Research on Human - Animal dis/similarity

I have only few things that we are different, our Dexterity.

"And as human beings, we have the privilege of marveling at, as well as unraveling, what it means to be ourselves. We are each born with the capacity to live many different lives, yet we die having lived just one. We are capable of great diversity in our personal trajectories, and yet it appears that even our potential is not unlimited. We, too, are animals, although in the case of Homo sapiens, exactly what that means remains to be discovered." - Boffo in We are all Animals.

When Alice was lost in Wonderland, she asked the Cheshire Cat:
"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don't much care where - " said Alice.
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.
" - so long as I get somewhere," Alice added as an explanation.
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."

Expecting Nothing out of Life

Expecting nothing out of life.

Is it humanly possible to expect nothing out of life. What is expecting? We not only do not know how to expect nothing but all we do is to expect everything. We feel because we have done our bit, the rest should come in a platter.

Well only one thing comes to my mind..... As you Sow so shall you reap.

U shall reap all the results of your actions and these are governed by your karma.

If you did not get your engineering seat - that your karma of not studying, If you did not ace your exams, it is of your karma of not listening in your class. If you did not get your promotion, it is because of your karma of not sincerely working for the company.

That My friends is Karma. Of what u did or what you failed to do.

In above cases, Good karma is to be Studious, attentive in class, and working sincerely. These can be governed primarily by following a disciplined approach to life. Fall not prey to petty things, and petty joy, but constantly remaining in focus of our Life's Goal.

Discipline in Thought & Action will eventually produce good results.

Even as you read, one question may arise in your mind. What do I get by leading a disciplined life.

Again I come to the topic I started with.... what is 'get' in the above question but an expectation of life.

Life is not an equation you live but an experience that you live through.

Forget the GET. Forget what you want life to give to you. If life gives you something, take it happily. Rejoice that you have got what life gave to you. There are many of us who are not able to take what life offers you. But leave what life offers at you in search of 'expected' results.

If a girl is not married by the age of 25 or so, immediately her parents start running from temple to temple. To propitiate the Gods.

It is probably destined that she leads such a life till a particular time. Probably she is not prepared to face the married life. Probably she is destined to meet a better match who would be more appropriate. One cannot hold grudges with life. Whats happening is not puppetry, but a dama.

I can draw many allusions to the statement - that

"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages."

--From As You Like It (II, vii, 139-143) William Shakespeare

The whole life is but a drama
1. It is not real
2. Still you have to play your part
3. You get booed if u dont play it with your heart and soul
4. You get applauses for good performance - eventhough you cried most of the time
5. You get applauded - even if you played a stupid donkey
6. You are not here permanently - you have your exit
7. If you clown around - you may get applauded but remember what they talk behind you
8. Nobody is bothered what happens to you afterwards - Most of the People who applauded forgot you so did most of the people who booed you.
9. If you were the audience you will be on stage someday
10. After watching the drama you still return to playing your own drama

Life is not a great puppet show where god plays with all life as puppets and controls every action of every life. If we think so - it is because it is naive. He has done nothing personal to you and has no vengeance with any life form. Get Real - Life doesn't revolve around you. Its free will.

Imaging you take a bucket of water and you pour it on ground, it will flow and rush to the lowest point of gradient - because it is its nature. All inanimate objects tend to move to a static end. All life tend to follow the universal Law of self preservation.

All God has done is given us a good environment and free will and is seeing us all evolve.

Nothing that we do is above the universal truths that hold good for like - Survival of the Fittest, Fight or flight. etc. etc.

As a result, what does each animal expect out of life, and why should we be any different.

Yes! I can understand the conflict that arises that - Why should we be like animals. We are ofcourse more evolved and we have more intelligence.

I do agree that we are different from the animals, but we have to answer the question 'how different are we'.

How can you say No to your Guru

Shri Gurubyo Namaha
JAI MA

How can you say no to your Guru!

The only way to conduct ourselves in the presence of our Guru is to be in full attention mode, ever thinking "Your wish is my command."

I believe that we have got whatever we deserve, and we have got everything only by the grace of our Guru. If he has given whatever you deserve, when he asks something of you, how can you say no to your guru?

Only people who think that they have not got what they deserve will think about saying no to the Guru.But how much of a fact is that we have not got what we deserve. If we think deeply, it is because we do not cherish our blessings. We do not see what we have got but tend to think about what we have not got. How bad is our plight? How much, we have been the cause of our plight?

Our Guru knows all. He knows what to ask of us and what not to ask. Therefore it is our duty to await his wish and do it as its his command.

Our Guru is supreme intelligence personified, and we should not apply our intelligence in his presence. He will do the thinking for all of us. This is not meant to make us think that we should not use our minds, but to use it in the best possible way, ever remembering that his intellect supercedes us.

The upcoming occasion of our Paramaguru Aaradhana is one such opportunity to do as per our Guru's Commands.

The Aaradhana is the way our Guru celebrates his Guru. He celebrates the fact that he has been blessed by such a Guru in Swami Sri Vidya Dos. These celebrations are seen physically once a year. But we all know how Swamiji celebrates his Guru throughout the year - every moment.

We as the disciples should celebrate our Guru every moment we are with him and even when not in his presence. These celebrations should not be limited to once a year, or while in his presence, but should be continuous.

The Aaradhana is one way of celebrating our ParamaGuru for having blessed us all with such a supreme Sath Guru.

Let us join hands and make this 10th Aaradhana of our Parama Guru a wonderous and divine celebration. Don't ever say no to your Guru.

Jai Ma

Ego Trip

Birth of the Ego – Ego is born the moment consciousness starts. For the new born baby there is no Ego. Ego is born only after memory begins. Without consciousness, memory cannot exist. Without memory, ego too cannot exist. That doesn’t mean to live an egoless life, we have to be forgetful, or lead an unconscious life. To be egoless, we have to lead a super-conscious life. Meaning that we have to be always aware of our circumstances we are in and our relative position in it. Only by living in a super-conscious state, can we get rid of the Ego.

Control

Why does the Human nature try to control situations and environments so much.

Most people want to control others. Leaders want to control the state. Politicians want to control their followers, religious heads – their disciples, husbands want to control their wife and children, employers – their employees. Socialists want to control the commune. Capitalists want to control their market. Military leaders want to control their soldiers. While we all want to control things outside – not many people venture to control their self!!!

The superficial control of things outside is neither real not permanent. One may lose control of them anytime. Leaders may be overthrown, politicians lose followers, children rebel, employees strike, communes fight, market changes or soldiers mutiny. In all these cases, control is illusionary.

Whereas control over self is more real and more permanent. It also produced definite results that last. We have to strive to bring ourselves under total control.

Resistance to change.

I have personally seen that we impose our existing thoughts, for the simple reason that we always assume it is difficult to change. Rather, we are lazy and do not change and try to live in a cozy rut we have started living. An old slipper may feel cozy, but it will invariably slip and u will lose your footing when you most need it.

Just like that old slipper, we hold a lot of old thoughts and old habits which will lead to a slip some day. It is better to change our thoughts and habits when it is required. How are we to know? We just have to follow the advice of our Guru. Check often on the status of your slippers. Keep reflecting on where you are heading. If you find that you have slipped a bit, change slippers as and when necessary – meaning change your habits and thought process.

I have no doubt that by total surrendrance we can definitely change ourselves thereby our destiny. Not only by his prayers but by becoming that much closer to perfection by acceding to his advices.

Circle of Influence

Every person has a circle of influence. Meaning he can influence the decisions and actions of those people who lie within the circle. Swamiji has a big circle of influence. Generally speaking – the great people have very big circles of influence. Take the great leaders, their circle of influence is really big. The biggest, I might venture to say is that of Jesus. His circle of influence is virtually the whole Christian world. Meaning to say, his thought can influence every one who surrenders to him and reside within his circle of influence. Similarly of the Great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Buddha, and many others.

Swamiji really helps only those who surrender to enter that circle of influence. If you just ask for his help without surrendering, it is of no use and Swamiji will not be able to help you. If you do not enter the circle of influence – he will not be able to influence your destiny. There fore you face the consequences of your actions (of not surrendering)- so to speak “swayamkritha aparatham”. Moreover, in most cases, Swamiji uses the subject himself to be cause of change by influencing his/her actions thereby changing their destiny.

To be more practical, Swamiji, gives you advice on how to act and then promises divine intervention. Only by acceding to his thought and acting upon them, his influence on you will remain. Thereby rid of the trouble you are facing. Those who do not accept his advices and ignoring them, put themselves outside his circle of influence. Thereby there can be no change in the situation.

One of the reasons we do not enter Swamiji’s circle of influence is that we hold a certain amount of doubt about him or that we are not in total agreement with his thoughts. In most cases we are selective in taking heed to his advices. We ignore some by putting our own thoughts to the foreground. As a result we are not total in our surrendrance to his circle of influence thereby have to face the consequences.