.” At age 75, I vacillate between belief and non-belief, between religion and non-religion. Emerging from a few never-expected betrayals of trust from intimate relationships, close relatives, and friends, belief in God becomes even more difficult. I also know other persons with similar experiences believe in God all the more.  I choose to trust in humans knowing that my life is meaningless without trusting. I choose to believe in God everyday because I believe it is the best thing for me to do. We can rest assured, though, that God will take care of us if we are sincere, honest, and true to our own conscience whether we believe or not. Because our God is that kind of a God.

What I want to highlight in this article is the fact that all religions failed and still fail in the message of empathy (the putting of oneself in the other person’s shoes) that was preached by Christ as the sum and substance of the good news (Gospel). But then have I not failed in empathy from time to time? Yes. Religions are concerned about petty issues when the whole humanity is being chocked by materialism. They are like Emperor Nero playing the fiddle when Rome was burning. They turn many people off because of their over-emphasis on rituals, dogmas, and financial contributions at the expense of loving compassion. They did not monitor abusive officials who betrayed the trust reposed in them because of what they represented. They harbor persons with worldly ambitions unconcerned about truth.

I was pleasantly surprised when Jimmy Carter, a devout evangelical Christian and a former president of the United States, voiced approval for recent supreme court ruling on same sex marriage on account of their true and non-exploitative love for each other. God’s test and standard for us is this: When we take care of the least human being, we take care of God. This is very consoling for me. When all is said and done empathy is all that matters; empathy will make us stop running after the wealth of this world. Empathy makes this life less illusory. It should be the hall-mark of the 21st century. If we cannot be sure about anything else, we can be sure of the unconditional love expressed in empathy.

Swami Snehananda Jyoti

Chipco with Trees

Some of you may be able to connect the above title to the ‘Chipko Movement’ of environment protection. Some people labeled it simply a movement by villagers to protect their livelihood. But if we go a little back we will easily be able to google a heart touching story of Amrita Devi from Rajasthan, under whose leadership villagers risked their lives to protect the trees. We will also come across an incidence where 363 people of Bishnoi samaj of Rajasthan, sacrificed their lives to protect the khejri trees that were supposed to be cut for building the palace of a local ruler. We can also read about Guru Jambheshwar a saint, who preached the people for protection of the environment. 

Who can forget the black buck case of Bollywood celebrity Salman Khan and others, where a particular community of Rajasthan is not leaving any stone unturned to fight the case against money power that these celebrities are pushing to let the things get resolved in their favour. In my zone, some ladies have started a movement to treat the trees as their brothers and on the famous festival of ‘Raksha-Bandhan’, these women tie ‘Rakhis’ to trees, and pray to them to keep protecting them and the environment around, the way trees have been doing for years and years. We have many hot and live examples of many people around who go to any extent to take actions to protect and preserve the environment. But sadly so, a larger chunk is still not awakened. People damn care about the usage of polythene bags, plastic water bottles etc. in their day to day lives. 

It is not any more an issue of making choices. It is an issue of extreme urgency, across the globe. I as an individual can contribute a lot. May be not by just preaching others, the way I am doing right now, may be by setting examples beyond the eyes of TV cameras and news reporters. So friends! Please find a tree nearby to start your own ‘Chipko’. Rainy season is here, plant at least ten trees this year and take a vow to protect them. If you want to really know more about this ‘Chipko movement’, you may read the biographies of ‘Ramon Magsaysay Award’ winner Chandi Prasad Bhatt and ‘Padma Vibhushan’ Sundarlal Bahuguna. 

Dr Sunil G Garg

Dr. Sunil Ji Garg 

Thou Shall Not Worry!

The simple meaning of worry is: give way to anxiety or unease, allowing one's mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles. Nobody wants worry for a choice; but worry generated stress is going to be the most disastrous killer of the upcoming generation by 2020, according to UN Surveys. Worry refers to emotions of a negative nature. Why there is so much of worry everywhere. As far as I have understood it, the reason is a disposition in our understandings. We are always in fear; fear of death, fear of losses, fear of failure, fear of punishment…., the list is quite long. Just one bullet is enough to finish one; doesn’t matter if it is white or black. The only way out is being satisfied with what we have or being in peace wherever we are. That is, having peace inside and outside every time. This is what Indian sages used to wish, ‘loka samastha, sukhino bhavanthu (let there be peace to every thing that exists in this world’). 

How shall we know that somebody is in trouble? It’s easy; listen to what he prays. Every version of the Bible continues without manipulation on St. Matthew 6:8. It says, “So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask them.” However, it is interesting to note that it is Christians who howl with demands the most. This verse also says that there is not a reason for worry. Everything we need is well provided. Are we confusing needs with wants? I don’t know.

I experienced the power of Providence, once I envisioned myself to be the only entity in this Universe. I was the first to be created. When I looked around, there was nothing for an experience, neither matter nor time or experience of any kind. I even did not have anything to identify myself by name or quality. Slowly, things began to appear around me, one by one; first came out the Universe, then light and glamour for pleasure. God continued creation; He made this globe called earth, filled it with life and greenery, created lives of my kind and many kinds. My kind grew; He built cities, caused epics and classics, set rules and traditions. The more He felt for something, He kept on creating and now I find myself surrounded with everything I need. The moment we realize this Divine Providence, we stop all our gimmicks called ‘prayers’ and start living graciously in gratitude to what Providence has arranged. Where God stopped, worry began. Worry told everyone not to be content with being himself or herself. And there began suicides.

Joseph Mattappally 

Answers of Our Problems

Life is like a book of mathematics. There are many chapters in it and as we go to higher classes the lessons become more complicated. If we fail to understand the principles right in the beginning, the lessons appear more complicated. In all the chapters, the principles are explained first and then some solved examples are given. After understanding both, we are supposed to solve unsolved problems. The real test of our knowledge comes there. Based upon our understanding of the principles and the solved examples given in the book we are able to tackle the sums. Every problem has a solution and there is a definite answer for each. The only difficulty is that we may not know them though they are given at the back of the book. 

The same is true with life. What we learn from the book of life and its solved problems is to be used for handling many unexpected and troubling situations. If lessons from the book of life are not understood properly or we are not attentive while our problems are being solved by others, we find life miserable and all its problems remain as they are. We then start blaming the world instead of enjoying it. If, on the other hand, we carefully understand the principles of life and apply them to real-life problems, life becomes enjoyable and enriching. Each problem of life has a solution and an answer. It is a different matter that we may not know it. God only hides it till the end of the book of life.

 

Let us, therefore, not consider that our problems do not have a solution. If the solution is given to us by someone else, the whole charm of life will go. There may not be an immediate answer to some problems but the answer definitely exists, and it may only take a little longer to reach them. Maybe, we have to learn how to read the book of life better. 

Rakesh Mittal IAS

The Only Alternative

‘Take my word, my son, neither Capitalism nor Communism or any of their offshoots and derivatives, can lead us to sustainable development, lasting peace and true happiness’, the Baba was emphatic in his words.

‘What is your alternative, Babaji? It is easy to condemn things. I believe that we have no right to condemn anything unless we have an alternative to offer.’ Sudhakar challenged the Baba.

The Baba replied: ‘What we urgently need today, my son, is an economic system based on love, care and compassion that sees all humankind as one family bound with a common destiny, and all living beings constituting one ‘Earth Family’….

‘The vision of our enlightened saints and sages of yore who proclaimed that the whole world is but one large family, ‘Vasudhaivakutumbakam’, bound with a common destiny alone can provide a true alternative and sustainable developmental paradigm for humankind. The third millennium will demand of us such an economic system and a sustainable developmental paradigm built on a holistic ecological worldview….

‘This is exactly what we have been trying to experiment and demonstrate through our own life in this Ashram, my son …..

‘The present economic system based on the so called ‘market economy’ is the product of a materialistic philosophy and a consumerist culture, both of which are destructive to humankind and to Mother Earth…

‘Materialism and consumerism do not take into account the dignity of the human person and the dignity of human labour, or the interdependent organic nature of Mother Earth. They exploit human labour and the resources of Mother Earth unscrupulously, and destroy the ecological health and harmony of our planet….

‘Profit and more profit at any cost is their ultimate goal. The dignity of the human person and the ecological health of Mother Earth are being sacrificed upon the altar of profit by the market economy…..

‘The ‘Share Market’ speculations and the ‘development’ measured in terms of ‘GDP’ constitute a big farce, my son. An economic system built on such a big farce has no sustainability. It is like a poisonous gas balloon. It contains within itself the seeds of violence and war.’ 

Excerpts from ‘Integral Revolution’

Our Times and The Times of Christ

I have been for a long time reflecting on our Age and the time of Christ. I could not but see the parallelisms between our times and His times. Christ stands out as the greatest reformer of all times for which He paid a price with His own life. He condemned in no uncertain terms the pomp, ostentations, and the hypocrisy of the rich, the powerful, and the learned who held sway on society in religious and secular spheres. Interestingly the powerful religious and political leaders put such heavy burdens on the poor and the downtrodden that they themselves were unwilling to carry. The leaders in both spheres made laws and rituals the spirit of which they themselves were not following. 

Certainly there was no democracy at the time of Christ. There was an emperor in Rome whose will was carried out by his governor in the province of Palestine. The Jewish authorities wanted to get rid of the enslavement by the Roman power but used that very power when it was convenient for them, for instance to crucify and get rid of Jesus who was preaching a Kingdom neither the Jewish priests nor the Roman governor understood. The Jewish establishment was threatened by Christ and wanted to eliminate him; the Romans did not care about this crazy man Christ as long as he did not undermine their power. The emotions of ordinary Jews were carefully manipulated by the power of the priestly Jesus on the other hand stood for an other-worldly, spiritual power that flowed from within coming as it was from his on-going communication with his father. He did not want anyone to parade one’s status, position, or importance. He emphasized humility. He stressed purity of intention. He did not interfere with the secular power. He did not have much use for the religious and priestly class who put religious rituals including Sabbath above day to day human living and concerns. He lashed out at double-standard and hypocrisy. 

He followed the agenda of What is happening in our times?  Similar things. Only the players are different. In the name of democracy anything goes. Any political party in India, especially in Kerala, that has frequent strikes and lawlessness, can declare a strike at any time and paralyze a state for any real or perceived wrong. The legislators in the Kerala Assembly, India, for instance, displayed wanton destruction and violence in front of the whole world. The political grid-lock powered by vested interests and multi-national corporations through their powerful lobbyists in the USA almost shut down the government in the USA a few years ago. Yet the extent of anarchy and undemocratic conduct and violence not seen heretofore is causing concern and talk about possible declaration of emergency in India. The religious powers, overtly or covertly aligning with political parties for their own agenda, are increasingly losing their credibility. They seem to be more intent on establishing a temporal kingdom by establishing powerful institutions and building expensive, glamorous places of worship. There is no political or religious leaders like Christ, Gandhi, or Mandela, with principles, in the horizon. We do not need them either. They have modeled political and religious life for us. We need to get into our hearts and examine our own motives, and scrupulously practice, in words and deeds, human rights, and give to others the freedom we want for ourselves. I do not think that Christ currently will find the Kingdom of God that he preached in the Church that stands in his name. The Kingdom of God is half-dead lying on the wayside looking for a Good Samaritan to rescue it. Gandhi’s principle of non-violence (perfect love) is lying in the intensive care waiting for the transfusion of a good dose of democracy that respects everyone’s rights. 

Swami Snehananda Jyoti  

Selfie

I know this term “Selfie” creates a lot of buzz in everybody’s mind these days. Gone are the days when people wanted to photograph beaches, birds or brides. Today they want their own face in whatever picture they click. Lot of incidences in the recent time related to these clicks are floating all around the media. Prime minister of India wants everyone to post him selfies of people along with their daughter. This also created a controversy on social media when a lesser known Bollywood actress and a TV anchor did not liked this move of PM and wanted him to focus on better things, rather than selfies. The entire social media started spitting venom against this actress. Another episode related to a mega star of Indian cinema, who was annoyed when everyone wanted to click a selfie with him, when he visited the funeral of some friend. Sometime back even the International media was flooded with pictures of American President with another female political leader, a selfie which lead the prez into trouble at his home front. 

My view about selfies is not really related to this trend of taking selfies. I am a little concerned about shifting of human focus on self in a different way. All personality development trainers and spirtitual mentors talk about understanding one self. It is true that, unless we understand ourselves well, we can’t understand the world. But there is another term in English called “narcissism” . This is about obsession with self. Today narcissism attitude is overshadowing the required concept of understanding oneself. When I try to understand myself, I actually try to analyse myself not in its physical form, but the way I think, the way I respond to others, the way I plan to change my thinking, the way I want to grow myself or the way I want to contribute to the growth of others and the environment around me. This is inclusive growth. Yes, I do need to click a Selfie. A selfie that can picture my soul, that can help develop my spirit to serve. 

Dr. Sunil Ji Garg 

Body, Mind or Spirit?

Which is more important to our growth - money, mind or spirit? I know that this is an old question served in a new container. Money here refers to all sorts of physical pleasures we yearn, while mind refers to those elements of thinking and understanding and spirit refers to that subtle energy on which human body is temporarily seated or that portion of the self that connects anyone to God. Now, don’t you feel that the answer I expects is what you consider you are - mind matter or spirit?

We have many millions of Netizens all around the world. It has come that everybody wants everything run on a soft touch - smartness everywhere. But the fact is that the smarter the world the weaker the people; this is simple science. The more unavoidable things are there in our life the more masters are there to whom we are enslaved. How many of these netizens know that they are unknowingly feeding a few giant companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook etc.? These companies have something in common; they are all Americans. I do not say that these are the biggest companies in the world or Americans only grow. Instead, let me put my question in another words; what was the main factor, which contributed to the growth of these companies? You can include other companies also in this category to try an honest answer. No biographer of any of the founders of these companies has stressed the grade of anybody’s moral or spiritual standing to be the critical reason of their success, though they might have contributed to it at different degrees. So we cut off the qualities of Spirit from the list of choices for so big a material success. A thorough analysis on the majority of these millionaires shows that they received no family money. That is, money also was not the deciding factor.

Then what? The only option left is mind matters. I checked it with the commonly seen American/European cultural attitude. It is clearly positive. These people think on how something can be done instead of brooding over if something is possible. Then why all the Westerners did not become millionaires? The answer is that most of the people differ in their aspirations, reluctant to be occupied like a washer man’s donkey. In USA, people work during weekdays and celebrate/spend on weekends. Their kitchens are mostly unused. Rather than accumulating money, which they know is of no use, they live enjoying life to its best. 

I suggest all religious Easterners to review on what generally hold them back. Where in the west, all babies are born into a country, in the East, babies are born into a religion. Where religions hold you from flying off with our aspirations and stick on putting us behind the bars of traditions and philosophies – all advocating that God can be seen only through priests, success remains a mile away. Religious people envision God outside while successful people experience God inside. This is what we might realize even in the extremes of blind faith. The earlier people understand this truth the earlier they will be seen shining beyond horizons, be it spiritual or physical.

Joseph Mattappally