How to listen to our Inner Voice?

So many times we are faced with such situations where we cannot decide what we should do. We call up our friends, relatives, colleagues to find solution for us. We do not realize that we are the best judge of every event or problem in our life. No one knows me better than myself. My inner-self (which we also call as Higher Self is the Charioteer of my body) knows so much more than my conscious mind. My body is not just flesh and bones. It is much more. Every human on earth has four dimensions - Body, Mind, Emotions and the divine energy called Soul. Ideally, a Soul has to be in control of the first three. But in the modern busy world it is other way round. The result is imbalance all around us. None seems to be listening to the his/her own Soul. Our Soul has to be in the driver’s seat of our life but we have dumped it in some rear corner and have forgotten all about it.

Our soul is always in communication with us. It is always telling us what we should do for our own good. This voice is nothing else but voice of our own inner consciousness / Soul which is connected with the Universal Power/ Higher Spirit / God/ Infinity. God is not some separate individual sitting high above beyond solar system or galaxies. God is present around us in seen as well as unseen world.

God/ Sadguru / Jesus/ Saibaba (whatever name we use to refer to the Supreme Power) is operating from within us through our Soul. When we are in tune with our Soul, we can listen to the voice of this Supreme Divine Power within us. This voice is voice of truth. If we listen to it and follow its command we can experience eternal peace and joy.

Our soul is always talking to us, guiding us and telling us what we should be doing in given situation. Usually this voice is the first guidance we instantly notice whenever we are to take some important decision in life. It is our soul which first oversees our problem even before its onset. It puts thought in our mind to take necessary preventive action. We feel gentle whisper of this voice in our heart. This whisper tells us what we should do in the given circumstances. We often refer to it as our gut feeling. So many times we follow our gut feeling even though it may not seem right to us at that time but somehow we are drawn to do things which we never meant to do if we were using our mind. This is called following our heart which is always speaking language of love.

If we do not listen to this voice instantly, our mind takes over and starts analyzing the situation and offers us other attractive and easy alternatives. Thus we are prompted to do things which others are normally doing in given circumstances even when our heart knows it is not right thing to do. Listening to and following the command of our own Inner Voice means carrying out the Will of the God in the interest of all.

Therefore, some time of the day, we have to shut off the world and sit in silence to listen to this inner guidance. Some call it concentration, some call it meditation. But it is a fact that this stillness speaks. Most of us are afraid of sitting in silence because we are so terrified and just do not have courage to face ourselves.

This voice of truth is so soft and subtle that unless we are fine tuned to listen to it, our physical mind using its analytical faculties makes it completely inaudible and avoidable. When we work with decisions taken by our mind, our life goes topsy turvy and we wonder where we went wrong. We can always sense a feeling of uneasiness and emptiness whenever we have acted as per directions of our Mind and not Heart. Why??

Answer is - We ignored to listen and follow the voice of our inner consciousness. Our mind, body, and emotions are controlling our life. Our pure Soul is not on the seat of driver.

We have to understand that If Lord Krishna is the charioteer than no Arjuna of this world can ever go wrong.

Vandana Ritik
New Delhi

How to learn from problems in life ????

Have you come across that point in life when things are not moving the way you want despite your best effort? Are you feeling cornered? You get along well with so many relations and people around you excepting a few whom you like to avoid. Sometimes, its a Catch-22 situation because you cannot avoid this person because he /she is a close relative or holds an influential position in your life e.g. boss , politician etc. How to move on in such a situation? How to get along with such relatives?

It is said that nobody crosses our path in this life without any spiritual connection or reason. All people that we meet, all situations that we come across in life are in accordance with laws of nature which are perfect, impartial and flawless. All obstacles and hurdles we face in our life are for our growth. It is a fact that biggest growth in our personality takes place when we cross over challenges of our life. When we are through those tense situations when we were feeling all helpless, we realize how much we have grown in our wisdom, character and personality. Knowledge cannot be learnt through book reading. Knowledge is best imbibed through experiencing what we have heard and read. A diamond gets its brilliance after being crushed, rubbed and polished. Prior to this, it was just an ordinary luster less stone. Similar is human being.

All the famous people around us have been through challenges. Spirituality goes beyond fame. In spiritual terms a successful person is not who is famous. A successful person is the one who has never given up. A true successful person is the one who has looked at hurdles in life as a passage and not as an obstacle. A positive person will not change route when faced with difficult situations. A wise person will not run away from a relative, friend or boss etc with whom he is not being able to get along with well. How does he manage this? It is here that spiritual wisdom helps. And how?

Steps towards learning our lesson - First step is acceptance and acknowledgement of the problem, situation or person.

Next step is to understand that the given obstacle will not change - I will have to change.

Next step is to identify which of my inner belief system is being disturbed. What aspect/ fear of my personality this person/hurdle is hitting at? Now I have to try to change my perception and look at the problem in an altogether different way. Example: instead of saying that my husband/wife is very difficult, we can say my husband/wife is very special. The moment I replace ‘difficult’ with ‘special’, I start to feel better mentally, emotionally and physically.

Next step would be to look at problem not as an obstacle but as a ‘way’ to personal and spiritual growth. I have to understand that this situation or this person has come into my life to teach me something which I lack. Truly, our so called enemies are our true spiritual friends. They constantly remind us of our wrong traits and fears which we have to get rid of. If a person ridicules me in front of others and I feel insulted it means I have very low opinion about myself. I have to work on increasing my self worth in my own eyes if I do not want this to happen again. Respect cannot be asked for, it is commanded by our own behaviour. Learn to respect yourself before anyone else.

Example : If person you are helping is not returning your help in your time of need again and again. It means that same is the problem within your personality. If you look inwards honestly you will realise that you also have the same tendency of not helping the people who help you the way they want. Change yourself inwardly and problem will be resolved automatically. Either that person will start to help or someone else will come to help you in his place.

Often we feel threatened by a situation or a person because it reminds us of our own similar weakness or fears which we do not want to acknowledge leave alone admit it. Universe knows our internal unresolved issues and time and again brings us face to face with our own reality until we learn our lesson and move on. If I am not getting alongwith my boss, it means I have inner fears regarding use of power which I have to let go. We get a mirror image of our own self in the person we believe we hate. Our normal reaction is to blame such person or situation as something coming in way of my joy, happiness, success and peace. So we either give up, change our path or avoid the person or situation altogether without realizing that real problem is not outside but inside us. This is the time to go inside us and find out which of my trait, character, habit or belief is being threatened. What is this person hitting out at? What is causing me hurt? Once it is identified, it is time to let go of it.

We have to understand that nobody has power to hurt us. It is us who are choosing to feel hurt ignoring the reality. It is us who are attracting such situations/ persons because we have to work on our own similar fears. Let them go away from life and Grow in your spirit.

The spiritual person knows his own true nature i.e, soul - which is light, love and peace -rest is all illusion. Wisdom means knowing that I am powerful and eternal soul – kid of the God and So are others. All of us are on different levels of understanding and have to learn different lessons with the help of others around us.

A spiritual person will not blame other person or the outside world but will remain steadfast and smiling even in tough situation because he knows he has to work on himself. Once that problem is over he has learnt his lesson and this situation will never repeat itself again.

Vandana Ritik
New Delhi

Path of Four Yoga and views of Shirdi Saibaba

Yoga means ‘to join’. The ultimate union of our soul with the God is called Yoga. We all feel pain and a feeling of deep inner loneliness because we have separated from our Source. All Yoga aim at re-establishing our contact with our Source – the SELF. The union cannot be achieved as long as we are caught in the matrix of life and death due to our Karma. Union with the God/ Brahma / Supreme power implies that the soul has broken free of the cycle of birth and death. The soul will not have to take birth after birth to work out its karma. We call it by name of Nirvana/ Moksha/ Salvation. Every soul has to reach this level of perfection. It is said that at this stage soul gets enlightened and can recall all its past, present and future. The soul can create anything it wants. The soul becomes Spirit. It attains the state of Existence-Knowledge-Bliss.

Some souls reach this state fast in few births only and some take hundreds of births and still wonder what’s the aim of getting human birth. Shirdi SaiBaba often said that we get human body as a result of our good karma so that we can work out for our own salvation/ moksha/ nirvana. Every human being has to take steps towards self realization and ultimately God realization – i.e., first to learn that he is soul and not body. Ultimately realize and let his soul merge with the Divine Holy Spirit (GOD).

We can come across someone (Guru / Guide) who will remind us of the purpose of taking human birth. However, the one, who has already achieved self realization & God realization and strives to help others to achieve the same is known as Sadguru (ascendant master or Perfect Master). Shirdi SaiBaba is one such Sadguru. He may not be physically visible to us anymore but his holy spirit is still guiding and helping many of his devotees towards self realization and God realization.

As per Hindu scriptures, there are mainly four routes to reach this ultimate destination – Karma Yoga (Work), Jnana Yoga(Knowledge), Raja Yoga (Power) and Bhakti Yoga(Devotion). Though during his lifetime, Shirdi Saibaba has thrown light on all forms of Yoga. As per ancient Hindu scriptures, consistent practice of either Love, Work, Knowledge or Psychic control help us achieve Yoga. These four routes that take us our ultimate destination called Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga and Raja Yoga respectively. In the final stages all these routes overlap each other and become same. SaiBaba was Yogasampanna (full of Yoga). He has given practical demonstration of all these Yogas by his conduct, action and preachings during his physical lifetime on earth.

Shirdi Saibaba has also given discourses on all these Yoga practices to his devotees as per their needs and qualifications. To be able to learn and master either of these Yogas to reach our final destination needs grace of God which further depends on qualification of the receiver. A student of class fourth cannot be given knowledge of class eighth. Baba would often say that people keep asking him for worldly comforts but do not ask HIM to give them what HE wanted them to give out of his full treasury.


Bhakti Yoga – This is path of pure extreme love and single minded devotion. Devotee (Bhakta) places his trust in his ascendant master and loves him unconditionally thinking him to be Brahma/ Universe. The Master looks to the qualifications and preparedness of the seeker, works on the mind, thoughts and feelings of the devotee and gently but surely guides him towards path of self realization.

Saibaba had placed such unconditional faith in his Guru and waited patiently for his blessings. He advised his devotees to do the same. Saibaba maintained that though Bhakti Yoga (Yoga of Love) is difficult but if one has a guide than this route becomes the most easiest path to follow. The only condition is that for treading this path the devotee has to surrender himself completely (sarvasva sharanagati) to his deity with firm belief that his perfect master will take him safely across the worldly ocean existence. SaiBaba often asked people to offer HIM two pice of Shradha and Saburi, if devotee wanted HIM to become their guide. Bookish knowledge is for intellectual learning. For spiritual learning a capable Sadguru is needed who is pure love incarnate, doesnot care for monetary benefit and is himself self realized. Shirdi SaiBaba was all this and more.

A Bhakti Yogi has to surrender himself to his Sadguru – his personal God. SaiBaba once told a devotee (who was following some other Guru) to hold on to his own ‘bolster’ and not leave his Guru. Baba advocated that we should have faith in our Sadguru, we should assimilate his teachings and follow them with patience without any doubt. So many times SaiBaba appeared as Ram, Krishana, Vithala etc to his devotees to confirm their faiths in their respective personal Gods. He sent Shama to Vani to fulfil his mother’s vow made to their family’s personal God.


Karma Yoga – A karma yogi has to perform all his activities with disinterest and offer them to God. A karma yogi is detached and does not yearn for worldly desires like wealth, progeny and fame. A karma yogi lives to serve the world. Shirdi SaiBaba gave a practical demonstration of being a perfect Karma Yogi during his lifetime. He had no family, desires or wants. He had pure love for humanity. He kept ‘Dhuni’ burning day & night. Every day he would go out for bhiksha (mendicancy) round(s). He did not store money. He did not care for expensive gifts offered to him by his devotees. He was dispassion incarnate and had no attachment with any thing of this world. He only cared for the welfare of his devotees in every possible way he could. So many times he took over his devotees’ pain /sufferings on to him for giving them relief. Many of his devotees got cured by his blessings.

Saibaba always looked after the welfare of his devotees. Rich and poor all were treated similarly and once they surrendered themselves to Baba, their problems became Baba’s problems. SaiBaba took human form for the sake of his devotees, to serve mankind, to sort out wide differences between Hindus and Muslims at that time.

The famous snake and frog story rendered by Baba is a perfect example of how karma performed with attached brings our downfall. Baba would often say we get what is ours and we lose what doesnot belong to us. Our karma determines what we deserve.
Saibaba advised us to practice self restraint, be loving, truthful, unselfish, develop good character, resist evil thoughts.

Jnana Yoga – A rich gentleman had visited Baba to get brahma gyana(secrets of universe). Baba gave him an extensive intellectual insight into Brahma and explained how and why it is difficult to understand this knowledge. So many things are to be surrendered for gaining knowledge of Brahma. This jnana can only be given to those who have attained certain qualifications to receive the same. Further it requires the grace of Guru/ God without which nothing can be made out the theory. Jnana Yogi has a very highly developed ‘vivek’ and can easily distinguish between Real and Unreal – Maya/ Illusion. Baba has explained about working of Maya to his devotees. Baba would often say that God pervades everything. Only God is real rest is illusion. Life would be easy if we can understand this. Baba advised his devotees to watch the show of their life as a bystander and detach themselves so that they do not feel pain. Baba’s most famous phrase ‘Sabka Malik Ek’ is symbolic of a Yogi who has realized universality of religion. A jnani knows that at the highest levels of all religions - all is one. Baba wanted the whole humanity to understand this.

Raja Yoga – This Yoga requires practice of psychic control, control of inner unseen world. Visualisation of God /Universe within through meditation etc. Sai Baba is ‘antaryami’ Baba had full knowledge of inner and outer world of his devotees. He could read devotees inner most thoughts and desires. He could manifest himself at places other than Shirdi. He identified himself as one with other saints and even proved it to so many of his devotes through many such manifestations. He could control fire, rain and other natural phenomenon. Raja Yogi is required to do some physical yogic exercises to keep body fit and Saibaba excelled at such practices like Khanda Yoga and Dhauti. Like a Raja Yogi he had control over his food habits. His tongue knew no taste. He disapproved of fasting preached moderation in eating. Baba’s teaching regarding how he met his Guru who helped him in introvert his outgoing tendencies and making him feel bliss supreme is a perfect Raja Yoga practice. A Raja Yogi can control natural elements like Baba could control the raging fire or stop the storm. Baba knew deepest inner thoughts of all and often said that wherever his devotee may be, HE is always with him and knows every action and thought of his devotee. Though he would be seen mixing with all his visitors, he remained in state of ‘samadhi’ internally.


From all above it is clear that non-attachment is basis of all Yogas. Destination of all the Yogas is same –union with God. So at one point all these Yoga practices start overlapping each other. Shirdi SaiBaba was master of all these Yogas- A perfect living example – of how to put such divine knowledge to practice. He said he was there to help and guide but people are more interested in worldly desires. So many times he would fulfil an earnest devotees worldly desires first to bring him on the path of Yoga later.

Like Hemadpant says it is very difficult to comprehend life of great Sadgurus like Saibaba. We can just imagine their greatness using our limited intellectual bookish learning. One has to practice and experience such yogic practices but that can be possible if we come across someone who has himself united with his SELF. We are lucky, we found our Sadguru in Shirdi Saibaba. I pray to HIM to work on me internally and change and direct my thoughts in the right, positive direction. Saibaba help me choose my thoughts from the highest point of love.

Vandana Ritik

Heritage of Shirdi Sai
New Delhi