An Ounce of Love Tilts the Scale in your Favor

 

Contradiction is inherent in nature. Positive–negative, acidity–alkalinity, dark–light, etc., etc., these are all manifestations of a homeostatic balance.

You know stars are held by this same dual, contradictory force of nature. Gravitational force pulls the molecules to the core; at the same time super-temperatures force the molecules to stay away from the core at a feasible length.

The stars smile and shine just because of the contradictory chemistry of these two opposing forces. Remove either of them and the star meets its end. Remove gravitational pull, the star will explode as a supernova. Remove the escaping force born of high temperature, the star will suck into its own core as a black hole.

So survival means a fine zone in the twilight of creation and destruction. Natural laws apply to humans as well; they hold the same validity if we treat an individual as a system. The human life is a wonderful phenomena sizzling like a shiny star in the twilight of humility and pride, altruism and selfishness, good and bad, faith and atheism, etc. So greatness lies not in casting off one side of this undercurrent. It lies in tilting your balance just a bit to the side of the so-called good aspects in the pair. Why? Because we are social phenomena as well, apart from being the natural ones. Our conscious sense of loving kindness sets us apart. It’s the hallmark of humanity. This is the best carat authenticity for the human self.

Just add a teaspoon of loving kindness to your forte of skills and belief. And see how wonderfully the overall taste of life gets changed. Our consciousness equips us to shine and survive like a star–but with a definite purpose. The purpose of general well-being; of helping others in maintaining the same balance of survival leading to definite evolution; of contributing proactively to the overall balance hung between the two contradictory frames.

We can contribute more than what our natural states have defined for us. Believe me! It works. Walk ahead to be a social phenomenon and not just stay a natural incident you are born as. Just help someone in need. It can be a tiny deed. As tiny as an unconditional smile! You will feel yourself elongating your natural self a bit to the positive side. This is what it takes to be human in the social sense, which is a degree higher than existing just as a natural phenomenon.

This is the alchemy of love. Make it an essential ingredient of your thoughts, feelings and actions. You will be minting gold I tell you.

Love: The True Destiny

 

If you define yourself by the external factors around you, you surrender your destiny to the outside forces. If you identify yourself with your true self, your soul, you instantly take charge of your destiny.

God was hammering down nails into my wooden being to shape the box of my destiny. I but kept on crying with pain and cursed Him for his mercilessness. My prayers egging Him on to toil more on my behalf and all this while I thought He was deaf.

Making is a bit painful buddy, but believe me every nail writes the script of many-many pleasant moments in future. Pain is never futile. It’s always a box in the making. And was creation ever devoid of pain, sweat, labor and suffering? Ask a mother who gave birth and brought up children if you need further explanation.

The storms that strike against the planking of your ship are just simply elements of ‘making’. They are the ones that define the journey. They are as important as the steam in the engine.

Now I see the beautiful artwork of the box and come to realize why those nails were hammered. It was all meant to see me home.

So love your struggles and efforts buddies. That is when you actually get ‘made’ into something substantial. During the so called smooth phase when the life is safely on autopilot, you just trundle ahead carrying your old self cocooned in the make-believe sense of being happy and content. But in reality you hardly move ahead during this phase. The routine just plods you ahead like an impassive dummy.

So be willing to accept your pain, suffering and struggle. It’s one of the best investments I know about. When you come out of the last dark hours of the night, believe me the sun shines resplendently like never before. After coming from the dark, you realize the importance of light. After tears, a smile acquires its sweetness. After pain you come to have a real taste of joy and comfort.

The so called rough phase is nothing but a passage to a better self at a better destination. There, if nothing else, your kind and compassionate self awaits. It dissolves all the previous bitterness. Bitterness gone, your regrets and anguish vaporize. You are then left with crystals of love. There cannot be a bigger reward.

The worldly replicas, which we presume to be achievements, will stay here on earth and will be recycled to five primal elements and so will the image that they defined in other’s eyes. But the footprints of love on your karmic DNA engrained in your consciousness will go with you in your further march to evolve supremely to submerge in the sea of ultimate bliss.

Accepting the fact of your loving self is simply acknowledging the march of your soul. Any conscious effort to continuously remind yourself of your inherent loving nature is as good as removing the road-blocks from the path of your evolution.

Happiness is the Water in the Well of Love

 

Yes you can cut your butter knife through the lump of iron. For a person suffused with unconditional love, all this and more is the simplest of a task.

Martin Luther King, Jr.: “I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”

There is a fountain of happiness inside. It lies dormant under the self-imposed crust of fears, illusions, assumptions and ignorance. You have to unearth it. You have to remove the burdensome layer that weighs you down like a beast of burden. You just pull ahead like a coal and soot laden steam engine, lifelessly, mechanically. You have to realize you are more than a beast of burden and a steam engine.

Pierce through the crust’s increasing thickness. You have to dig deeper. Stop, take rest and get a sense of what you are doing. Again you have to pick up your pickaxe. You cannot afford too much rest. Rest lies at the destination. There it is a factor of eternity. Once you reach there, running and resting will become the same.

Hit hard. Let its iron run deep into the earthen wall that separates you from your real potential, your destiny, your destination for which Mother Nature has shaped and nurtured you. Dig deep. Look within. Life isn’t worth living just as a series of accidental occurrences bobbing you like a wooden wreck tossed by stormy waves. It’s about calculated, well planned steps and moves.

Steer the ship well. You were born to master it, just keep it in mind. With knowledge and information you can move on the crust only. It’s just living accidentally. Wisdom helps you dig deep. There is a source of your real happiness. It doesn’t require a sprint on the outer crust. You will just head-butt other runners, fall in the dust and grind your bloody teeth. After all, it’s just a stampede.

Break through the outer shell. It needs some guts to begin with, but then at later stages it is like you are cutting butter with a knife. You will have the passage to your real self. It will be an escape route from the mindless race.

Just dive into it. Below lies the tranquil sea, your own unchartered waters. You are the owner of its infinite depths and cool currents spreading in countless directions. You can drift anywhere. Just imagine the freedom. Claim your freedom. You were not born to be a slave to your fears. Freedom is just unadulterated love. Go, do it!

Love is a Lotus in the Pond of a Calm Mind

 

Buddha says to enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one's family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline one's own mind.

Well, the great soul just nails it. A disciplined mind lays the stage for love to blossom. With discipline, mind turns calm, resulting in inner strength and health. In the silent waters you get a clear picture, which minimizes the risks of misunderstanding and miscalculation. No wonder you just turn out to be more loving than ever, simply because the agents of hate and anger vanish under the lucid rays of the sun of truth. An irked mind, on the other hand, is the stone that topples the love cart.

As all of us know, we shape our destiny with the chisel of our thoughts. To carve out a beautiful statue your chisel has to be well-maintained. Keep it sharpened, keep it under control, manage it, and you will have a beautiful image of your true self surfacing in your thoughts and actions as you move on life's path.

As Joyce Meyer says, “You cannot have a positive life and a negative mind.”

So brothers and sisters, pull up the reins. The real you is kind, loving and joyful. Only that the load of a freely straying mind makes you feel otherwise.

Love sprouts from a pure and peaceful mind. To have a pure and peaceful mind, practice forgiveness. Forgiveness simply stills the mind in an instant. And you just cannot have a restful mind in a hateful body. Restful mind and love are synonymous. Compassion is the real elegance of mind.

The biggest challenge to love is from an ever-suspicious, insecure mind. It is up to you to flip the coin and be the best from the worst by training the mind. Nail down the affirmations into the mind. It obeys, believe me! But it needs to be told repeatedly. It’s after all an obstinate child.

O my mind: —

Be the seat of my strength, not weakness.

Be the seat of kindness, not cruelty.

Be the source of light, not darkness.

Be the source of energy, not idleness.

Be the source of creativity, not limited vision.

Be the source of love, not hate.

Be the source of smiles, not tears.

Be the source of happiness, not suffering.

Be the seat of optimism, not pessimism.

Be the seat of gain, not loss.

Be the source of help, not obstruction.

Be the seat of leadership, not just sheep-walk.

Be the seat of a better human being.

Be the source of a more loving person.

O my mind,

My seat of limitless potential,

Take my journey further,

Please choose the better half of all the dualities for me.

 

Keep reminding your mind. Repeatedly. Daily. With eyes closed and a fervent request on your lips. It’s a very nice, nutritious pre-breakfast food.

Choosing the better side of the pair of our actions and feelings is as easy as flipping a coin in our fingers from head to tail. It's a very short journey from the worst to the best. As short as the flip of a coin. A mere realization. Acceptance. Simple awareness. And a pledge to remember. Thanks to the flawed model of upbringing, we get almost pre-conditioned for the negative end of dualities. The instinct can be broken. Just a simple early morning practice is sufficient. It needs only as much as reminding the self. Repeatedly. And the vast avenue of care, share, love, compassion, happiness, joy and bliss open up.

The Natural State of Existence: Love

 

Have a deep grasp of the vast scheme of things and you will find logic an insufficient model of cause and effect. There is a sense of naturality in most of the phenomenon around. At the core of our existence is the point of effortless, attributeless and choiceless being. Move away from it and you have the spinning phantoms created by mind. The farther we are from the centre of our being, the more are the illusions. Hate, jealousy, greed and prejudices are the thundering clouds in these outer orbits. They keep the sun of our true being hidden under the cloudy veil.

Try to be near the centre. Move inside. It's a meditative state of deep relaxation like you have in sleep with the added faculty of full alertness. From here you can see the tragedy of fighting in the shadows away from the shiny centre-pole of your all-loving self.

This is the point of unified consciousness, of a massive singularity of love, peace and harmony. Here you love everything with a detached Godly muse. This is the comforting seat of love. Shrieks from our restless, incessantly chattering mind, however, betray and lead us into the maze of meaningless pursuits always leading to the same pain and recurring disappointments.

There is a cosmic law of just being. It drives things and phenomena to float effortlessly in the space-time continuum. In the self-evolving mode of existence, most of the events and occurrences just happen, naturally, effortlessly, without any fuss, needing no pushing, prodding or cajoling. Harmony thrives on such effortlessness. It sustains life, retains the cosmic balance and nurtures the eternity.

You may have a supposition that after taking a pinch of snuff powder, one sneezes. Well, you must have seen many old people doing that, or even experienced yourself. Ok, snuff gives you a sneeze. Agreed. But only as long as a free ‘effect follows the cause’ principle is applied in the natural form. Smallest interjections from mind will topple the scale. This universe loves its harmonious sequence of cause and effect. Tamper it with your conscious meddling, it will repel the transgression.

Charles Darwin did an experiment. He called ten snuff powder users and asked them to take pinch of snuff and then sneeze. He put a gold coin in front of each of them as a reward if they sneezed after taking the snuff. On any other day, snuff and sneeze would follow as natural companions, but not today. Today there was a forced will to win the gold coin in between. The snuff users became extremely eager, and consequently super-conscious, to get the sneeze. The natural balance between the cause and the effect was broken. They won’t get the sneeze. Their faces contorted in all directions at funniest angles, their eyes watered like anything, but the accursed sneeze, which came hurtling down so effortlessly every day, will not come today.

So moral of the story is: Certain natural things are better left alone as simple occurrences without our stone-pelting the sequence born of super-conscious, egoistic meddling. Guys don’t allow the sneeze to topple the snuff.

Sharpen your natural instincts, allow them to guide you, trust in them, and be a follower. It mellows your heart, makes you more tolerant of life’s idiosyncrasies, turns you receptive to differences because you see the ultimate singularity. There are lot many human affairs where we can meddle with our brain games. So learn to leave things as they should be naturally. And once you hone this art, the actual things wherein you have a right to poke your nose will start falling in you grasp. It saves a lot of energy also. With more energy left in your reserves, you feel better and confident. It then becomes a sure shot remedy of happiness and joy.

Once you allow this beautiful aesthetic sense of naturality of things to sink in, you will feel showers of the sun of compassion warming every pore of your being.