Self- Enlightenment –Chose Your Own Path

“Spirituality need not be attained by following the difficult path.. It can be attained by being your truest and purest divine self Always -- Kapil”

In today's modern world or “kalyuga”, where man has become more of a machine and stress is taking a toll on our daily lives, more and more people are searching for the truth of their existence in this world. In such a situation, we are now taking refuge and reviving the ancient philosophy of self-enlightenment or “nirvana”. However, in a blind quest to become enlightened, we often find ourselves following numerous methods and techniques under various 'gurus’ or ‘masters', yet, deep within, the emptiness still persists.

In my spiritual journey I have come across numerous methods and techniques (running into hundreds and thousands) which are being practiced all around the world, all of which promise the attainment of self -enlightenment and “nirvana”. The common man in his desperation of spiritual pursuit, tries one method after another, and often is left disillusioned at the end.

 We have heard many tales where one Master gets enlightened just by sitting under a tree and another one is enlightened by just listening to the sound of the splash made by a frog jumping into the pond. We encounter numerous such examples in our scriptures.

However, in today’s age it is observed that a spiritual guide often advocates his “technique” as the one bestowed by his Master who in turn has received it from God in the deepest state of meditation or directly from the Creator of all that is.  Surprisingly, in my limited knowledge, there is no single great Master who has proclaimed using a particular technique to attain his enlightenment.

 It is also told that these techniques have been passed on by the Master because he is carrying out God's wish to help humanity through him. However, God is beyond all techniques and methods and his love encompasses all and He does not require any medium to pass on his blessings to humanity.

In my initial days of my spiritual journey, I used to question God that why evil exists and why He cannot bring all goodness into the Earth and happiness to all individuals. However, the meaning and the scope of spirituality is vast. As far as our history goes, various forms of Gods and many spiritual masters have taken birth on this planet. Our scriptures show evil and negative forces prevailed at all times even before their birth, during their birth and after they are gone. None of them could eliminate the seeds of evil or negativity like hatred, anger, jealousy etc. According to me, whatever is present in this universe is spiritual because everything is God's creation.  One may argue that there is so much anger, hatred, jealousy etc. in this world. However for me, these negative feelings or emotions are also essential because then only can I understand the real meaning of love, kindness, generosity, happiness etc.  So everything is in perfection and So Are You..... You are a child of God.

 With time I understood life is is , nothing will change from outside, no one can bring enlightenment within me, I have to look within myself. If anyone asks me, I do not have any tool or any spiritual meter to tell if anyone has attained enlightenment. There is no external sign to say that he or she is enlightened as it happens to somebody within himself or herself. Is spirituality in today's world all about searching or gaining knowledge about the enlightened people or what they are doing or what they have done? The issue is not who has got enlightenment and who has not, the issue is "Where am I today” and it is only about me.

It is most important that first you begin the journey of your life by loving yourself before choosing any method to transform yourself.  I am nobody to judge about any method, I will only advice not to get caught in the stories of the storytellers. Choose your path by following your heart and mind because it is all about you. And on this path, one day you will realize that you are actually following your own path. Because everything is coming to you because of your own wish and desire.

 

Never Fall in Love, Always Rise in Love

Introduction

Though life is not possible without love in our lives, yet we find that love is missing from our lives due to our egos, fears and insecurities. However, when one loves unconditionally, the flowers of love will bloom in ours hearts forever and will never lose its fragrance and will shine even in the darkest nights like stars.

It has been observed by all of us; rather I would say that it is the story of most of us, that whenever we have fallen in love or loved someone very deeply, the relationship withers before it blooms and our hearts break.

In the beginning of every relationship, life becomes exciting and loveable like a bed of roses but with passage of time, the thorns of the same roses start pricking us. The colors of the rainbow begin to fade out of the same relationship and the real meaning of joy, happiness and bliss does not exist in reality. Sometimes relationships turn so nasty that beautiful emotions get converted into the poison of anger, hatred towards the same person. We suffer for months and years to come out of the pain. 

There are also some very dry, faded relationships without any sweetness which we keep maintaining with all possible compromises because with time they become our needs and our security system and moreover they have the approval of our social setup. 

In either case, the question remains why we are deprived of the fulfilling colors of love. We find ourselves asking “Don’t I deserve love or does love not exist???” 

We keep promising ourselves never to get into the same mess again. There are some of us who accept and pretend that there is no need for love in their lives. Yet there are others who repeatedly keep searching for their true love over and over again. The basic truth remains that we cannot live without love.

Love is the most important element behind creation of life and also the force which sustains life. Surprisingly, love is missing from our lives; so how can we feel complete. No life or living being can exist without the power of love. Mahatma Gandhi had acknowledged the essence of love when he said, “Where there is love, there is life.” Love is the natural state of our being. And when this basic ingredient is missing from our lives, life becomes more of a purpose which we have to live, rather than celebrate.

We find that despite our deepest desire to find our soul mate/ twin soul/twin flame and all such beliefs and convictions created by our minds; such kind of love eludes us. So what has gone wrong???

Let’s sit back and understand the entire process once again of what has happened to all of us. We meet a person, we start interacting with that person and if the interactions are interesting and joyful, we look forward to seeing this person again and again. The relationship then moves on to the next level to deeper depths, depending upon the intensity of the joyful interactions.

But what makes our interactions interesting? It is our common beliefs, similar interests, understanding, mutual appreciation and acceptance which lead to a joyful experience. However, if we look beyond the surface, we would find that it is all about egos of our physical, mental and emotional beings which crave for acceptance by the other person, that provide us the great joy and happiness. But do we call this as love?

Many people approach me in desperation and ask me “Kapil, When will I meet my soul mate?” “Is there any truth in the twin flame / twin soul concepts?”  In my view, these people are actually waiting for their soul mates and twin flames to come to them and provide them everything all that they want and not because they want to give something to the other person. Therefore, it is seen that we love like beggars and businessmen because we are waiting to get something or do a barter system with our partners.  Some may call it as mutual care, but I see it as conditions. 

When you are in love with somebody you say you have fallen in love but you should always rise in love, and not fall in love. When the love becomes conditional, you fall however when it is unconditional, you rise.

The differences in a relationship start arising when either of the individual stop receiving complete acceptance from his / her partner or when they want their partners to change according to the way he/she thinks is right. What they fail to recognize is that every living being is unique and hence differences between two people are bound to exist. We go wrong at the first step as we begin a relationship on the basis of our similarities with the other person such as the way we think, the way we see or do things and the way we accept or react to things. However, as we go deeper into a relationship, we come to know about the other person, the differences start emerging, cracks appear and the sweetness of the relationship begins to erase.

It is surprising that we all talk about ideal love; we search and look forward for it, but when the time comes to give the same love, we never deliver or simply we do not have it. So why it so difficult for us to understand  one simple thing that if we cannot render that pure love to someone or if it does not exists within us, then how can it be present in someone else or how can we expect someone to grant us the same love.

My dear friends, the one thing which comes out clearly is that the love which we understand is only about our acceptance, fulfilling our egos and insecurities. If this is the kind of love you are looking for, then in my little knowledge, I would say, you will never get it, in any of your life times. Even if you think that you can receive this kind of love, the element of love is not visible to me in this scenario. It will be a selfish love from the person with hidden motives to be fulfilled from you and it will last till motives lasts.

WHY CAN’T YOU ACCEPT YOUR SELF? Why do you need others to tell you that you are loveable? Why can’t you love and respect your own self? However, once you accept yourself without judging your realities as a physical, emotional and spiritual being, then you don’t need anyone to approve you. Don’t forget that you are the child of God. The more understanding you develop about yourself, the feelings of incompleteness, fears and insecurities will slowly get removed. The negative, false shells which we have created about ourselves will break and the pure divine love will then descend upon you. The meaning of love will be completely changed for you. Now it will not be about your acceptance and wanting things from others but about giving others.

Once you rise in love, it means when you love someone unconditionally, the flowers of love will bloom in your heart forever because this will be the true love, which will never lose its fragrance and will shine even in  the darkest nights like stars. Nobody can hurt you, nobody can make you feel inferior because you know your true being and all you have is pure love. Now they will need you, they will be all around you. The fountains of love will flow from your heart for everyone.  You and your life (love) will completely immerse in the fragrance of divine love. Now love will be a celebration in the manner the poet Rumi puts it ……

“And still, after all this time, the Sun has never said to the Earth,

“You owe me.”

Look what happens with love like that.

It lights up the sky.”

Too Scared To Live

Fear can be conquered by courage that is derived from unconditional love

Have you ever wondered how we human beings are constantly trapped in the shadows of fear and stress? We often find ourselves using statements such as “I want freedom, peace, happiness; I want to enjoy my life.” But how many of us know the real meaning of freedom, peace and happiness? Fear can be visible or hidden, but it surfaces from time to time, in all aspects of our lives. It may spring up in many forms — fear in wanting something to happen (or not), fear of the unknown, fear of death, and so on. Whatever our fears might be, deep down we are aware that all our actions are directed only to seek joy and empower ourselves to experience our lives to the fullest. However, in spite of our best efforts to lead a fulfilling and joy full life, that joy or happiness evades us. So what has gone wrong?

Numerous people want to pursue living a positive and happy life but land up in some kind of mess. Then they start questioning their abilities, such as why they have so many fears, inhibitions and so on. Then there are people who are in search of their life’s purpose. Such people often end up being the so-called healers of the world because they believe there is some fallacy in the world, and something bad is going to happen to all living beings. However, when I look into their lives, I see nothing except darkness and their unwillingness to accept their life as it is.

I have also met people who are constantly stressed and live in fear because they want to be something after this life. They don’t want to live in the here and now, but are always in an illusion of some fascinating and interesting life they dream they will get after death. They keep running from pillar to post to find out how to reach “there”.

In all the above cases, people fear living in the now and complain that life is not happening to them. They are not living with full awareness of the fact that life is happening in this moment and in the fullest.

Let us look at our lives. On analysing, we will find that our lives are driven by the power of greed, attachments, false egos, selfish love and so on. Each of these emotions has one constant element — fear. This fear dissolves within us completely. For instance, if you eat an apple, after sometime the apple becomes you. In a similar manner, this fear we are eating all the time also transforms into anger, ego, hatred, jealousy, sadness and other negative emotions, and affects our physical, mental and emotional being.

So why do we live such a life? That is because we are not practical about the reality of existence. Most of us are trying to build something, rather everything, on that which is happening in the moment and is unstable. Can you catch sunlight in your fist and keep it with yourself? The light is there to celebrate but most of us are busy in collecting it in boxes, trunks, giving it shapes, names and so on. But when the sun of our life goes to sleep, all the boxes and trunks of relationships, status, egos are empty.

Courage, on the other hand, is embedded in unconditional giving. Love is unconditional. But it is not the love we know or see around us. The love we are talking about here is unconditional, one which goes beyond limitations and boundaries. The actual meaning of love is to give unconditionally. Nature is the best example of what comprises unconditional love, which gives us in plenty without any selfish motive or expectation. The sun rises every day without fail and provides us life. Does it have any motive? Mother earth keeps moving around its axis and revolving around the sun to preserve the life. What motive does she have?

If we observe the cycle of existence closely, the creation of living beings happens and is sustainable due to the force of love. Therefore, in many places and cultures people understand love as God. To become one with this idea of love, start living your life with the truest awareness of life, which is beyond your physical aspects. Always remember: Fear can be conquered by courage that is derived from unconditional love.

Start taking small steps each day by doing any small act of kindness with unconditional love for someone who is in need. These little acts have the potential to change your life. The energy of these good deeds of kindness and unconditional love will transform you into a higher spiritual being. Mother Teresa is the greatest example of our times who dedicated her entire life to kindness and unconditional love. As she said, “It’s not how much we give. but how much love we put into giving.”

This article has been published in Democratic World, September, 2015

Ask for Divine Help - How to Connect with Angels

Angels are divine beings who surround us. In Greek, the word “angel” means “messenger of God”, who delivers message from God.  Each one of us, regardless of any religion or any spiritual path we follow, has guardian angels who support us and guide us in our life path. There are many kinds of angels who assist us from time to time, but every individual has at least two Guardian Angels assigned to them solely and are there with them throughout the life.

So, when we know that there are angels who are there as our best friends, wouldn’t be a good idea to connect with them so that we can receive and interpret their guidance in a better way. Your guardian angel is near you, waiting for every opportunity to connect with you. In order to have a more personal relationship with your guardian angels or any other angel, you can use any of these methods:

1.       Ask for Help: In order to receive guidance from the angels, you must talk with them in a direct fashion as though you are talking to your friend. You talk of your deepest desires. You can write down your desires, talk with them, sing a song, write down affirmations etc. You can ask in any form, which ever you are comfortable with. You have to just ask.

2.       Surrender to the Angels: Once you have talked about your problems or shared your deepest desires with the angels, surrender to the angels. Have trust in them and be assured that the angels will guide you from time to time.

3.       Associate with the Angels: The angels will communicate with you by sending signals or leave behind signs. There are numerous ways in which the angels communicate. It might come through ideas, inspirations, an urge to do something etc. They might leave behind signs like feathers, coins, a sweet fragrance around you, feeling of well being as their presence around you.

4.       Gratitude: Be grateful to the angels and for life in general. Give thanks for the gifts which you are about to receive.

You can strengthen your relationship with the angels by reaching out to them and connecting with them. Angels are always there with you, even though you are not aware. Start living in awareness and allow yourself to receive the gifts that you desire.

Angels Blessings!!!