Inner Strength and a Mature Mind

http://epaper.freepressjournal.in/1513195/Free-Press-Mumbai-Edition/21-Jan-2018#page/16/1

MAKE THE MIND MT.KAILASA- RELEASED BY H. H. SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR

@SriSri
Make the Mind Mt.Kailasa unveiled by Gurudev on 17/1/2018
Available at Crossword bookstores, Amazon, Flipkart and www.Crosswordbookstores.in

One Life, Many Masters*- As received

One Life, Many Masters*

One of the great Sufi Masters, Junnaid, was dying. His chief disciple came close to him and asked softly, ″Master, you are leaving us. One question has always been in our minds.  Who was your Master? This has been a great curiosity among all your disciples because we have never heard you talk about your Master. But we could never gather the courage to ask you."

Junnaid opened his eyes and said, ″It will be very difficult for me to answer because I have learned from almost everybody. The whole existence has been my Master. I have learned from every event that has happened in my life. And I am grateful to all that has happened, because out of all that learning I have arrived.″ 

Junnaid said, ″Just to satisfy your curiosity I will give you three instances...

One: 

I was very thirsty and I was going towards the river carrying my begging bowl, the only possession I had. When I reached the river a dog rushed, jumped into the river, started drinking. 

I watched the dog for a moment and threw away my begging bowl. Because I saw it is useless. A dog could do without it. I also jumped into the river, drank as much water as I wanted. My whole body was cool because I had jumped into the river. I sat in the river for a few moments, thanked the dog, touched his feet with deep reverence because he had taught me a lesson. 

I had dropped everything, all possessions, but there was a certain clinging to my begging bowl. It was a beautiful bowl, very beautifully carved, and I was always aware that somebody might steal it. Even in the night I used to put it under my head as a pillow so nobody could snatch it away. That was my last clinging. The dog helped. It was so clear: if a dog can manage without a begging bowl... I am a man, why can′t I manage? That dog was one of my Masters. 

Two:

I lost my way in a forest and by the time I reached the nearest village that I could find, it was midnight. Everybody was fast asleep. I wandered all over the town to see if I could find somebody awake to give me shelter for the night, until finally I found one man. I asked him, ′It seems only two persons are awake in the town, you and I. Can you give me shelter for the night?′ 

The man said, ′I can see from your gown that you are a Sufi 

The man said, ″I can see you are a Sufi and I feel a little embarrassed to take you to my home. I am perfectly willing, but I must tell you who I am. I am a thief. Would you like to be a guest of a thief?″ 

For a moment Junnaid hesitated. The thief said, ″Look, it is better I told you. You seem hesitant. The thief is willing but the mystic seems to be hesitant to enter into the house of a thief, as if the mystic is weaker than the thief. In fact, I should be afraid of you--you may change me, you may transform my whole life! Inviting you means danger, but I am not afraid. You are welcome. Come to my home. Eat, drink, go to sleep, and stay as long as you want, because I live alone and my earning is enough. I can manage for two persons. And it will be really beautiful to chit-chat with you of great things. But you seem to be hesitant.″ 

Junnaid became aware that it was true. He asked to be forgiven. He touched the feet of the thief and he said, ″Yes, my rootedness in my own being is yet very weak. You are really a strong man and I would like to come to your home. And I would like to stay a little longer, not only for this night. I want to be stronger myself!″ 

The thief said, ″Come on!″ He fed the Sufi, gave him something to drink, helped him to prepare for sleep and he said, ″Now I will go. I have to do my own thing. I will come back early in the morning.″ Early in the morning the thief came back. Junnaid asked, ″Have you been successful?″ 

The thief said, ″No, not today, but I will see tomorrow.″ 

And this happened continuously, for thirty days: every night the thief went out, and every morning he came back empty-handed. But he was never sad, never frustrated--no sign of failure on his face, always happy --and he would say, ″It doesn′t matter. I tried my best. I could not find anything today again, but tomorrow I will try. And, God willing, it can happen tomorrow if it has not happened today.″ 

After one month Junnaid left, and for years he tried to realize the ultimate, and it was always a failure. But each time he decided to drop the whole project he remembered the thief, his smiling face and his saying ″God willing, what has not happened today may happen tomorrow.″ 

Junnaid said, ″I remembered the thief as one of my greatest Masters. Without him I would not be what I am. 

Three:

I entered a small village. A little boy was carrying a lit candle, obviously going to the small temple of the town to put the candle there for the night.″ 

And Junnaid asked, ″Can you tell me from where the light comes? You have lighted the candle yourself so you must have seen. What is the source of light?″ 

The boy laughed and he said, ″Wait!″ And he blew out the candle in front of Junnaid. And he said, ″You have seen the light go. Can you tell me where it has gone? If you can tell me where it has gone I will tell you from where it has come, because it has gone to the same place. It has returned to the source.″ 

Junnaid said, ″I had met great philosophers but nobody had made such a beautiful statement: ′It has gone to its very source.′ 

Everything returns to its source finally. Moreover, the child made me aware of my own ignorance. I was trying to joke with the child, but the joke was on me. He showed me that asking foolish questions: 'From where has the light come?′--is not intelligent. It comes from nowhere, from nothingness--and it goes back to nowhere, to nothingness.″ 

Junnaid said, ″I touched the feet of the child. The child was puzzled. He said, ′Why you are touching my feet?′ And I told him, ′You are my Master--you have shown me something. You have given me a great lesson, a great insight.′ 

″Since that time,″ Junnaid said, ″I have been meditating on nothingness and slowly, slowly I have entered into nothingness. And now the final moment has come when the candle will go out, the light will go out. And I know where I am going--to the same source. 

I remember that child with gratefulness. I can still see him standing before me now, blowing out the candle.

No situation is without a lesson, no situation at all. All situations are pregnant with meaning and intelligence. But we have to discover them. They may not always be on the surface. 

When we see life itself as our master, these lessons become more accessible.

Attracting Grace in Life

How To Attract Grace Into My Life?

~Sri Sri 

Whenever there is victory, it is due to some grace. Whether it is victory in sports, in a lottery, in studies, in a competition, or in politics – all of it happens through grace alone. When a person forgets that and gets into ego, then it results in their downfall. So always remember that whenever and wherever there is victory, it is through grace.

What is Grace?

There is a commonly-used phrase – “God's Grace”. What does this mean?

Whenever you achieve something very significant that felt like it was beyond your capacity, which was worth having, but came to you not by your doing alone, that is Grace.

You feel, “I am not capable or qualified for this, yet I got this”.

When you recognize the Grace in your life, you feel very grateful, because you feel you have been bestowed with things that you were not worthy of. And this is the language of a wise person. A wise person never says, "Oh, I earned it. This is my right". When you think it is your right, you are getting what you got because of your right – there is no gratitude. Gratefulness is there when you feel that you got this not by your effort but because it was bestowed on you by Grace, as a gift.

What is the Cause of Grace?

Grace is causeless and unmerited. It is not obtained through some merit or cause. Grace is received without any conditions. It is not that only after doing something you will receive Grace. If so, then that is not Grace – that is business. You are blessed with Grace just like that – without any conditions whatsoever. Grace is always there, just become aware of it and know that you are being showered with Grace.

Grace is something that can go inside even a closed purse. You don’t need to pay money to receive Grace. And if someone tells you that Grace will come to you only by opening your purse and giving money, then know that something is wrong for sure. God always blesses you in abundance. You need not pay money to receive it.

How Do I Attract More Grace in My Life?

The more grateful we become, the more we experience Grace in life. A mind that is complaining all the time cannot experience Grace. But one who is thankful and contented experiences more Grace in life.

 

We say that we want blessings and Grace. Blessings are available in plenty, but if your vessel is small, then what to do?

If you bring a tea cup and say, “Give me two liters of milk in this”, how can two liters of milk fit in the little cup? The cup is small and you are asking for too much. You need to bring a vessel with the capacity of three liters and then I can give you two liter or three liter, whatever you want.

So, you must remember that whatever you get is your capacity, and if you want to get more, then you must expand your capacity. When your capacity increases, more will definitely come to you.

How Do I Expand My Capacity to Receive More Grace?

Just having the intention to increase one’s capacity itself does half the job.

Be natural, simple, and humble. Humility from within naturally increases one’s capacity.

Meditation, spiritual practices, service to society and knowledge.

Shatt Sampatti (the Six Wealths or Six-fold Virtues)

Sama (calmness of mind) 

Dama (self-control or restraint of the senses) 

Uparati (satiety) 

Titiksha (power of endurance) 

Shraddha (faith) 

Samadhana (equanimity or one-pointedness of the mind)

This is what you must focus on increasing more in your life. By enhancing these virtues, your capacity to receive blessings will increase

An article published in the Free Press Journal

http://www.freepressjournal.in/peace-of-mind/factors-that-influence-our-attitudes-in-life/1200046

Spirituality Vs Religion- As received

*Dr. Froylan Alvarado Guemez Pierre Teilhard de Chardi,* of the Jesuit order. Born in Orcines, on May 1, 1881 and died in New York on April 10, 1995. It was the French theologian, philosopher and paleontologist who built an integrated vision of science and mysticism with his thought; of the evolution of spirit and thought.

▪ _Religion is not just one, there are hundreds._

▪ Spirituality is one.

▪ _Religion is for those who sleep._

▪ Spirituality is for those who are awake.

▪ _Religion is for those who need someone to tell them what to do and want to be guided._

▪ Spirituality is for those who pay attention to their inner voice.

▪ _Religion has a set of dogmatic rules._

▪ Spirituality invites us to reason about everything, to question everything.

▪ _Religion threatens and frightens._

▪ Spirituality gives inner peace.

▪ _Religion speaks of sin and guilt._

▪ Spirituality says, "learn from error".

 

▪ _Religion represses everything and in some cases it is false._

▪ Spirituality transcends everything, it brings you closer to your truth!

▪ _Religion speaks of a god; It is not God._

▪ Spirituality is everything and, therefore, it is in God.

▪ _Religion invents._

▪Spirituality finds.

▪ _Religion does not tolerate any question._

▪Spirituality questions everything.

▪ _Religion is human, it is an organization with men's rules._

▪ Spirituality is Divine, without human rules.

▪ _Religion is the cause of divisions._

▪The spirituality unites.

▪ _Religion is looking for you to believe._

▪ Spirituality you have to look for it to believe.

▪ _Religion follows the precepts of a sacred book._

▪ Spirituality seeks the sacred in all books.

▪ _Religion feeds on fear._

▪ Spirituality feeds on trust and faith.

▪ _Religion lives in thought._

▪ Spirituality lives in Consciousness.

▪ _Religion deals with doing._

▪ Spirituality has to do with the Self.

▪ _Religion feeds the ego._

▪ Spirituality drives to transcend.

▪ _Religion makes us renounce the world to follow a God._

▪ Spirituality makes us live in God, without renouncing us.

▪ _Religion is a cult._

▪ Spirituality is meditation.

▪ _Religion fills us with dreams of glory in paradise._

▪ Spirituality makes us live the glory and paradise here and now.

▪ _Religion lives in the past and in the future._

▪ Spirituality lives in the present.

▪ _Religion creates cloisters in our memory._

▪ Spirituality liberates our Consciousness.

▪ _Religion makes us believe in eternal life._

▪ Spirituality makes us aware of Eternal Life.

▪ _Religion promises life after death._

▪ Spirituality is to find God in our interior during life and death.🏻

_-We are not human beings who go through a spiritual experience.-_

*-We are spiritual beings that we go through a human experience.-*

Meditation - An article published by the Free Press Journal

​http://epaper.freepressjournal.in/1504759/The-Free-Press-Journal-Mumbai-Edition/14-Jan-2018#page/15/1​