Reviving Relationships

While you are reviving a particular relationship, all relationships will be revived and taken to the spiritual plane from the mundane social plane.
Ego resides in the social plane and seems to be of some use there. This is an illusion. "All that glitters is not gold" is a euphimism that refers to the products of the ego. Ego is a product of ASAT and then works as its agent.
Once this is realised then the spiritual journey begins.
You will find me by your side on the path.
Ganoba

Saints and Scholars

I have drawn inspiration from saints. Scholars put me off with their jugglary of words, their endless debates in their futile attempts to show who is the most exalted.
We, in India, are fortunate to have been blessed with saints of all hues and colours through the ages. They continue to keep popping up in the most unlikely places. This has enabled me to live in the present and enjoy its richness. some of it gets rubbed on to me. I have been able to soak in the "dhai aakhar prem ka". This has enabled me to be blessed by the company of friends like you who are at once saints and scholars.
i will let you know of our plans as soon as they aree finalised. It would be a delight to meet all of you at Rishikesh, truly "sone me suhaga"
Love to all
Ganoba

A Spiritual Mantra

Let our spiritual mantra be,
"I am a child. I have just begunthe journey and there are miles to go."
With this, grace descends and the journey becomes like a feather floating in the wind.
Welcome to SAT. Adiu to ASAT, the relative, comparative world.
Ganoba

Tribal Culture

Dear Arvind,
Yes, it is a sad fact that the north-eastern part of our country and all other tribal lands have been badly neglected by successive governments at the centre and the states. No wonder that people living their feel alienated.
We the common folks have also neglected to be informed about the tribal cultures. There is no ground, except prejudice, to treat them as backward and uncivilised.
We need to correct this error soon. People like you who have first hand knowledge of these people have a very important role to play in educating us.
May you write more detailed accounts and publish them widely.
all strength to your arm.
Lots of love to all at Lucknow
Ganoba

Stay and Play

Next time we feel rushed for time and we have a sinking feeling that the situation is slipping out of control let us not blindly rush in.
If we are pressurised to respond, let us not jump to any hasty conclusion.
Let us pause and ponder.
Instead of instinctively getting into the fight/flight mode let us stay, observe and play.
I call it the Stay and Play mode.
Whenever I have used it,I have been able to shift from the plane of survival (which is fullof dead and dying bodies) to the spiral of evolution.
Would you notlike to join me there?
Welcome. Come aboard.
Ganoba

Silence etc.

Silence is not the absence of sound.
Emptiness is not the absence of ground.
Darkness is not the absence of light.
Stillness is not the absence of flight.
An empty stomach is not hunger.
An empty mind is not a blunder.
To find the true import of these.
Let the opposites play with ease
as they please
as they please ...
Ganoba
the muse

Play of Maya

During meditation we may see fascinating visions and hear celestial music.
All the visions and sounds that may appear during meditation are actually apsaras trying to seduce us into giving up the spiritual path and start enjoying these plays of maya.
We just smile at them and move on towards the core of our being, the source of all creation.
Ganoba

Renouncing

It is important to understand what is meant by renouncing worldly concerns, not in philosophical terms but in practical terms such that it helps us to live a spiritual life without giving up our roles and responsibilities in the world.
We renounce not the responsibility but the authorship of our acts and words.
We recognise that we are just following His guidance. We perform our duties without worrying about the outcome.
This allows us to focus our undivided attention on the task at hand. the action then is perfect and the result is a certainty.
I am writing all this to remind me (you alreaady know this) so that I do not get carried away by the extraneous notion of winning and losing.
Ganoba

Healing

This is a note from my daughter, Sharmila. No comments are necessary. It is complete by itself.
Ganoba

I keep using "the day of healing" from time to time to have a dialogue with myself and introspect. It has helped me to make the necessary changes in my life and erase the unwanted data from the mind, to have more space. I remember when I had gone for one of the weekend programs with Dad, there was this vast landscape which was plain - no trees, huts etc. Someone said that it is so barren. I reflected and said that it is empty, not barren. There is life in it. Symbolically I felt that within me I must also create more empty space. It is a process of cleaning and making space for more healthy things to come.
Love
Shammi

Meditation on Nothingness

This is what meditation on nothingness is.
When the conscious mind is being used the I is very active. Over time it gets puffed up and goes on boasting, " I did this and I did that", "But for me nothing would have happened" and so on.
We are all familiar with this language. whole lot of self help books are loaded with this kind of stuff.
When the desired results do not come then all the moaning starts about injustice, about dirty politics, "why is this happening to me only" and so on. Then the blame game begins in full swing. Even God is not spared.
The inner voice is buried deep under this mountain of rubbish.
In doing nothing and being nothing we take the first tentative steps to silence this cacophany.
Gradually silence and stillness descend. We are then able to hear the voice of the wisdom that resides in the antarman.
This is to be practiced dilligently. It is not a concept fot discussion or debate.
Ganoba

Ishwar and Maya

Whatever we do needs to be done in the spirit of service and playfulness.
Then it takes us closer to Ishwar (god in sanskrit) which is the shapeless, formless nothingness (emptyness). It is constantly creating the world of shapes and forms, which transform the moment they are formed into a new form.
This is called Nashwar or Maya.
The play of Ishwar and Nashwar is life, the only reality.
It is and it is not.
Ganoba

Cleaning up

Working with the inner pollution seems the first thing to do, But in practice, I find it too abstract and don't know how and where to begin. Often I am not even aware of inner pollution.On the other hand, I am quite aware of external pollution. Instead of complaining about it and expecting some one else to clean up the mess, I decided to start doing whatever I could. I started by reducing wastages; of food, water, paper, pencils and many such little things that we use and waste daily. It gave a tremendous boost to my spirit.
Then I took on cleaning of my immediate surroundings. Anything in the home which had not been used for 6 months, like clothes, shoes, books, music CDs and so on were given away to others who needed them. It created a lot of free space in and around me. I also discovered a few gems which were gathering dust.
Awareness next dawned about the junk I had accumulated in my body. I stopped eating junk food and started going for walks visiting parks and open spaces. My health improved dramatically.Most remarkable was the uplifting of my spirit. I started feeling energetic and enthusiastic about initiating a new idea. I felt connected to my surroundings including people. Doing a thing for myself and for some one else appeared to belong to the same basket.
I now recommend this approach to others who come to me sekking help. The three steps are:
Clean up the immediate surrounding,
Clean up the body inside and out.
Clean the mind of opinions, biases, grudges and pre conceived stereotypes.
It seems to work for many people.
Ganoba