Spiritual Pathways

P ersons with even a basic knowledge of the spiritual side of life realize that it is our thoughts that create our world including the places we live in. Human condition is diverse, varying from the most beautiful to the most miserable, indicating the diverse personalities and thoughts, choices and actions of humans. However, there are at least some good humans, if not the majority with beautiful souls that find that they are presently trapped in miserable or harsh surroundings and vice versa. This anomaly arises from the past of soul. Our present moments are made up by our past thoughts and actions. The past cannot be changed but the future is in our hands. It stands to reason that every wise human must do things to improve it if it can be done with reasonable and pleasant effort. It is a defeatist attitude to think that such a thing need not be done in old age. The human body has a limited life but the soul does not. It will go on to acquire other new bodies in new lives ...

The billionaire who learned the art of acquiring wealth is indeed smart. Far smarter are saints and mystics who learned the art of acquiring wisdom and bliss. The acquitions of the billionaire are snatched away after a few years by death but the mystics take theirs with them. Their treasures are stored in a place where dust, rust and death does not destroy.

We look at a lovely rose and say, look how beautiful it is. At other times we look at other parts of the world, individually focusing our attention on that part. All these parts of the universe,  some lovely, others ugly  are part of just one single entity, the created universe, as is our physical body, every part in it changing with time, some rapidly, others slowly. There is something beyond the created Universe; it is the consciousness of the Universe.  As parts of it look at created parts of itself, some of those parts develop attachment or aversion to those parts and seem to develop their own individual identity in this vast infinite ocean of consciousness. Developing a desire to make changes in the observed part, shorn of their infinite power that can make changes by mere will, these parts acquire a physical body. From this is born life, an individual soul, and an aperture through which a part of the universe looks at its other parts. But, alas! The ...

Earlier posts have mentioned the importance of jaap or repetitive recitation of a mantra based on holy words. The longest of mantras in Asia are the Chalisas, the Hanuman Chalisa being the most famous one, the briefest are a single word one of them being the divine name Ram. By itself or combined with other select words it creates a powerful mantra. During my travel to the interiors of Nainital  Himalayan distinct in summer of 2007 I picked up a particular melodious way to recite this mantra. It was around this time that strangers I encountered in my travels began to address me as Babaji or baoji, some wanting to accompany me and it was a frequent struggle of mine to dissauade them. I have recorded that jaap  now and it is available for any interested person online as in this youtube video. My personal experience with it is that reciting it thus with a quiet mind and sincere heart, its effects are magical. For me they drove away persons with evil intentions...