In your quiet moments of introspection are you often nagged by the feeling that your life seems to be an endless struggle for happiness, much like chasing a mirage?
Do you wish to be calm, cool and collected, with an inner peace at all times?
Do you wish to transform your life into a blissful success story?
Then go for this practical guide to everyday spirituality and empower yourself by contemplating and comprehending the basic truths of life, such as:
*Who are you?
*Why are you here?
*Why has human life been given to you?
*What is the true art of living?
*How do you unleash your latent spiritual qualities?
*How do you experience causeless love and ceaseless joy?
*How do you live powerfully and spiritually?
...and many more intriguing questions.
Living in spirituality has therapeutic value, as the latest medical research reveals. When sound in spirituality, you become less prone to emotional and physical disorders, since your inner system is fortified and better attuned to withstand the tensions of present-day living.
Make spiritual ideals a practical part of daily living for success, happiness and bliss to be your handmaidens forever.
About the author:
The author is a Professor in the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.
After securing a doctorate degree in Psychology from Delhi University, she began her career with NCERT, Delhi, as a researcher and later devoted herself to analysing the psychology of farmers, youth and women.
Apart from conducting research and extensive work in psychological issues, she teaches psychology and guides post-graduate students.
The author is also a columnist for the Hindustan Times since the past five years.
A prolific writer, she has contributed several features and articles in leading national newspapers and magazines.
Her sensitivity to human emotions inspired her to author What's Your Emotional IQ? and Unleash Your Hidden Potential, both published by Pustak Mahal. She has also written a novel and a book of poems in Urdu.
PROLOGUE:
In the wee hours of a freezing January, as I gazed out of the guesthouse window, a thick pall of mist hung over the blue-green hills of the sacred Vaishno Devi shrine. The snow-white shrine complex (Bhavan) seemed mystical amidst the floating clouds - almost like a magician's paradise straight out of a fairytale.
The haunting valleys and towering mountains dotted with whispering pine trees held an out-of-the-world mystic charm about them. The milky-white Bhavan would be visible one moment and suddenly disappear the next moment in the floating mist. The intriguing beauty of the view made me feel as though my very being was undergoing an electrifying rejuvenation.
Overwhelmed by the sanctity of the very air I breathed, I bowed my head in deep reverence and surrender to the Supreme Creator. The song of the chirping morning birds and the distant bells in the valley seemed like a divine greeting on that first day of the New Year... The cherished memory of those moments warms my heart even today.
In those magic moments, something within urged me to pen my divine experience and give free reign to my spiritual longings. I felt my very being experiencing a strange rejuvenation and empowerment. A compelling thought told me that the sooner I undertook this spiritual endeavour, the more tranquil would I feel. The longer I waited, the more would I be vulnerable to procrastination and, later, regret. So I earnestly decided to bring this venture of mine to you at the earliest.
The divine intricacies of our everyday life are amazingly inspiring indeed. They fill us with sheer gratefulness towards our Supreme Creator. Try and hear the symphony of His silence... In a million shades of His green universe, the blooming lilies, the smiling lotuses, the dancing butterflies, the whispering breezes, the cascading waterfalls, the chirping birds, the playful squirrels... The list is endless.
And suddenly, the realisation of a defining moment dawns upon you - inspiring you to delve deep into the subtle intricacies of life. Listen to that inner voice of yours to look beyond the immediate... You are here with a purpose. This life has not been given to you merely for the sake of making a livelihood but to endow it with the meaning it deserves. Listen to your inner voice, your inner call, for a greater vision of tomorrow, both for yourself and for the world around you. Take the road less travelled. Contemplate and introspect.
Once you do that, returning to the mundane world would seem impossible for you... not even the vast treasuries of this material kingdom would tempt you. For then, you shall have reached a state where nothing more is left to be known or felt...
-Dr Aparna Chattopadhyay
CONTENTS:
Who are you?
What is your true Self?
Why are you here?
What is life?
You are unique
Living in spirituality
How do you relate to God?
Do you live and long for God?
Is your mind calm and restful?
Do you wish to live in the Now?
The art of mindful living
Heal yourself and heal the world
Do you wish to get rid of your ego?
Do you culture your thoughts?
Do you aspire for peace and happiness?
'This too shall pass'
Don't quit
Do you lead a detached life?
Are you at peace with yourself ?
Do you perform daily activities in the right spirit?
At the day's end
Do you love God purely?
Are you centred outside your Self ?
Are you a Karma Yogi?
Are you childlike?
Did you knock at the door of God?
Do you know the art of true prayer?
Others
Do you wish to cross the worldly ocean?
Is there life beyond death?
Use the Eight Magic Words to transform your life
Your desires and your destiny
Do you wish to reap the Divine Harvest?
The promise of God
Do you see the Divine in everything?
His precious gifts to you
The power of autosuggestion
Do you trust yourself?
Love - the nectar of life
Giving
Are you aware of your focus in life?
Meditation and the Self within
Do you have faith in God?
Footprints
Seek God when still young
Are you compassionate and unattached?
Acceptance
Do you possess a balanced mind?
Would you opt for the road less travelled?
Can you take personal control of your life?
Desires
Spirituality at work
Do you keep your cup empty when praying?
The spiritual Guru
Why should you have a Guru?
Service to Mankind
Harmony in Nature
Can you cope with destructive criticism?
Is compassion a way of life with you?
Is your education really complete?
Do you suffer death anxiety?
The homecoming
If I can
EXCERPTS:
The art of mindful living
The Sun rises and celebrates,
The sky embraces and celebrates.
Winds blow and celebrate,
Rivers flow and celebrate.
Birds sing and celebrate,
Peacocks dance and celebrate.
Trees flower and celebrate,
Buds bloom and celebrate.
We smile and serve,
Meditate and celebrate.
-Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
You can make a spiritual practice of watching every thought, every action, every feeling. Each time your mind drifts away, try to bring it back. Invest time and energy in being mindful of each moment. Examine the contents of your mind without judgement or preference, thereby witnessing your action dispassionately.
Thus you can learn to celebrate the mundane by being in the moment. In this way, even ordinary chores that you have to perform shall no more appear ordinary to you.
When you observe your thoughts dispassionately, your negative emotions such as anger, gloom, depression, jealousy etc lose their very power and get diluted. Awareness of your negative emotions thus helps in dealing with them.
If you are able to recognise the moment when anger arises, you will be able to distinguish the part of your mind that is feeling the anger. This will divide your mind into two parts - one part will be feeling anger while the other will be trying to observe. Therefore, anger cannot dominate the entire mind. You are able to recognise that anger is harmful and maybe develop an antidote to it. View your anger objectively. Try to see the positive side of the anger-causing person or event.
Do you know the art of true prayer?
Prayer is a song, a poem, a dance of your heart.
-Osho
There is no experience that can equal the ecstasy of prayer. Prayer is joy. Live in the miracle of prayer. "Don't go to God as a beggar. Prayer is not necessarily asking for something. Prayer is gratefulness; a recognition of the huge tidal waves of love that God is showering on you every moment," says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
God is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. You don't have to necessarily go to a temple, a church or a mosque to pray; wherever you pray, God is there. Prayer is not going towards something, which is outside you, Prayer is becoming aware of God within you. It is going deep within.
Prayer is not a mechanical thing, a set routine. It has to rise spontaneously from within. It is not demanding something from God, but having the trust that He knows what is best for you and that whatever is best will happen. Having this confidence in yourself and in God, pray sincerely and earnestly from within the vicissitudes of your heart.
The prayer of the enlightened is the prayer that is full of love - for God, not for one's own desires to be fulfilled. In japa and meditation, when you repeat one word again and again, this repetition of sacred words has to be done in a state of total love for God. Before this stage, japa has no meaning. Love for God has to be total; the way one recalls and relives moments associated with one's loved one. The heart that yearns for God in prayer and wishes to join the primeval source from where one came (God) knows the art of true prayer.
When you sit in prayer, you have to shed a lot of what might be gross in you. Otherwise your words will ring hollow. You can pray or communicate with God without words but not without faith. "It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart," said Mahatma Gandhi.
Prayer is a great sustaining force. It helps us survive crises, tragedies, heartbreaks, sorrows and losses. It keeps hope alive. Psychiatric research reveals that prayer has therapeutic value, especially for mentally and emotionally disturbed persons. People who have faith in God and sincerely say their daily prayers are less prone to emotional disorders as their inner system gets better tuned and fortified to withstand the tensions of present-day living.
Explained Mahatma Gandhi, "Prayer has been my moral and physical salvation in many a trying situation. I have thrown myself in God's hands and from that moment on, a soothing peace flooded my soul and made everything bearable... Only intense prayer has been able to satisfy my hunger for God, and I believe that a soul can never pray enough.
Tennyson was right when he exclaimed, "More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of."
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