Here for writing

It has taken me the longest to write about this last Niyama which is also the final and ultimate step of the yama niyama series. For everything else -right from satya to svadyaya, it takes a little bit of will, a little mindfulness, some intellectual discrimination and a lot of persistence. However, for Ishwara Pranidana, all it takes is complete surrender of the self, which means completely letting go of one's ego. Ego: In vedantic terms, ego is the identification of the Self with the body, mind and intellect, whereby we become this small and often petty "individual", whereas our true nature is that of infinite existence conscious bliss. In other words, anything that we say after "I am" is an expression of the ego. This ego is the glue that binds the self or the soul to this body, mind and intelligence (BMI). Because of this, comes the feeling of me and mine. because of this non apprehension of our true nature comes all the related pain and...

It is frustrating to look around and see how much damage we are doing consciously to our environment. Now, more than ever, we are at a tipping point where unless we start cleaning up our act, there may not be a planet to give to our future generations. To even contemplate the current scenario is very depressing. Even more depressing is when we think we can't do anything about it. We have been brought up with the thought that an individual has no power and his act alone cannot bring about any change in the society. Well, if that is the case, the society is nothing but a collection of individuals. It is not like as if the society is an animal of its own with head and hands and legs. It is us, every one of us, who create the fabric called society.  Further, if we live under the illusion that as an individual or as a family, we are not contributing to environmental deterioration, well, we only have to take a look into our garbage bins to understand otherwise. Just look a...

The last post ended with questions. "Who's fault is it that this world now has so many corporate zombies? People who hate their job and live weekend to weekend because they have a family to feed, emis to pay, things to buy and places to go? Where lies the solution for people who cannot afford to stop dead in their tracks and rechart the course of their life?" Well, I don't have an answer that may be applicable to all, as again, one size does not fit all. But there are some indicators, which I hope may help in the thought process of how to find lasting peace and happiness, especially if you are stuck to a job you don't like - like how I was a year back. 1. Do a pros and cons analysis Quitting a job may not be an answer for everyone . To see if this is for you, make a list of things that you hate in your job and a list of things that you are able to do because o your job. For example, for me, the biggest thing that I was able to do because of my job ...

It has been exactly a year since I quit my corporate job. And first things first -that does not make me a quitter. All through my 28 years of life, I have been made to believe that life follows a single course and as if to reinforce this, everyone around me was taking the same course. School, under graduation, then a post graduation or a job, buy a house / car, get married, have kids, work, work, work, then go on vacations now and then, grow old and then die. The life in between is peppered with all sorts of emotions and dramas and love and hate and gossip and expectations and gratifications and disappointments and whatnots. Well, I also embarked on the same course -school, under graduation in engineering, because only an engineering degree has job value and no one who does a BA Lit, or BA History or Journalism gets a well paying job, then a post graduation because I am not an engineer material and I wanted to escape working in an IT firm, got a job offer in a MNC bank, got m...

Svadhyaya means "self- study" and also "study of the self". Self study gently leads us to study of the self. Well, why is this self study and study of the self is needed. Even before that what it is that we must study? As mentioned here already about the purpose of yoga, to know what it is that we are seeking, we need some pointers and directions. These indications indicate the level of consciousness - the state of mindlessness -when the individual ego merges with the supreme consciousness. But even before our mind aspires for this lofty goal of God consciousness, it needs to be intellectually convinced about this pursuit. Existential questions like why am I here? What is the purpose of life? Why are we born? Why is this world as it is? Why is there suffering? What gives lasting happiness? What is the point of running behind power / money / things /experiences? Is there God? If so, why did he create me? Why is the God unfair? If he truly omnipotent,...

For the longest time, I was under the impression that "Tapas" means standing on a single leg in the tree pose in front of a roaring pyre, repeating a mantra for years together so that the presiding deity of the mantra appears in front of you and grants you all the boons that you want. Blame it all on the Ramayana and Mahabarata serial played out in the television. I even figured out what boon to ask -I will ask for a boon where everything that I wish for happens. And I even had an inbuilt safety mechanism to that boon -lest I think of something unintentionally and that comes true, causing chaos and sorrow. So, I thought that I will ask God to give me a boon where if I say a particular mantra and whish for something three times, only that should come true. Well, to be honest, this fantasy has played out in my mind even as recently as just a few years back. But now, when I look at this niyama, I see that Tapas is not a special ritual, but that which should be practice...

The second of the five niyamas or observances is santosha, which means contentment. Before I reflect on this, let me share a small incident that happened when I was at Chinmaya Voboothi, Kolwan this summer. We were sitting at Guruji's (Swami Tejomayananda's) kutiya after breakfast. Devotees and visitors kept coming to offer their pranams to Guruji. There was this young lady who asked Guruji, "how to be happy in life?" Guruji asked her, "aren't you happy?" and she replied saying that she was frustrated with her work. For the past three years, she has been performing well and has been putting in her best efforts, but her appraisal was not favourable. She felt bad that inspite of her hard work and dedication for three years, she was not promoted. Guruji jokingly said, "For three years you didn't get promotion na, don't worry this time you will get." and fell silent. Obviously the lady wanted something more and we were all...