Krsna's Teachings

The off now and on later romance of life is very unnerving as it is mostly off!  Going through your troughs and crests in life, the boat moves on. Yet there is nothing forward to look to.  Most of you are at a stage where moving ahead is painful. 90% of the world lives in that condition. I may not have the statistics to prove that but your good times last for only ten percent of the time. 40 percent goes in inertia or sleep and the rest of 50 percent you live in gloom and dreary state. Full of depression and anger state. You can't see life and it's upside.  Either your state has been brought about by your spouse, your boss or your other relatives and friends. You cannot escape these people anyway so listening to them or thinking about them, you bring about these states. The other things that contribute towards it is money matters, home issues, emotional issues, growth and career, sickness and pain, food and studies.... And so on!  So what can you do about it? You sti...

There are geniuses and then there are normal kinds! There are people in this world who cannot calculate even the simplest equation. There are others who cannot answer a simple question too. But they can solve the toughest problems instantly.  These are very highly evolved people who have educated themselves so much or written great stuff and yet for them to solve a simple puzzle becomes difficult. Has the brain or mind advanced so much that they cannot comprehend a silly issue?  Sometimes it is tough to answer even things like their own address or name. They might have to ask another who they are or where they stay.  Sometimes geniuses are like that. They live in a world which is far above the mundane and cannot answer the most trivial issue.  The senses do not function for such people at ground levels. They all live in a nether world far above like the eagles nest. They can never observe below their noses. Calculating difficult stuff in their minds, they are not use...

"I give you my word and I will keep it." These are great words we hear often from people who believe in their integrity and truthfulness. But what is the truth?  When you are not even sure whether you will be alive the next instant, how can your word be alive then? Suppose you promise to take care of your parents throughout their lives and you believe your word is the absolute truth, then if you were to die what would happen to your word? Or you would be brought to a hand to mouth existence yourself, how can you take care of them?  I was faced with a similar dilemma in my own life. Till the time I was not in spiritual, I believed I owed it to my parents and family for my life. They had given birth to me and all that blah. So I owed it to them and I was determined to provide for their convenience. But destiny played it in such a way that they were taking care of me instead of me taking care of them!  For many years I struggled with this thought that I wasn't a good son. I ...

My Gurudev Shri Dattatreya's birthday was yesterday. I still remember how He gave me His blessings the first time in this body.  I was unable to fathom how this divine knowledge was coming to me. The sutradhar should be someone around, I reasoned out. So I decided to seek Him out. I was not aware of anyone around me who could be guiding me surreptitiously. It was very intriguing for me. I waited for many days for Him to show up. Since I had no physical confirmation from anyone or anything, I was extremely frustrated.  One day I couldn't take it any longer. I decided that enough is enough. I had to know this great person. I finalized a date in my mind by when, if my answer was not with me, I shall go away never to return. Maybe my life was not worth it.  That day, I was sitting in my store chair waiting for closing time. No customers were around. The staff was busy chatting away in the aisles. Suddenly, I noticed someone sitting in front of me. I looked up like a zombie no...

Ask a stupid question and get a stupid answer. Ask an intelligent question and so do we get an intelligent answer? No way! It's still a stupid answer!  Ask anyone this question- do you know the story of Cinderella? The answer is---? First they will want to know why you are asking that question? Next they will think that you are asking a trick question and will think up the most stupid answer. Thereafter they will ask you if that is what you meant?  The answer to the question is- YES! Yet, did you notice how the answers came? They could be the weirdest ones too.  So doesn't it tell you that no one actually listens to another but listens more to their own mind? Everyone has this disability of not listening at all. The question is not a trick one, yet why does the mind think otherwise?  So once these great intelligent folks come up with the stupidest answer, ask them the next question. Ask them- can you tell me the story of Cinderella in four or five lines? Then see the...

"You owe it to yourself!"Every man owes it to his own self first before he does to anyone else. That is called the true empowerment.  You think that you have to give things and better life to your wife, husband, children, in laws or parents first. You put them first and think that your duty is primarily to serve them first. So you deprive yourself of that happiness you deserve. You work your ass off and feed them, clothe them, give shelter, provide for their silliest of whims and fancies and always consider yourself as a third class citizen who needs to make the biggest sacrifice to call and glorify yourself as a MARTYR!  Why do you think you owe it to them? So you think it's written in the scriptures and the society tells you so? Let me give you your scriptures back. When Dhritarastra became old and was staying with the Pandavas after the war, Vidura comes and tells him to stop taking hospitality and charity from his so called saviors. He tells him to stop being a charit...

What is the difference between those who talk and those who just do work? You have heard almost everyone just talk and talk. But you must have also seen people who just work but don't talk! So which category do you fall under?  Scientists who just keep on working but hardly ever do talking produce works which win Nobel prize but those who speak a lot become politicians.  These people hardly do any work. Their hot air spreads too fast and they gain public popularity but hardly do anything at all in life. These are the ones you see cutting ribbons, opening exhibitions, visiting schools and institutions and smiling for the camera.  But true doers are those who are like Mother Theresa. They do so much. Gather funds by the shovel, meet people who can drive initiatives, work with poor people, etc.. She was a true worker of God. A small frail woman who achieved so much.  Now let's see the doers alone. These work silently and surely. They have no hidden agenda of public reno...

The unpalatable truth of your ugly past comes to the fore and you are unable to face it!  When the truth comes out and you have to face it, never bog down and shy away from it. Today when I was reading about the Pope who acknowledged to the world that he was a club bouncer and sometimes he even swept the floors just goes to show the greatness of that man. He had the guts to tell the world that he had done that. How many of us have the guts to do that? We are all yellow inside. Scared of the consequences and the ugliness that may spill over.  Now ask yourself why are you hiding it? What makes you think that the world will never know? It's your past which is gone by and it has nothing to change about so why keep it in the closet. Here I am not saying that you deliberately should spill the beans but if the past comes up, you should never tell lies about it but face it squarely. The world naturally will condemn you but later will accept you and then it won't matter. But keeping it...

In the material world there are two sides to the truth always. You may say truth is always one but then how can it be two? Every story has two sides, right?  Now when these cases are dragged out in the media, only one side gets reported more and the other doesn't. Take the case of the Goa hotel incident. The media baron and the reporter and their sexual incident. Both the people involved have two different set of stories from their own point of view. Now which one is true and which one is false? Similarly the parents of the Arushi murder case have their own story and the murder has its own. Who can judge the right one? No human being can understand both the sides of the stories.  So when a woman gets embroiled in a controversy of such kind, both the man and the woman have their own versions. So who is the liar or who is telling the truth? No one knows. To each their own versions holds water. But here the idea that needs to be understood is what is the version the world underst...

I always choose the best for myself. You select things that you want to have very carefully when offered a choice. Notice how you go round the buffet table to take those things in your plate that you like the most. You avoid those things that you don't like at all.  In your life also you do the same. You select the good lookers in the bar or at airports you don't pick up someone's folded newspaper but pick up the one which look fresh. Similarly, we do the selection of veggies or garments that look good to our eyes and feel fresh.  This is the type of life you have been brought up with since you were born. Notice the baby doing the selection of the best toy or food with good looks. Even your ice cream toppings are the best.  But what happens to you when you have to gift someone else? If it's your girlfriend then you will choose the best but if it is for someone whom you don't know, then you will do all sorts of compromises and select relatively good one.  Our likes a...

Why doesn't a man learn even after he has fallen once? Man keeps on falling and does the same mistake again and again and still does not learn. Though mistakes are in the path to get knowledge about the right path but man has this uncanny habit of falling for the same stuff again and again and veering away.  Do you think the man who drinks and is an alcoholic has no idea that what he is doing is wrong? Or the woman who succumbs to a voracious sexual appetite has no idea that she is doing something bad to her own while sleeping around outside? Or a man who sells everything by robbing to do his drugs? Or that person who mugs people around? Don't these people have any qualms? Do they have any conscience or not?  If you think they have a conscience and should listen to it, then you really have no clue. The first or the second time that they did what they are now habituated to do, their conscience actually pricked but then they succumbed to the sin. Thereafter the going was very ea...

Krishna bar and restaurant, Shiva restaurant, Radha dancing school, Buddha bar and what not! Have you ever seen Jesus in any way bring addressed like that? Or for that matter any god or saint from any other religion? Strange!  Here we have people fighting to see the underwear removed if it carries a god picture or a sandal. But these same hypocrites allow the names of bars to be called Krishna bar and restaurant?  So you may ask, what's in a name? That could be the name of the owner of the bar? Just like these rap artist say Yeesus!!! Would you call that artistic impropriety or just their creativity?  This was very beautifully demonstrated by Swami Vivekananda to the king once. When asked why do people go and pray in temples when it is said that God lives within us? He asked one of the court guards to bring down the framed picture of the king and then stamp it with his feet. The guard refused saying that the photograph represented the king himself. Swamiji then proved to ...

What does it mean to have a hand to mouth existence? You know it very well, since it's the phrase which tells you about how poor you are. It also shows you how much you are valued in this world.  Food on the table is a luxury for the poor. The daily needs are never met fully, except for some plain food stuffs. That would mean a solid grain and some watery gruel. Some call it sambhar and rice or roti and curry. Still considering the costs are you? Let me tell you both together would come for anywhere between twenty to fifteen bucks. My travel would be free almost every time since I don't have the luxury of buying tickets. Some days when I have money, I refuse to spend on public transport. I travel about twelve to fifteen miles a day so that I can use that money. The hovel I live in costs about a thousand bucks. I sometimes pay up and at other times I just disappear from that place for a few days.  My clothes are used ones. I normally pick them up once in a few months from the u...

Do you understand what it means to be lonely? Someone asked me once and I said that I can never be lonely. Listening to the song by Boys To Men-"Show me the meaning of being lonely," would make you know how loneliness feels but that's not what loneliness means.  Someone passes away or you loose your beloved and then the emptiness strikes you. This is a sure fire way of being lonely. But we are born alone and we die alone. So what makes us feel lonely? Is it attachment to that person or object? When we are attached and when we loose them, we feel left out, alone, lonely and empty. Devoid of their presence will tell us how we miss them.  But the moment we have the idea that they were our co-workers in this universe we can understand that their duties were over. We do not cry for our co-workers when they retire, right? So when serving God's purpose for us we meet them as our relatives or parents, friends or lovers, husbands or wives, kids or grand kids, let us be clear t...

I heard this words everyday- I worry for you a lot! Now you too have said them so many times. It may be for your children or your pets too. What do you mean by saying I worry for you?  You are worried if the children will reach school in time. You worry whether the food will be sufficient for your guests or not, or whether the lights or the tap were left on when you went to work. You worry how your kids education will proceed when you don't have any money left. You worry whether the mortgage amount will get paid or not this month since you are having to pay for medical bills. There are so many things to worry about.  So then just by worrying what do you achieve? Some progress happens or you end up getting frustrated and angry? Your anxiety creates more trouble for you than the one you worry for.  This person just walks out of the issue and moves on to the next one. From frying pan into the fire you will say. These people are capable of giving you white hairs earlier than ...

There is always that edge of the seat feeling when something is supposed to happen yet it's not happening. Something's gotta give yet it doesn't. The anxiety caused by the suspense is very tiring.  This happens to everyone of us. Whether it's our examination results or admissions, loan sanctions or pregnancy results, life and death, marriages and divorces, likes and hatreds, in love or not in love.... The times we wish to get answers from such unnerving situations are many in life.  Even if we know the outcomes by gut feel, we still have that anxiety within us. The either/or is a terrible time. Especially if it is related to someone close to us. Our children's results gives us sleepless nights, whereas they are least bothered. Sometimes the one who is responsible for our own anxiousness is not even aware that we are suffering.  Like they say, you will either grow bald or have grey hair soon because you worry so much. The tensions are too much and then there are thos...

Escapism is the word which describes someone who wants to run away from facing situations in life or shy away from responsibilities. To find an easy way out of something quite tough.  I knew of a woman who agreed to marry a drunkard and live in a joint family only to escape her own foster parents who ill treated her all her life. But what happened to her then? She believed that she could change the man she was marrying. But couldn't. She finally burnt herself to death having totally lost from either sides. She couldn't find any happiness anywhere.  Another person whom I know had a terrible sex life. Being subjected to extreme sexual conduct by the spouse, indulged in dreamy storybook romance, kept looking for love outside the marriage. Involved with multiple romantic liaisons could never find the true love.  In another case, the person searched for ideal mate to marry during the second sojourn, but could land only an impotent person. Now trying escapism in real life has i...

Waking up Kumbhakarna was an impossible task! So how do we wake up a sleeping person? This question has been asked by many to me. Now let's get this straight, we are talking here about a person who refuses to do anything with his life and sleepwalks through it. It's about someone who doesn't lift a finger or does anything constructive in life.  First lets see the way people are. You tell your son or husband to do something and he rolls away saying that he is busy, or has too many things to do, or just watches some junk on the television, starts playing games on his computer, talks into the telephone to someone on the other side complaining about your cribbing, walks out of the house as if not hearing you..... His reasons are endless. I am not singling out men alone. It is also to do with women too. The laziness or inertia shown by these "extremely busy" people is appalling. When you know damn well they aren't doing anything at all. Their priorities are all ske...

Nirlajyam sadha Sukhi is a saying I has heard when I was a kid. I never could fathom what it meant till the last few years.  I met a young man who had a voracious appetite for food. He wouldn't feel ashamed to ask for more food. I liked him a lot and I always used to make fun of him. One day I asked him if he felt ashamed to ask for more or not? He told me that he has his bodily needs and the urge to fulfill them created the demands. So he just diligently fulfilled them. There was no shame or remorse in him. What is the use of remaining hungry, he asked? I liked his explanation.  I wanted some money from some reason once. I was feeling extremely awkward to ask people around. My little ego came in the way so I kept quiet.  Then I married a Gujarati lady and since that day I stopped feeling sorry for myself. She gave me that mental strength to ask and not feel small. You cannot do business if you cannot ask for money. What use is the shame or shyness? It's not going to put ...

Any kind of addiction can kill oneself and another too.  Many years ago I visited the house of a famous heroine and found her dead drunk. She was going through a very depressive phase of her life. Everyone had ditched her and she had become a recluse and an alcoholic.  Today when I was going through the morning papers, I saw another film heroine who had allegedly hanged herself with over 300ml of alcohol in her viscera. She too was passing through a very troublesome period in her love life.  My close relative would find imported liquor very mild so he would spike it with other intoxicating stuff all because he had nothing to do in his life with tones of money at his disposal.  In another case, after the government nationalizing every single property of theirs had left them paupers, the lady took to the bottle and wasted herself to death.  Now in all the above examples, doesn't it tell you that drinking in excesses is harmful to anyone. Yet, why doesn't the knowl...

What happens when you age in a middle class family? You are always responding to and responsible for someone or the other in your aging process.  It's either the kids or grandchildren or gardens. If you look at a typical grandparent, they would be dropping and picking up grand kids from school and back. Pottering around the garden at other times or playing lotto or mahjong or poker!  You really wonder what are they doing at this age. Considering their age they should have hung their boots and relaxed but what are they going to achieve? Watching useless episodes on the television which have no value except entertainment. Going to the place of worship or taking part in some religious activities. Once a year going on some annual tour.  Visiting some holy places or visiting children if they stay far away.  If not, being around all the people in the main hall reading, writing, staring blankly or going for therapy at the old age home.  Once in a month collecting their...

How many days can you have a wedding? How much festivity can a person take in? How many drinks can you gulp down? How much sex can you enjoy? How many years can you continue to live for your little self? Take a hold of yourself now and think about it!  The marriage lasts only till the consummation night. But is there one? You have already consumed and slurped it down. So what are you getting at? A sham for the world or are you deluding yourself into thinking that there is a pot of gold at the end of your bachelorhood? Man, you are getting into a bigger trap than you can imagine. The tantrum of your spouse or uncouth behavior that they haven't exhibited so far! The loud farts, the nose digs, the ball scratches or just the plain dirty overused undies! Her period pains, the loud groans, the lingerie thrown all over, the oversleeping, not having any clue how to light the gas stove!  Are you both ready for this game of acceptance of each other. And then the anxiety and panic attack...

So what's so special about this Diwali? Nothing much, you may say but key in to what's happening around you and you will be surprised.  The firecrackers have gone down, the new clothes are not visible, the prayers to Gods are nearly finished, the sweets are from the shops, the parents are least enthusiastic, the holiday season has come on weekly holiday and there are movies whose tickets cost a bomb. Now you tell me this happens every year?  When we talk of festival we believe the thoughts of God, prayers, offerings, sweets, celebrations, etc  evoke spiritual fervor but does it now? Not at all.  We have got so much entrenched in our lives that we believe festivals are some religious stuff which we can avoid. Any which way, there are no public holidays for our festivals since the government has to be secular and give everyone an equal chance. So the holiday scene is meant only for annual ones. That too we have to match with the kids vacation. Otherwise what's the use ...

The story of the cuckoo and the crow! Everyday the koel(cuckoo) would sing and the whole world would praise her. The crows would caw and the people would get irritated. They would shoo him away.  The praises showered on the cuckoo made her very proud of her abilities. She started to coo too much everywhere. The crow felt very dejected at the treatment meted out to him.  Then, one day the elder in the house died. The people were in mourning. They were very sad. The cuckoo as usual came and started to sing on the tree. The people got very angry. They didn't want to hear good music. They were in mourning. They took a stick and threw at the cuckoo. The cuckoo was aghast at their behavior. She shifted to the neighboring yard.  Meanwhile the crow came and sat on the tree. He started to caw as usual. The people were delighted. They called out to the cook and asked him to offer food to the crow. The crow was surprised. He had never got such a grand reception ever. He ate the food...

When you are confused and don't know what to do or how to do, so how do you find answers? This happens to all of us always. You aren't sure about anything at all. You believe any decision that you might take may jeopardize your chances of success. So you are unsure and refrain from deciding.  Let us examine this uncertain being in the first place. The person is unsure because he has been told of the risks involved, previous mistakes, past performances, comparisons, endless loops, laziness or inertia and gazillions other reasons.  This is a very normal scenario where you can't decide any which way. There might be too many or very little parameters to decide within.  I am not going to dwell on the whys you are facing but the most important part is how to solve the problem soon! There are steps to follow here.  First of all can you actually understand the problem? Do you know what the issue is? It may not be an issue at all since you are not able to find the nub! So fir...

Why is reporting and disseminating information so important in life? You may assume that you have done your job but if the top boss doesn't know then what is the use of doing your job?  Every human being assumes that the know-all top management is in the knowledge of your performances but they aren't aware at all! Stop assuming and start reporting to your immediate supervisor and above. It's important to tom-tom about your so-called completion of a job or the beginning of it at least.  I still remember my first job wherein I was told by my boss to go to some remote places to do my salesman's job and I would report regularly to my immediate supervisor and the regional office but I didn't receive my salary for full 6 months. I then told my Regional head that I would like to go to my head office. I was aghast to learn that my HO had no clue that I had joined the prestigious org. Finally they got all the papers sorted out. Then I got the next shock. They had no money to...

It's easy to waste time over frivolities and indecision! Extremely tough to decide on issues when you are attuned to deriding time. Decision makers are winners. Indecisive people do not allow the universe to do magic in their lives.  If you ever get a chance to be close to the Chairmans office you will understand that he is mostly on call, meetings, flying or at leisure. Then when does he find time to run the company? You will be amazed to know that few seconds he is spending with some of his key employees is the time he is just giving decisions and nothing else. His assessments are done by his cronies, staff, managers and servants. He only looks at the presented options and decides on the final answer.  Those who are unable to decide are the ones who bring the whole world of theirs down on the knees. These indecisive people destroy the fabric of conformity.  The uncertainty in life is also like this. When you don't know what you gotta do and are searching for answers! Yo...

Spirituality is all about the spirit in you. Spirituality has very little or nothing to do with religion. Religion is a way of harnessing people into submission to a particular way of life. Religion is full of do’s and don’ts of life. Too many dogmas and restrictions. Whereas spirituality is all about freedom and finding yourself. Recognizing your true potential and knowing why you are born. Buddhism or Jainism has no god to look at but these religions have dogmas too. Restrictions about every possible things. Killing animals is a no-no in Jainism and meditating is so much a part of Buddhism. But ask the world around and they  love  to eat animals all day long and meditating is an unknown word to most of the world. Yet these religions harbors spirituality. So can we define spirituality as something that has the spirit in it? But human beings hardly feel spiritual. The reason is because they don’t know it. They are ignorant of the fact that they are a part of the universal spir...

There are always two sides to a coin. We are always used to listening to one and getting biased. We do not have any idea about the other. Our judgement is based purely on the one side we know so well.  As a parent, we know only about our own kids side and not the other kid who is supposed to have beaten our kid to the pulp. So we tend to be biased more so towards our kids story.  In life too, we hear from one person more than the other. I was watching a movie yesterday where the wife is shown as a very subdued and quiet person and the narrative is from her side. She alleges an extramarital relationship between her husband and another woman. But nowhere is she confronting him and asking him for his story. So how can we make judgement by knowing only her part. He is not shown having an affair whereas this heroine is having.  Again another part of life says, it is better to be ignorant about the other side otherwise too many problems will crop up. Just imagine the above scen...

This is a birdy tale! The sparrows chirped on the trees. They all had one grouse against the crow. He would do no work but would just keep on cawing away. He was a big deterrent in their job. They worked as taily callers and the crows cawing would disturb their jobs.  One day they thought of putting an end to his constant meddling. They called the super bird Eagle and requested him to shoo him away. So the Eagle came all alone to talk to the crow.  Unfortunately the crow knew before hand from his key sparrow spies. He was ready with his retaliation. The moment the eagle came, he cawed so loudly that his gang of other crows descended and crowed and pecked the eagle and drove him away. The crows were victorious.  Then he was back to his old ways of interference. The sparrows just let him be after that. They realized that there is no use shooing him away. The policy of chirp and let crow worked well.  The political scene anywhere is just like the birds conference, n'est...

When someone says that the soul has left the body when the person died, what does it actually mean? Is there something called the soul or super soul? Again when the non believers say the person stopped breathing, so who stopped breathing? Is it the body or some person? Confusing, isn't it?  Spirituality throws such questions at us when we are free to think about spirituality. But otherwise, we are so engrossed in our own issues that we have no time for such questions.  Those who believe in some divine power called God think of that as Him or Her. Then there are those who believe there should be no object or person to focus on. They believe that there is something divine but has no body or form. Then there are those who feel there is no one or nothing to believe in. Only their own existence. So who can be right in what they think or believe?  The ones who have all the possible time in this world can keep on debating on this issue. But those who are engrossed in the materia...