Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Look within

Jeeva slowly opened his eyes. It was all dark. He doesn't remember how he ended up here and what was this place. In a few minutes his eyes got adjusted to the darkness and he could see things around him.

When he saw the delicious sweets he started feeling hungry. He tried to reach for them, but couldn't move that far. Unable to stand up, he tried to crawl to the sweets tray. He could only go near it but couldn't touch it. He looked around and found a TV. He thought at least he could have some entertainment and forget about the hunger. But, the remote was nowhere to be seen.

He started looking around to see if someone could help him. There was no trace of any human presence. He tried hard but couldn't control his emotions or cravings. He kept looking around for someone or something to help and didn't understand why he was not able to move much.

While looking around he suddenly glanced towards himself and realized the reason for his inability to move. His feet were tied to the wall with an iron chain. He tried to untangle himself from the chain, but unfortunately it was secured with a lock.

He started searching for the key. He looked all over the room, but couldn't find it. He was struggling a lot to get out of the bondage, but that was not possible without the key. As he finished searching the whole room, he felt something in his pocket. To his surprise, it was the key he was looking for and he was free at last.

We too are bound in this dark world and without realizing it we keep yearning for all things around us. And eternally feel sorry for our inability to get what we want. Once we stop looking around and start to look towards ourselves, we realize that we were bound by the illusion called Maya. And the key to open the bondage is also within us. It's the knowledge of the self - Aatma Jnana. It cannot be acquired from outside. It can only be achieved from within. And once we find the key, there is nothing in the world that can bind us.

Monday, April 18, 2016

South facing home

I keep hearing from many Indians in America that one should not buy a south facing home as it is against Vaastu. I wonder where this all started, as I have never heard this while in India. And I haven't seen one single village or town in India that doesn't have any south facing homes at all. If the belief is true and most of Indians believe in it, all the Indian towns and villages should have a U shaped structure with a vast opening on the south side. But, as all of you know, that is not the case.

Then, why the highly educated Indians in America are spreading this superstition? What I understand is people fear the South because Lord Yama is the presiding deity of the southern direction. As you know, Lord Yama's full name is Yama Dharma Raja. When one follows his Dharma, he has no need to fear Yama. Lord Yama is a true impartial and unbiased judge. And when two parties go to the judge on a case, they both respect the judge, but the guilty party is the one that fears the judge.

Moreover, there is no greater heaven than your happiness and no worse hell than your sorrow. One should not strive to go to heaven or hell. Both the heaven and hell are temporary in nature same as the day and night. Once you finish paying-off your Karma in heaven or hell, you will be forced back to the earth to continue acquiring new Karma, just as one will be forced out of a hotel after spending all his money. Lord Krishna clearly stated this in Gita - "ते तं भुक्त्वा स्वर्गलोकं विशालं| क्षीणे पुण्ये मर्त्यलोकं विशन्ति||" - "Those who spend-off their good Karma in experiencing the luxuries of the heaven, will come back to the earth."

One should instead strive to raise above the Karma, as advised by Lord Krishna, by doing their rightful duties (Dharma) while leaving the result to Him. And coming back to south facing homes, a home in which people pray to God daily is as holy as a temple, no matter which direction it faces. And a day on which one wakes up praying god is an auspicious day, no matter what the calendar says.