Sunday, August 26, 2012

Be Quiet and Sit Down

Be quiet and sit down! We have heard this instruction/phrase several times in our lives, especially if we grew up in a country like India. Apparently, this is not only a mother's frequent instruction to her children but also almighty's request to the whole humanity. Obviously, sitting down doesn't really mean forever but to quit from the restlessness be still for a while.

Recently, a lovely couple visited us and after a simple vegetarian meal, we sat down to chat. Sometimes, conversations here include the increasing drug problems in Puerto Rico and how we need to be careful with our youth. And because I have a 12 year old son, I easily get worried with new database.

However, if you hang out with the right people, any conversation finds a positive direction. Our guests follow the Radha Swami tradition and they shared a simple teaching of their spiritual master, 'Be quiet  and sit down'. Their master says that everybody has a light inside their soul which is a source of peace no matter what the external situation may be. To be able to see it, one needs to take time out from all the distractions in and around us and focus. We can do it by meditating on our own beliefs and values regardless of what religion/tradition we follow.

When Daksh, our friend, was explaining the teaching to us, I teared up because I had seen that same light several times and it had the same effect on me. The only difference was that I started seeing that light first in a small church in India. I still see it when I focus on how wonderful God has been to me and all His blessings for us.

It was awesome, somebody from a different religion was talking about exactly the same end product. It was like, one more time, God telling me, 'I am beyond any religious tradition. No religion owns me. I am able to reach out to anybody, no matter what language, term and way they use to call me.'!

My dear friends, no matter where you are and what your background is, your're entitled to your light and inner peace. All you need to do is to make the effort… I leave you today with my prayer to the almighty that He helps you in the process…

ऐ खुदा, आम आदमी को बना दे ख़ास,
तेरा हर बन्दा अपनी अजमत पे कर सके नाज़,
हर एक लिये है अपने हिस्से का नूर ,
खोल दे ये दिलवालों पे राज़



Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Earth's Perspective

I saw this photo on a friend's Facebook page. Not sure who owns it but I thought it reflects reality!

Monday, August 20, 2012

Breath in Peace!

Inner peace is your right and actually it is just like air all around you. The oxygen around you cannot keep you alive until you breath it in, inner peace functions the same way. Make a conscious decision to claim your inner peace, feel it entering in you, focus on it, meditate on it and learn to celebrate it inside you.

Problems will never cease to show up and the life is too short to wait for all problems to finish before learning to live with peace. And by the way, problems faced with a peaceful heart are faster dealt with. Trust me, it is your decision to continue to worry or grab your portion of inner peace that is out there waiting for your attention and action.

Now claiming peace may not be a simple process especially when you are facing a challenging situation. For example, sometimes challenges overpower my ability to be at peace and I go down the path of disappointment, sadness and fear. These feelings might be important but I am not sure if they are worth it most of the time.

I am learning to grab peace through my faith in God, somebody who is greater than I am and certainly bigger than my challenges. I seek love from the people that love me (by the way, love increases by loving!). I derive hope from all the past experiences where I thought I would not be able to bounce back but I did! Faith, love and hope are my weapons to fight with disappointments and sadness and they also enable me to claim what is rightfully mine, my inner peace!

For you some other combination may work. But one thing is for sure, 'positive fetches positive' even if it takes a bit longer. Continue your journey in the garden of peace, where there will be flowers of hope, love, faith, harmony, forgiveness but there will also be the thorns and distractions such as disappointments, sadness, fear and anger. Adorn your life with the flowers and if you get hurt by a thorn, know that your soul has the ability to get healed if you so decide.

I am inhaling peace with the fragrance of flowers of hope, faith and love and exhaling fears! What about you?

Blessings!

I am not OK

I am writing this on behalf of thousands of people, particularly the humanitarian workers around the world, who are not perfectly ok. Many o...