૨૦૧૩માં ન્યૂઝ ચેનલો શું દેખાડશે?

મૂકો બધી ચિંતા, મોજ કરો, મસ્તીકરો, ચમન કરો, ડુંગળી-બટેટાના ભાવ વધતા હોય તો વધવા દયો. બકાલીને હોય એ ભાવ કરતા પણ રૂપિયો વધારે આપીને વટથી શાકભાજી ખરીદો. ભલે એના છોકરા ચાંદીના ઘૂઘરે રમે. એ’ય દીકરો યાદ કરે કે મળ્યા’તા કો’ક રજવાડા. સેન્સેકસ અને નિફટીને મારવા દયો ઉપર નીચે ગુંલાટો. વર્ષોથી બટકી ગયેલા શેરના જે ઉપજે ઈ પૈસા રોકડા કરીને જલસા કરો. બાપ-દાદા મૂકી ગયા હોય એ બધું ફતંગદીવાળિયાની માફક ઊડાવી દો. દારૂ-બારુનો ટેસડો કરવો હોય તો’ય બે ચાર ઘૂંટડા મારીને ચોક વચ્ચે ગલોઠિયા ખાવાની મોજ કરી લ્યો.

આગલા-પાછલા હિસાબ હોય તો સરભર કરી નાખો. ઓફિસના બોસ સામે ટેબલ ઉપર પગ ચડાવીને સિગારેટું ફૂંકો. વધી વધીને નોકરીમાંથી કાઢી મૂકે, તો અહિંયા કોને પડી છે? ‘આ લાત મારી તારી બે ફદિયાની નોકરીને’ એમ કહીને બારણું પછાડીને નીકળી જાઓ. ભાજપવાળાને કહીએ કે હવે ભલે રાજનાથસિંહ જ રહ્યાં પ્રમુખપદે. થોડું ઘણું બાકી રહ્યું છે એ હવે એમને જ પૂરું કરવા દયો. રાહુલને સલાહ કે ભોગવી લે મારા વીરા ભોગવી લે. ઝૂંપડામાં રાતવાસો કરવાના અભરખા છોડ અને પૈણી જા. નહીંતર તારા લીલ પૈણાવાવાળું ય કોઈ નહીં રહે. મોદી સાહેબને કહીએ કે દિલ્હી જવાનું માંડીવાળો. અડવાણી એમાં જ પતી ગયા.

આપણે ગુજરાતમાં જ હલાવ્યે રાખો. આ ઓબામા હમણા ચીનના ખોળે બેઠા છે. મનમોહનસિંઘ કાલે અમેરિકા જવાના છે ત્યારે સરદારને સલાહ કે જરા’ય નમતું જોખતા નહીં. સલમાનને હમણાં એક કન્યારત્નએ તમાચો મારી દીધો એમ ઓબામું વાયડું થાય તો તાણીને એક લાફો ઝીંકી દેજો. ભાયડા થઈ જાઓ ભાયડા. અમેરિકું આપણું કાંઈ બગાડી નહીં લે. વળતી વખતે પાકિસ્તાનમાં ઊતરીને ત્યાંય બે-ચારને તમાચા મારતા આવો. વધી વધીને યુઘ્ધ થાય. બધું નાશ પામે. પણ એમાં ડરવાની જરૂર નથી. અમસ્તો પણ પૃથ્વીનો નાશ થવાનો છે એ નક્કી થઈ ગયું છે. પ્રલયની પાકી તારીખ આવી ગઈ છે. બે વર્ષ બાકી છે. એમાં થાય એટલું કરી લો...ન્યૂઝ ચેનલોનો માનીએ એટલો આભાર.

પ્રલય અંગે આપણને વહેલાસર જાણ કરી દીધી નહીંતર આપણે તો સાવ અંધારામાં જ રહીએ ને? રાત્રે સૂતા હોય ને અચાનક પૃથ્વી જઈને પડે કયાંક બીજા ગ્રહ ઉપર. આપણે આકાશમાં તરતા હોઈએ. કેટલાયે કામ બાકી રહી ગયા હોય. પૈસાનું તો ઠીક કે મોટેભાગે આપણે જ દેવાના બાકી રહી ગયા હોય. પણ એ સિવાયની કેટલીયે ઉર્મીઓ અને અભરખાઓનું શું? આ ચેનલોએ વાર, ઘડી, તારીખ ને સાલ જાહેર કરી દીધા તે સારું કર્યું. આપણને આપણું પ્લાનિંગ કરવાની ખબર તો પડે.

અદ્ભુત છે આ ચેનલોવાળા. આ આખો ફાલ છેલ્લા બે દસકાનો છે. પહેલાં આ પ્રકારનું પ્રોડકશન ન થતું. પહેલાં પણ પત્રકારો હતા, એ બધા પણ ઈન્વેસ્ટીગેશનો કરતા. પણ આ લેટેસ્ટ પ્રોડકટો તો પૃથ્વીના પાતાળમાંથી ચાંદો ઉપાડી લાવે અવા ધૂરંધર છે. આપણને કલ્પનામાં ન આવે એવું એવું શોધી લાવે. દર્શકોને એવું એવું પીરસે કે જોવાવાળા સુધબુધ ગુમાવી બેસે.

આમ તો એ લોકોએ અત્યાર સુધીમાં અનેક પ્રકારનું અવનવું જ્ઞાન આપ્યું છે. પણ, અમુક કિસ્સા તો ઐતિહાસિક છે. એક વખત આ બધા હનુમાનજીને રોવડાવવાના ધંધે વળગ્યા’તા. ટીવીની સ્વીચ ઓન કરીએ કે તૂર્ત જે બ્રેકિંગ ન્યૂઝ દેખાય. ‘હનુમાનજી કી આંખ મેં આંસું, વંથલી કે હનુમાનજી રો રહે હૈ. સુબહ સે આંસું નીકલ રહે હૈ. થમને કા નામ નહીં લેતે...’’

ત્યાં વળી બીજા બ્રેકિંગ ન્યૂઝ આવે. ‘દિલ્હી કે હનુમાનજી પણ રો રહે હૈ, દેખીયે હનુમાનજી કે આંસું, લાઈવ, સિર્ફ ઈસ ચેનલ પર’. એક ચેનલ હનુમાનજીને રોવડાવે તો બીજી કેમ પાછળ રહે. એ વળી ચંદીગઢના હનુમાનજી ઉપર માંડે કેમેરા, ત્યાંય હનુમાનજીની આંખો રોઈ રોઈને લાલ થઈ ગઈ હોય. ભારતમાં તો અબજો હનુમાનજી છે. આ બધાને જે નજીક પડે એ હનુમાનજી પાસે જઈને કેમેરા ગોઠવી દે. અને મંડે હનુમાનજીને રોવડાવવા. વચ્ચે આ હાલ્યું તું. એક આખી સિઝન આવી જેમાં હનુમાનજી રોયે જ રાખતા હતા. ગામે ગામના હનુમાનોને ચેનલોએ ચોધાર આંસું સાથે રડતા દેખાડયા. પછી હનુમાનજીની દયા આવી હોય કે ગમે તે હોય, એમને પડતા મુકયા.

હનુમાનજીને મુકત કર્યા બાદ આ લોકોએ ભૂત-પ્રેતો ઉપર હાથ અજમાવ્યો. ભારત આખામાં ફરીને ભૂતોનો સર્વે કર્યો. એમના સરનામા મેળવ્યા. આપણે તો ભૂતોય લાખોની સંખ્યામાં. એમાંથી મહત્ત્વના ભૂતોને અલગ તારવ્યા. જાહેરાતો કરી. ‘‘આઓ, લે ચલતે હૈ આપકો ભૂત-પ્રેત કી દુનિયામં...’ જાણે યુરોપની ટુર ઉપર લઈ જતા હોય!, ‘આજ દીખાને જા રહે હૈ વો ભૂત, જો આજ તક પહેલે કીસીને નહીં દેખા’. અરે! તારો ડોહો, તું જો ને અમારે નથી જોવું! પણ, ના, આગ્રહ કરી કરીને દેખાડે. ‘યે હૈ ભૂત કી હવેલી...’. સાથે રૂંવાડા ઊભા કરી દે એવું મ્યૂઝિક મૂકે, બે-ચાર કબૂતર ઊડાડે હવેલીના કાંગરા ઉપર. ‘ચારસો સાલ સે યહાં રહતા હૈ, રાત કો બારહ બજ કર તેરહા મિનિટ પર આતી હૈ ઉસકી સવારી, ઔર જો ભી બીચ મે આતા હૈ. સમજ લો ઉસકી મૃત્યુ નિિશ્ચત હૈ...’. ‘યે હૈ ભૂતિયા હવેલી’. ભૂતની ઝૂંપડીઓ, ભૂતના ઝાડ, અરે... ભૂતના શૌચાલય પણ દેખાડે. ભૂતને ય એવું બધું તો કરવું જ પડતું હશેને! વળી કહે’, ‘ઈસ આત્મા કી મોક્ષ નહીં હુઈ હૈ, વો માગતા હૈ અપને સ્વજનો સે પાની, દેખિયે ઈસ ભૂત કો, ઉસકા ચહેરા કહી આપકે કિસી દિવંગત સ્વજન સે તો નહીં મિલતા હૈ?’ આપણને ઉધે રવાડે ચડાવે. આપણા કોઈ સતરમી પેઢીના બાપા તો ભૂત નથી થયાને? એવી શંકાના જીવડા આપણા મગજમાં ઘાલે.

ચેનલોએ ગામે ગામના ભૂત ભારતવાસીઓને દેખાડી દીધા. છેવટે ભૂત ખૂટી ગયા પછી એ બધાને ધર્મના ઊભરા આવ્યા. ભારતભરના તીર્થધામની યાત્રાઓ કરાવી. એમાં’ય નવું નવું ગોતે. ભીમે ભારતભરમાં ખોદેલા ચારેક હજાર કૂવા દેખાડી દીધા. પાંડવોએ ખજાનો દાટયો’તો એ સરોવર આ બધા ભેગા મળીને શોધી આવ્યા. ફેંકયો પડકાર. ‘શોધી શકો તો શોધી લ્યો અરબો ખરબોનો ખજાનો...’. એલા ભાઈ! આ અમને ભાઠે ભરાવશ એના કરતાં તું જ ડૂબકી મારીને ભરી લેને કોથળા. કેમેરા ખંભે લટકાવી લટકાવીને હૈડ હૈડ થાતો તો બંધ થાઈશ.

મુદે્ બધાં શેરલોક હોમ્સના અવતાર ખરાને! એટલે ગ્રુપ્ત ખજાના, ગુપ્ત રસ્તા બધું શોધી કાઢે. એક ચેનલે જાહેર કર્યું હતું. ‘મીલ ગયા સ્વર્ગ જાને કા રાસ્તા, યે રહી ઉસકી સીડી.’ બોલો લ્યો! સ્વર્ગ સુધીના પગથિયા ગોતી આવ્યા. એક વીરલો તો છેક શ્રીલંકા પહોંરયો હતો. કહે, ‘મીલ ગયા રાવણ કા મમી’. રાવણનું કોફિન કાઢયું જમીનમાંથી બહાર. એક ચેનલે તો ભગવાનને લાઈવ દેખાડયા હતા. બેધડક જાહેરાત કરી હતી.’ ‘ટીવી કે ઈતિહાસમાં પ્રથમવાર, સાક્ષાત ભગવાન, લાઈવ...!’ આખે આખા ભગવાનને કેમેરામાં પકડી લીધા.આવી આ ચેનલોએ હવેનવું આંતરરાષ્ટ્રીય અભિયાન ઉપાડયું છે. પૃથ્વીના પ્રલય કરાવવાનું. એમણે ¼ઢ નિર્ધાર કરી લીધો છે. હવે એમાં કાંઈ બાંધછોડ થઈ શકે તેમ નથી. આ અગાઉ પણ એમણે બે-ત્રણ તારીખો જાહેર કરી હતી. પણ એ વખતે કાર્યક્રમ કેન્સલ રાખ્યો’તો. પણ, આ વખતે બધું પાકે પાયે છે.

ચેનલોવાળા ૨૦૧૨માં પ્રલય કરાવવા થનગની રહ્યાં છે. એમનો ઉત્સાહ બેકાબૂ થયો છે. વચ્ચે વળી અંદરો અંદર ફાટફૂટ પડી હતી તે બે-ત્રણ ચેનલોએ પ્રલય સામે વિરોધ નોંધાવ્યો હતો. એક ચેનલે પ્રલથી બચવાનો ઉપાય દેખાડયો’તો, ‘મીલ ગયા બચને કા ઉપાય, પ્રલય સે આપ ભી બચ શકતે હૈ...’ આપણને આશા જાગી કે, હાશ! મરવાનું મુલતવી રહેશે. પણ ઉપાય એવો દેખાડયો કે મોતિયા મરી જાય. કહે, ‘અંતરિક્ષમેં ચલે જાઓ..’ અરે તારી ભલી થાય! એમ અંતરિક્ષમાં કેમ જવાય? ઊભા ઊભા ઠેકડા માર્યે અંતરિક્ષમાં જવાતા હશે? ટૂંકમાં હવે આ વખતે પ્રલય કરાવીને છૂટકો છે. બે વર્ષ બાકી છે. બે વર્ષ મારી લ્યો ધૂબાકા. પછી અફસોસ ન રહે કે જિંદગીમાં કાંઈ કર્યું નહીં.’

આમ તો, આપણે આ ન્યૂઝ ચેનલોનું બધું સાચું માનીએ છીએ. માણસોને આવું બધું ગમે છે એટલે તો એ લોકો દેખાડે છે. પણ, આમાં એક જ લોચો છે. ચેનલોવાળાનું બે વર્ષ દરમિયાન માથું ફર્યું અને એ વિચાર ફેરવી તોળે કે, નથી કરાવવો પ્રલય. તો શું? એ સંજોગોમાં આ લેખમાં શરૂઆતમાં કરેલા સુચનો પૈકીના એકે’યનો અમલ ન કરવો. થાય એવું કે આપણે પ્રલય થવાની આશામાં ને આશામાં દેવાળું ફૂંકી દીધું હોય, ને પછી પ્રલય ન થાય તો લેણદારો વગર પ્રલયે આપણને અંતરિક્ષમાં મોકલી દે. એના કરતા જેમ ચાલે છે તેમ ચાલવા દેવું. ૨૦૧૩માં ન્યૂઝ ચેનલો નવું શું લાવે છે એની રાહ જોવી.

When I ask ‘what are you gaining by believing God?’ they answer with ‘what are you loosing by believing?’

Ans: Yes if it is just believing in God you are not loosing anything. But if you practice what come along with it and get affected physically, emotionally or intellectually then there is plenty to lose.

When I was shooting near Tirupati a few of my assistants asked me that they want to go to the temple. I asked them why they think God has given more to an atheist like me than to devotees like them. There was no answer. I am sure that there will be answers to this from a variety of believers but the point here is my assistants don’t know and yet they wanted to give attendance in the temple. I think that’s because deep inside they were scared God will make a note that they didn’t come.

Whenever people feel a seeming injustice has been done like somebody unscrupulous becoming more successful than a God-fearing devotee the believers jump up and for lack of an explanation and throw in the Karma theory at them.

The Karma theory says that based on what you have done in your past birth you will enjoy or suffer in this birth.

Let me put this more simply. Let’s say you as a kid have done something wrong and your father waits for 20 years and then slaps you. That would be stupid because you would have forgotten what you have done by that time.

In the Karma theory it’s not even 20 years but it’s your next birth where you can’t even know who you were and what you did in the last birth. (Talk about delayed justice and then we have the nerve to complain about the delay in our criminal courts).

Belief in God comes from a desperate hope that something or someone out there will protect you in every which way and also can give you whatever you desire.

You can be distrustful and suspicious of your own Government, the people you work for and your own friends and family but you cannot afford to be that with God, as then there can be no more hope left. So we pardon, overlook and ignore God’s injustices as we can’t afford not to do that. Only people with a tremendous courage, madness, determination, over-confidence, objective understanding and arrogance like me can afford not to believe in God.

-By Ram Gopal Varma

Abortion in the ears.....

This is a short story written by a doctor ....he is a gynecologist in
Pune and a very gifted writer....enjoy this extremely funny story.

My wife is an ENT Surgeon while I am a Gynaecologist. This can lead to
some complications, as I recently learned to my anguish. A General
Practitioner called me up and told me that she is sending a patient of
hers for an abortion. Unknown to me, she had also referred a female
with earwax for removal of the wax to my wife.

I duly informed the receptionist to send the patient right in as she
was expected (and expecting!) As Murphy lays down the laws of our
hospital, it was but natural that the patient who wanted the wax
removed from her ear, landed up with me. This is the conversation that
I had with the patient.

"Please come in. Be seated." I said with a big smile. I always have a
big smile, when I am going to earn some money. The patient gave a
feeble smile and sat hesitantly on the edge of the chair. "Relax."

"Doctor, will this hurt a lot?"

"Not at all."

The patient relaxed visibly. "You know something, Doctor, we tried
removing it at home, but failed."

I was shocked. "Thank God. Trying this at home can cause serious complications.

"I first tried to remove it by jumping up and down, but it just wouldn't budge."

I smiled and said, "If it were that easy, who would need doctors?"

She gave a cute smile and said, "Yeah! My neighbour tried to remove it
with his finger, but the hole is so small that he used a hair pin."

"Oh my God!"

"Yes! My mother even tried a matchstick."

My blood pressure was shooting skywards. I just sputtered without
uttering a word.

"Tell me, doctor, how do I avoid getting this dirt inside me?"

I knew that it was an unwanted pregnancy, but calling it dirt was too
much. I replied a bit angrily, "There are tablets which can prevent
this happening. Or you could use protection at night."

Now it was the patient's turn to be confused, "You mean to say that it
happens only at night?"

I saw her point. "No! No! I meant anytime of the day, whenever you are
in the mood, you should use protection."

She was even more confused, "It depends on my moods?"

Again I saw her point. "My mistake. You need not be in any sort of
mood. It just happens."

"My neighbour advised me to go to one of those chaps who sit by the roadside."

"You mean that pin man?"

"Yeah!"

This neighbour of hers seemed to be a very dangerous man. Besides
using pins, he was sending her to such quacks. The only safety he knew
was among the pins. "You were wise not to heed his advice."

"But I tried his other advice. He told me to put warm oil inside and
wait. However, that also did not work."

This was getting more and more bizarre. Her neighbor deserved to be
locked up either in a padded cell or a barred one.

"But have you taken your husband's permission?"

Now the patient looked confused. "Do I have to take my husband's
permission? Because if you need his sign, he is working in Dubai. We
were not able to meet for the last one year."

It was my turn to be shocked. I gave a sly smirk. It was one of
'those' cases. The pin-wielding neighbour seemed to me the usual
suspect. I reassured her. "No! No! The husband's sign is not at all
needed."

"However, I did inform him on phone."

Her husband seemed to me a very broad-minded fellow. I didn't know
whether to congratulate her or to commiserate with her. So I hastily
turned to other aspects. "Its good that you came a bit early."

"Actually I wanted to come early in the morning, but I had some other work."

"Oh! I did not mean early today. I meant that if you had delayed this
removal, it would have started moving. Then it would have developed a
heartbeat."

The patient was staring at me wide eyed as if watching a horror movie.
Looking at her face, I decided that she was not fit to listen to the
grotesque details. I decided to relieve her a bit. I said, "You will
bleed a bit, but only for a few days."

By now, the poor patient was trembling, "how-H-How much bleeding?"
"Oh, only slightly more than your menstrual period, and it will
continue only for a week or so."

By now the patient was clutching her hair in her fingers and staring
at me wide-eyed. I asked her soothingly, "Why don't you lie down on
the examination table? Remove your clothes and relax."

This was the final straw. She didn't even wish me goodbye. I saw just
a blur of motion leaving my consulting room at top speed.

Keep It Simple And You’ll Be Happy

How many gadgets modern technology has blessed us with! Yet, they only seem to add to the stress and tension of our lives. I have seen young men and women walk down parks and green lanes with earphones completely shutting out the world of beauty around them.

Keep it simple! That is the mantra which can help you reduce stress and tension. Possessions and acquisitions may seem marvellous. But after a while, you do not own them, they own you.

A Tao story tells us of an artist who was so gifted that his fame spread all over. One day, he painted the picture of a snake. It was so lifelike that viewers seemed to hear it hiss!

The artist was so carried away by his own success and the adulation of his fans that he touched up the snake. He made its eyes glow; he outlined the fangs so that they seemed to dart at you! He could not stop; he went on and painted feet on the snake!

The expression, “Painting feet on a snake”, a Chinese saying, refers to situations that are needlessly made more complicated by people who do not know when and where to stop.

When our life becomes complicated with power and possessions, we move farther and farther away from the simple joys and pleasures of life. We fail to notice the green grass and the fresh morning flowers.

We don’t have time to hear birds singing or watch our little ones smiling. We drift away from the state of childlike innocence and simple joy, which is our basic nature.

Simplicity is not self-denial. It is a return to those values that matter most in life. It emphasises spontaneity and intuition. It helps us to rediscover the feeling of wonder and joy that we have lost as adults.

There was a wealthy businessman, who was also a sincere, simple soul. He owned an expensive jet in which he flew about from place to place. They asked him if he enjoyed his private plane. His reply was significant. He said it was certainly very convenient; but he had managed to travel without his own plane earlier; in fact, when he was young and poor, the fact that he couldn’t fly did not stop him from being happy.

A famous actress was being interviewed on television. She had made a fortune that year, over a billion dollars. “Does it make you feel good?” she was asked. “Yes and no,” she replied thoughtfully. “Everyone thinks it’s marvellous. So many people flock around me. But i really do not know who my true friends are and who are with me only for the money and the glamour. As for my daily life, it has not changed much, except that i work harder now.”

A group of young men and women were walking across a shopping mall. They were happy and relaxed; they were talking and laughing merrily. Not a care in the world did they seem to have.

There was a young girl among them, who happened to glance at the window of a jewellery store which they passed. On display was a beautiful, brilliant diamond bracelet. How it sparkled and shone! The girl’s eyes opened wide. She went close to the window to inspect the price. She could not afford it.

She caught up with her friends but she was not the happy, laughing, bubbly girl that she had been five minutes earlier. Her cheerful, buoyant attitude had been replaced by a mood of glum disappointment.

This is the worst part about wanting things. Getting them may give you momentary happiness. But not being able to get them often makes you miserable!!!

Even when we try, We know we will never map the distance..

We hope we can fight.... And show worthwhile resistance..

Against all the shadows, Tear them, part them... For the promised sunrise..

But for our part, At least mine....

Even if a glowing sunset will just kiss my parched face... I might not have too many words to say... :|

But a gleam of satisfaction burning... on not failing and retuning

Back into the shadows.. Lighting up in my eyes;

In the face of providence’s devise... I stand, not vanquished

Not all will get the promised dawn... Some succour in a beautiful sunset too

With some destinies come attached.. The wills of the Gods spun in their bloom

Hardly any regrets.......

Let me melt in my sunset.....

Consciousness Is All There Is

What is consciousness?
Consciousness is the One without the second. It is the source of everything. The ‘who, what, where, when’ are all conceptual images in consciousness. They are all as real as any mirage or dream.

The totality of manifestation, and everything therein, is consciousness, the Unicity. All there is, is consciousness, unaware of itself in its noumenal subjectivity, but perceived by itself as phenomenal manifestation in its objective expression. If this is understood in depth, there is nothing more to be understood because such understanding must comport the realisation that there is no individual entity as insubstantial shadow, whereas what we really and truly are, is consciousness itself, the formless Brahmn.

All that exists is universal consciousness. The universe as such is not the universal consciousness, but consciousness is the universe just as the bracelet is made of gold but the gold is not made of the bracelet. Whether the manifested universe exists or not, consciousness is there as the subjective Absolute...

The appearance of the universe exists in infinite consciousness, just as the notion of distance or emptiness exists in space... Consciousness creates the illusion of the world appearance and the ego-sense, and perceives the illusion of diversity in what is truly pure Unicity...

How can the universe exist in infinite consciousness that is supposed to be transcendental?
Truly there is nothing other than consciousness, and therefore consciousness cannot but be immanent in everything that appears to exist. And yet no phenomenal manifestation can have any kind of relationship with consciousness because a relationship can exist only between two different entities. It is in this sense that consciousness is transcendental to the manifested universe.

What appears within consciousness as its own reflection — the manifestation of the universe — is not separate or different from consciousness. While the shadow, by itself, has no existence and is therefore unreal, the shadow is not different from the substance when seen together. When there is no mind in operation, when there is no conceptualising, it is clearly known, felt and experienced, that phenomenality is only the objective expression of the subjective noumenon...

God is that formless subjectivity, pure potential, the infinite, universal consciousness, Brahmn, which alone exists even after the cosmic dissolution. It is only within this pure, infinite consciousness, the potential plenum, that phenomenal manifestation arose as a mere reflection of that potentiality, as a mere objective expression of that pure subjectivity. The phenomenal objectivisation of this pure subjectivity appears and functions in our outer world of consciousness in the waking state, precisely like sentient and insentient objects seem to exist and function in the inner world of consciousness in the dream state. Nothing really happens.

The final truth is that there is neither creation nor destruction, neither birth nor death, neither destiny nor free will, neither any path nor any achievement... So there is no reason to be aware of anything. So consciousness-at-rest is not aware of itself. It becomes aware of itself only when this sudden feeling, ‘I Am’, arises. I Am is the impersonal sense of being aware. And that is when consciousness-at-rest becomes consciousness-in-movement, when potential energy becomes actual energy. They are not two. Nothing separate comes out of the potential energy.

Travel Light To Enjoy The Journey Of Life

I often wonder: Is it possible to love without attachment? We do have so much love to give, but is it the right kind of love? We tend to feel a kind of ownership over all that we love though we don’t own anything or anyone.

It is easier to utter the words ‘I love you’ than to actually mean it. Love is perceived in many different ways. Moma always said that: “Love, but never be possessive of what you love. Once you are possessive, you might claim ‘this is mine’ when in actuality nothing or no one is yours.”

We are all here on a spiritual journey. Along the way we find several co-travellers who become part of our lives but they too have their own destination. There is a hierarchy of love. Right on top are parents, spouse, children, siblings, other family and friends. Love stops here and further down the ladder it becomes ‘like’. They say, love all as if your own. They talk of universal love. This is not easy to follow but maybe we could try. For starters, we could do little things that make people smile. A kind word or tone would not take away from you but give a lot to the other person.

They say : “If you want peace and if you want happiness you must live in love. Only through love will you find inner peace. Only through love will you find true happiness. Love flourishes through giving and forgiving. Develop your love! Immerse yourself in love!

“...Love is the basis of everything. It is the single most important quality that has to be developed. All your thoughts must become immersed in this quality of love... then truth will naturally establish itself in your heart.”

People who serve are Godlike; their service should be appreciated, whether they belong to your peer group or not. We need to learn to love without attachment. We love those who we feel are ours. What about the rest? Why is an amazing emotion like love saved only for those few people who we perceive as ours? For instance, how might one learn to love the person who has wronged us? I guess i would say OK, don’t love, but at least try not to hate. That is an improvement.

Again, received wisdom from my moma said things can never bring you happiness. Once you’ve bought something, its value diminishes. At first i used to think that was not true, but in time i learnt that it is one of the few truths in life. I constantly try and make an effort to not get attached to ‘things’ now because at the end of the day they are things. This doesn’t mean don’t shop, don’t want... it means realise that actual happiness cannot be attained from anything external.

Enjoy all the things you have and be grateful for it, as that too is the grace of God but do not expect it to give you anything. I find my peace every evening as i sit by myself and watch the sun set. That is when i feel real joy. The sun sets with such ease and that is how we should be.

I would get attached to songs and smells! Some smells can take you back in time and songs too can transport you to old memories. It is nice to remember but if we dwell on the past we are missing out on the present; we tend to miss out on new smells and songs as we’re so preoccupied with the old. We have to let go, because holding on to something does not give us ownership rights. So much baggage! To enjoy the journey, travel light. In other words, practise loving detachment.