The Mantra To Keep You Cheerful

If you want to be ever cheerful, practice the following mantra : "Even this shall pass." Let this mantra inscribed indelibly in your heart. With the practice of this mantra, you can remain alert in the event of both pleasure and pain and stop yourself from getting engrossed in them. Then, you can establish yourself in the supreme bliss of equanimity.

Pair of opposites such as pleasure and pain, honor and insult, joy and sorrow affect the body. They will come and go in greater or lesser degrees so long as the body exists. Do not be overwhelmed by them. You are the absolute Self, imperishable Atman while pleasures and pains are fleeting. How can they ever affect you? They have no existence of their own. In fact, they appear on the ground of your existence. You are distinct from them. Hence witness them, withstand them, and let them pass away. Be ever blissful and peaceful.

There is no object that brings pleasure or pain. They are creations of your mind, your thoughts and feelings. With the help of these thoughts, be absorbed in your own eternal Being, the Truth absolute and be always peaceful.
You are the Supreme bliss, Brahman personified. It is your Self that dwells in all. The happiness that appears in the world is in fact just a glimpse of  Self-Bliss. It is your inner bliss but because of your ignorance, you think it is obtained from external objects of sense pleasures. Just as the sun's reflection in water is not the real sun but is merely an illusory appearance thereof, so also is the pleasure experienced through sense-enjoyments- it is not real bliss. It is illusion, not real.


Blessed Be...!

The Upnishads And Human Life

The Upanishads dignify human life as the greatest boon of the Almighty. As described here by the elevated sages or the rishis, every soul in the subtle body, even the angels eagerly await being born as humans. No non-human life-form (yoni) can ever attain the ultimate knowledge or the Brahmgyana; it is only in the human life that one gets this exceptional chance. That is why these vedic scriptures repeatedly stress upon us to make the best use of this unique opportunity and give us clear guidelines to attain the supreme goal of life. They show us the path of comprehensive and ever-elevating progress, eminence and joy. Indeed the quest of the jiva  (individual self) for consciousness-evolution gets a chance to be fulfilled in human-form alone by sincerely and single-mindedly following the teachings of the Upanishads.
The Upanishads reveal that a human being is potentially endowed with the faculties of discerning intelligence, wisdom, decision-making and creative talents which provide him the freedom  of action (karma) and offer him the capability of becoming the architect of his own destiny. Other forms of life are referred in the Upanishads as "bhoga yonis". In these yonis, the creature simply bears the good or bad fruits according to the absolute law of karmas (i.e., as per the accumulated rewards and/or penalties associated with the virtuous and/or sinful actions it performed whenever it was born as a human being in some earlier birth). The Upanishads define the other yonis as – "Jayaswa Mriyaswa", which means "take birth and die as per the destiny". Only the human form is referred here as "bhoga as well as karma yoni", with emphasis on the latter in terms of creating one’s destiny by the freedom  of action. The Upanishads remind us of this fact again and again and enjoin– "Manurbhav" (Awaken! Be a human!).

Being born in the gross form as a human being is easy, rather a natural outcome of our destined life form as per the stock of our karmas in the specific segments of the lifecycle of our individual self. But, living up to its dignity by inculcating humanity and transacting righteous actions is far more difficult and challenging. It requires continuous conscious refinement, zeal and sincere endeavors towards overcoming our own mental vices and debasing desires and facing the illusions, attractions and threats of external circumstances – adhering to the righteous constraints of a duty-bound life as a social being. The teachings of Upanishads are there to guide, protect and safely take us along the illumined path of consciousness-evolution.
The Upanishads describe the human body as "devapuri" and "brahmpuri" (Abode of God) which implies that divinity indwells this life-form. A human being needs to recognize this fact and endeavor to attain the ultimate fulfillment of the soul by conscious union with the Supreme Self.


Blessed Be...!