basking in the light - VII

a devotee was discussing with guruji about a new job offer that she was considering. the job that she currently had was a comfortable, flexible one, which helped her spend adequate time at home also… guruji asked her the reason that she was planning to explore the new opportunity. she responded that one of the key factors was for better remuneration. then he went on to explain to her all about money, wealth and richness in his inimitable and precise style.

to summarise:

• we need to get our priorities in life right… understand what your priorities are at this moment and take a decision accordingly – any job that pays you more will demand more of you.
• find out what your duty / passion is and do the same diligently. that is most important.
• however much you run after money, however much you earn, what will remain is the “bottom-line”. the amount that will remain with you for your use will only be as much as you are entitled to. so there is no point in hankering after lots of money – it may transit your way but not remain with you…
• who is a rich person? if you need Rs. 10 today and you have Rs 10 with you – you are a rich person. that is all there is to it… if at any point in time you have what you need you can consider yourself rich. think about it – all the surplus is just lying in some bank or investments and not with ‘you’ to meet your needs…
• what is important and needs to be preserved in one’s life is one’s integrity, which is mostly irretrievable once it is lost – wealth once lost can be regained but this is not so with one’s character /integrity.
  he explained the same with an anecdote from the story of akbar and birbal. when akbar went to attend an important function, he was welcomed with the traditional “attar”. when it was being put on him, a drop fell to the floor, which he instinctively bent down to pick up and apply on himself. then he felt ashamed that he a 'jahanpannah' (master of the universe) had stooped to pick up a drop of scent fallen on the floor and quickly looked around to see if anyone saw him doing the same. his eyes caught birbal’s who smiled a small smile to indicate that he had noticed.. akbar was irritated and when he went back, he ordered that a tank full of attar be offered to birbal to have a bath in… birbal responded by telling the emperor that he would not be able to regain what he had lost by a drop with a barrelful – the dignity that he lost by stooping to pick up a drop could not be regained later by offering a barrelful of the same in charity… same is the case with integrity – once lost is gone forever…
• the next important thing in life is faith – the same power that has sustained us till today will also take care of us going forward – the unshakable faith that “ab tak tho nibhaayaa hai, aage bhi nibhaayenge…” (lord has been with us till now, and he will also be with us in the future!).
  here he mentioned that one of the best quotes he has seen painted on the back of a truck “Jalo math – tumko bhi milega” (don't burn with jealousy, you too will get your share). have that faith and that will take us through…
• the third aspect is the constant remembrance of the lord – guruji said that these are the things that he prays for – all else will follow…
  

in an earlier discussion with the same devotee, guruji had emphasized the importance of maintaining good health and not running after wealth at the cost of one’s health. if one’s health is a problem, no amount of wealth will be able to make up for the misery one feels.

so in summary, while explaining the philosophy of wealth, guruji taught us what we should ask for / aspire for –

• doing one’s duty with integrity
• faith in the power that has sustained us this far and
• constant remembrance of the lord
  
  …everything else is secondary!

- sandeepany sadhanalaya, june 2007

basking in the light - VI

chyk (chinmaya yuva kendra) mumbai had called for a youth meet at sandeepany sadhanalaya on 15th july 2007. guruji (swami tejomayanadaji) addressed the youngsters. this is a brief synopsis of that talk :

guruji started off with a joke about a speaker who was asked to address a group of students. the speaker said he was from yale and started off by saying that the letter y from yale stood for 'youth'. he then spoke to them for about 20 mins on this topic. he then said the 'a' stood for ambition and then spoke about this for 30 mins. he explained that the 'l' stood for love and waxed eloquent about love for 15 mins and then finally said that 'e' stood for enthusiasm which he continued to speak about for a final 20 mins.

when he asked the audience for feedback about his talk one youngster piped up and said that the talk was good but that they were very glad that he was not from massachusetts!

guruji said he would keep his talk brief, and as is his style he managed to convey everything so wonderfully within the truncated time available to him.

he said that the older generation usually perceived the youth as 'people who know nothing but think they know everything'. at the same time the youth believe that the elders do not understand anything.

he then shared something he had read which was very apt - 'by the time you realise your father was right, you already have a son who thinks you are wrong!'

another common perception about the youth is that they are 'rash'. and this is best exemplified by their driving antics on the roads. a father tells his son who is a rash driver that 'it is better to be late here by a few hours, than to be early 'up there' by a few years!'

guruji said that youth is a phase when you find a contradiction - there is maximum energy levels among the youth, and you also find maximum levels of frustration!

most youngsters want to express themselves freely, revolt against convention and they consider themselves independent thinkers. but you also find that they are also blind followers of things that are considered 'cool' and 'different'.

the youth tend to have many questions. but its also important to ask the questions, ask the questions of the right person who can guide you with the answers, and have the courage to accept the answers. a fundamental quality required is 'humility' which is essential to be able to learn anything.

here guruji shared a beautiful story from the ramayana where hanumanji who has just been made aware of his powers by jambavan was very eager to cross the ocean, destroy lanka, kill ravana and get back seetaji. but then he suddenly realises that he might be getting carried away and so he decides to ask jambavan for guidance.

the point is that one should have the humility to say 'i don't know'!

here guruji mentioned a well-known saying among the armed forces - 'the more and more you sweat in peace; the less and less you will bleed in war'. similarly we should use our youth to work hard and prepare for life.

this is the aim of chyk - to harness youth potential to give them the right vision so that they can aim high in life.

he then referred to our shanti-path (peace invocation) where it is pointed out that success depends on mutual effort so that there is fruitful discussion and success and true transformation!

- saraswati nilayam, sandeepany sadhanalaya, july 15, 2007

for those who missed these sessions

in the last two Q&A sessions, br. sattvikaji spoke about the 'laws of action' and about the 'art of time management'.

the presentations are available for you to download and view at the following links :

http://groups.google.com/group/whats-on-your-mind---kalina-talks/web/laws+of+action.ppt

http://groups.google.com/group/whats-on-your-mind---kalina-talks/web/Time+Management+-+final.ppt

as part of the 'what's on your mind?' series, we have now embarked on a systematic study of the bhagwad geeta with sattvikaji as our guide. the first session was completed on 5th july where we are getting introduced to the great scripture through the 'dhyana shlokas'. sattvikaji will be completing the dhyana shlokas in his next talk on 2nd august. and then we will have the exposition of each chapter of the bhagwad geeta on the first thursday of each month.

you can derive maximum benefit from this series of talks by attending these sessions. we will also try our best to keep you updated by posting the summary of each talk on this blog.

basking in the light - V

we were assembled in guruji's kutiya discussing the plans for the ceos' seminar that was being planned in mumbai. anil sachdevji was visiting from delhi and he was to be one of the speakers along with guruji for this program.

towards the end of the discussion a gentleman entered the kutiya. he was wearing a tie and looked like a senior person from some corporate. anilji then introduced him to guruji as one of the directors in one of the large indian corporate giants. after exchanging pleasantries, anilji mentioned an interesting anecdote which was the reason the gentleman had arrived there that morning.

on one of his previous visits to the ashram, after anilji had met guruji and was on his way back to his hotel after taking prasad from guruji, he noticed that this above-mentioned gentleman's cell-phone number had inexplicably appeared on his (anilji's) cell-phone. he took this as a sign that there must be some reason for this and decided to drop into this gentleman's office which was just a stone's throw away.

when he reached his office, the gentleman informed him that he had dropped into office only for a couple of hours and was now about to leave to accompany his wife to the hospital for her chemo-therapy since she was afflicted with cancer. anilji immediately gave him the prasad which he had received and asked the gentleman to give it to his wife and that it would give her some solace & strength.

the gentleman did give the prasad to his wife and this act had a great impact on this lady.

many months later, when anilji informed this gentleman that he was going to be in mumbai and that he could drop into the ashram in case he wanted to meet guruji. the gentleman's wife wanted him to go and meet guruji.

the gentleman, being a very senior official, had a very important meeting that same morning and he had forgotten this directive once he got into the meeting. he then received an sms from his wife reminding him to go and meet guruji. he then decided that he had to meet guruji and decided to come to the ashram.

guruji heard this narrative patiently and then enquired about her health and progress of the treatment. he then asked him to visit the ashram and meet at leisure and to bring his wife along too.

this simple act of love and caring by guruji won the gentleman's heart and he left shortly. it was obvious that he would soon return!

- sandeepany sadhanalaya, 12th june 2007