• Table of Contents
  • Natural Laws and God’s Hand by Swami Veda Bharati
  • Determination by Swami Rama
  • Taiwan Seminars 2015 by Stoma
  • Programme in Gurgaon by Veena Maitra
  • The Pilgrimages By Françoise Paradot
  • Pilgrimage by Anna Stromma
  • Heat Wave Diary by Joanne Sullivan (Divya)
  • News from India by Swami Veda Bharati
  • Dear Yoga Mentor, My Question Is…
  • Inspirations by Meeta Jagtap
  • Truly Historical Day in Pune by Dr. Shirin Venkat
  • Hazel Diaries IX by Roxanne Currie
  • 2015 Events and Beyond
  • Full Moon Meditation Dates
  • Location of our SRSG ashram
• AHYMSIN Newsletter Archive

Inspirations

by Meeta Jagtap

Meeta writes, “I am not a writer, all these inspirations are from our guru and lineage. So when ever beautiful visions, thoughts and imaginations come, I do write.” These writings are dedicated to our Gurudeva.

Enchanting Sounds!

Of all the sounds the most beautiful sound is the sound of silence,
don't chase it as its always spread across everywhere and surrounds,
dive deep beyond that sensory approach and it’s there on all the grounds,
distance between the silence and you is not far away, for that just tune with your senses and be with them,
listen to the language of silence which is far beyond the spoken words!

Listen to the melodious sound of rain, the soft tiny droplets falling and creating the soul song, to sing along go get attuned to it,
after thunderstorm all, it seems everything was  crumbled and in vain,
wait here comes the rainbow with the vibrant colours,
As all beautiful and unseen things are seen in the silence only!

The tiny seed that was sown in the soil
the wind that helps it to grow as a flower, then it blossoms, and spreads the fragrance,
listen to the wind that blows, the way it touches the flower, look at the flower , how it sings and sway to the melody of the wind, unison of the nature and wind creates a perfect harmony  as if performing on symphony,
As all the beautiful creations are formed in the silence only!

The birds are singing their own birdsong, hopping and flying in synchronization to reach their destination, 
flying in the sky together, aiming for high without the fear of fall,
listen to their chorus and how they tweet with each other and responds to the eternity call,
As all the beautiful sounds are heard in the silence only!

True Essence!

Starting its journey from highest peak,
falling down and merging again in its source.
I asked water can no one understand your true nature?
Sometimes you are loud and vibrant; sometimes you are soft;
sometime you are full of twirls and sometimes you are still!
Water said no matter, I have so many attributes; however after so many downfalls I never looked down and looked back.
I kept on moving in spite of several obstructions on my path, though my path was full of hurdles, because of them only I learnt a lot.
I got diverted, divided and finally I merged into my origin again.
Some on the path kept on guiding me and some tried to hold me back, the more they hold me, the more powerful I became to start over again,
wherever I found the way, I kept on moving.
Finally wherever I stayed and whichever place I am today, I adapted to that thing and place; if you hold me in your hand, I will adapt and quench your thirst. 
You spread me on the ground I will expand, merge, soften and prosper.
You store me for several days, 
I will never be stale and my quality and basic nature would remain same. 
Similarly every being has its own distinct quality, their true essence. Like the basic essence of the fruit is to give sweetness, or some give sourness according to their own nature.  Fire has a basic quality to give warmth; flower has a quality to spread fragrance.
Human beings too have their basic nature; their true nature is of love and peace. No matter how many hurdles come. Human beings tend to change their nature; they might get angry, anxious or maybe full of hatredness for a while. However, all these feelings are temporary, and they always require an extra effort.
It’s not the human beings’ originality. Their essence is full of peace and love because that's their true nature. After all the hurdles, everyone likes to be in love and peace, because that's their source and origin. 
When an infant is born, every infant is born with that quality of sweet innocence; they always seek love and give love. That’s how they are born; they are just full of love. The child imparts what they have. They are full of love and give away that only, because that's their true essence.

‘Winning/losing'

Never wanted to lose those small little fames, always wanted to win all the games, the mind was always entangled how to win and how to defend.
Wining again and again became my habit which gave me victory, and pride became my best friend.
The feeling to boast was fierce and overwhelming; it seems I got the power.
Soon I was feeling blank; I felt ruined and was trapped in the walls of my own false pride tower!
Being powerful and victorious I was feeling alone, weak, separated and contracted.
With so much possessions I thought, I would have expanded,
I thought; I lost earned name and fames, and I took it as my defeat  which was mysteriously leading me to unknown and beautiful retreats.
Finally I moved and decided no more separations and self deceits!
First I lost my name, then fame and now I could not carry this burden of I; finally  I felt relieved and was free from those bonds and said let me try.
The more I tried, I bent down first, I lost 'I-ness'
Then discovered love, humility, generosity and won sympathy, empathy and kindness!

Beggar the Preacher!

Sam had been married for the last twenty years; he was very generous and filthy rich. He was into the real estate business; he managed everything well, his personal affairs as well as professional work. He was the owner of the many estates. Ego could never touch his character and he had a very helpful nature. He was very kind hearted and use to support not only his colleagues, but the other people who used to work for him, like his office boys, drivers and workers at home.

Every day he used to commute by car from his home to his workplace. At one traffic signal the beggar use to sit on the ground with a quote written on the board nearby him. “We all are beggars, only beg if you are scarce of something and give away that what you have in abundance”.

Everyday Sam use to give five dollars to this beggar. One day there was a heavy traffic and his car broke down near that signal, so Sam had to get down from his car, while his car was getting repaired.

He stood on the footpath and just few steps ahead, he saw the same beggar sitting, with the same quote. He went there and gave five dollars to the beggar and he happily accepted the money.

Sam – (Pointing towards the quote) “What do you mean by this quote?”

Beggar – (smiled and looked at the Sam and said) “This quote revolves in everyone’s life. Each one of us are abundant of love, respect, peace, happiness, and still everyone is dependent on others for these basic qualities. We behave in such a manner as we are scarce of all these qualities in other ways; we all are beggars; we always ask from others. For example, if a wife is sad or not feeling good, she is either dependent on her husband or on her kids to be happy. She always seeks that attention from the people around her to stay happy or need to be loved.

“If a boss needs respects h/she is always looking for that kind of attention and respect from his/her employees. In case someone is not in peace h/she always asks for that calmness and peace from others. So you see each one of us are dependent and asks from each other. Life always keeps on revolving and gets affected by the statements like why h/she did not give me so much importance? Why my husband did not give me importance? I am sad because he did not smile at me? I will not work because, I am not in a good mood, I had a bad day, because I saw him and so on. Sir, all these statements are mere reasons to be felt alone and makes us separated and from each other. It also makes us dependent on others. All these statements not only keep our thinking occupied, but block it too. Love, respect, peace are all associated with happiness and it’s in our hands, how to stay happy.

“The Second part of the quote ‘Give away that what you have in abundance’ - We all are abundant in many things and in many qualities too; however, we hardly observe it. Like we all have beautiful smiles, still we act we are scarce in that attribute, so we look at each other as if we are strangers and we hardly smile. Sometimes we are blessed with abundance of wealth and then also we don’t give away a little bit, we get so attached with it, as if we are going to be alive with this wealth on this planet forever. More than people we are attached to the worldly things. So we have forgotten each other and remember only each other when we are in need. All of us have abundance of kindness and sympathetic attitude. However, we all are kind and sympathetic to ourselves but not towards each other. We have enough time for our own things, however no time for the people around us. So whenever asked, we say we don’t have time or we are short of time.”

Sam – “Great thoughts, never realised you could know so much. How do you know so much?”

Beggar – “I keep on travelling a lot, and I read many motivational books. I not only read, however; I practice these simple things in my day to day life also. I am not from this country, I was a filthy rich person, however many years ago, and I was doing very well in every front.  I was very miserly and selfish too. My wife always used to tell me to be generous, and I always used to tell her in face ‘generosity never pays’. I never used to listen to her valuable words.  So I was very proud of my wealth and that always kept me separated from my loved ones. I laughed at her; she used to get worried because of my behaviour. Once there was a severe cyclone in the country, it destroyed almost major parts of the country, and it took away everything from me in which I was abundant, it took away my wife, my smile, my wealth and it gave me abundance of time and It left me in scarcity and I was left all alone in a very bad condition.

“An adept took care of me at that time and he taught me many valuable things about life and guided me a lot on self-transformation. I wish I could have implemented all this in my life when it was needed, still I am learning them and I try to implement it in my life. I believe knowledge is always there however we ignore it. Today my necessity is not money, but I need a bare minimum, so that I could survive. So whosoever comes and asks, I share my learnings. Who knows someone might need to learn and after all these incidents

I feel, never postpone any valuable learnings in life. At least listen to the person around you, even if you don’t want to implement it.”

Sam – “You are a great person, I really like you. Thanks a lot for sharing so much about life and how small little things can affect our lives.”

By that time Sam’s car was repaired, and he said goodbye to the beggar. The beggar smiled and waved his hand.

Mind the Wanderer!

I thought I am always awake, as mind took me here, there, anytime,  anywhere,
I kept on visiting different places on this vehicle (mind); however, I landed nowhere.
Travelling on this vehicle,  I thought it took me to the most beautiful destinations,  but how come I was not happy and in peace,
It took me to some distant land where some memories were in haze and some were ablaze,
some made me smiled and some caused tears,
some were of past and some were of future.
The vehicle never stopped; at some places it revisited again and again. 
Sometimes I smiled and sometimes I was in tears. 
Finally it stopped and surfed at those places which were dark; it impacted and further deepened my fears.
I realised how powerful this vehicle (mind) is.
I prayed to it and said please have some mercy and be kind,
I urged why do you take me to those places which gives me pain and pleasure, please help me now to unwind, please be with me always, take me to the most beautiful place, which keeps me always happy and alive.
Mind said there is one place where you can reach in seconds and don't have to strive.
I asked which is that place, do I have to travel and is that in my reach? Will you be there?
Mind said I am and will always be there, but you should know how to steer me well.
I asked please tell me how.
Mind said the place is ever present around and inside you, just be yourself, always be awake, aware, observant and conscious,
This place can give you everything and for that always be in ''Now'!

The Life Changing Notebook!

Alice was in her late 20’s; she was a perfect blend of beauty with brains. After completing her master’s degree in human resource, for the past five years, she has been working with one of the best HR firms. She knew her work very well, in the screening process only she could access the abilities of a person and would knew what profile he/she fits in. Higher management used to trust her abilities. But no one in the office knew much about her personal life. She was a very conservative person as far as her personal life was concerned.

Every year the management conducted certain trainings and developmental sessions for the employees of their company. This year also they were planning to keep one.

However, this time the purpose was to develop personal goals as compared to the career goals. So they invited a Life Coach who would be conducting an interactive session; it was all about how to know life and discover your true potential! As management firmly believed that their profession was to hire the talented people who could help the organization to grow; efficient people can be hired when the person who is hiring them has a better understanding of his/her own self. A recruiter could shape other people’s personalities, if they knew their personalities better. For that a very focused and a positive frame of mind is required. Not only to steer their company growth but to steer their lives in a positive way.

Everyone was very excited to attend this training. The day arrived, and everyone proceeded to the training hall.  There was a middle aged lady in her late 40’s who was supposed to conduct the session. Once everyone was seated, she greeted and addressed everyone, “Good morning everyone, welcome! I am

Grace.” Everyone replied “Good morning” together, with warm smiles on their faces.

She asked everyone, “Kindly introduce yourselves.” One by one she asked everyone. Someone said, “I am Paul; I am an HR executive.” Someone said, “I am Mary. I work for an administration department.”

Someone told their hobbies and their likes and dislikes.

Grace asked once again, “Does anyone know your true self?” Everyone kept quiet.

She said,  “We all are living mechanical lives. We get up in the morning, then we come to our respective workplaces, we work for few hours then we go home, either we watch TV or do some reading. After having dinner we go off for the sleep. On weekends either we have our pending works or we go out to shop or sit at home, sleep or watch TV. That’s how we are leading our lives or we can say life is leading us.” She asked,

“How many of you agree with me?” Almost everyone raised their hands.

“In today’s world of technology, you are always connected with your work, with friends, clients, phones, and computers. Has anyone tried to connect with themselves? Their own true self?” She further asked many questions, like: Who are you? How do you react to a particular situation? What is your true personality?

How do you take decisions? How many of you observe yourself? How many can pacify yourself in challenging situations?  How many have hold their pasts? and many more.

Someone in the group said, “The working force behind all these questions is that we need a good brain and a good intelligence level to handle the situations.”

Grace – “Very well said. We can say the working force behind all these questions is Mind or brain. However, most of the time, mind is preoccupied by the past painful incidents or the worry of the future. Mind’s nature is to cling to the painful experiences more, but with concentration and acceptance of life and systematic trainings, we can tame our minds too and we can easily come out from our past grooves.”
She further added, “To lose the grip of mind from the clutches of past and future, you have to connect yourself and ask whether this particular action of thinking from the past or the future is good or bad. The answer will come to you on your own.”

Session continued till evening; at the end of the session she said, “If any one has any queries they can contact me and meet me up personally.” All the employees were inspired by her.

Alice was totally awakened by this session. She wanted to meet this lady personally. So she wrote an email after the session and took an appointment with her. Grace agreed to meet her in person and she gave her the time for the next week.

On the given day Alice went to Grace’s office and knocked on her door.

Here the conversation began between Grace and Alice.

Grace – “Hi, Dear. Come in. How are you doing?”

Alice – “I am fine. Thank you so much for your time.”

Grace – “Tell me, what do you want to ask?”

Alice – “Grace, the other day after attending your session, many questions came into my mind, which I felt only you could answer them better. Deep inside my heart, I never realised that if I would get these answers then how simple my life would be.

“I have a got a good job, good financial security too. In fact many years passed to get a comfortable life; I have only worked and studied. I have one younger sister. I lost my parents when I was in my teens. So I’ve been raised by one of my aunts. So in that age when my classmates use to enjoy, I used to sit alone and worry about the future. When I used to come home, I was not at my free will; I was supposed to act as per the rules of my aunt. I was into a relationship with a guy; it didn’t work either. Then I got good grades in MBA and was placed in a firm. Since then I am with the same company.

“Why has life has only given so much pain to me? Why I am always in a fear of losing people in my life? How to deal with such challenges, please help me.”

Grace – “My dear, I am really touched by your life story, the way you have dealt and the way you’ve been handling things with strength. You have an immense willpower too. All of us have a tendency to perceive life as something which is not good or we blame our lives or our destinies. However, whichever way you see life, it will keep on giving you that. You have moved ahead in your life physically; however, in the past incidents when you had lost your parents, your childhood and a broken relationship, those memories have left deep scars into your mind. Whenever you are alone, or someone tries to be friendly with you, you correlate that person with your past incidents. Which is very natural for anyone.

“My dear, you know you are holding onto hot coal very long; this will burn you from inside. You need to release it; otherwise it will keep on giving you more wounds. If you keep on brooding on the old, how the new will enter into your life? You have to write a new life story for yourself; for that you need to connect to yourself daily; nobody can be as good a counselor as your inner self. With the passing time, we are so caught up in our old memories that it becomes habit of mind to visit that time or phase again and again. Slowly and gradually minds starts enjoying doing this. Whatever you do repeatedly, it becomes your habit. Face your fears, let them come, tell them they have no grip on you anymore. When you face them, first they will try to scare you; slowly when you get attuned, they will start losing on their impact on you.”

Alice – “I have a habit of writing a notebook too, since my childhood. Every day I write in it about my personal life and what has happened with me to date.”

Grace – “I am sure you must be writing about your pain, worries, fears and bad experiences.”

Alice – “Yes!”

Grace – “My dear, I request you make a new notebook and every day you write something good about yourself, your lifestyle; look for the beauty around you and all positives you observe. Make sure you only write good and positive things in this notebook. It will hardly take ten minutes of your time. Initially you might find it a little difficult. However, if you intend to find positive around you, your mind will be busy finding only positive, and gradually the new and positive will start flowing into your life. One day you will become so positive that you can hardly find anything negative. This way you will change your habit, and mind will be accustomed to look good in everything and it will give you a new direction.”

Alice – “Thanks for your wonderful and valuable suggestion. I will implement it from today. Thanks a lot for your valuable time too.” She got up and embraced Grace with a lively smile. She left, and while coming out she took out her old notebook from her handbag and threw it in the bin. With a smile and confidence, she moved ahead to carve her new self.