APRIL 2009 Volume 3 Issue 1
O Reaction My Reaction! To know more about Sahaja Yoga Meditation and to get your Self Realization online, pl visit www.sahajayoga.org
Page 01
(Contributed by Jasmin Panchal)
The ancient epic BHAGVAD GITA teaches human beings to achieve the 'Sakhshi Bhava' or the witness state, a state in which there is supposed to be no reaction. It is no surprise that modern management gurus like Stephen Covey have also stressed upon the importance of this quality, and his 90/10 principle is an indication of the same. What is this principle? 10% of life is made up of what happens to us. 90%of life is decided by how we react. What does this mean?
Inside this issue Page O Reaction My Reaction!
01
Just meditate
02
Editorial
03
The recession Attitude!
04
Infany Joy
04
The Tremendous Power of
05
It means we really have no control over 10% of what happens to us. We cannot stop the car from breaking down. The plane may arrive late or a driver may cut us off in traffic. We have no control over this 10%. The other 90% is different. We determine the other 90%.... How? By our reaction. We cannot control a red light. But we can control our reaction. Don't let others rule us; we can control how we react. Let's use an example.
Tao-Te Ching by Lao Tse
05
You are eating breakfast with your family. Your daughter knocks over a cup of coffee onto your business shirt. You have no control over what just happened. What happens next will be determined by how you react.
Missing the Gold
06
Scenario 1: You curse.
The real message of Easter
07
Attitude
The meaning of Self-Realization 08 Mozart-one of the greatest
09
musicians Corporate Meditation a reality 10
You harshly scold your daughter for knocking the cup over. She breaks down in tears. After scolding her, you turn to your spouse and criticize her for placing the cup too close to the edge of the table. A short verbal battle follows. You storm upstairs and change your shirt. Back downstairs, you find your daughter has been too busy crying to finish breakfast and get ready for school. She misses the bus. Your spouse must leave immediately for work. You rush to the car and drive your daughter to school. Because you are late, you jump traffic signals. After a 15minute delay and throwing away Rs. 1000/- as traffic fine, you arrive at school. Your daughter runs into the building without saying goodbye. After arriving at the office 20 minutes late, you find you have forgotten your briefcase. Your day has started terribly. As it continues, it seems to get worse and worse. You look forward to returning home.
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APRIL 2009 Volume 3 Issue 1
Contd...
Page 02
O Reaction My Reaction!
When you return home, you find that a wedge has developed in your relationship with your spouse and daughter. Why did you have a bad day? A) Did the coffee cause it? B) Did your daughter cause it? C) Did the policeman cause it? D) Did you cause it? The answer is "D". You had no control over what happened with the coffee. How you reacted in those 5 seconds is what caused your bad day.
Scenario 2: You remain calm and don't react Coffee splashes over you. Your daughter is about to cry. You gently say, “Its ok honey, you just need to be more careful next time.� Grabbing a towel, you rush upstairs. After grabbing a new shirt and your briefcase, you come back down in time to look through the window and see your child getting on the bus. She turns and waves. You arrive 5 minutes early and cheerfully greet the staff. Your boss comments on how you seem to be having a good day. Notice the difference? Two different scenarios. Both started the same way. Both ended different...Because of how you REACTED. A wrong reaction could result in losing a friend, being fired, getting stressed out etc. Meditation helps us to remain in balance and as we grow in our meditative state, our reactions start decreasing. We soon find ourselves in a witness state most of the time, enjoying ourselves and our surroundings, automatically benefiting from the 90/10 principle without effort! It CAN change your life!!!
Just Meditate
By Pankaj Sharma
When we feel bored, Deeply worried, Under the peak of tensions, Just meditate When we have to do our task, When our face is like a sad mask, Just meditate When failure comes with might, And a loved one departs, Have courage with patience and, Just meditate When we are disliked, Insulted or scolded, Don't lose heart, but Just meditate It makes one happy, my friend To keep our mind sound, And our body healthy, so Just meditate.
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APRIL 2009 Volume 3 Issue 1
Editorial Dear Readers, Welcome to the latest issue of Blossom Times, and you might be wondering how this issue did not reach you a month earlier! Well, from now on your Blossom Times magazine will be a quarterly one, with more to read in every issue. This issue starts with a article on our particular fundamental characteristic of reacting to surroundings. It is a fact that this characteristic plays a role in our daily lives so significant that many a times it is the deciding factor between our success and failure. And what better way of controlling our reactions than meditation, so there we have a beautiful poem on meditation from one of our correspondents and we have another one for you titled ‘Infant joy’ by William Blake. Today the recession factor is playing on every one’s mind and we have tried to give a solution in one of our write ups and another brief on what attitude can do for us! Its Easter time and we have made a humble effort to explain the message of Easter…and a very easy method of how one could follow and implement this message very easily through one’s Self Realisation, which also leads to a positive sea change in attitude towards life. Also many times we miss the obvious as we are always among the various noises both outer and inner but once we get our Self Realisation then it becomes very easy to connect with oneself and not miss the gold, as you go through the article ‘Missing the Gold’! History has seen many great saints and artists, and in this issue we have for you some very important words of wisdom by Lao Tse, with Chapter 1 of his famous writings of Tao Te Ching translated as a humble attempt by one of our team members. Also we bring to you some reminiscences of one of the greatest musicians of all times, Mozart. Last but not the least is our regular feature of ‘Corporate Meditation a Reality’ with details of many highly successful Sahaja Yoga Meditation workshops / programs conducted across the country, programs during which the participants got their awakening of inner power and unison with the Self….their Self Realization. We sincerely hope that you would enjoy this issue thoroughly and wish everyone with lots of joy and good health.....)
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Page 03
APRIL 2009 Volume 3 Issue 1
Page 04
The recession Attitude! (Contributed by Anish Kohli) This story is about a man who was selling Hotdogs by the roadside. He was illiterate, so he never read newspapers. He was hard of hearing, so he never listened to the radio. His eyes were weak, so he never watched television. But enthusiastically, he sold lots of hotdogs. He was smart enough to offer some attractive schemes to increase his sales. His sales and profit went up. He ordered more and more raw material and buns to increase sales. He recruited more supporting staff to serve customers better. He started offering home deliveries. Eventually, he got himself a bigger and better stove. As his business was growing, the son, who had recently graduated from college, joined his father. Then something strange happened. The son asked, "Dad, aren't you aware of the great recession that is coming our way?" The father replied, "No, but tell me about it." The son said, "The international situation is terrible. The domestic situation is even worse. We should be prepared for the coming bad times." The man thought that since his son had been to college, read the papers, listened to the radio and watched TV, he ought to know and his advice should not be taken lightly. So the next day onwards, the father cut down on the order of raw material and buns, took down the colorful signboard, removed all the special schemes he was offering to the customers and was no longer as enthusiastic. He reduced his staff strength by giving layoffs. Very soon, fewer and fewer people bothered to stop at his hotdog stand. And his sales started coming down rapidly, along with the profit. The father said to his son, "Son, you were right. We are in the middle of a recession and a crisis. I am glad you warned me ahead of time." Moral of The Story: It’s all in Our MIND! And we actually FUEL this recession much more than we think we do!!!!!!!!!!!!
Infant Joy
By William Blake
‘I have no name; I am but two days old.’ What shall I call thee? ‘I happy am, Joy is my name.’ Sweet joy befall thee! Pretty joy! Sweet joy, but two days old. Sweet joy I call thee: Thou dost smile, I sing the while; Sweet joy befall thee!
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APRIL 2009 Volume 3 Issue 1
Page 05
The Tremendous Power of Attitude Psychologists have always told us that attitudes can influence results. Two scientists decided to conduct an experiment to find out if attitudes could affect seeds. Two identical cans were taken. Into each was poured soil and fertilizer of the same quality and quantity, and 23 seeds were dropped into each can. They were both placed in a greenhouse so that they could have the same conditions of weather and temperature.
(Contributed by Jayshree Iyengar)
There was only one variable in the experiment, all other things being the same. Everyday, the two scientists came to the greenhouse, stood before the first can and poured into it all the negativism of which they were capable. They said to the seeds, "You are good for nothing. Nothing is ever going to come out of you, and even if something comes out, it is not going to last,” and so on and so forth. Then they came and stood in front of the second can and poured into it all the positivism of which they were capable. “You are so wonderful," they said to the seeds, "and you are going to show wonderful results. It will be a sight to see what is coming out of you,"and so on and so forth. This was repeated thrice a day for three weeks. At the end of three weeks, the scientists found that while there came forth only two or three shoots of grass out of the first can, out of the second can there came forth whole strands of grass, so strong that they could clutch it and lift up the entire can with its soil and fertilizer. If this is what attitude can do to seeds what can it not do to tender children?
Tao-Te Ching by Lao Tse
(Chapter 1)
(Contributed by Sheng-Chia)
Tao cannot be described. The Tao that can be described by words is not the truthful, eternal Tao. A name is an appellation. A name that is used to appellate an object is not the truthful, eternal name of the object. There is an all-pervading state in the beginning of this universe. This state can be called as “Nothingness.” The force causing the evolution of the universe is the Mother of all the creation. The force can be called as “Ens.” Based on “Nothingness”, we can witness how Tao forms everything. Based on “Ens”, we can witness the fundamental rules of all the creation. Both “Nothingness” and “Ens” are from the same Tao. The separation of “Nothingness” and “Ens” only exists in the world of phenomena. The origin of Tao, where there is no separation between the “Nothingness” and “Ens”, is a state that cannot be reached by thoughts. It is beyond thoughts. It is more subtle than all subtleties. It is the origin of all subtleties.
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APRIL 2009 Volume 3 Issue 1
Page 06
Missing the Gold! A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work. The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on. In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars. Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100. This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context? One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
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APRIL 2009 Volume 3 Issue 1
Page 07
To err is Human, to Forgive Divine (Contributed by Anish kohli)
The real message of Easter is Love & Forgiveness. We have often heard this famous saying as the title above, but one wonders as to how many times we really follow this or at least try to follow from our heart. Human beings often make mistakes and whenever we do, most of the times we take it for granted that God or Divine will forgive us. Those of us who are God fearing ask for forgiveness. But what happens to us when someone else makes a mistake because of which some discomfort is caused to us...Well, most of the times our reaction is either a ‘give back immediately’(road rages as evident example) or ‘a planned revenge’
Do we often wonder as to why we are not willing to forgive the other person who does something against us, whereas we expect the same from God or other human beings? The answer probably lies in way the we are brought up, forgiving is not really stressed as an important aspect from the childhood itself so when we grow we take our ‘decisions’ on forgiveness case by case. Picture this that someone is driving a car and another one blows the horn from behind; a not so rare end result in many parts of the world today is a ferocious fight and someone losing his / her life. IMAGINE, someone killed because of blowing a horn! And such common are incidences of road rage happening now that one often wonders as to how unforgiving us the humans could become. But if that ‘another one’ is our friend or relation or someone well know to us, then our reaction will not be the same, in such cases we are forgiving and sometimes may not even consider that horn as a noise!. What does this show? Selfish love? Conditional love? Limited love? Pure love, Motherly love, Nirbyaj Prem (Love without any hidden interest or agenda) is the real love. This can be equated to God’s Love, Divine Love. Those of us who can feel that beautiful sustained love in our hearts all the time are the ones who have the power of real forgiveness from the heart; else it goes as just a mental activity. To achieve this state of real love one needs to be integrated within and at peace and love within first, then the same peace and love manifests outside to the people surrounding us. A very easy way of attaining this Peace and joy is Self Realization, wondering what that is?... then read on…
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APRIL 2009 Volume 3 Issue 1
Page 08
The meaning of Self-Realization (Contributed by Pankaj Sharma) It is a given that we should love ourselves and hope we do! … But let’s ask this question to our self - “Do I completely know myself?” Well, if the answer to the above is a tentative one then it is because we have not yet realized our self. In simpler terms, it means that we do not know our self fully, and that’s what the prophets and saints meant when they used words like ‘know thyself’ and ‘Atmasakshatkar’ (Self Realization) Self-realization means self-discovery in the highest sense of the term, knowing oneself completely and feeling our own inner state on our subtle system. In this state, one consciously realizes the oneness with the Divine Power. Once this happens, then there is no ‘other’. As long as the seeker remains in ignorance, he will feel that God is somebody else who has infinite Power, while he, the seeker, is the feeblest person on earth. But the moment he realizes God, he comes to know that he and God are absolutely one in both the inner and the outer life. Self-realization means one's identification with one's absolute highest Self. When one can identify with one's highest Self and remain in that consciousness forever, when one can reveal and manifest it at one's own command, that is Self-realization.
To know more about Sahaja Yoga Meditation and to get your Self Realization online, pl visit www.sahajayoga.org
Now, we have studied books on God, and people have told us that God is in everybody. But we have not realized God in our conscious lives. For most of us, this is all mental speculation But when one is Self-realized, one consciously knows what God is, what He looks like and what He wills. After Self Realization one can remain in God's Consciousness and speak to God face-to-face. Then God is seen both in the finite and in the infinite; as both personal and impersonal. And this is not mental hallucination or imagination but a reality. When one speaks to a human being, there can be a veil of ignorance, imperfection, and misunderstanding. But between God and the inner being of the one who has realized Him there can be no ignorance, no veil. So at that time one can communicate with God more clearly, more convincingly and more openly than with a human being. As ordinary human beings most of us feel that infinite Peace, infinite Joy, infinite Bliss and infinite Divine Power are all sheer imagination. We remain victims to doubt, fear and negative forces which we feel are quite normal and natural. We seldom feel pure love for anyone, not even ourselves. Most of the times we are in the finite, struggling and fighting, and don’t feel Peace, Joy or Bliss in us. But those who practice meditation after achieving their Self Realization go deep within and experience the real Peace, Joy and Bliss. They get boundless inner strength and see that doubt and fear can be challenged and conquered. When we achieve Self-realization, our inner existence is flooded with Peace, Poise, Equanimity and Enlightenment.
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APRIL 2009 Volume 3 Issue 1
Page 09
Mozart-one of the greatest musicians (Contributed by Dr. Anupama Deshpande) The world has seen many creative geniuses for centuries in various faculties such as music, art, science. The creativity of such people rises above normal human intelligence, and rational thinking fails to find the source of such a depth of knowledge and beauty that arises from it. One such creative genius was the great musician Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart who was born in Salzburg, Austria in 1756. He was one of the most influential composers of his era and produced more than six hundred works. His influence has even lasted till this century with many avid fans listening to his music. He showed an amazing ability to compose from a tender age of 5, and by the age of 17 he was appointed as a court musician in Salzburg. Later on he decided to live in Vienna where he produced some of his greatest symphonies for which he achieved a lot of fame. It is said that he was moved by the vision of humanity ‘redeemed through art, forgiven, and reconciled with nature and the absolute’. His music also had a profound influence on future musicians. During his younger years his family made several trips to Europe, exhibiting his and his older sibling’s creative skills. During one such trip, he got acquainted with Johann Christian Bach, who had a great influence on him. One of his trips took him to Italy where he met G.B. Martini in Bologna and became an accepted member of the prestigious Accademia Filarmonica. While in Rome, he heard Gregorio Allegr’s Miserere just once during a performance in the Sistine Chapel and then wrote it out entirely from memory, with only some minor errors. This copy is present even today at the Vatican. Towards the end of his journey to Italy, Mozart wrote the first of his works, the solo cantata Exsultate Jubilate, K. 165 which is performed widely even today. After returning to Salzburg, Mozart tried other instruments such as violins and produced a series of five concertos with steadily increasing sophistication. His increasing dissatisfaction at Salzburg for various reasons, made him venture out to other cities of Europe. However, he didn’t find a suitable job which could satisfy his musical thirst and soon began to run out of funds. Financial difficulties and other personal reasons made him return to Salzbrug and take up a new position. This move did not diminish his discontentment. By 1787, Mozart had obtained a steady position in Vienna under the aristocratic parsonage. The Austrian war reflected on the musician’s life as his income dwindled and he moved with his family to cheaper lodgings in Vienna. He started living off borrowed money and his creative performance had taken a severe beating. He finally recovered from this blow and financial conditions also improved greatly. He also produced some very good pieces of work including some of his most admired works: the opera The Magic Flute, the final piano concerto (K. 595 in B-flat), the Clarinet Concerto K. 622, the last in his great series of string quintets (K. 614 in E-flat), the motet Ave verum corpus K. 618, and the unfinished Requiem K. 626. Self-realization helps us to enjoy the music composed by such great musicians at a subtler level and helps us to feel the passion with which the music was composed.
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APRIL 2009 Volume 3 Issue 1
Page 10
Corporate Meditation a reality
3 day Sahaja Yoga Meditation workshop held for lawyers at Delhi High Court central lawns 30th Mar’09-1st April’09 During the last quarter the corporate team of Sahaja Yoga Meditation remained quite busy with regular programs being conducted in various organizations and institutions. These programs which are conducted for social cause are mostly conducted as 3 day workshops with daily duration of around 70-80 minutes. The programs are free of cost across the globe as the founder of Sahaja Yoga Meditation H.H. Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi says “Truth cannot be sold, it cannot be purchased but it is just to be experienced and enjoyed”. This reiterates the very basic fact that since awakening of our inner power i.e. Self Realization is a living process (like breathing, blooming of flowers, change of seasons) thus one cannot pay for this. During the last quarter there were various Sahaja Yoga Meditation workshops / programs conducted across the country in corporate organizations / MNCs, Government organizations and Medical colleges / institutions, a few notable ones being : 3 day workshops for lawyers at Honorable Delhi High Court Lawns, programs for Honorable Supreme Court Bar Association (ongoing for last few months), Indian Institute of Health Management and Research (IIHMR), Indo Tibetan Border Police force (ITBP) Panchkula, Border Security force (BSF…ongoing), Punjab National Bank, NTPC Ballabhgarh, IIT Roorkee (ongoing for last few months), Chambers of PHD, SBI Ajmer, MAYO College (Ajmer), College of Engineering, Pandharpur, Solan Homeopathic and Medical College and many more.
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APRIL 2009 Volume 3 Issue 1
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If you would like to organize a
Sahaja Yoga meditation workshop in your organization, pl. send email at corproateworkshops@sahajayoga.org.in Also interested readers of
from India can send from your mobile “sy workshop� to 56677 ALL sahajayoga public programs around the world are entirely free of charge and always open to the public, as Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi says, " TRUTH cannot be sold, it cannot be purchased", it is just to be experienced and enjoyed. All copyrights reserved@Nirmal Transformations Pvt Ltd, Pune, India
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