Life is a Projection

Every aspect of life is just a projection. The projection is all around me. It's so real that I can see it, touch it, feel it, smell it, eat it, and drink it too. And I can also share my projection with you.

Just like me, every one is projecting. This world allows us to project. This is the dimension of projection. 

Once I've projected, I need to deal with my projection. If I choose to react, I'll give my projection more power. If I just look at it, I allow it to exist. Then, it's like a plant not watered. It'll whither away. 

All I need to do is to act as if there is no projection. And all of them will whither away in time. 

I need to remember to put up my best performance and win the act. That's all I’ve got to do.

My act must be so good that no one can know who I really am!

I am God, after all! And I’ve been using my power to project. Now I will show myself that I can see through the projections into eternity. 

This is playing Maya to Maya. Life is then beautiful. And it'll be less solid and less rigid.

My life purpose is to be the one I really am.

I love this game of life already. You are also welcome aboard.

-- Mahesh Krishnamurthy

Fear - Of Losing Loved Ones

Fear is one of the emotions that is basic which affects the very basis of our existence. It affects the balance of our lives and also works itself into a few organs in our body and gets us to exit our bodies earlier than we expect.

According to Ayurveda, fear affects the excretory and reproductive organs of our bodies. This means, fear affects the urinary bladder, urethra and colon in both sexes and further affects the uterus in women and the prostate gland and testes in men.

Now, that’s not the topic of discussion. What we intend to discuss is that fear can express itself in us in various ways and fear is also one of the ways the ego identifies with to seek attention. One of the ways fear expresses itself is “The fear of losing loved ones”.

This fear is almost like a shadow play. It goes unnoticed, unexpressed and unresolved. In the end, if the person we love exits before we do, our fear gets a boost with a fictitious realisation of “I knew this would happen.”

How is this fear born?

It might seem silly, but this is true. When we are low in self respect and self love, we begin to think negative. The reason for negative thinking is only to seek attention. Th ego seeks attention and so we behave. If this negative thinking goes unchecked, we begin to create fictitious stories in our mind. One of the stories we will create is the dying of our loved ones. Once we have created these stories, we feel fear of this story coming to life, meaning, that the person we love will in reality die.

In order to negate the possibility of such an instance happening, we begin to fight out thoughts.. Since our thoughts are subtle and not tangible, we cannot control them. However, we can always change the way we think. When we don’t know how to change our thoughts, we only fight our thoughts. Then, we will either control the ones we fear will die or we may get depressed.

The remedy is not in taking psychiatric medications or sleeping pills. Its not in blindly following any saints and sages. It does not go even if you got yourself any yantras or learnt any tantra or mantras.

This fear will go only when you, in your awareness, ask yourself this question…”Must the ones I love die only because the ego wants some attention?”

This question alone will slowly dissolve your ego identification with the fear and such fear which does not have an ego identifying cannot survive.

You can definitely overcome your fear of losing loved ones and any form of fear for that matter. Stop identifying with fear and you will win the battle.

— Mahesh Krishnamurthy

Why expect Gratitude?

A few weeks ago, a lady whom we know told me that whenever she sees me, she has tears of joy in her eyes and she cannot explain why.

A few days ago, another gentleman told me that whenever he needs some clarification, he sees me come in his dreams and answer his doubts.

I was pleasantly surprised. It is so easy to get carried away and feel great about yourself. "I am so great that I come in peoples dreams." It does not take time for us to feel invincible.

I wanted to find out the greater scheme of things. So, I enquired within. The answer came thus;

When any person perceives in his or her mind that I am divine and that I have answers to their queries and doubts; the divine descends in me and works through me. The person gets the answers and doubts cleared. What’s more… I-body-mind-ego, the instrument, is not even aware of the moments when the Divine is working through me.

So, why take credit for something I'm not even doing? It’s all happening through me only because someone chose to see the divine in me. Instead, I need to be grateful to the person who saw the divine in me. And in those moments when the Divine was working through me, I was indeed getting benefitted in the highest and best way.

I-body-mind-ego was being served and serviced for free.

Similarly, when we involve ourselves in social service, we need to cast credentials aside.

When we are serving humanity, it is important not to expect credentials in any form. God is working through us because the people needing help called on Him and He chose us to express Himself as Love and Healing. Why then, must we expect any credentials in the form of gratitude?

Expectations kindles the desire for name and fame. It breeds anger, unhappiness and sorrow.

Instead, we need to be grateful for the opportunity that God has given us to have Him flow through us-body-mind-ego.

Feel grateful and be cleansed in His Love and Healing.

When all that is, is love and is healing, who am I?

— Atma as Mahesh Krishnamurthy

Man Divine

Man is only aspect of creation who mirrors His creator. What does this mean? Man has the ability to manifest and un-manifest situations. Man alone has the ability to act as the divine directs or as the ego commands.

Man does not realize his ability, however he continues to manifest as his ego commands. He manifests and then cries about his creation as something he never wanted. His manifestations contain anger, fear, sorrow, envy, jealousy, hatred and sometimes murderous intent that prevents him from living peacefully and joyously.

Animals live in nature and on the same land which comprises plants, shrubs, trees, and grasses.  Nature supports all animals. When animals walk on the land, there is no evidence or mark left on the land that can reveal a presence of the animal being there, unless of course, there is just wet soil which bears a mark of their presence. 

When man walks on grass, it turns out that man's foot alone destroys the grass and creates a walking path. No other animal’s walking destroys the grass it walks on. Such is the vibration we carry. Divinity is no longer expressing itself through mankind. We are using this Energy and our ability to bring destruction upon ourselves and to the environment we live in. We have lost the appropriate ways of using our ability to manifest divinity. 

It is our responsibility to realize the very purpose of our existence, which is, to restore the highest vibrations on this earth with its flora and fauna restored to its natural glory and in the highest and best way.

Our ancestors lost their ability to development and so called education that teaches us to use nature selfishly. Our future generations need to be awakened so they stop following our ways and instead look up on nature as their guru, as their mentor, as a friend, and see themselves as one amongst nature.

The way forward is to help children inculcate a daily practice of meditation, of living in peace, of communicating with nature. We need to teach them to resolve situations lovingly and peacefully instead of choosing conflict and creating confusion.

The practice of being an observer of all that divinity has manifested and to respect all of creation as necessary elements of nature that rightfully exist amidst us and along with us.

The test will prove itself successful when our children stand on grass and the grass will still shine and be as green as ever.

- - Mahesh Krishnamurthy

Our Politicians are Mandated

For over a decade, we have been watching politicians deliver their speeches, promises, vent their ires and also speak their lies. We have also seen the top political journalists host shows trying to pitch one politician or his party with the other and the whole nation watches the fun. We have been a very encouraging audience to all the mudslinging which is why these shows have been successfully running even after a decade.

Little do we think and feel about India’s politicians.

From my childhood, I have seen politicians in only one light…

Politicians are people who become rich quickly robbing our taxes and own luxurious villas and vehicles

Politicians are people who demand respect from society and they are a nuisance at times

Politicians lack the empathy about our nation and they are here to loot our wealth and store it away in some Swiss Bank Locker.

…

And I know, I am not at all wrong and also that I am not a lone thinker of this sort! This thought is in the collective consciousness. Almost everyone is thinking this way.

Arvind Kejriwal made a difference. And before you feed your sprouting thought, let me tell you, this article is not about Arvind Kejriwal or Narendra Modi.

This article is about us and the politicians we have chosen.

I am sitting at the Hyderabad Airport waiting to board the flight to Bangalore. The television screen at a distance is beaming a debate on the Malegaon Incident. The debate is heating up into an argument and the host of the event is supposedly opening a hornet’s nest. None of the people present here are anymore interested in watching this show. May be, people in their homes are glued to their television sets as do many arm chair patriots who bad mouth our country and the politicians they have chosen.

Do we care about politicians?

Why this article?

I have come to the realisation that we have chosen the politicians who are managing our country. This is not funny. We need to realise it for all the good reasons.

What does this mean to you and me?

We, the people have a mandate. A mandate is an authority that a person or an office seeks from people to perform a service on our behalf without payment from the people, which is us.

The Indian Constitution was written so the people we choose, to govern our country work with some principles. These principles apply not only to the people we choose, but to all the citizens of this country whether literate or illiterate, man or woman, adult and infant.

And, more importantly, we have authorised the politicians to speak on our behalf. Which means, whatever they speak in public, which is considered for the record, is something you are okay with.

You are okay with it because, you choose to listen and do nothing about it.

If you care, we need to remind ourselves that our politicians are mandated. This means, they will only speak and act according to the mandate that they have sought from us.

If not, we have the collective legal and moral responsibility to replace the politician representing us.

Before every election, every political party publishes an election manifesto. We, the people of India, need to read the election manifesto so we know which party will carry our common mandate forward.

How many of us have read the election manifesto of any party? We are disinterested, not involved and non-participative.

If a party comes to power because you voted for it, and if the election manifesto carried programmes which are not in favour of the common people, which you are unaware of, because you never read it, who is responsible?

Further, will you then cry foul?

Wake up citizens!

With every election, comes the election manifesto of the parties. We need to address the common need of the people of India and not of some day dreaming politician who wants to realise his personal dreams and aspirations.

It is because of our laziness that our politicians have begun calling themselves leaders. We have no leaders, we only have representatives. They are representing the people who elected them, who’s mandate they are carrying forward.

Our Prime Minister is our Chief Administrator. He oversees the functioning of our Chief Ministers (Administrators of States). Our CM’s oversee the administration of the corporators and other elected members. They are all mandated.

The overall objective is just one… To carry our mandate forward for due implementation in the highest and best way.

So, here is a suggestion.

Let us draft a common manifesto for our community, district, town, city, state and country. The party that is elected to govern our community or the country have a mandate to follow. Our mandate.

We are responsible for our country. Let us not blame our politicians. We have given our country away to them without a mandate.

Let’s wake up and hold the reins of our representatives who have been running a free ride. Let’s come together. Today is the day, now is the time.

Next steps…

— Mahesh Krishnamurthy

A system designed for complaints

The streets in Bangalore can get very crowded and can make you think twice before taking your car out. Gone are those days when streets used to be empty and we, as kids, used the street as a cricket pitch. We'd quickly form teams and place a wooden plank with brick support for stumps and another brick at the other end of the pitch.

I was driving on a particular street in Bangalore a few years ago. And, it was a crowded street. I was following a taxi which was hired by a software company. In the rear windscreen of the taxi was a sticker which read; For rash driving complaints call xxxxxxxxxx.

However, I saw this taxi driver was very good in driving, slowing down to let pedestrians cross and also speed up when required. He seemed to be an uncommon breed, a sane, well mannered taxi driver with a good road sense.

I was so inspired by his driving that I decided to call the number and ask the company to compliment the driver.

So, I memorised the number. At a convenient place, I pulled over, parked the car and called the number. The voice on the other side seemed to be an English speaking Indian security guard. He asked me why I was calling.

I told him that the car number KA-xx-xxxx was driving very well and asked if there was a system in place to complement the driver for good driving!

The person on the other end of the line did not know how to receive my communication. He hesitantly said ok and put the phone down.

What is our system designed for?

Are we here only to complain and not complement?

We need a change in our very outlook. It seems we are not divided on caste anymore. We are divided on the kind of work we do. This is not racism. Its close to untouchability, I fear.

Let's wake up before the system cracks up turning us upside down and getting some unfamiliar force to sit upon us and rule us once more. And it could well be one amongst us whom we will not be able to recognise.

-- Mahesh Krishnamurthy

The Journey: What does it mean to surrender to God?

The Journey: What does it mean to surrender to God?: The word surrender seems very powerful. Surrender, a word that brings with it the power to take away what is yours and leaves you with noth...

What does it mean to surrender to God?

The word surrender seems very powerful. Surrender, a word that brings with it the power to take away what is yours and leaves you with nothing at all. And what can be worse? That you now belong to someone else. You are enslaved.

And the fear is, when that someone can use what once belonged to you, against you.

So, if surrender is such a horrible thing to happen to you, then how can you surrender to God?

In the Hindu scriptures God is defined so you know what God is before you surrender. God is defined as the trinity... Agni (fire who signifies all transformation on Earth), Indra (who signifies the skies that bring rain and wind) and Surya (who signifies the light that brings growth and abundance).

The trinity are only known to bestow abundance to all of nature's creations on the earth of which Man is also one and not to take anything away.

So, coming back to surrender, if you surrender to God, you are not in trouble, but allow Agni, Indra and Surya to nurture, nourish and sustain you.

Now the question is how do you surrender? And more importantly, what do you surrender?

To answer this question, you need to go back to your beginning, when you began perceiving the world around you.

The centre of your forehead holds the seat of your perception and also the pituitary gland. When you perceive, through your senses, you perceive through the space in the centre of your forehead. With your perception, you are creating a new Universe. A Universe in which you have created your alternate reality, the way you perceived it. And you began perceiving when in your mother's womb. The Pituitary gland, situated in this space, acts according to this new Universe born from your perception and secretes hormones that helps your body shape and adapt itself to the inner environment formed from your perception.

Changes in secretions of hormones cause changes in your body including, weight gain, weight loss, grey hair, skin infections, ageing, birth and death of all diseases and illnesses, and even death of your body itself.

You live in this Universe which comprises of your family and your children, your friends and foes, your choices and dislikes, your judgments and your memory of events, places and all that extra you have perceived. Your Universe is independent of the Universe that exists for all of creation. The alternate Universe you have created is indeed your ego.

Your ability to create an alternate Universe, an alternate reality, differentiates you from animals. Animals just live in the environment provided to them without the ability to create an alternate reality.

Surrender, then, truly is, to give up this Universe you have created. The vedas proclaim the alternate Universe as, neti meaning, not real.

When you have surrendered the Universe you have created, and when you have nothing else to hold onto, you surrender yourself. You become Godlike. To surrender, is to be FREE.


--Mahesh Krishnamurthy

Growing up with growing up pains

When I was a kid, I remember experiencing nights of acute pains in the legs. My parents consulted doctors and they said these were growing up pains. These pains lasted several years.

Several decades later, meeting parents and their children with growing up pains, I am in the doctor's seat. What I've learnt from my experience is startling.

There is no such thing as growing up pains.

The truth is...

When you don't digest your food properly or when you haven't gone potty, your legs begin to ache and badly at times.

Doctors don't understand basic science.

What really happens is...

When you have an indigestion, improperly digested nutrients enter the blood and gravitate towards your lower limbs. Venous blood then becomes heavy to travel back to the heart. This causes pains which may last up to several hours.

If you want to cure growing up pains in your children, keep out junk food, western foods, avoid snacking in between meals and avoid juices or milkshakes during meals. This practice will keep their digestion right.

-- Mahesh Krishnamurthy

Why India will become the Capital of Diabetes and Heart Disease!

India has been the land where yoga, ayurveda, meditation practices and practical ways of living were discovered. India has been the leader in preventive healthcare practices too. Our rich tradition and cultural practices are quoted in manuscripts. From a literary perspective, we ought to be the most developed and health conscious country in the world. Yet, reality is far from what we read.

Ayurveda has a prescription for healthy eating and it's not very difficult to remember or practice. Eat your meals sitting down on the ground so you don't eat to a full stomach. Lunch has to be consumed before noon and dinner by sunset. Eat fruits for breakfast and between 3-4pm when the body requires instant energy. Eat when you're hungry and drink water when you're thirsty.

Sweets have to be consumed only at the beginning of the meal and water to be consumed during meals only and that too sparingly. Consuming water before and after meals is only prescribed as therapy otherwise is considered as a toxic practice.

Ayurveda practice prescribes avoiding combining fruits, milk, cooked food and salads in the same meal.

Well, here is the dilemma...

When diabetic patients seek dietary counsel from a diabetologist or an endocrinologist, the advise given to them is contrary to the principles of healthy eating habits. They are asked to eat in small proportions and at frequent and regular intervals. This is an absurd, unscientific and unhealthy practice.

When you visit marriages, food is served after 1pm and dinner after 8 and goes up to 10pm and sometimes even later. Sweets adorn your plate before, during and after meals. This is extremely toxic and causes a fatty liver and worse, your lymphatic drain gets clogged causing toxins to be reabsorbed into the body resulting in blood toxicity, kidney damage and stresses the heart. Other symptoms such as varicose veins and diabetes take root.

Visit your family mutts which are considered repositories of ancient Vedic practices, their food pattern is no different. I visited a very famous mutt in the border of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The Guru of that Mutt, in ancient times consumed only porridge (huggi in Kannada). To revere his practice, a huge lunch is served and to add to the indigestion that will result eventually, porridge is added. You are forewarned not to deny the porridge. Such atrocious practices will do no good to your divinity and is not sacrosanct. It's idiotic.

Some other mutts serve sweets in between meals calling them Prasad which is not to be denied. If one were to think these mutts to be healthy places to eat, you might be misleading yourself.

I have been visiting Christians recently. Their craving and consumption of non-vegetarian foods too is unholy. Non-vegetarian food converts to unhealthy muscle and fat and clogs arteries resulting in a host of vascular issues which eventually cause trouble to the heart, liver, pancreas and the spleen. Having consumed non-vegetarian food, one needs to include hard physical labour to his list of activities to burn the ingested high protein and calories.

I am sure their Muslim brethren also indulge in similar practices.

Overriding religious and cultural practices, cities have become a place of timeless eating. In Mumbai you will see people eating from 10pm and up to 2am.

Last, but not the least, man is the only creation of God who needs to look at time so he can decide to eat, whether hungry or not. 

Can you not listen to the body and give it what it asks? You will be well in no time. Instead, you ask for doctor's advise for eating, drinking, and these days, even walking. When we indulge in eating rather than eating for sustenance of the body, we will lead ourselves and our families and that of others to heart disease and diabetes.

Hospitals are capitalising on the diabetes and heart disease #tag to induce fear in people's minds and drive them to more tests and procedures.

Little work is being done to awaken people and sensitise them on healthy eating habits that will heal their bodies.

With ground reality being of indulgent and insensitive eating habits, India is driving itself to being the capital of diabetes, heart disease and what not. The rot in the system is that the medical tourism industry is happy about the condition and the inflow of patients it is having.

On the graph, if economy is the upswing curve, the health graph is just a mirror. Nothing short of a revolution is required to change the mindset of people, communities and cultures.

Will God save Indians, who have forgotten Him to their gorgeous meals?

-- Mahesh Krishnamurthy, Nadi Vaidya

Sraddha and Saburi

The two words that Shirdi Sai Baba chose for His devotees to follow at all times were Sraddha and Saburi. These two words translate as Faith and Tolerance.

Well, the way scores of people going to temples and Shirdi Sai Mandir believe; "I must have faith in God and that I have to tolerate God while He ignores me and until He looks at me and I must believe in God and believe that justice will be delivered in the end. And that suffering is a part of life which is undeniable and that, suffering will wipe out my karma and I will have no more life's after this one I am enduring."

The truth is somewhat different and quite the opposite!

God has faith in us and shows tolerance towards us. He allows us to be the roles we play. In this role play that we merge into, we forget God and believe in the tangible and temporary luxuries and pleasures. 

God tolerates us and believes in us that someday we will turn back towards Him. He sometimes waits an entire human lifespan and sometimes several lifespans until finally something He does, reminds us of Him and we turn towards Him.

So, how can we be as He guides?

I was at a satsang today and heard some very sound words. My mentor said; there is no free will. Free will is of God. We have only one choice at all times. We can either bed as God is or be as the mind wants.

So, if we decide to be as God is, we have to practice being in meditation every day. Practice will help separate us, the God Self, from the mind. It requires us to sit in one place, practicing being the witness.

During the day, we must practice observing our breath in-between every thought and every action. This way is simple but not easy.

It's not easy because it requires constant practice. The mind will slowly and surely rest as a useful and powerful tool that will be used when required while we stay connected and integrated with God.

Practice alone is the path to realise your true nature.

-- Mahesh Krishnamurthy

Why is Meditation Necessary?

The realisation "I am That" is born with me. And when I am That, I am everything. If I am indeed everything, where is a need to create? If there is nothing to create, why am I here? And what is the purpose of my existence?

 

The creator of All That Is, created to play, not to be lost in Creation. There is a difference between creating and losing oneself in ones creation. 

 

I create to know who I really am! I play with myself. I appreciate my creation. Yet, I don't lose myself in creation. This is the game.

 

But the mind is unstable. I keep connecting to the mind. And the mind is a plane of imperfections. The more imperfections I see, the more I want to create. Creation begins with thoughts. I get immersed in thoughts and thoughts will bring me to the false realisation that when I am finished with creating something, I will arrive at perfection. The short lived feeling of perfection causes me to create once more and several times more. It just goes around itself endlessly.

 

To get back into that state of being, I just need to be. The only times I seem to get there is when I am too tired to create, or when I am asleep. Either ways, I am unaware of my state of being. Awareness of my state of being is meditation.

 

The longer I take to begin, more are the challenges I will face.

 

My natural instinct is my divinity, the love that I Am. By being in the mind, creating and losing myself in creation, I take myself away from my reality.

 

It's like a tiger that is taken away from its mother and raised in a circus. The tiger has a natural instinct to hunt. But, because of the way it is raised, it forgets its instinct and believes in doing anything for food including begging. All that a tiger needs to know, is of its place in the food chain in the forest where it belongs, and that's when it will allow itself to be.

 

It's only with constant and consistent awareness that I will arrive at my true state of being and then allow existence to happen through Me. I am then playing with My creation and not indulging in it.

 

This is the principle of the creator, creation and created - There is only one, no separation. I have come to realign with this truth yet again. This is my purpose. I will have fun, be happy and love myself and everything around me just the way it is. I am That.

 

-- Mahesh Krishnamurthy 

Hearts of God

The muck that surrounds religious intolerance, conversion, reconversion and increasing religious populations has increased many fold and is revealing the worst side of the self-styled religious heads.

Conflicts within a religion such as the battle for and against the mangalsutra, the Shia-Sunni Muslim wars, and conflicts in other religions too, brings to fore the deep rooted frustrations within oneself and in their families which are projected as anti-religious feelings. All these happenings sprouts a question in my mind... Whom are we fighting?

Recently, I was invited to the Divine Mercy Church at Honchinetti Village, Belgaum to address the Christian parishioners on the occasion of tri-dum (the 3 days before Divine Mercy, the day when Jesus the Christ left his physical body).

For a Brahmin, it is one of the invitations to be rejected outright. For a Hindu, and a Brahmin, this invitation must fall short of grace because he is supposed to be on the top of the Hindu hierarchical triangle.

My accepting the invitation has rewarded me immensely. I wish to share the revelations and realisations so the air that we breathe which is poisoned with politics in religion is purified to some extent.

At the Church, I was accorded the most warm welcome and was accommodated within the Church premise with space given to practice my Brahminical rituals. Even on days when the sisters came offering tea, I opened my room door. They saw me smeared in sacred ash and in traditional Brahmin clothes and performing my puja. Their warm smile and good morning wishes did not fade or change. I was witness to the tolerance and forbearance of the sisters, something not new to them! Mother Teresa has exemplified it scores of times.

As the lecture and practice sessions happened, the Priest and the parishioners listened and practiced forgiveness, gratitude and receiving the Love of God. On several occasions, me and several others felt the energy in the Church rise only to fill our hearts with love and gratitude and left our eyes moist with His love.

The Almighty God, Parameswara or Paramatma is One within us, no matter which religion we belong to, and this, we felt in our hearts.

If there is a conflict, it exists in our heads and within our families and we want to win over public support to fuel our ego. 

There is more bitterness in the heads of people who call the Almighty One Parameswara Vs those who call Him Narayana, between the various factions of Muslims and likewise within Christians and other religions too.

We need scriptures to be a better Hindu and doctrines to be a better Christian. There is no conflict in the real practitioner who needs no scriptures to be a Hindu or doctrines to be Christ like.

Let our existence bring out the Divine Light within that we can share with all of humanity for we are truly made in His image. We are born from Love and Love is our form.

Om tat sat... Amen

-- Mahesh Krishnamurthy 

Can you really serve God?

To serve God, first we must be as God is. Do we understand what it is to be God? We have to free ourselves  from all entrapments of the ego before even thinking of serving God.

The ego manifests as hurt feelings, anger against oneself and others, unhappiness, fear, greed, hatred towards others and their behaviour, guilt, lust, sorrow, grief from loss of a loved one. 

The ego always wants. The ego has a never ending appetite. It can never get full. It can never be satisfied. The path is clear - Drop your ego and you're God. 

Sounds very simple but it's not easy at all. 

You think of dropping your ego and you encounter an experience where you're challenged and you feel hurt. Ego rules and tells you how you need to stand up for yourself and give it back. The battle never ends. 

If you really want to journey in God, you need to love. Love everyone and everything unconditionally. Unconditional love means to love without reason. 

Loving and respecting are two sides of the same coin. One brings the other. 

Ego stems from memory. If your memory fails, you'll become a saint or a mad person. Either way, you'll be in God. 

To be in God, first drop your memory. What would it be like, if God had a memory of all that you did?

Would you have a chance against the most powerful? He'd wipe you out right now. But, God does not have a memory because he's a lover. He loves you unconditionally. And that's all He is. He's love and love is what you'll get from Him. 

To love, you must forgive and to forgive, you must stop judging. When you forgive, you take yourself closer to God. And do you know what God does? He brings to you from your memory a hundred or thousand other memories for you to forgive so you can get so much closer to Him.

God is ready to do everything for you, only if you'll love. He's here, right now, waiting for you. Make that move right now. 

Reclaim God. He's in you, for you always.

-- Mahesh Krishnamurthy

Worshipping SHIVA

The Shiva Linga is a very common sight in India and also now worshipped by several foreigners visiting India. The chant Om Namah Shivaya, Jai Bholenath, Alak Niranjan, etc are some chants to remember Shiva.

I too worship Shiva. My mother taught me from when I was young that Shiva is the Lord of the Universe. I recollect an experience at a time when I was 4 or 5 years of age. We were staying in a rented accommodation. I am raised as a Tamil speaking Iyer family. Our neighbour whom our family had befriended were Tamil speaking Iyengar family.

One day, while all other members of our family were out and my mother was in the shower, I sneaked out the back door and went to the Iyengar house. I saw the uncle placing on his forehead a read streak. It glistened so beautifully that I asked him to place one streak on my forehead as well. He hesitated and told me that my parents wouldn't approve of it. I insisted, and until the end did not get it.

During my short stay on that day, I asked him, who is the lord of the Universe? And he promptly told me, It is Narayana. I was surprised. I was told it was Shiva. So, I ran back home, sneaked in the back door. My mother was still in the shower. I banged the bathroom door and told mum what I had heard. She was scared for what reason, I do not know! She yelled from inside; Don't go to that house!

Forty years later, I still remember the incident as if it happened yesterday, only because, I needed an answer to this question as to who or what is Shiva. So, my search has lead me to this perspective I am sharing with you.

The centre of our forehead has a point called Bindu. This Bindu is a point vibrating at a certain frequency. Its consistent. This frequency has always been there from even before time manifested. This is the sound of silence. When the first thought arrived, this frequency shifted for an instant and a Universe was born. This Universe is my creation. I am responsible for it. Within this Universe is born all the characters I see, hear, feel, sense, touch and taste. Everything is present within this Universe I have created. And I created it, not today, but when I first manifested as a life-form. And I have been carrying it with me since, continuing to create names, forms and experiences within this Universe.

I seek out this Universe every night in my sleep and organise it, resolving what I don't need and reinforce thoughts, feelings, emotions, beliefs, perceptions, attitudes, attributes, tendencies, choices, judgments and decisions I have taken. All action and reaction have been and are happening within this Universe.

During my life on this earth, I am living only in and through this Universe I have created.

The Oval Shiva Linga is a representation of this Universe which seemingly does not have a beginning or an end. The Snake's hood on the Linga, is my awareness towards the Universe. The Universe is maintained by Karma. Karma, the action-reaction drama, is happening all the time. So, who am I?

Worshipping the Shiva Linga means, to me, that the Universe is my creation and I have created this for my ultimate learning that I AM, is the ALL LOVING, ALL INCLUSIVE AND THE ALL POWERFUL. And the Snake's hood is the Awareness, I AM, THE ABSOLUTE WITNESS CONSCIOUSNESS, that is unmoved by the Universe and its plays of characters. The Snake's hood is only a witness, the True Self that I AM. And that is how a snake behaves when it notices movement.

By worshipping this Shiva Linga, I accept the Universe I have created and I remember that I AM that I AM, unattached. Its a game that will play itself out until the Universe empties itself out at which point, the Universe will dissolve in itself. 

I AM SHIVA.

Tat Twam Asi.

-- Mahesh Krishnamurthy

Perspectives

Revelations can happen in the most interesting places and at the most unexpected moments and places. 

In the morning, milk arrived and after collecting the litre of milk packet, holding by the tip and on the kitchen slab, I cut the pouch corner to pour the contents. Just then, my inner voice spoke up... "Which is the upside in a milk pouch?" I looked at the print and realised that I had turned the milk pouch upside down and cut the bottom. 

If I turn it around to what was initially the up side, milk from the pouch will spill all over. So, i asked myself; which is the upside? 

Then the inner voice spoke up;

"Perspectives change with changing situations." 

What was once the upside, need not be the upside forever. The way I am holding the pouch is now the upside. In life too, perspectives change with change in situations. So, it is wise to adapt to the changing situation so we can remain stable.

-- Mahesh Krishnamurthy 

Beware of that Television

The television seems to be an important asset to our lives. Little do we realise the potent pill we swallow silently every day as we watch the television.

During the telecast of any event or screening of a movie on the television screen, several advertisements cut across. These might be of insurance, home loans, vehicles, and so on. Since we decided to watch the telecast or the screening, we decide to stay seated and watch the in-between commercials also. They are only playing a few minutes every hour or so. It does no harm watching them, is what we think.

Do we pay attention to what is happening to our subconscious?

Our subconscious behaves and understands differently than our so called conscious selves. The subconscious does not see anything different from itself. It perceives everything happening to itself. So, how does that matter? Here is an example;

You are watching a cricket or soccer match on the television screen. The telecast breaks for a medical insurance commercial. The commercial shows a person or one of his family members suffering a serious health condition and they show the person being shifted in an ambulance to the hospital and then, the medical insurance card is shown, and a sense of relief on the man's face. As you read this, you visualise a typical commercial, right?

The subconscious perceives the whole commercial as a real event transpiring in the life of the body it is working through. Emotions of fear, concern, sorrow, grief and what not surface during the telecast. It does not matter whether you are aware of this or not. It still happens. The telecast resides as an experience in the subconscious. It's now a part of you.

If one of your family member or any other you have known gives in to ill-health, the subconscious will express these emotions and you will have to deal with them. The primary experience gets strengthened. What's worse, these emotions play up in your sleep because, the subconscious, in its natural way, wishes to clear all unresolved experiences. So, the unresolved experiences are thrown onto the mind's screen for resolution and these experiences play up as metaphorical dreams. And you wake up groggy with incomplete sleep because, all night, you've been either watching these dreams not knowing what to do with them, shooing them off or fighting them.

There are several practices to clear what you've absorbed. What's easier is to restrain your senses and be aware of what you're observing.

-- Mahesh Krishnamurthy

The Third Eye Drama

The Yoga and Meditation fraternity has been going gaga over the third eye for several years now. The practice of activating the third eye, the seat of intuition has been on for several decades. Whether or not the third eye is activated is anybody's guess.

The fact is all of us are not truthful while sharing our experiences. Humility is being truthful with yourself at all times without diluting or altering the experience in anyway.

The Third eye, which is located between the eyebrows is the plane of observation and perception. When we are born, we observe without perceiving, and we are naturally in the state of our highest intuitive awareness. We naturally feel attracted or repulsed to people and places. This state exists until we are about 3 years of age. When the ego takes over, we stop observing and begin perceiving. Perception leads to judgment and this narrows our intuitive ability and also our ability to observe diminishes.

What's the difference between observation and perception?

When we observe, there is no resistance. We are in the flow. Everything is a happening within and outside of us and without our mental interference. When we act, there is a result to the action and that is perfect alignment with the happening.

When we are perceiving, we feel independent of the happening. We feel affected by the happening. We feel a lack of control and so we begin to judge events as right and wrong only so we can gain control. The only control we gain is over our perception and judgment and not over the happening. The happening is Universal and our perception and judgment is the doing which is personal.

The Journey from me to We to ONE 

So, constantly focussing our attention on the third eye gets us to be the observer once again. We are removed from being in the perception and judgment of the happening. When we begin observing, intuition is available to us. There is nothing to activate or awaken. It's always been there. Now that we recognise it, its available to us. We move one step closer, from me to we.

When we listen and act according to the intuition, the intuition which is ONE, will direct towards the ONE. Acting according to the intuition will move us from we to ONE.

The journey of life is to move from me-we to ONE.

So, instead of getting into the third eye activating drama, be the observer and you will be ONE again.

-- Mahesh Krishnamurthy