Vivekananda 150: The monk who served Truth

By Tulsi Badrinath

Vivekananda’s teachings help us recognise the true purpose of human life

In my first novel, Meeting Lives, I wanted to map not only the geographical space we occupy but also the rich, vertical spiritual space. To explore the practical application of vedanta in my protagonist Aditi's life, her journey of self-discovery, moving from ‘lower truth to higher truth', I had to find a way of describing both the worldview of vedanta and what it meant to Aditi. Weaving in the story of the rational, questioning Narendra, which altered forever by one touch from Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, and his becoming Swami Vivekananda, allowed me to do this. To read Vivekananda is to recognise the true purpose of human life, 
and to understand one's own self in relation to others.

Narendranath Datta was born in Calcutta on January 12, 1863, to Bhuvaneswari Devi and lawyer Vishwanath Datta. Thirty years later, he became known worldwide as Swami Vivekananda when, on September 11, he began his address at the Parliament of Religions with the words ‘sisters and brothers of America', speaking extempore, his heart ‘fluttering' and ‘tongue nearly dried up'.

Harriet Monroe, who was present at the parliament, wrote: ‘His personality dominant and magnetic, his voice rich as a bronze bell, the controlled fervour of his feeling, the beauty of his message to the western world—all these combined to give us a rare moment of supreme emotion.' 

The need to meet someone who had seen God brought a sceptical 18-year-old Narendra in 1881 to the master of Dakshineshwar, Ramakrishna, whom he thought ‘stark mad' at their first meeting. To Narendra's burning question—Have you seen God, sir?—Ramakrishna affirmed, ‘Yes, I see Him just as I see you here'.

Over the next five years, until Ramakrishna passed away in 1886, Narendra questioned every step of his spiritual journey. Eventually, Narendra was won over by the visible proof of Ramakrishna's immersion in God—made “his slave by his love for me”. And, he was gifted the entire force of his master's spiritual practice by one gaze. Said Ramakrishna: “O Naren, I have given you everything I possess, now I am no more than a fakir, a penniless beggar. By the powers I have transmitted to you, you will accomplish great things in the world, and not until then will you return to the source whence you have come.” And his gentle command to Narendra was: “You have work to do.”

On Christmas eve, 1886, Narendra renounced the world, “One eye shed tears of grief when I left home, because I hated to leave my mother, grandmother, brothers and sisters; the other eye shed tears of joy for my ideal.” 

It was no easy decision because his father's death in 1884 had left the family in debt. As the eldest son, Narendra inherited all the troubles. Having known involuntary poverty and hunger during this period, Narendra went on to embrace it voluntarily as a sanyasi, accepting alms not only in India, but also in Chicago when he arrived too early for the Parliament of Religions.

In 1890, he left his guru-bhais, the fellow monastic disciples of Ramakrishna, with strict instructions not to follow him. The young sanyasi travelled all over India under the names Satchidananda and Vividishananda and at times anonymously. For three years as an itinerant monk, he carried only a staff, coarse blanket, begging bowl and two books, Bhagavad Gita and The Imitation of Christ.

As a guest of the maharajas, or the Muslims or the poor untouchables, the swami witnessed the state of the Indian people under the British rule. His heart wept for what he saw and his mind blazed: “So long as millions live in hunger and ignorance, I hold every man a traitor who, having been educated at their expense, pays not the least heed to them.”

It was at Kanyakumari in late 1892 that he synthesised all that he had seen and found a way to help the daridra narayana (the poor). To him, a monk's goal of personal salvation must be sacrificed at the prospect of helping others, for Ramakrishna wanted them to serve all beings as Shiva. The young monk put aside his personal inclinations to accomplish his master's work, but at the cost of his health.

The swami was only 30, and without money or fame. So, how could he find the money to fund his vision? It was then that an idea slowly took shape. To find more means for the salvation of the poor in India, he decided to go to America.

His ‘Madras boys' led by a devoted Alasinga Perumal went from house to house to collect funds for the trip. And his benefactor and devotee, Maharaja Ajit Singh of Khetri, bought him a first class ticket on the ship S.S. Peninsular and his silken ochre robes, and bestowed on him the name Vivekananda.  

Swami Vivekananda spent three years abroad, travelling, lecturing and suffering calumny from Christian missionaries and fellow Indians, only to find that he had been cheated of his earnings by an American lecture bureau. However,  donations from three western women—Henrietta Mueller, Sara Chapman Bull and Betty Leggett—made it possible for Vivekananda to establish the Belur Math in 1898. On his triumphant
 return to India, a year earlier, Vivekananda had laid the foundation for setting up the Ramakrishna Mission. Today, it is one of the wealthiest charitable organisations in India, funded by contributions of thousands of ordinary people.

Cutting short his second trip to the west in 1899-1900, Vivekananda returned to Belur Math. Severely ill with asthma, dropsy and diabetes, he was at peace in his room that overlooked the Ganga. His ill health did not stop him from fulfilling his mother's wish to go on a pilgrimage. “I have brought only misery to my people all my life. I am trying to fulfil this one wish of hers,” he had said.

On July 4, 1902, before he reached the age of 40, Swami Vivekananda passed away in his room at Belur Math. “After so much tapasya and austerity, I have known that the highest truth is this: He is present in all beings. These are all the manifested forms of Him. There is no other God to seek for. He alone is worshipping God, who serves all beings.”

Soon, the Indian freedom struggle intensified and freedom fighters were inspired by Vivekananda's pride in the Hindu heritage and fierce love for the motherland. But Vivekananda had shunned politics. 

“Let no political significance be ever attached falsely to any of my writings or sayings. What nonsense!” he had exclaimed in 1894. “I do not believe in politics. God and Truth are the only policies in the world. Everything else is trash.” 

In more recent times, the sayings of Vivekananda have been appropriated out of context by politicians for their own ends. 

In this context, it becomes necessary to reiterate that he was a sanyasi, who had renounced the world. And his aim was: “The dry advaita should become alive—poetic—in everyday life; out of hopelessly intricate mythology must come concrete moral forms; out of bewildering yogi-ism must come the most scientific and practical psychology— and all this must be put in a form that a child may grasp it. That is my life's work.”

What is advaita-vedanta? He expressed it thus: “All is one, which manifests itself, either as thought, or life, or soul, or body, and the difference is only in degree.” To mouth a few choice phrases from his entire works on the one hand and spread communal hatred on the other is a complete negation of everything Vivekananda stood for. 

Vivekananda did not hesitate to speak his mind about any religion, its great truths and its drawbacks in practice. He did not shy away from the truth that ‘practical advaitism, which looks upon and behaves to all mankind as one's own soul, is yet to be developed among the Hindus.' “On the other hand our experience is that, if ever the followers of any religion approach this equality in an appreciable degree in the plane of practical work-a-day life, it is those of Islam.”

While he believed that advaita-vedanta ‘is the religion of the future-enlightened humanity' he was ‘firmly persuaded that without the help of practical Islam, theories of vedantism, however fine and wonderful they may be, are entirely valueless to mankind'. Therefore, “I see in my mind's eye the future-perfect India rising out of this chaos and strife, glorious and invincible, with vedanta brain and Islam body.” Ultimately, “we want to lead mankind to the place where there is no Vedas, Bible or Koran; yet this has to be done by harmonising the Vedas, the Bible and the Koran. Mankind ought to be taught that religions are but the varied expressions of THE RELIGION, which is oneness, so that each may choose the path that suits him best.”

We take pride in being secular, but generations of Indians are growing up knowing very little about what it is that makes Hinduism or sanatana dharma, which is so accepting of other religions. If we do not understand why our worldview makes us all-inclusive, we cannot fight fundamentalism of any kind.

To any human being who embarks on the inquiry of the self, Vivekananda's relevance is a given. More than a hundred years later, one can still enter into a direct relationship with Vivekananda by reading his writings, in which the most difficult of Upanishada concepts are explained with the greatest simplicity. And his letters reveal a man who got a childlike joy in learning new things, and who used up every dish in the kitchen while cooking.

The words of French historian Romain Rolland hold true for all time: “His words are great music, phrases in the style of Beethoven, stirring rhythms like the march of Händel choruses. I cannot touch these sayings of his... without receiving a thrill through my body like an electric shock. And what shocks, what transports, must have been produced when in burning words they were issued from the lips of 
the hero!”

Tulsi is a Chennai-based writer and dancer. Her novels Meeting Lives and Man of A Thousand Chances were on the Man Asian Literary Prize long-list in 2007 and 2008, respectively.

COURTESY: THE WEEK, DEC 23, 2012

Swami Vivekananda: The original feminist

By Prema Nandakumar, The Week

Today, we speak a lot about women's empowerment. More than a hundred years ago, a young, wandering sanyasi noticed that the condition of women all over India was deplorable. Swami Vivekananda noticed that the sorrows of women were mainly due to illiteracy. They simply bowed to karma. He dreamt of the day he could change this state of affairs and give them a new deal. He posited a tremendous spiritual victory over the western consciousness by opening his epoch-making Chicago address with “Sisters and brothers of America”. Woman had been given the pride of place even in the west, and it promised a brighter future.
Interestingly enough, even before he spoke in the Parliament of Religions, he was giving talks in Breezy Meadows (Massachusetts) and one of them was to the inmates of Sherborn Reformatory, a prison for women. He spoke highly of Indian women and their heroic past but he was also looking around for ideas to improve their present condition. Was there any hope for the poor women of the land, condemned to illiteracy, life-long drudgery and misuse in a male chauvinistic society? The self-confidence exuded by the American women made him realise that education held the key. Hadn't he seen his sister commit suicide, a victim of sheer obscurantism?
At the same time, on watching American women closely, Vivekananda understood that Indian women should not go in for mindless westernisation. Speaking to a New York audience, he boldly said: “I should very much like our women to have your intellectuality, but not if it must be at the cost of purity.” He never liked the idea of men paying compliments to women, and would not accept it as mere pleasantry. Are women no more than lovely dolls?
“Now the ideal woman in India is the Mother—the mother first and the mother last. The word ‘woman' calls up to the mind of the Hindu, motherhood; and God is called Mother,” he said at a lecture in California in 1900.
At the same time, unless the mother was educated and self-confident, how could she be an ideal mother? That was why Vivekananda thought about empowering women in India in a big way. Born free, he found her everywhere in chains. Even the richest woman from the most enlightened community bowed to societal pressure in many ways. Obviously, the fight had to be two-pronged. On one hand, it was the duty of the enlightened people in the community to reject obscurantism like child marriage and the treatment of widows. “Writing down smritis and binding them by hard rules, the men have turned the women into mere manufacturing machines,” he had pointed out.
On the other hand, women had to work out their own salvation. Women needed to be educated about their rights as a human being so that they would become creative partners in managing a household. To a question about the syllabus for women's education, he said, “religion, arts, science, house-keeping, cooking, sewing, hygiene” and, of course, a thorough knowledge of the epic heroines. For this purpose, he wanted to start centres for teaching women. Daring the restrictions imposed by society, he invited Sister Nivedita to come to India and work for women's education. What she and Sister Christine did for women's education is now history.
Swami Vivekananda's vision in all matters had a rare clarity. When a question was raised on whether educated girls would be able to marry at all, given the conditions of the day, Vivekananda said when good work was undertaken with moral courage, victory was assured: “You have not understood the trend of  society. These learned and accomplished girls will never be in want of bridegrooms. Society today does not follow the texts recommending child marriage nor will it do so 
in future.”
And there was also the path of a brahmacharini to become an achiever and be of use to society. Swami Vivekananda had a strong sense of history. He knew that India's greatness down the centuries depended heavily on the contribution of women to society. In spite of a million hurdles, Indian women had a natural turn towards the spiritual and were not unfazed by the sufferings undergone by the great epic heroines. Rather, this was how they had empowered themselves to face life, generation after generation. “The height of a woman's ambition is to be like Sita, the pure, the devoted, the all-suffering,” he once said. Suffering was thus accepted with instant readiness by all our women. Rani Chennamma of Kittur, Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, Subhadra Kumari Chauhan and all others who entered the Independence movement, and social activists of today, including women who participated in the Chipko Movement, have all suffered for a noble cause.
So the swami did not want any deliberate sculpting of the new Indian woman. Education would help her re-assemble her spiritual forces. There was no need to order her life. She needed to be given freedom and she was sure to do the right thing, for wasn't she a child of India's ancient heritage that she had guarded zealously through religious practices? Such was his faith in Indian women. Had he not seen Mother Sarada Devi and his own mother, Bhuvaneswari Devi?
A hundred years ago, he thundered to a questioner: “Educate your women first and leave them to themselves; then they will tell you what reforms are necessary for them. 
In matters concerning them, who are you?”
Women of India must remember with gratitude this spiritual warrior whose tradition has continued to this day.


The author is a vedanta scholar and an eminent educationist.

Power Quote by Swami Vivekananda

Sw. Brahmdev: Pick Up The Broom,Start Cleaning

It is customary for us to spring-clean our homes during this festive season, in the run-up to Deepavali. Cleaning is essential activity. All unwanted stuff is disposed of; what can be given away is set aside and homes are given a good wash and some get painted  too. So pick up a broom and as you sweep the dust away, tell yourself that this is your consciousness that you are cleaning. Internalise the outward process.

We have heard it said that cleanliness is godliness. It is, for when we live in clean surroundings, don't we feel happy and energetic. Isn't it heavenly. But when we are in dirty places we feel miserable. We want to get out as soon as possible. We cannot feel peace. So too with our internal state of affairs.

Nature teaches us all the time to engage in cleaning. Dust here, pick out the weeds here, wipe off the stains there; cleaning is an endless process because this is nature’s way of ensuring we do not go to sleep; we do not slip into complete inertia.

But how often do any of us undertake to clean something ourselves we delegate the job. We busy ourselves in gaining knowledge... or so we think.

So much we read and study, all the time but how much of it is really relevant to our life. We are constantly gathering information; we need to stop and do some spring-cleaning here. All that information is useless if it does not help you uncover your consciousness.

There are three types of dust that we gather within ourselves. One is our own negativity. We think negatively, act and perceive negatively. This accumulates inside of us, changing our responses. Secondly, we gather negative influences from our surroundings, from the people we meet, and pick up negative vibrations from them. Sometimes we let ourselves slip into unethical activities because we have cluttered our lives. Hence we need to clear the clutter and confusion to be able to think and act with a clear conscience.

The third type of dust is perhaps the hardest to get rid of misuse of powers vested in us. We use our senses to fulfill our instant pleasures. We know it is wrong but we seek immediate gratification, for selfish ends. In this manner we cause great injury not only to ourselves but to all of society.

We, each of us, have tremendous potential within us. We have the divine within us. Once we know that we have allowed soot and dirt to accumulate inside and that it is obstructing us from experiencing the divinity within, we will instinctively know how to do it.

There is no one method that can be applied externally. The first step is to be aware that we need to initiate the cleansing process. The process of cleaning outside and suggesting to yourself that you are also cleaning within will help initially to actually get it done.

A selfless attitude is helpful in cleaning out the consciousness. In fact, it is the best form of cleaning. When you give, you recognize the universal divine nature. Just like nature gives of herself at all times, when you give, you automatically get cleaned. In today's world of competition, people fear that if they give, people will exploit their kindness and walk all over them. This will not happen. Human progress takes place only when the consciousness is clean and disciplined.

Courtesy: The Times of India

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Spiritual Diary: Excerpts from the book Meditations by J.Krishnamurthi

Meditation is one of the most extraordinary things, and if you do not know what it is you are like the blind man in a world of bright colour, shadows and moving light.

 

It is not an intellectual affair, but when the heart enters into the mind, the mind has quite a different quality: it is really, then, limitless, not only in its capacity to think, to act efficiently, but also in its sense of living in a vast space where you are part of everything.

 

Meditation is the movement of love. It isn't the love of the one or of the many. It is like water that anyone can drink out of any jar, whether golden or earthenware: it is inexhaustible. 

 

And a peculiar thing takes place which no drug or self-hypnosis can bring about: it is as though the mind enters into itself, beginning at the surface and penetrating ever more deeply, until depth and height have lost their meaning and every form of measurement ceases. 

 

In this state there is complete peace not contentment which has come about through gratification but a peace that has order, beauty and intensity. It can all be destroyed, as you can destroy a flower, and yet because of its very vulnerability it is indestructible. 

 

This meditation cannot be learned from another. You must begin without knowing anything about it, and move from innocence to innocence.

The soil in which the meditative mind can begin is the soil of everyday life, the strife, the pain, and the fleeting joy. It must begin there, and bring order, and from there move endlessly. 

 

But if you are concerned only with making order, then that very order will bring about its own limitation, and the mind will be its prisoner. 

 

In all this movement you must somehow begin from the other end, from the other shore, and not always be concerned with this shore or how to cross the river. 

 

You must take a plunge into the water, not knowing how to swim. And the beauty of meditation is that you never know where you are, where you are going, what the end is.

Courtesy: Shambhala Classics

Must Read: Avoid stress in 12 easy steps

Do you find it impossible to switch off and relax? Is the weight of the world always on your shoulders? Do the pressures of study and money worries cause you sleepless nights?

If the answer to these questions is yes, or if you are just feeling a little bit stressed, then you need to learn to relax. The average person spends 27 days a year worrying and feeling stressed, but you can avoid this by adopting one of the following lifestyle changes that are designed to help you chill out.

1.       Have regular massages

Don't be fooled into thinking that massage is merely an indulgence or something you should only treat yourself to once or twice a year. Regular massage is incredibly beneficial - encouraging your muscles to relax and lengthen, improving blood flow, boosting your immune system and, last but not least, making you feel as chilled as a polar bear's cold bits.

2.       Switch off your phone

Mobile phones were designed for one thing only - to disturb people. So switch your phone off, sit back and relax.

3.       Listen to classical music

You might not think you like it, but research carried out at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, found that listening to soothing classical music will help you to calm down and relax. Try it when you get into bed to help you sleep.

4.       Read a good book

Ever wondered why your doctor's surgery is littered with magazines? No, it's not because they are running two hours late - research has actually shown that a good read can do your health a whole lot of good. Health experts and doctors in North Lincolnshire have even gone as far as 'prescribing' books to patients to alleviate their anxiety levels. Participants then present the prescription at their local library and - literally - read themselves well.

We recommend that you read something fun and not related to work - the books that your lecturers 'prescribe' for you during the year are more likely to raise your anxiety levels than alleviate them.

5.       Take up yoga

Is there anything yoga isn't good for? Aside from the numerous benefits to your physique, yoga is also adept at helping you sleep and reducing stress.

6.       Have a nice cup of tea

No, we don't mean the classic English breakfast tea - switch to low-caffeine alternatives such as chamomile or peppermint, and you will soon be reaping the benefits.

7.       Start eating right

Never underestimate the impact your diet has on your health and wellbeing. If you are constantly feeling irritable, unfit and highly-strung, chances are you are fuelling your body with the wrong foods. Cut down on caffeine, alcohol and foods that are high in fat and calories, and you will be feeling much better in no time.

8.       Start working out

Eating right is all well and good, but adding regular exercise sessions will lower your anxiety levels even further. Numerous studies have shown that working up a sweat does wonders for your mental wellbeing, not to mention your sex life, sleep patterns and the obvious physical benefits.

9.       Breathe easy

If you often feel rushed, short of breath or like there are a thousand and one thoughts running through your head at once, then make sure you take time each day to take your body to the other end of the scale. Set aside 20 minutes every day to stop what you are doing, sit down somewhere and meditate. Close your eyes and focus on your breathing until it naturally begins to slow down, leaving you feeling relaxed and in control.

10.   Go box

It may sound surprising, but boxing is in fact a great way to lower your stress levels. Channelling your aggression at a punch bag or your sparring partner will release all your pent-up anger, as well as giving your fitness an overhaul.

11.   Get a pet

Animals seem to have a magical effect on humans, so much so that hospitals and doctors are increasingly using them to treat their patients. It's not always so easy in student accommodation, but keeping a pet can dramatically decrease your stress levels. If you haven't got time for a cat or a dog, even a hamster or goldfish can be a fun addition to your household.

12.   Get back to nature

Dropping the books and escaping from the city, even for a day, and interacting with nature will help you clear your head of muddle and allow you to spend some quality time on your own or with friends.

Courtesy: MSN Lifestyle

Speaking Tree: Spiritual Is Being Inwardly Awake

Swami Sukhabodhananda

To live life is to be related and in every relationship there are three factors, the subject, object and their connection.  If the relationship is harmonious, life is harmonious; if not, life is disharmonious. The art of wisely relating to life and heightening the spirit is being spiritual.

Q:But our spirits are low and sometimes high, is it not?
A: If the content of our consciousness is low then our life is low and if the content of our consciousness is high life is high. If our content of consciousness is hurt, jealousy, anger, ego… it pulls us down and if it is love, gratitude, compassion… then one’s life will be high.

Reflect on this story: A washerman was going along with his donkey. In the dark the donkey fell in a pit. The washerman could not stand the cry of the donkey and so he decided to bury it. He started filling the pit with mud. After some time he was taken aback to see the donkey out of the pit. Whenever the mud was thrown, the donkey would shake it off and climb on top of the mud pile and thus it climbed out of the pit. In the same way if people throw muck at you, shake it off and go up. If the content of consciousness is good, every difficulty will be an opportunity for you to grow and if poor, every opportunity will be a difficulty.

Next, are you restless or restful in your daily activities of life? Being restful, being calm, being inwardly silent and not noisy is an important quality of a spiritual being. If one is restless inwardly, mind pollutes perception. If the mind is calm, one sees situations objectively; if disturbed, one sees things in a distorted way. Hence it is said, we don’t live in the objective world, we live in our subjective world. We don’t live in God’s world; we live in our private world of hurts and upsets.

Can you experience anything without the experiencer? When one looks at a flower, we word it, we silently say, I like it or don’t like it and by that inner language, we are not in touch with the flower, we are in touch with our version of the flower, polluted by our internal words, our likes and dislikes. A spiritual way of looking is -- I see an object, without wording an object, and then I am in touch with the object in a different level. If my boss scolds me, I listen to him without any internal words and get objectively what he is saying. But when he scolds me and I am crowded with my thoughts, with my internal words, then the overtone is louder than what is said.

Can I be alert to the sensations that are happening and keep it bright in my awareness? If I interpret it in a particular way, by liking or disliking it, then my sensations become dimmer and internal words becomes louder. I am disconnected with what is and caught up in what should be. What should be is a non-fact and the fact is present sensations. Be with fact and not with non-fact.

To live a life of gratitude is an enlightened way of living. Be grateful and not greedy. If one is grateful, one is sensitive to life; if not, one is sentimental. Being grateful, one will not be egoistic and being sentimental, one becomes egoistic.  Drop the arrogant self to be truly spiritual.

Courtesy: Times of India

O-Zone: The power of zero!

Vinita Dawra Nangia

Zero is the pinnacle, the end of all knowledge. It is a powerful tool that helps us navigate life better!

We have heard that the end of all learning is humility, the realization that we actually know nothing compared to all we need to know! If you believe this, you believe that all learning and knowledge lead you to a feeling of nothingness, a feeling that you are shunya, a zero.

Sounds alarming, but the zero you feel after a lot of learning is a very different place to be in from the zero you feel before you embark on that learning! Recently, some probationers were surprised when a senior bureaucrat told them, “Please walk into my office whenever you need to. I am nothing, I’m a zero.” Used to the pomposity of bureaucracy, they may have been taken aback. But this is how the officer explains her comment, “What I meant was that they should not stand on ceremony or hierarchy with me. In the vast structure of government and the general scheme of things, each one of us is nothing. The
emptier you consider yourself, the more space you have to learn; the more insignificant you believe yourself to be, the more effective you are, and the more receptive you are, the more you absorb from all around. I am as willing to absorb learning from a probationer, as I am from my seniors.”

Impressive! We started talking. We discussed how most problems occur when we fancy ourselves meaningful and substantial. How if we thought we were zeroes, we would have no expectations, and so no disappointments; if we had zero chips on our shoulder, we would not suffer any affront to dignity; if we had zero mental clutter, we wouldn’t suffer from useless feelings of guilt or fear. If we had zero memory, there would be no bitter carry-overs, no half-truths that prevent new learning. A person who comes to a situation with zero understanding or in other words, an open mind, can understand a new situation afresh, encouraging creativity. If we are zero in ego, we don’t take offence easily, while forgiving and forgetting fast. Zero brings peace; it brings a feeling of calmness and power over self and over situations.

Training ourselves to clear the clutter and enjoy the quiet of emptiness helps build better relationships and better lives. Complicated relationships are the result of past baggage; try approaching a situation afresh, forgetting past bitterness and start with a clean slate. In a corporate world, keep a hierarchy-less approach, open your door and learn more about your organization, tuning in with the vibes you feel.

Perhaps, it was not a coincidence that zero was discovered in India by mathematician Aryabhatta. When we meditate we are told to look within into nothingness and to think of nothing. It is in that space that enlightenment comes. The Bhagvad Gita and Vedas talk of the Universe being created out of nothingness, shunya or zero. God in his unmanifest form is also shunya; in his manifest form, He is ananta, or infinite; and so, from zero comes infinity. God was one but manifested in many forms — that is the power of zero!

Keeping your mind a tabula rasa is a great point to begin —- and an equally great point to end at! This is not the zero of ignorance, illiteracy, lack of knowledge or confidence. This zero is the natural outcome of knowledge and supreme wisdom; it is the zero of extreme self-confidence. It is not that you don’t know anything; it is more that you are willing to learn everything! A zero mind is accepting and receives, hears and registers, and notes critical points. It is the abode of peace, quiet, bliss and solitude. It means you have everything, you know everything and yet are willing to begin at the starting point!

A farmer lost a watch in a haystack. He asked a group of children to help him look for it, promising a reward. The children hunted for hours, but couldn’t locate the watch. Sometime later one of them came back and looked again. He found the watch within a few minutes. Asked how he did that, the child said, “I sat still and concentrated. I heard it.”

Courtesy:Times of India