"I don’t wear any cloth”

There is a Man seated with a big tub filled with some liquid. His job is to dyeing the cloths of everyone come to him to dye it. The liquid in the tub has some magical power. Anyone comes to him to dye his cloth in any colour; the man dips that cloth in that same liquid of tub and the cloth becomes of that colour. Most of the people ask to dye their cloth in red, yellow, blue green etc. and the man immediately dyes that cloth in that colour. Few people also come to him to make their cloth Saffron or even white and he serves as he is asked for. When Shekhar came to him to dye his own cloth, he became very surprised seeing the whole process. He became amazed. Then he thought a lot ….. in what colour do I need to dye my cloth, which colour will be suitable for me, more useful ….. Which colour is best for me! Finally he asked that man, “Sir, please dye my cloth in that colour which is, the colour of your cloth”.

The man replied, “Then, you don’t need to dye your cloth at all”.

After a pause of few moments, the man came closer to Shekhar and whispered at his ear, “In reality, I don’t wear any cloth”.

A successful life!

What is a successful life? If I ask you this question, I know, possibly all of you will give example of great personalities. People, who have reached the top of the ladder of this society, people who have achieved something great. People like Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda are immediate examples. Even great intellectuals, famous singers, star players or actors, popular social workers, political leaders are also considered as a successful life. Our spiritual leaders and Masters teach us so many things to make a life successful. There are so many so called ‘success coach’ preaching so much philosophy and tips of psychology to achieve success.

But, sometimes I doubt, is it really so? Is it not ultimately some kinds of name and fames, on which basis we think in that way. Generally we say that life is successful which has contributed something meaningful for society, for mankind. But do we really know or is there really any meaning of life? If not, then is it not that what we are saying “meaningful” is actually a conditional and limited view of the society or mankind!

In this country, from Sree Krishna (if he was a human) to Sree Ramkrishna, so many numbers of enlightened soul took birth, as well as outside this country so many others. All of them taught the lessons of Love, compassion & tolerance. All of them taught to give up anger & hatred. Today, in all around chaos of intolerance, corruption, hatred and egoistic fighting’s, I don’t find any effect or use of their thousands of years teachings. The society, the world flows along the path of universal law from the creation towards the total destruction. On the limited perspective of a certain time-place, these people may have shown some effort to slow down that process of destruction but the powerful current of time has flown their all effort just like pieces of straw in the flow of river. When I try to find them in the perspective of eternal space-time, I can’t find any of them even by most powerful microscope. There, I find Success and Failure is just two opposite perspectives of same thing, There, no any individual have any separate identity, all are same and serving the purpose of God ….. the purpose of eternity.

My Story:
In my life, I have not done anything great, may be, not even anything good enough. But, one thing I have maintained. I have never constrained myself in any limitation, binding my mind forcefully for any gain, whatever it is. I continuously shifted myself to taste every bit of nectar of multidimensional life but never attached me with anything after my heart fulfilled with its taste. I have suffered lots of monetary loss, missed so many big opportunities, forgave my biggest enemy, and people called me foolish, stupid, coward but I never tried to change that of my in built attitude. Possibly that’s why today I find myself as a ‘Jack of all trades Master of none’. Today sometimes people become surprised (also laugh behind me) seeing a Spiritual Shekhar but I don’t bother for that. Sometimes I feel, because I never try to grab or possess anything strongly for too long duration, so it become possible for me to experience so many things of life. I don’t know whether you call it a successful or a failure life.

Why Rabindranath? - Homage on Tagore’s Birthday

Bengali people need to look at Bengali calendar at least once in a year; that is to mark birthday of Rabi Thakur. All over the world, Tagore’s birthday become celebrated as per Bengali calendar on 25^th Baishakh and that is today.

I know many of my fellow seekers have some curiosity to know why Shekhar is so much fond of Tagore. What unique he finds in Tagore? Or, is it only because Tagore is a Bengali? No, it is something much more than that. It is his unique outlook towards Life.

The very purpose of our spiritual journey is to realize what is there in reality and how does it works on us. Our scriptures give the idea of methodology to realize that. There most common concept is detachment from the physical world because the world is a tricky creation of our mind only. Spirituality teaches: Instead of being a player on the stage of world, become a silent observer of whole drama. Don’t attach yourself or don’t let your mind to be influenced with different kinds of excitements in the drama because it is all illusionary, these things don’t exist in reality. So, sages and sadhus give up all bonding of life in desire of ultimate freedom, freedom from rebirth. But, here a big question arises. If spirituality is also meant for all inclusiveness, to enjoy every bit of life then is it not a fact that a Sanyasi, who have renounced everything and become insensitive, remain uninfluenced with all kinds of joy and sorrow of life, is he not missing a major charm and beauty of life! Is it not a kind of escapism from a certain perspective!

Then I find Tagore bold enough, a step ahead. He is not eager to escape from all kinds of misery of life but to enjoy life fighting with all these things. In his poem ‘Prayer’ he prays to God not to rescue him from danger but to be fearless in danger, not for sympathy of God in grief & sorrow but to win sorrow, not to reduce his luggage of worldly burden but to have it bearable. Is it not the greatest courage!

In his 73^rd verse of Gitanjali he makes it more clear saying:
“Deliverance is not for me in renunciation.
I feel the embrace of freedom in a thousand bonds of delight.
Thou ever pourest for me the fresh draught of thy wine of various colours and fragrance,
filling this earthen vessel to the brim.
My world will light its hundred different lamps with thy flame
and place them before the altar of thy temple.
No, I will never shut the doors of my senses.
The delights of sight and hearing and touch will bear thy delight.
Yes, all my illusions will burn into illumination of joy,
and all my desires ripen into fruits of love.”

I become too impressed with his understanding of real meaning of Life.
I pay my heart full homage to the soul of this enlightened genius on his 153^rd Birthday.

ABHISAR (Dating)

In old days there was a great disciple of Lord Buddha, a young saint named Upagupta in Mathura.  It was an evening of Sravana month, sky covered with dark clouds, gusty wind blowing off the lamps, all doors closed, even the star light was not visible. The sanyasi was taking rest sleeping on roadside.

There was a courtesan (harlot) in that city named Basabdutta. She was rich, beautiful and proud that the rich and famous of the town vie with each other for her company. In her arrogance the courtesan used to enjoy rejecting many men who seek her company. On that very evening she was going along that path and her anklet-ringing feet unintentionally stuck that lying man. Upagupta awoke and looked at her with a compassionate forgive. Basabdutta, infatuated by his powerful personality with calm and bold look, instantly fall in love for him. She told, “Oh young man, please forgive me. But why are you lying here on hard rocky road? This is not proper place for a Youngman like you. Come with me and have comfort at my place." The monk smiled and rejected her proposal.It was the first time she experienced such a refuse from a youngman . So she was not ready to easily accept it and went on insist him. After her persistent request finally the monk said, “OK, I shall visit you, not now but when the time comes.”

After that many days passed by. One day the monk defied the king upholding his high principles and the infuriated king ordered him to leave his kingdom. So, the saint used to wander in a forest at outskirt of the city. Then, one day, it was a full moon evening in spring, Birds singing, flowers blooming and spreading their fragrance, Upagupta was walking along the forest side road . Suddenly he saw a human body, abandoned, seriously sick and weak, about to die, moaning in pain, lying on roadside. He hurriedly went near and found it was none other than Basabdutta suffering from acute small pox. He immediately started to nurse her, feed her drops of water, applied sandal wood paste on her body and after some comfort when the courtesan opened her eyes, the saint told her, “look Basabdutta, time has come to meet you  ...…don’t worry”        

WOMAN vs. MAN: The age old Tug of War

A Breaking news, I mean a news which can break (at least shake) our head.
Late month 20 year old Brazilian girl student sold her Virginity by auction on Internet (in connection to produce a documentary movie).The bidding went on for about two years on net. The highest bidder won it at an amount of Seven lakh Eighty thousand USD (all details is easily available on net).I was not so much interested in this news because I know that Prostitution is the oldest profession in this world.

But some consequences and related news has made me to think the whole thing in deeply.

• There was a great hype on internet on this issue, flooded with congratulations /criticisms of the girl as well as that auction site of movie production.
• The innocent (?) girl claimed saying that it is not prostitution and she will donate 90% of the amount for Charity.
• The owner of that documentary project says, "I was surprised she said that because in all my dealings with her, she made it clear that it was a business decision for her"
• Virginity of a boy was also sold for the same documentary in that same auction which got only 3thousand USD. There is neither any hype nor any congratulation /criticism on this.

As day by day the world is turning into a Global Village, we can’t just move our eyes away from such news, but need to see in which direction the relation between Man and Woman is going on. Is it towards all sorts of equality or something else?
In the Spiritual Thoughts, ‘PURUSHA’ and ‘PRAKRITI’ represents Man and Woman respectively. And both are manifestation of the same absolute God. In spite of that, these two are very different.
A question frequently arises in me, is it necessary  to equalize Man and Woman by all external means, when they are very different as their physical body and their role in this world? If they have to play same role in this world then why God created their physical body as different? Is it not a kind of “ Khodar upar khudgiri” i.e. alteration and modification of rule of the creation of God? Is it not that very Ego of  Woman and Man is leading them towards this delusion of equality?
Inequality in external manifestation is very natural law in spite of the fact that everything is equal at its very core…..only expression of God. But classification is necessary to clearly define the role to play. Even classification of four Varna is also necessary for similar reason but mankind likes to live in illusion so they define them as higher or lower.
In this context I like to mention quoting Tagore what he told in his extraordinary short novel “SHESHER KABITA” as a dialogue of the hero Amit Ray to criticize so called Innocent Feminist;
“If you give up supremacy of Male, it will immediately start supremacy of Female……and that is more dangerous. In the fight to overpower and confine one another, the contestant who has the chain, tries to bind the other with that.  But the contestant who has no chain, she confines the other by delusion through Hypnotizing. Although the ower of chain binds the other but he does not deludes her.On the other hand who has no chain, She uses drugs of addiction to bind the other. Container of females is full of that drug. Nature is the culprit who supplies her this drug. In this way, she not only confines but also deludes the other”

We know the story of “Duhshasana & Draupadi” as well as the story of “ Vishwamitra & Menoka”, the result of the use of the power of Chain and the power of Hypnotism. So I feel, we need to see the reality …..Not to shift from one to another but to lead ourselves a step ahead, beyond this tug of war, not confined by one another , but to play the God gifted role......and that should be the freedom for both.

Realization of God through Bhakti.

(An interpretaion of my understanding )

Lord Krishna (The absolute consciousness) on Bhakti:
"sarva-dharman parityajya, mam ekam saranam vraja 
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo, moksayisyami ma sucah"
Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. 
I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.

Heart is a combination of your Mind and Intellect….pure emotions and subtle understandings… "You place both mind and intellect in me. Direct all your emotions towards me and also your understandings towards me…both should go together." If love for God is without understanding then it is incomplete and delusion, one may love certain form or some ideas about God without understanding, that is not Bhakti in true sense. On the other hand, if love for God is only because my intellect says me to do so but Mind is no so much interested then there is definitely some greed, some expectation of worldly gain about which I am not conscious.

It is said God resides in our heart….not only in mind or intellect or in our brain.

Different Steps of Bhakti:
Srabanam, Kirtanam, Vishnu Smaranam, Pada Sevanam, Archanam, Vandanam, Dasyam, Sakhyam, Atmanivedanam.

Srabanam(Hearing)- First we have to listen about the God,

Kirtanam(Talking & sharing, chanting loudly) -Then we have to talk about, we have to utter and express……have to sing his glory, thus whatever we have listened goes deeper in us. We need to share what we have learned about God.

Vishnu Smaranam,( Remembering)- Now we have to remember HIM constantly…thus the identification of God goes further deeper in us. In the beginning, we may need lot of effort to remember him constantly, but as we become more and more habituated, need of effort goes on reducing. It is like learning to ride a bicycle, in the beginning it is too tough, but after learning no special effort is needed …even can ride inattentively.

Pada Sevanam( Seva) - Performing all actions only on HIS behalf...…work for mankind.... Karmayoga.

Archanam (Puja) -  Archana is a special, personal, abbreviated Puja done by a devotee ..... it is dedication...…sacrificing for god

Vandanam(Reverence) – Reverence for the God......Do namaskar, sing to praise that supreme reality.

Dasyam(Servantship)- It is obediance to God.....Primarily we think, God belongs to me but that is also a kind of Ego, so at this stage we can realize I belong to God, I am servant of God.

Sakhyam( Friendship)- A feeling that the God is my closest friend in this world.

Atmanivedanam(Complete surrender)- All through the process of worshiping God....through the steps of Bhakti, we offer so many things to God but finally I have to offer myself as ‘Naibedya’ to that supreme reality God, ie. My ego is also given to God and feeling I have no separate identity, then only Bhakta merges with God.
(The blog is an interpretation of my understanding, may or may not be same as most of the Spiritual Gurus)

Yada Yada Hi ........

Out of 701 verses in Bhagwat Gita. I find the most popular one is Chapter 4, verses 7&8 i.e. “Yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata …….sambhavami yuge yuge”.  On so many stories, article, debate on current topics etc. people refers this. Most of them strongly express their views that India as well as the world is now at it’s lowest regarding Dharma. All around us so much corruption, intolerance, jealousy, hatred, cruelty, women abuse etc. etc. that Dharma is degraded at that worst level when as per assurance given by Lord Krishna, some Avatar must come down and take birth on earth especially in India to save Good people. But, as there is no possibility of such a thing going to happen in immediate future as per their expectation so everybody impatiently express their extreme grievance against God…..’What is God doing there in heaven! Why he still not coming down to save us! Is it that he has forgotten his assurance?’ Even, sometimes they express their doubt that it may be a false assurance, actually neither Krishna is a God nor there is any God at all. (This is general view, not my opinion)

When I tried to contemplate, I realized that the said verses (as well as many other verses also) are completely misunderstood by the ordinary people. They never try to understand, out of 33 corer Gods and 3 Trinity Gods why only Lord Vishnu appears as avatars …what its significance is. Even, explanations & comments of many spiritual Masters on the said verses are not satisfactory to me. I find many of the times they are also influenced by common belief and they twist the meaning of the verses in their own way.

What I understand that the verses do not say that God will come down as a human/living being after few hundreds or thousands of years on earth at a crucial period as some great historical event. Because, The God is nothing but the consciousness of any living beings which is always there at a subconscious (unmanifested) state in all living beings at different levels, masked by Maya. When some individual consciousness reveals itself wiping out/rising above all kinds of Maya, that consciousness becomes considered as an Avatar, not that individual body. Moreover, it is not necessary that individual is to be singular body and most popular/ well known spiritual leader or someone great Hero.

It is remarkable that earlier avatars in our scripture like Matsay, Kurma, Baraha are all non human beings. Then we find Nrishimha, which is transition from animal to human being and afterwards all Avatars are human beings. I think it signifies that the consciousness is being manifested all through this long continuous process of evolution and God's incarnation is a perpetual act, an eternal occurrence. It is not necessarily to be a historical event. The words, 'Yuge yuge', imply every juncture of time…every moment there is a fight between Dharma and Adharma and every time there is the Avatar (manifested consciousness) who is always in favour of Dharma. That is why Lord Vishnu, the Sustainer, who is one of the Trinity Gods, is also considered as the absolute God ‘Brahman’, who is ever vigilant in maintaining the harmony. At every moment when three gunas of this creation ‘Satva, Rajas &Tamas’ fail to counter balance each other, the Avatar (manifested consciousness) plays its important role to bring back the balanced condition.