Doubt

Doubt is a feeling of uncertainty about the truth, reality or distrust of anything. In spiritualism doubt is just opposite of the Faith. Faith in God as the Supreme reality is the essence of any religion.

If you have doubt in the existence of God & do not consider Him the all powerful one, who has created this universe & it's creation, then you are not the Faithful one. In one's life, Faith in God gives us a direction in understanding this universe & it's people, while doubt creates uncertainty, distrust & disbelief in life.

If you do not have faith in God then you cannot believe in the words of God. Such doubting person cannot find peace in life & cannot attain to Divine consciousness. Doubting soul finds happiness neither in this world nor in the next, while the faithful one's attain peace & reach to God easily. Below verse of Bhagwat Gita explains that only.

"ajnas chasraddadhanas cha
samsayatma vinasyati
nayam loko ’sti na paro
na sukham samsayatmanah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Four verse 40)

"Sri Krishna said: But ignorant and faithless human beings who doubt the revealed scriptures do not attain God consciousness; they fall down. For the doubting soul there is happiness neither in this world nor in the next."

Here is a small story which explains the virtues of faith:

Once there were four monks. Three of the monks always used to spend all of their time in debating and talking about the existence of God & all types of intellectual pursuits. Fourth one was a simple man who had great faith in God & always used to sweep the floors of the temple. At the end, this simple man got enlightenment first. At this the intellectual monks asked their mentor how come the simple man got enlightenment first. At that their mentor responded, "When he was sweeping the temple floor, he was also sweeping the corners of his mind of all doubts". His firm faith in God without any doubt is the reason that he is able to attain to enlightenment first.

Hinduism penetrates in America

In Hinduism there are many paths which if followed leads one to self Realization & to God. Whether it is manifest aspect (praying to God in a form) or unmanifest aspect (praying to God without a form).

In Bhagwat Gita, Lord Krishna also states about the different paths:

"Whose minds are attached to the unmanifested aspect of God, impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement in spiritual path for that person is very troublesome. To make progress in that discipline is always difficult for those who are embodied in human form."
(Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Twelve verse 5)

"But those who worship Me, in body form, giving up all their activities unto Me and being devoted to Me without deviation, engaged in devotional service and always meditating upon Me, having fixed their minds upon Me, O Arjuna—for them I am easily attainable to them & swiftly deliver that person from the ocean of birth and death."
(Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Twelve verse 6-7)

Now as per one Report, an increasing number of people in America are subscribing to the essentially Hindu belief that there is no one way to salvation and that many religions could lead to eternal peace.

"A piece in an upcoming edition of the Newsweek magazine quoting a recent poll says that Americans are slowly becoming more like Hindus "conceptually" and less like traditional Christians in the ways they think about God and eternity.

The article headlined "we are all Hindus now" cites a Newsweek poll in 2009 according to which 30 per cent of Americans call themselves "spiritual, not religious," up from 24 per cent in 2005.

It shows that the number of people who seek spiritual truth outside the church is growing.

"A Hindu believes there are many paths to God. Jesus is one way, the Quran is another, yoga practice is a third. None is better than any other. The most traditional, conservative Christians have not been taught to think like this," the article says. However, Americans are no longer buying it.

According to a 2008 Pew Forum survey, 65 per cent of Americans believe that "many religions can lead to eternal life" including 37 per cent of conservative white evangelicals, it says.

The theory of re-incarnation, which is central to Hindu belief, also seems to be finding acceptance, with 24 per cent of Americans saying they believe in the concept, the article said quoting a 2008 Harris poll. "

Learn it from the Muslims

There is a very good practice in Islam that every devout Muslim in Islam is supposed to Pray to God five times a day. This formal prayer in Islam is called Namaz or Ṣalāt (Arabic: صلاة‎; pl. ṣalawāt). This formal prayer to God is done five times a day by an obedient Muslim.

This formal Prayer is performed five times a day: at dawn (fajr), noon (dhuhr), in the afternoon (asr), at sunset (maghrib) and nightfall (isha'a). How sweet it is that a devout Muslim does prayer to God five times a day, every day of week, all through his life.

So just like Muslims do Namaz five times a day, let you also remember God at least five times in a day so that He is always on our mind. In fact God is one but He is remembered by individuals in different ways in different religions & every religion on this earth teaches us some good aspects. Lets learn this aspect from devout Muslims & let's remember & pray to God at least five times a day.

In Bhagwat Gita also God assures:

"ananyas cintayanto mam
ye janah paryupasate
tesham nityabhiyuktanam
yoga-ksemam vahamy aham" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Nine verse 22)

"Sri Krishna said to Arjuna: But those who always worship Me always with exclusive devotion, meditating on My transcendental form—to them I give what they lack in life, and I protect what they have."

Ocean of Love

We all need love in life. Love is the emotional requirement of our mind as much as food is for our body. If you have people who love you in life then your emotional state of mind always remain in an elated state, otherwise you feel depressed. Now problem is that humans are not 100% perfect & imperfections in human beings, many times hurt your mind & you feel emotionally shattered. You must have seen in life that you have hardly come across a person who understands you completely & have never hurt you in life. All this is simply because humans are not perfect & cannot give you perfect love. Sometimes or the other you feel hurt in your relations & feel depressed.

Now can you find someone who is perfect one & can give you perfect love? One who never hurts you & can give you infinite love.

Whenever you love somebody there is a burning desire to meet that person. Now if you really get someone who can give you infinite unconditional love then your craving to meet that person shall be very strong & your mind shall always yearn for & run after that person. Something similar happened in the case of "Gopis of Vrindavan" who fell in deep love with Lord Shri Krishna. Though Lord Krishna is almighty, all powerful God & everyone prays to Him but "Gopis of Vrindavan", including "Radha Rani" fell in deep Love with the God & in their case there was a burning desire in their mind to meet the God.

So God only is the perfect one who can give you infinite unconditional love. That's why He is called as "Ocean of Love". If you love Him a little bit then He shall love you ten folds, as God is hungry of love & devotion only. So Hey God:

"You are an Ocean of Love,

You are the Infinite Love,

My heart is burning for that Love,

Let me have one drop of this Ocean of Love,

You send us on this earth and separate us from Yourself,

But, one day we shall get back to You and leave this world,

O God! my restless mind is eagerly getting impatient in coming back to you,

You are an Ocean of Love.........I am thirsty for one drop (of Your Love),

You are an Ocean of Love.........I am thirsty for one drop (of Your Love)."

In "Bhagwat Gita" also Lord Krishna is saying to Arjuna:

"Be aware of me always,
adore me, make every
act an offering to me,
and you shall come to me;
this I (Krishna) promise,
for you are dear to me."

(Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Eighteen verse 65)

"Abandon all supports and
look to me for protection.
I shall purify you from the
sins of the past; do not grieve."

(Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Eighteen verse 66)

Read also...........Moon Of My Heart

Read also..........Attain Krishna

My Random Thoughts - 5

Below are few of my random thoughts which I have posted recently on Twitter . I post these small thoughts regularly on Twitter , however, I shall compile & post it over here too regularly after few days of posting on Twitter :

Life is just not living your way & saying it goodbye one day. There is more to LIFE than that....

Morning is the time when you are at peace with your body & mind......It's the best time to think of GOD.....

Sleep gives rest to your body & dreams during sleep purge the irrelevant thoughts in your mind. Both are good.....

Whether one is a saint or a criminal, greedy or generous, ultimately we all are human only....Let's Love all......

You see this world through your mind, if mind is in happy mood you love this world, otherwise feel depressed......

Even while living your life normally you can attain God, Just Love & dedication for God is required............

Color of Your Mind

We all think & work through our mind. We all too have our emotions toward others in our mind. Emotions of love, compassion are in our mind & emotions of jealousy, greed etc. too are in our mind. All the good & bad qualities in your mind makes the "Nature of your mind" & nature of your mind determines your personality. Whatever good or bad Karmas you do that is going to make your personality.

Now as per the qualities of your mind, your nature can be either Good, Bad or mixed. Based on the qualities of your mind a color can be assigned to your mind. Mind of Good natured, calm, Sattvic type of person can be assigned "WHITE" color. Mind of Passionate, impulsive, sensuous type of person can be assigned "RED" color. Mind of Lazy, egoistic, indolent type of person can be assigned "Black" color. Below are described the qualities of all the three type of people.

Qualities of people with "WHITE" color mind: These Saintly, Sattvic type of persons are normally calm, balanced in their nature. They generally do good to others & are selfless, un-egoistic persons. They generally give alms to the poor & never hurt anybody even with their speech. They are never angry with anybody & are always at peace with themselves. They never hanker after or are greedy of the material things of this world. They love everybody & everyone respect, love them.

Qualities of people with "RED" color mind: These type of people are passionate, impulsive, type of persons. They are generally bold and aggressive in their nature. They want to enjoy every type of food & want to enjoy all the physical pleasures of this world. They are at times very much angry in their nature. They have a greed to accumulate more money & material things in life. They think of themselves before others. They do all their actions most passionately.

Qualities of people with "BLACK" color mind: These type of people are lazy, egoistic, indolent type of persons. They enjoy more pleasure in sleep. They do their actions without thinking of what consequence it shall have. They generally have morbid thinking which is very harmful to their personality. These type of people live in ignorance & delusion only. Sometimes their morbid nature leads them to madness. In fact people with mind of black color believe that, whatever, wrong they are doing is right, while it is their perverted thinking only which makes them do wrong only, the consequence of which is misery only in their lives.

Now below is what Bhagwat Gita says about all such three type of people:

As per Bhagwat Gita, your nature in this material world are due to 3 qualities of Nature & those are "Sattva, Rajas & Tamas". Due to these three qualities of Nature only, one enjoys Joy & also suffer Pain in this life. In effect Nature is of dual characteristics & "Good & Bad", "Joy & Pain" etc. are both due to dual characteristics of this nature. The living entity in material nature enjoys the three modes of nature & it is due to his association with that material nature only that he meets with good and evil consequences in his/her lifetime. Now here below are the Bhagwat Gita verses which details about the three modes of nature and how an individual gets involved with these three modes of nature & enjoys happiness & suffers pain. Basically it explains Cause and Effect in Nature.

In Bhagwat Gita Lord Sri Krishna says to Arjuna :

"sattvam rajas tama iti
Gunnah prakriti-sambhavah
nibadhnanti maha-baho
dehe dehinam avyayam" - (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Fourteen verse 5)

"Material nature consists of three modes—Goodness, Passion and Ignorance (Sattva, Rajas & Tamas). When an individual living entity comes in contact with nature, he becomes conditioned by these three modes."

"tatra sattvam nirmalatvat
prakasakam anamayam
sukha-sangena badhnati
jnana-sangena chanagha" - (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Fourteen verse 6)

"The mode of Goodness, being purer than the other two, is illuminating, and it frees one from all sinful reactions. Those situated in that mode become conditioned by a sense of happiness and knowledge."

"rajo ragatmakam viddhi
trsna-sanga-samudbhavam
tan nibadhnati kaunteya
karma-sangena dehinam" - (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Fourteen verse 7)

"The mode of Passion is born of unlimited desires and longings, and because of this, the embodied living entity is bound to material fruit producing actions."

"tamas tv ajnana-jam viddhi
mohanam sarva-dehinam
pramadalasya-nidrabhis
tan nibadhnati bharata" - (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Fourteen verse 8)

"Know that the mode of Darkness, born of ignorance, is the delusion of all
embodied living entities. The results of this mode are madness, indolence and sleep, which bind the conditioned soul."

"sattvam sukhe sanjayati
rajah karmani bharata
jnanam avrtya tu tamah
pramade sanjayaty uta" - (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Fourteen verse 9)

"The mode of Goodness conditions one to happiness; Passion conditions one to fruit producing action & pain; and Ignorance, covering one’s knowledge, binds one to madness."

Now you have to see that in which of the above said modes of nature you are established. If you are doing good Karmas, helping others, living a pure life, having devotion to God, doing acts of sacrifice, charity etc. then you are living a Sattvic life & it frees one from all sinful reactions & gives a life of happiness.

If you live a passionate (Rajasic) life, addicted to sensuous pleasures of life then it shall give pain in life (physical & mental later on). Though sensuous pleasures look good at the time of it's enjoyment but ultimately it's consequence is pain only & it leads one to all painful reactions .

If you lead a lazy life, enjoys happiness in sleep, indolence etc. & are egoistic, avoid doing your duty; then you are living in delusion. All this arises of the nature of ignorance & in this case you are leading a Tamasic life. Such a life gives pain only always & lead one to utter delusion before & after.

So its all, what type of life you live & what type of Karmas you do. Sattvic life shall lead you to happiness only while Rajasic life shall lead you to Pain & Suffering while Tamasic life shall lead you to utter delusion & shall ruin your life. Choice is yours, which type of life you want to live. Now just check also the color of your mind.

FORGIVENESS

Sandalwood perfumes even the axe that

Hews it down !

The more we rub sandalwood

against a stone,

The more is fragrance spreads,

Burn it, and it wafts its glory in

the entire neighborhood.

Such is the enchanting beauty of

Forgiveness in life.

-----Swami Chinmayanandaji

Invisible Santa Claus

Santa Claus also known as Saint Nicholas is the legendary and mythical figure who brings gifts to the homes of children on the Christmas Eve. Have you known any such Santa Claus who fulfills your desires every now & then? We all have experienced in our lives that sometimes our wishes are fulfilled by some invisible force & we all have felt the presence of that invisible force in our lives. In fact God is always present within us & all around us. In our heart He is sitting in the "Antaryami" aspect. "Antaryami means the one who can observe & know every thing of your heart without you being explaining anything to Him. So God is called Antaryami as we need not explain to Him about any of our problems. In this aspect He is Antaryami & He knows what we want."

So God who is always with you & is always sitting in your heart, fulfills all your desires but we are never thankful to Him. From the God, whatever, is asked for, God provides that to his devotees. God is so kind that he provides everything to his devotee even without being asked for. If you have firm faith in God & your wish is pure then God shall certainly fulfill that wish of yours.

All around the world, people in temples, churches, mosques, synagogues beg & pray to God that O! God, "Give us, give us", and the Great Giver gives His Gifts to His devotees in an Invisible Santa Claus way. The Great Giver, the Lord, keeps on giving, while those who receive grow weary of receiving.

In Bhagwat Gita God too assures:

"ananyas cintayanto mam
ye janah paryupasate
tesham nityabhiyuktanam
yoga-ksemam vahamy aham" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Nine verse 22)

"Sri Krishna said to Arjuna: But those who always worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on My transcendental form—to them I give what they lack in life, and I protect what they have."

So Lets be thankful to God, whatever, we have received in our life from Him.