Wednesday 31 May 2017
Life in KALYUG
Very
long ago, a definition was given about life in KALYUG...
1.
KALYUG would be found in the streets of ADHARMA.
2.
In DYUTKREEDA: that is, making easy money by foul play and without deserving it
through hard work.
3.
PAANAM / VYASAN: poisonous consumption, addiction of liquor, drugs and in thoughts,
words and deeds.
4.
Indulging in gossip
5.
Less sleep and prone to several health issues.
6.
More anger
7.
Less energy and inner happiness.
8.
More arrogance and showmanship
9.
Less purity of mind and body.
10.
Violence in all forms: thoughts, emotions and physical. Prone to enmity and
opposition.
Story:
A
shishya who lived in his guru's ashram had a habit of smoking.
Surekha
Kothari
surekhakothari.wordpress.com
Tuesday 30 May 2017
Monday 29 May 2017
Sunday 28 May 2017
Karma Theory
When
Lord Krishna returned home after the battle of Mahabharata, his wife Rukmani
confronted him “How could you be party to the killing of Guru Drona and
Bheeshma, who were such righteous people and had a lifetime of righteousness
behind them.”
Initially
Lord Krishna avoided her questions but when she did not relent, he replied “No
doubt they had a lifetime of rightousness behind them but they both had
committed one single sin that destroyed all their lifetime of righteousness”
Rukmani
asked “And what was that sin?”
Lord
Krishna replied “They were both present in the court when a lady (Draupadi) was
being disrobed and being elders they had the authority to stop it but they did
not. This single crime is enough to destroy all righteousness of this world”
Rukmani
asked “But what about Karna? He was known for his charity. No one went
emptyhanded from his doorstep. Why did you have him killed?”
Lord
Krishna said “No doubt Karna was known for his charity. He never said ‘No’ to
anyone who asked him for anything. But when Abhimanyu fell after successfully
fighting an army of the greatest warriors and he lay dying, he asked for water
from Karna who stood nearby. There was a puddle of clean water where Karna
stood but not wanting to annoy his friend Duryodhan, Karna did not give water
to a dying man. In doing so his charity of a lifetime was destroyed. Later in
battle, it was the same puddle of water in which the wheel of his chariot got
stuck and he was killed.”
Understand
that your one act of injustice can destroy your whole life of honesty.This
story is great example of Karma Theory in Path to Prosperity. So let’s create
any Karma with Awareness what is righteous.
Surekha
Kothari
surekhakothari.wordpress.com
Thursday 25 May 2017
Liberating
When
we go out to a restaurant, there is a huge menu we choose from. These are items
we love and want to indulge in. But they are not necessarily good for our
health. We still bypass that thought and make the choice. We tell ourselves, it
is only for that meal. So, we end up eating that food and develop indigestion
or food poisoning.
Now,
similarly, when damaging feelings enter us, we again must choose either to let
them in and adopt them as ours or let them go immediately as being wrong for
us. Knowing that this may start a pattern, we still accept these feelings
because we want to retaliate.
The
main cause is that we have not been able to separate ourselves from our egos.
So, who gets hurt? Who wants to retaliate? It is the ego. If we learn to make a
choice against the ego and in favor of ourselves, we can avert any illness of
the mind.
If
you want freedom from the ego, the most effective way is to simply acknowledge
the undesirable thoughts and emotions that came in and the actions they set
off. To say, "I was wrong" is really liberating. To say, "I am
sorry" and MEAN it is even more liberating. It just clears the air within
us and between two people also. Not that you mean to, but this rattles the
opposite person and generally forces him or her to introspect.
Ultimately,
our purpose is to work with love, not anger, resentment, feared or hatred isn't
it?
Surekha
Kothari
surekhakothari.wordpress.com
Wednesday 24 May 2017
Energy exchange
I
was listening to an interview on criticism and being a critic. It is amazing
that we never think of it as energy exchange. But it is.
When
you criticize someone, you cause pain. But in doing so, you also go through
pain. In fact, if you criticize with negative energy, it causes you more harm
because the energy is deliberately emitted. The receiver can deal with this
kind of energy in three ways.
1.
Either take it in, absorb and feel the pain.
2.
See that energy coming at you and return it. Someone criticizes you. You
criticize them back. But the negative vibrations stay.
3. Transform that energy. Understand that the person has negative vibrations and
that you need not harm yourself by taking it in. This way, with understanding,
you have transformed the negative energy.
I
don't think there can be any contest in which one a clear intellect would
choose. But is it that simple? It can be, though.
Surekha
Kothari
surekhakothari.wordpress.com
Monday 22 May 2017
Sunday 21 May 2017
Packaging of knowledge!
Packaging
of knowledge! Every generation responds to what it can understand and can get
convinced about. Today, there is a huge movement towards spiritual
understanding amongst youngsters. PROVIDED it is presented in a manner that
they can relate to.
We
still have the traditional, religious concepts like deity worship etc. And that
is fine because it is the faith that carries us through, wherever we place it.
But in a knowledge based generation, the "why" of every belief, every
sentiment, and every action must be answered. Ironically, we have to explain
logically the phenomena that are beyond logic.
This
is precisely why the Bhagvad Gita is the most widely read and studied today. It
is a way of life and even spirituality has to be understood as a way of life.
The
meaning of dharma, karma , cause and effect , and all the laws that the
Universe would have us live by must be experienced and not just talked about.
Doubts must be addressed and cleared and this can only be done by practicing
them and observing results. Only then can convictions become a reality.
Surekha
Kothari
surekhakothari.wordpress.com
Thursday 18 May 2017
Sympathy and empathy!
Sympathy and empathy! We tend to use these
as synonyms very often. But there is a meaningful qualitative difference. You
will notice that when people want sympathy, they will tell you about the issues
in their life again and again. Once you give that sympathy, they tend to hold
on to you . They come to rely on you because that sympathy makes them feel
good. And soon, you find out that you have become a crutch for them. So,
although you started off well, was the ultimate result that great?
On the flip side is empathy. Here, too, you
support people, listen to them, advice them as best as possible like you are in
their shoes ...so, what is the difference, really? The difference is that after
doing all this, you will ensure that your advice will make them take
responsibility and hence, make them independent of you....that the next time;
they can manage themselves without looking for a crutch in you. This would be
an act of benevolence on your part and also a spiritual act.
So, which is better?
Surekha
Kothari
surekhakothari.wordpress.com
Wednesday 17 May 2017
Tuesday 16 May 2017
Polluted Mind
Keep
the pollution away. And I don't mean only environmental pollution. That is an
obvious fact. There are other forms. For example, what a polluted mind can do
is not apparent even when our own mind does it. We should be so much aware,
actually, that even if a polluted thought enters your mind, you ask for
forgiveness immediately. Excessive? Not at all!
You
will notice that we all have formulated very "artful" ways of
overlooking the pollution in our minds. Take humor. One always knew of laughter
being the best medicine, as avid Readers’ Digest readers believed laughter to
be. But how much dislike and aversion can humor be laced with is something we
all have seen many a time. Right? In fact, every night, at bedtime, if you
recap every detailed thought, word and deed honestly to yourself, some
pollution will be visible. Some negative thought about something, someone...even
you. (You are equally important, if not more). Or, some emotions that lashed
out uncontrollably because someone else was at fault and "did that to
you"...when you know that no one can do anything to you unless you permit
it...and some acts also that we try to palm off on some incident or people ,
acts that we are not really proud of.
One
way to reduce this pollution is to keep the mind outside of you. Examine it
minutely and see what thinks is and what it says to you. And take the positive
in and keep the rest out. With a little practice, you will see a difference.
Once you know you can do this successfully, you will want to do this exercise
again and again like a child because you will start feeling so good about
yourself that you will never want to regress to that pollution stage again.
Surekha
Kothari
surekhakothari.wordpress.com
Sunday 14 May 2017
Compassionate
Understanding people! How often do we
actually understand what is going on in the lives of people? Or, even attempt
to ? Most of the time, we end up reacting to every look, every word....every
gesture...
When we are in public, we expect a certain
kind of behavior from people. But we forget, as we don our masks, others do,
too. But a mask is a mask after all. It can slip with an unexpected trigger.
And when the facade drops momentarily and the hurt and pain are revealed, we
never stop to think of the reasons why that person may have accidently become
transparent. Instead, we react immediately.
Understanding people is nothing
short of personal healing. When you attribute a genuine reason to a person's
slipped mask, you will feel a sense of well being for yourself for having been
compassionate. For having gone into the depth of a person's psyche to recognize
the soul within. What can be more elevating?
Surekha Kothari
surekhakothari.wordpress.com
Speakingtree Blog: www.speakingtree.in/public/surekhakothari
Friday 12 May 2017
Realization
I have realized how many little things we
take for granted. Is there a guarantee we will wake up the next morning? Do we
know for sure that our day is going to unfold as planned? Are we sure that the
domestic staff will turn up tomorrow? Is it possible that you have an urgent
meeting and the vehicle stops half way? To mention just a few.
Gratitude, therefore, is most important.
The person who cleans your restrooms and your home. The one who drives your
car, cooks your food. A friend who sits up with you when you are sick. Anyone
passing you on the road who smiles at you or saves you from a near accident. Or
blesses you without even knowing you....
The bottom line is, NO ONE HAS
TO DO ANYTHING FOR YOU...and if they do it, regardless of their motives, we
have to thank them as messengers of God. The universe works relentlessly and
lovingly. We need to understand the significance and read the language minute
to minute.
Surekha
Kothari
surekhakothari.wordpress.com
Thursday 11 May 2017
Wednesday 10 May 2017
Attitude
A
beautiful story with a message. There was once a clever businessman who, while crossing a river, fell
in. Not knowing how to swim, he started shouting for help. A traveler who was
walking along the bridge thought he would help him. So, he bent down and
extended his hand, saying “give me your hand”.
The
drowning man said, "No, I won't give you my hand". The man who was
trying to save him understood that he has never developed a habit of giving.
So, he told him, "can you at least HOLD my hand?” the man said, "yes”,
and was pulled to safety.
If we
look at the attitude of both, we understand how important it is to give.
Surekha Kothari
surekhakothari.wordpress.com
Tuesday 9 May 2017
Sunday 7 May 2017
Source of energy
We
seldom nurture our inner child. Since childhood, we are trained at the
conscious mind level to share, to give, to do things for others. But never
taught that it is equally important to love our inner child. Some children are
also abused for their ways. These kids grow up to subdue or even kill their
inner child because the signals they have received very early in life is that this
inner child is non functional. That it is that part of the personality that is
not required.
But
this inner child is the core of love. A child is very loving and very
spontaneous. Imagine, if this source is turned off, how this child would
survive as an adult. On arid ground. Without water.
I don't think there is anything more
detrimental than a lack of self love and the inability to get or feel that love
from others. Love keeps the softness within us alive. Be sure that those who
have a hardened exterior need love and frequent hugs more than others. Because
they show a facade and suppress a lot. Just like those who love attention and a
lot of limelight are deeply insecure.
There
is no alternative but love, to love yourself, to care and have compassion for
yourself first and then for others because they are fashioned in a similar way
to you and have the same source of energy to draw from. And therefore, connected.
Surekha Kothari
surekhakothari.wordpress.com
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