A PARABLE ON 'HAPPINESS'

I opened some years ago a journal to jot down the great sayings of wisdom masters on happiness.

A wise man says that happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more.

This Zen parable on 'Happiness' is my all time favourite :

Once upon a time, there was a king who had everything he could ask for in life, wealth, health, a loving family and many caring friends. But he could never feel happy. A saint offered him an easy solution. Happiness would come his way if he wore the shirt of the happiest person in his kingdom. So his men searched far and wide and finally found a truly blissful soul in a grimy shanty on the fringes of the town. But they asked him for his shirt, he could not offer one. He had none.

PHILOSOPHICAL CONNOTATIONS OF DEATH

The other day I along with  my   colleague went for tea  at our office cafeteria.  I couldn't forecast that I had to return with a sad note.

When we were sipping tea in the warmth of sun on that winter morning, suddenly a car ran over a puppy in front of our eyes. The puppy with its black and white shades was very cute. It was playing leisurely with its mother on the road when the incident happened. When the dogs were on jolly mood, we were keenly observing and discussing how cute the four puppies and we could not even have the slightest hint that death was looming on one of them.

See how death touches any creature on Earth. Some die naturally and some others forcefully and you can't say why one is living above ninety and the other is perished to death in mother's womb itself. The animal kingdom being limited in their faculties may not express the way we humans do. But the basic emotions are same. My eyes welled up with emotion when I saw the mother dog making circles around its dead puppy.

Who don't fear death? The famous writer Khushwant Singh in his book "Khushwantnama says that "All that I hope for is that when death comes to me it comes quickly, without much pain, like slipping away in sound sleep."

Like he cherished, he died at 99 in sleep on 20th March 2014. Quoting a passage in the Mahabharata, Khushwant says that the greatest miracle of life is that while we know that death is inevitable, but no one really believes that he/she too will die one day.

The Buddhist monk Dalai Lama when asked how one should face the death, he advises 'meditation'. It is easy to say not to fear death, but very difficult to distil into wisdom. The famous American Indian doctor and the New Age spiritual guru Deepak Chopra says that the Prince of Death is just behind you. He experimented on 'death meditation' during his sojourn in Thailand in 2011. By doing Buddhist way of doing meditation on death, Dr. Chopra says that you would constantly know the impermanence of life and certainty of death.

Life is like a passing stream. At every point, there are endless lessons to learn, and lessons on death should not be isolated. We need to maintain serenity even in the midst of turbulence. When the mind is prepared for the worst, whatever less damage happens in front of you, should not grab your peace.

TOO MUCH MATERIALISM IS INJURIOUS TO HEALTH!

Generally we are driven by comparison mania. If our neighbor brings home a new product, our heart craves to possess that by hook or crook. Whenever such thought crops up in your mind, just pause and think of the fate of people living in utter poverty.

Anupam Kher, the best character artist of Bollywood in his book " The Best Thing About You is You!" says that

" I would like to share with you a beautiful thought, which I came to know many years ago and which has stayed with me : I always longed for a pair of shoes, until I saw someone with no feet. The powerful imagery of this humbling thought has always stayed with me. So too is a Gandhian saying "There is enough for the world's needs, but not enough for the world's greed."

We can lead a decent life with minimum possessions. Once a man or woman crosses forty, this wisdom must prevail. We must learn not only from the experience of ours but from other people's experiences which offer insights to lead a happy life. Like Anupam suggested, you must feel blessed with what life offered to you and there lies wisdom without pomp and show!

FASTING AS A TOOL FOR SELF-AWARENESS

 

It is said in Ayurveda that you should take food as medicine, otherwise you are perforce take medicine as food.

In my childhood days, my mother put us on fasting every Monday in Kartik maas (November - as per Indian calendar ) and myself and sisters used to take circles around the kitchen during those hungry hours  when sumptuous food is served after evening puja.  To endure the pangs of hunger, she used to  advise us to immerse in our  regular activity rather  thinking  food every moment. It is a tradition laced with potential health benefits.

Now after three decades, I am  back to fasting with rekindled enthusiasm after I was  convinced enough of  its immense health benefits.  

In fact, fasting is a cleansing process which takes out the toxic substances from your body. Spiritual luminary Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev says Once in every 11 to 14 days, you may not feel like eating. On that day, you should not eat. You know, even dogs and cats have this awareness?  At least every 14 days, you could go without food. If you are unable to go without food, if your activity levels are such and you don’t have the necessary sadhana to support you, then you could go on a fruit diet. Just observe your own system, and you may notice that on certain days, you do not really need to eat. Forcing food on those days is not a good thing to do.

Fitness guru Rujuta Diwekar in her best seller " Don't lose your mind, Lose your weight' says Fasting is a powerful tool as a spiritual practice, but nowadays it is used mainly as a weight loss tool by 'experts'. 

All most all religions have fasting  embedded in their cultures. If you remain on fasting,  your decision-making  faculties would excel  and it  helps you gain more self-control.