April 26, 2014

Methods to manage Emotions

Methods to manage emotions.  Difference between emotions and feelings.  How spirituality can help in management of emotions.  Kindly follow the link below to find the answer in a Study conducted for the purpose.





Vandana Ritik Mulchandani
Noida

Methods to Overcome Personal Crisis

A Strategic Spiritual Approach to overcome any kind of personal challenge, especially loss of a loved one.  You may follow the link below to my Dissertation submitted for award of degree in Master of Science (Value Education & Spirituality), 2011-12

April 18, 2014

Laws of Karma

Dada Bhagwan has explained the science behind the law of Karma which I found to be very simple and easy to understand. I am making an effort to revise the same here under.  When we use the word Science, it means it follows certain rules and regulations.  It is in our interest that we understand the rules of karma so that we are more cautious and can regulate ourselves for a better life ahead. This is how we create our destiny.  

Our ancient scriptures tell us that life becomes easy with renunciation. This renunciation is not renunciation of worldly possessions, relations or enjoyments but this renunciation is of EGO. The sense of My-ness which creates inner instability. Ego is that subtle ‘feeling’ that makes me think that ‘I’ (the physical body with a given name) is doing this. For instance, ‘I have done very well in life and am holding the top most position in my office’ or ‘I have always been cheated in life and my life is full of sorrow’. The moment we take credit or discredit for something in our life we are said to have created karma. This is because when we make these kind of statements internally we are feeling pride or low. These feelings have been majorly categorized into four – Desire, Anger, Greed, Attachment. During our worldly interactions these feelings are always behind our thoughts and statements and subsequent actions. This binds karma. Once bound, we have to pay back. Good for good, Bad for bad. Nature of law is such that both these have to be paid back separately. Its not a case of bad karmas cancelled against good karmas. Both are to be settled separately. 

If whole life you have been good than you have to come back(REBIRTH) to enjoy the fruits of these good deeds in next life time. While enjoying this fruit in form of a better life, if you do something bad, you again come back. Because as human being whatever we do, we do love to take credit for the same. It is always ‘I did this’, I did not do that, I settled their fight etc etc. The burden of this ‘I’ with the intention of taking credit is very heavy and it never leaves us life after life. And why is it so????? Because we are using ‘I’ where it doesnot belong. The trick is to use this ‘I’ and be aware simultaneously that here ‘I’ is not my name or my body but the real me i.e, the soul that is ruling my body. If this awareness is present than no karma is bound. In every lifetime, whether we want it or not, if we are not in awareness we bind karma – good as well as bad and then we come back to enjoy its fruit and while enjoying this fruit bind new karma and the cycle goes on. 

Saints have explained it very well that there is great difference between 'I' and 'My'. It is I – the soul which is the inner world whereas My means attachment with the external world including my body and sense organs and everything perceived and understood there of. For example we say, ‘my dress’ and not 'I, the dress", my pain not I the pain. Here dress and pain are different from I. Dress and pain are separate from my true self. It is the EGO, that experiences the pain or enjoys the pleasure of wearing a good dress on the body and soul is merely the witness. We have to be aware of this state of being a witness – look at the world around us from the soul’s point of view and not get entangled. Our body/Ego is the instrument (the nimit). The Planner and the Do-er is the Supreme Power(the 'I' within) - the life force that permeates each and every atom in the Universe -whether manifest or unmanifest. The moment we understand this difference, things become easy. 

Therefore always live in a state of awareness that I am a Soul with my beautiful innate qualities. However, I have taken this body garment to play out a role assigned to me by the Supreme Power(that is giving life and power to the soul) on the stage of earthly drama so that I pay off the karmas created by me in previous lives thinking of myself as Ego/body garment I was wearing in that life time. 

All the karmas are result of thoughts occurring inside our mind – those thoughts on which we lingered for longer duration and developed ‘aasakti’(attachment). Therefore it automatically follows that if I want to breakfree of this karma created cycle, I have to change internally and simply watch what is happening inside me and try changing feeling of 'attachment' to that of 'detachment'. Assimilation of knowledge in this way is the key to attaining liberation. Wise men say this is best we can do, understand this knowledge and than with its ‘light’ continuously contemplate on what we learnt. Try to observe own actions in day to day life from a position of detachment. 

Feel like God and watch what your ego( wrongly placed I-ness) is making you do. So are the actions of others we meet everyday. All are working at the wrong level of I-ness. Therefore, all are innocent because none knows what account they are creating. When an actor performs his part on the stage, he is supposed to play his role well and yet retain his original identity. He is not supposed to get emotionally involved with the role of the character he is playing. He won’t be able to have a normal personal life otherwise. Same with us, we cannot get attached to the other characters in the play. If we do, then our act is spoiled and we come back once again to perfect our act – with same souls who also made the similar mistake and need to pay back or with different souls who have similar karmas to settle. 

Souls of my scene have almost same vibrations as me and in my day to day life I meet so many such souls. With some I am given such a relation that I cannot get rid of it till I pay back my previous debt. Once that is done, either of us is removed from that scene by play of situations. We do have such ‘sticky’ relations in life with whom we do have large karma to settle. Some of these bring pleasure and some pain. All high level souls have given importance to act of forgiveness for this reason. And this makes perfect sense because if we remain attached to negative people around us, they will continue to appear in our subsequent lives. So forgive your offenders as an act of favour to your own self. Needless to say that forgiving SELF too is important.  

We all are various nimits (instruments) in grand scheme of the Universe - like different shaped and sized petals that make a flower complete and beautiful.

Vandana Ritik
Noida