A little child that had just learned to crawl saw his shadow. The shadow moved and crawled very near him, and the child thought it to be something strange and fascinating. So, just as all children do, he wanted to catch it. To clutch and then put it in our mouth is an instinct we are all born with. Give a child your finger, a piece of cloth or the arm of a soft doll, he will quickly clutch it, and then try to put it in his mouth. Wanting to clutch the head of the shadow the child lunged forward, but so did the shadow. This he tried repeatedly. When he failed to catch the shadow he started to show frustration and began to cry helplessly. The intelligent mother soon saw his dilemma and came to his aid. She made the child catch his head, and lo, the head of the shadow was also caught.

The Greek myth of Narcissus is a similar example. This very handsome youth went about spurning all maidens who fell in love with his good looks as he thought he was too good for anyone. One day while roaming in the woods he bent down on a pool of water to drink. He saw his reflection on the placid surface of the water and was besotted with admiration and love. The image captured him totally and he thereafter was so enamoured of his beauty that he could not take his eyes off. So he remained there continuously fixed and chained to his reflection, pining away to possess that handsome reflection and thus he slowly wasted away and died. A powerful myth revealing the same truth, that we are shackled by our mind’s attraction to objects. We become willing slaves to our desires and then cry helplessly and suffer.

We are looking for happiness and satisfaction where it is not. The outer world itself is powerless to provide what we want. None of the objects situations people or relationships have inherent joy. We however have an illusion that they do. Swami Chinmayananda Ji used to say “ No matter how hard and how long you churn desert sand to get butter, you will never get it because the sand does not have it! You are looking for butter in the wrong place”

This is the nature of Maya( the power of delusion). When anything ‘seems’ fascinating, it makes you run after it and possess it. The more you run the more it runs from you ( shadow like). It is an airy nothing, intangible, yet very powerful! Strangely, it is you that lend the fascination to that object. Each one hunts for different objects, situations, relationships according to ones likes and dislikes. A thing gains value only if you put a value on it. A rare diamond is very precious for you, but a child will throw away the same diamond to grasp a brightly coloured toy. Why is it that every mother thinks that her child is the sweetest child on earth, but the neighbours little fellow is the devil incarnate? You shed lustre on an object, fall in love with it, then pine away day and night to possess it. It holds you in its grip tightly. Isn’t this the same as the child trying to catch the shadow? Swami Ram says, “Go within you… all objects of love, all the bewitching and fascinating things, are simply your reflection or shadow.” Heavenly joy arises only from within you, no object is capable of granting it. How unreasonable it seems then, to hunt your shadow!

Whether it is a church, mosque, temple or gurdwara, we all kneel or prostrate with our forehead touching the ground, an act of humbling ourselves before our mighty father the lord. When we humble our ego thus, the lesser is the shadow. The shadow is the tallest when you stand tall in arrogance! In (sashtaang pranam) when you prostrate with your whole body level with Mother Earth, there is no shadow.

Prarthna Saran is the president of Chinmaya Mission Delhi.

Introspection is an important step in the process of self-improvement. When we turn our attention inwards, observe the kind of thoughts and feelings we have, identify where they are coming from — is it ego, jealousy, fear, or a critical nature — and address the cause, we are able to grow spiritually.

However, a common mistake many make is to get stuck on their weaknesses. They are sincere and well-meaning individuals who wish to become the best they can be. With this lofty goal in mind, they look inside themselves, and what they discover leaves them depressed. Some are alarmed to find that there is a lot that needs to be discarded or changed. “I am so bad, I have all these defects”, they think. Instead of looking towards their goal, they keep thinking of how far they are from it.

By brooding on their weaknesses and identifying with them, they reinforce them and become weaker, just as someone who keeps complaining about his illness prolongs it. “I am not that strong”, “Perhaps I am destined to be lowly”, “I am not sure if I will make it”. Such thoughts pull them down further.

The key is not to dwell on our shortcomings. What we think, we become. We wish to remove our flaws, but remembering them again and again, often in a misplaced effort to “be honest with the self”, is not the way to do it. When we focus only on our dark side and tell ourselves, “I am like this”, the stronger that belief is imprinted on our consciousness, which then influences our thoughts and actions. It is like digging ourselves deeper into a hole.

Recognising the weakness for what it is — an acquired flaw that is unnatural to us — gives us the right perspective, enabling us to distance ourselves from it. That in turn leads to the belief that we can overcome it. This gives us strength and, eventually, victory.

A defect is akin to darkness, and you do not remove darkness by agonising over it — you just bring in light. The light of truth, courage, and faith in God dispels the darkness within the soul. When we constantly remain in this light, all darkness vanishes from our life. Where there is light, darkness cannot exist.

B.K. Sheilu is a Rajyoga teacher at the Brahma Kumaris headquarters in Mount Abu, Rajasthan.

There are four ways that stress manifests itself:

1. Physically – through illness, because stress of the mind is reflected in the body.

2. Mentally – through confused thinking, loss of perspective, difficulty in making decisions.

3. Emotionally – through feeling stuck in a heavy mood that will not shift, a feeling there is a dark cloud constantly overhead, the feeling that all the fun of life is gone.

4. Spiritually – sometimes referred to as esoteric stress, through the loss of motivation for life, a sense of meaninglessness, no reason to get out of bed each day, ‘what’s the point?’

So, what is stress? Stress is a kind of pain. If asked, no one would say that they want pain in their life and yet pain actually has a purpose. It comes as a signal, as a messenger that something needs to be learnt, something needs to be done differently. If, as I walk along, I feel pain because there is a stone in my shoe, the pain is telling me to stop and remove the stone, before it does real damage, and then I can continue my journey in comfort. In other words, pain tells us to listen, pay attention, otherwise the pain will persist.

There is a formula for the reduction of stress: Stress = pressure ÷ resilience.

If we want to reduce stress, what should we do? First of all, we could try to reduce the pressure we are under, but that is not always possible for everyone. It often ends up being just a temporary escape. What is possible, though, for everyone, is increasing the resilience of the mind.

Short-term fixes include exercise, deep breathing, creative visualisations and music. One long-term solution is to shift the attitude and vision I have towards my life. By increasing my inner power through meditation, I become essence-full, that is I stop overthinking and over time, accumulate the power of silence which helps in any adversity. Secondly, I can develop a broader understanding of the principles that govern life and base my interactions on this understanding.

This is empowerment of the self. First, there is the journey inward, that of knowing and understanding the self, the being within. Then the journey upward, knowing and understanding the Supreme Being. This is the beginning of a personal and private mind connection with The Supreme. This connection will influence the conditions of the life I live, and it is a very different way of living.

I begin to use the principle of power derived from a deeper understanding. I will become more powerful and the best in me will begin to surface. Whoever I spend time with, influences my behaviour. The Supreme Being is the ocean of peace, love, kindness, and so much more. If I spend time in connection with The Supreme Being, my mind will begin to absorb this subtle and beautiful influence of all goodness. I will continue to have difficulties which I must deal with, but the more I spend time in the connection with The Supreme, that is the more time I spend in meditation, the more help I will receive from very unexpected directions.

This is true for everyone. It is the right of everyone to experience this help and guidance from The Supreme Being. All it requires is the willingness to take the first steps on the journey, and there will then be no need to ever feel as though you have to face everything all alone again.

Love is the energy that animates the world. God, it is said, is the ocean of love, and as His children, we are beings of love. Our everyday experiences teach us that love and kindness are not luxuries; they are essential virtues without which humanity cannot survive.

However, when we look at the world around us, we see so much lack of love. Wherever there is sorrow, it is an indication of the denial of love.

We can love selflessly only when we are full of love ourselves. In order to love and have regard for others, we first need to feel complete. Otherwise, there are too many selfish motives within, which block the heart. The way to become fulfilled is to love God—the inexhaustible source of power and virtues. God’s cleansing love washes away the stains of old weaknesses and hurts, rejuvenating souls bruised by pain and sorrow.

When we are comforted, healed and redeemed by God’s love, we come to realise that we too need to be benevolent, and that every member of the human family is a part of His creation and deserves compassion.

God shows us how to share love unconditionally — a love unadulterated with attachment or any other affliction, and which seeks not just one’s own good, but the good of others as well. It is such generosity that is enjoined on us by one of the loftiest religious commandments: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Is it possible to love others as we love ourselves? What is it that stops us from doing so?

We forget who we are: spiritual beings, composed of the energies of purity, peace and love. These qualities are innate to us, that is why we find them comforting and enriching. As babies we seem to know this secret, which is why a baby is a bundle of joy.

But as we grow up, we lose connection with this innate truth and start seeking fulfilment outside. We look for love, contentment and respect in people, places and objects, and start believing that we will be happy only when we achieve what we desire. Instead of enjoying the peace, love and happiness we can create with our own thoughts and actions, we start chasing rainbows.

It is an eternal law that we get what we give. Giving love and respect inspires a like response from others. The ancients knew this fact, and that is why the Bible, Quran, and the teachings of Confucius, all contain what is known as the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Everyone likes to have the best for themselves, and when we make our own self the benchmark for how we treat others, we learn to empathise and respect our fellow humans.

However, we are often quick to notice others’ faults and slow to appreciate their good qualities. This pollutes our feelings towards them, and once that happens, we cannot be truly loving. This is what hinders amity between individuals and communities.

Negative feelings act as an invisible barrier that blocks cooperation and harmonious relationships. We may smile and say all the right things to someone, but if we harbour animus towards them, there will be little honesty, trust, or goodwill in the relationship.

It is not selfish ambition or vain conceit that makes us superior, rather it is humility, which enables us to value others, which in turn earns us their esteem. Humility naturally brings patience and tolerance, which encourage a sympathetic understanding of not just other people but all creatures and Mother Nature. This in turn leads to cooperation, which fosters cordial relations.

In essence, a loving relationship with the self, the soul, and God is the key to loving all our neighbours on Planet Earth.

B.K. Brijmohan is Additional Secretary General of the Brahma Kumaris.

L ife on earth is just a small chapter in the storybook of our soul. It will pass away as all things do eventually. But the good news is that our souls live for all eternity in our true home on the other side. That is where all our departed loved ones are today and you will meet them again. So do not worry. Keep on living.

We are living in challenging times. The Coronavirus is rampaging India and has caused many people to pass away. Those left behind are mourning the losses of their loved ones and those who survive should be thankful that they have been given some more time here on earth. But the irony of physical life is this – there is only one certainty in life and that is that everyone is going to eventually pass away and go onto the next part of our soul’s journey. Some call this the ‘afterlife’ but the term ‘other side’ seems more appropriate. Because ‘afterlife’ implies that life is only the ‘physical’ life which is just not the case. We need to understand that life itself is permanent. There is no end to life. It is just moving into another realm of existence and it is reportedly as painless as moving from one room to another. 

Our souls were on this ‘other side’ even before we were born. They chose the life experiences that they would have. They chose their parents, nationality, race and other things before they came here as they wanted to create a life that would help them overcome whatever pending karmic issues they had from their last life. They also chose particular situations to let them learn certain lessons that they still needed to learn. Life on planet earth is a much sought after destination in the spiritual material universe. There are unlimited and uncountable other planets that can be chosen and surely there are also other popular destinations to incarnate but earth offers a place where spiritual growth happens faster because of the immense challenging nature of this world. Many other planets are more advanced and therefore do not have wars, diseases, poverty, hunger and therefore life is a lot easier. While this sounds good, it does not offer much potential for spiritual growth as there are fewer challenges. 

Think of these physical incarnations whether on earth or other planets as like a complex package of experiences that the soul undertakes willfully. Like we can choose a location on earth to go for a vacation, the same way our souls choose which planet they want to have their next physical incarnation experience on. There is always more to learn and explore and physical death is just like getting onto a flight and going back home. It may be the end of that particular visit but not the end of the person concerned. When it’s your time to go back to the other side (which is our true home) you will meet your loved ones again. 

So how do we know this? Well, there are thousands upon thousands of accounts of NDEs (near-death experiences) where people have been declared physically dead for a few minutes. There is no heart or brain activity but they miraculously returned to life and claimed to have floated painlessly out of their bodies, entered a tunnel or vortex that took them to another realm or frequency. When they emerged from that tunnel they were in a room where they met loved ones that had passed on before them. Some of them emerged into a meadow with beautiful flowers and met their loved ones. They felt an overwhelming feeling of love, peace and well being. They had no desire to return because they then remembered that this was their true home and they had just returned. They also met people from other earlier lifetimes and their memories of other lives in physical worlds returned. But in addition to that, some of these people say they visited large libraries which contain the Akashic records, a record of every life lived by everyone who ever lived or will ever live, they visited healing chambers, they visited a council of elders and spirit guides where they had a life review, they visited a huge planetarium that contains information about every inhabited planet in the universe, they visited large concert halls, lakes, waterfalls, temples and many other things. 

The other side is a detailed world like our own but much better. The NDErs say that earth is like a bad photocopy of the other side. Something like how in a virtual reality video game the world within the video game looks kind of like the ‘real’ world but isn’t exactly. Same way, the physical earth plane is kind of like the other side but not exactly. The other side is more real and the experiences there seem more real in every way than on the physical earth plane. Some of the NDErs even say that many of the ideas that are there on earth have been sent into human minds from the other side to gradually improve the earth and make it more like the other side.

Situations like wars, pandemics, famines, earthquakes and other natural disasters keep happening from time to time. People do leave this physical realm in large numbers and sometimes we lose people we love to these situations. We feel hopeless, lonely and sad because we think the person has gone forever. But this is not the case. It is just like someone you love has returned home from a vacation before you. You can no longer see them physically but you know that they are safe and at home. This is the message that needs to be spread to everyone. Your loved ones still exist and are aware of the happenings on earth.

In life, nothing is permanent. This too shall pass and there will come better and brighter days. Until then, remember we have a true home where we will all return someday. Do not be in a hurry to get there. We are all in this physical realm for a reason. That reason is to live life, learn our lessons and love one another as you love yourself to create a better world for future generations of spiritual explorers who will invariably return to or come to earth for the first time. 

Know that we are all spiritual beings having a human experience and that life is not the opposite of death. Birth is the opposite of death. They are simply entry and exit points into incarnations. Life is eternal, therefore it has no opposite.

Prashant Solomon is a Delhi based author and businessman

When a man is born on this earth, the first thing that connects him to life is breath. Doctors tap at the back of a newborn to ensure that he cries. Once he breathes in only then he can cry. Breath is our first relationship with this life and it is also our last relationship with this life. Man is nothing more than a breath. Therefore, breathing is automatic. Once a newborn begins breathing, the body breathes by itself automatically to the last. Thinking is not needed. Then whatever activity you do, be it talking, walking, thinking, eating, running, and sleeping, breathing automatically continues all life. 

In breathlessness one comes to know about one’s breathing. In extreme breathlessness, you come to realise the criticality of breathing in your life. Therefore, breathlessness becomes an extreme emergency to life. Other critical ailments can wait but with breathlessness, you are either alive or dead next moment.

Breath is unceasingly there with you. You are not needed in the activity of inhaling and exhaling. If there is no breathing. You would not be there. The most basic to life is breathing. Breath is an interrupted life. Your life is your breath. Breath is a connection you have with your body and it connects you to the body and on the other hand, it connects you to the universe. 

Breath is the source of life, the source of Prana, the vitality. Breath has two points. One where it touches your body and the other where it touches you which is the ‘nobody’ in the body. Nobody that you can call soul or atma is your gateway. Prana comes through the gateway into the body. Vitality and aliveness come from the gateway into your body. Prana reaches every cell in the body to each of the 90 trillion cells to make them alive. Each cell is made by atoms. Every atom is an individual and it manifests like matter. Human is nothing but a mass behaviour of cells and atoms. Every atom is part of the universe as much as you are part of it, as much as the earth, trees, air, and water are part of it.

Life is one. Existence is one. You are one. You touch any point of existence and the whole existence vibrates. Recently quantum scientists have discovered that atoms immerse into each other by vibrations. In this oneness, you become one with the existence. One part there is a body another part there is the universe. In between, you are there. This pendulum-like movement from the body to nobodiness from matter to non-matter is what you call life. Therefore, each coming breath is life and going breath is death.

Earth is one. The universe is one. It is all organic. Earth is organic. Earth is dependent on the universe and the universe is also dependent on the earth for being this earth-side part of the universe. Earth depends on the sun. Life on earth depends on the sun. Sun depends on other suns that we call the universe. If the sun goes off, life will immediately end on earth. It means we are part of the sun as much as sun is dependent on us for being parts of the sun. We breathe because of the environment as air is there. Air happened on earth as a backlash to breath. Therefore, this whole earth was oxygenated. We inhale and exhale. We receive and give back. Don’t think that we receive the breath as much and what if we don’t exhale. The environment of the earth also depends on our exhaling as much as we depend on inhaling. It is nothing in our hands. Oxygenation of the earth began as a backlash to the growth of life on earth and it took a billion years to oxygenate the earth naturally. And if it is to end by de-oxygenation it will take a billion years naturally to de-oxygenate. Then it might take a few billion years for organisms to use some other energy.

There is oxygen in the air that our body has evolved to inhale through our orifices. Everything that is precious on earth comes free. Nature gives that all to us in abundance. Like water, air and food. Air is free. Oxygen is free. It is 21% of the environment. One thing is clear, the oxygenation of the environment happened because of life. It is also a scientific mystery how oxygenation reached the present levels of 21% and how it sustains at that. But it is fast de-oxygenating.

The oxygen that we breathe in is our energy. Like a car runs on a combustible engine, our body also works on that model but more efficiently. We breathe oxygen that gets burned and produces energy to make our pistons throb the heart transporting oxygen to cells via red blood cells to keep the combustion of cells in operation. Cells do exhale waste gas carbon dioxide which is carried back through the bloodstream and removed by exhaling. This oxidisation happens when glucose comes from sugar. Therefore, food full of oxidants oxidises the body well so carbon dioxide is released and more oxygen is inhaled.

Mankind is making all-out efforts to de-oxygenate the earth unnaturally. Oxygen on earth comes for free. Compare this to the present-day pandemic. The pandemic has deoxygenated oxygen from our blood. 

Blood carrying arteries have low oxygen saturation relative to blood leaving the lungs. That which causes that is a virus. The human body is relative. We are also in a way little parts of the sun who are igniting the combustible engine of our bodies. We are dependent on this environment for oxygen. But if you look at rapid industrialisation and human greed have deoxygenated our environment. Denuding forests and destruction of water bodies amounts to deoxygenating the earth that means choking life on this earth. Humans are in a way choking themselves in the name of progress and de-oxygenating the earth.  

Life is relative. We are part of the environment as much as it is part of us. And if you look at the way this virus works. This virus attacks our capacity to breathe oxygen. The origin of such viruses in nature is the end result of the rapid destruction of lungs of nature. We have denuded forests and permanently contaminated water bodies. Life is choking on the planet. The virus that attacks the body exactly chokes the body-paralysing and infecting lungs integration. The virus replicates an act that humans are performing otherwise the rapid cutting of trees destruction of nature in the name of progress. Organically this type of virus has emerged as a result of our desire to get ourselves choked. Nature and oxygen have evolved as part of living beings. When living beings needed oxygen, the earth was oxygenated and now de-oxygenation of the environment, as a result, ought to reduce our capacity to consume oxygen and nature has its own ways to do that. Today it is a virus. Tomorrow by evolving into shorter lungs sizes and so on. It all depends on the environment we are evolving into.  

We should improve the availability of fresh air on the earth by planting more trees and cleaning our water bodies. Pandemic such as these is the offshoots of the destruction of the planet that is making our plant de-oxygenated. Let’s oxygenate ourselves by oxygenating the planet.

And to oxygenate our bodies, Yoga can help systematise breathing to improve strength, health and longevity—as much as this relates to the body. But if you wish to reach that nobody that forms the body then again breath becomes a medium to touch that nobody. Breath is the only connection with the universe. 

Your breath is here and now. Watching one’s breath come and go is the technique used by Buddha. You can improve your breathing by correcting your posture by 30%. People sitting on a chair for a long time or on computers, the mobile phones often bend their ribs and neck and don’t breathe as much as they can. Take a walk and breathe fully. Second just lie down on a bed. Inhale slowly and deeply to let the breath touch the point of the navel. Exhale with your full strength. When you don’t exhale with full strength, your capacity to inhale goes down. Focus on exhaling with full strength, it will build your capacity to inhale automatically. 

The writer is a spiritual teacher and an advisor on policy, governance and leadership. He can be contacted at arunavalokitta@gmail.com