Want an Enlightenment Experience? [Video by Yogiraj Siddhanath Gurunath]

I first went to see Master Yogiraj Siddhanath Gurunath when I was 18 years old. At the time I was studying at Aston University in Birmingham, and had just been watching a few videos on YouTube of him when curiosity made me check out the Hamsa Yoga website. Miraculously enough he was visiting Birmingham the very next week! Can you believe it? I was over the moon! It was one of those WOW moments when destiny becomes crystal clear. I vividly remember it being a Thursday, the same day I used to do a Kundalini Yoga class. In fact, the exact date was Thursday 14th of June 2007 (thanks to Gmail). So I text my yoga teacher to ask permission to see if I could go to this event instead and she text back with the simple words "Follow your intuition. Sat Nam". And so I did, and went along, knowing it to be a part of my destiny.

I was intrigued by what the master said he could do, and indeed what all masters are able to do:

1. Shivapat - Sharing his Enlightened Consciousness of thoughtless awareness
2. Shaktipat - Transmitting center to center in the disciple’s Chakras the Kundalini Energy which burns their negative karmas
3. Pranapat - Breathing his spiritual Prana (life-force) through the breath of the disciples in their spinal cord flushing out all toxins & emotional stress.

So I went with the sole purpose of experiencing these transmissions from the master.

I went away that day, after also having the chance to eat opposite the master in a restaurant after the event, experiencing all of those graces of the master and getting a direct initiation into Kriya Yoga by Yogiraj Gurunath Siddhanath himself.

I left that evening with a much wider heart, a much wider mind, an experience of a still mind state and an experience of enlightenment. I went back to see the master many times at different retreats, but I'll save those enchanting and more miraculous stories for another day.

Now for the real deal, experience what I experienced that day for yourself. Drop your mind, drop your doubts, drop your thoughts, drop your scepticism, open your heart, feel love for the master, connect to the master's heart, trust the master, look at him with eyes of love and you will be well on your way to an unforgettable experience...

Sat Nam...

After watching the following video, it brought all those wonderful memories back of the first time I got to see him. The time and grace I enjoyed with this very rare master whom I believe I am related to from previous lives.

What is true health? What the NHS & Department of Health should know

Recently I have been going through some physical ailments like getting injuries to my leg, getting a throat infection, getting redness and itchiness all over my body due to a reaction to some insect bite or nettle sting. However, in spite of it all, I am in perfect health emotionally, I am extremely happy, I am enjoying the experience and I have not lost my values. Emotional health is a choice, physical health is often not.

The National Health Service of the UK, and the Department of Health should understand that getting people to become more emotionally stronger will help reduce the strain and burden on NHS staff. Usually when people are ill they become irritable, angry, depressed or irresponsible, they want sympathy and want to feel they are the center of the world and thus should not have to wait to be seen by a doctor or a nurse. Often patients lose their patience, which makes doctors and nurses take on a lot of stress and makes working everything but a joy.

A society is drained and becomes poor not because of the physical sickness of its people, but because of mental sickness which is so often ignored by the world of scientists, doctors and nurses.

I thereby must announce that I shall be starting a programme for the NHS and Department of Health to firstly train the directors and NHS staff in emotional health, so that they can better handle the stress of their jobs and then eventually this programme can be rolled down to the patient level. Often patients are just waiting in a waiting room being unproductive, when this down-time could be utilized to improve their mental health and emotional fitness and caliber. To increase the levels of their tolerance and happiness. My theory is that this will reduce the burdern on staff, make patients happier and make hospital a more pleasant experience. Ultimately this will be the societal move from antibiotics to Gurubiotics - which is the name of my new programme.

One day I have a dream, to see a waiting room full of patient patients.

Sat Naam.

What is true health? What the NHS & Department of Health should know

Recently I have been going through some physical ailments like getting injuries to my leg, getting a throat infection, getting redness and itchiness all over my body due to a reaction to some insect bite or nettle sting. However, in spite of it all, I am in perfect health emotionally, I am extremely happy, I am enjoying the experience and I have not lost my values. Emotional health is a choice, physical health is often not.

The National Health Service of the UK, and the Department of Health should understand that getting people to become more emotionally stronger will help reduce the strain and burden on NHS staff. Usually when people are ill they become irritable, angry, depressed or irresponsible, they want sympathy and want to feel they are the center of the world and thus should not have to wait to be seen by a doctor or a nurse. Often patients lose their patience, which makes doctors and nurses take on a lot of stress and makes working everything but a joy.

A society is drained and becomes poor not because of the physical sickness of its people, but because of mental sickness which is so often ignored by the world of scientists, doctors and nurses.

I thereby must announce that I shall be starting a programme for the NHS and Department of Health to firstly train the directors and NHS staff in emotional health, so that they can better handle the stress of their jobs and then eventually this programme can be rolled down to the patient level. Often patients are just waiting in a waiting room being unproductive, when this down-time could be utilized to improve their mental health and emotional fitness and caliber. To increase the levels of their tolerance and happiness. My theory is that this will reduce the burdern on staff, make patients happier and make hospital a more pleasant experience. Ultimately this will be the societal move from antibiotics to Gurubiotics - which is the name of my new programme.

One day I have a dream, to see a waiting room full of patient patients.

Sat Naam.

Unmani - No Mind

Unmani.
Beyond mind,
We find,
The Unmanifest.

Unmani.
Beyond reason,
The season,
Always Spring.

Unmani.
Beyond thought,
We sought,
The Unmanipulated.

Unmani.
Beyond desire,
The fire,
Always cool.

Unmani. Unmani.
Unmanifest Spring.
Unmani. Unmani.
Unmanipulated cool.

Beyond mind, beyond reason.
Beyond thought, beyond desire.
We find, the season,
We sought, the fire.

Unmani - No Mind

Unmani.
Beyond mind,
We find,
The Unmanifest.

Unmani.
Beyond reason,
The season,
Always Spring.

Unmani.
Beyond thought,
We sought,
The Unmanipulated.

Unmani.
Beyond desire,
The fire,
Always cool.

Unmani. Unmani.
Unmanifest Spring.
Unmani. Unmani.
Unmanipulated cool.

Beyond mind, beyond reason.
Beyond thought, beyond desire.
We find, the season,
We sought, the fire.

Making of a Mystic by Sadhguru

A great article by the great mystic Sadhguru from The Huffington Post:

"I'm generally referred to as a mystic. Well, what's that supposed to mean? If there is something here that you do not know or you are unable to understand, that would become "mysterious" to you. If there is someone here who seems to know and understand things most people do not, that person would become a "mystic".

As a child, one thing that I realized was that I was utterly, absolutely ignorant and everybody around me seemed to know just about everything. I did not know anything at all. So I had to pay enormous attention towards everything. My sense of attention became like this -- if I saw a leaf, I could sit there looking at this leaf, just staring at it for hours. If I sat up in my bed, just staring at the darkness, I could do that for the whole night.

So this attention brought a completely different level of involvement and interaction with just about anything and everything around me, animate and inanimate. But everybody else seemed to know everything and they were going about their life busy and happy while I was staring at every little thing. And they not only knew about what is here, they also knew about other worlds, about heavens, about gods, about everything.

This so intrigued me that I started planting myself outside a major temple in India because I wanted to really see how people would be after having a meeting with God, after having a conversation with God. So I stood there intensely observing every face walking out of the temple. Generally, I heard local gossip. Sometimes in Indian temples, your footwear walks away with someone else and then I would hear people cursing the whole creation and the Creator. I always found people walking out of restaurants had more joyful faces than people walking out of temples. I could not come to terms with this. Then I realized that they had just made up assumptions and belief systems that they were happy with -- either their own or what was handed down to them by somebody else. So I slowly became more and more skeptical about everybody and everything around me, skeptical about social structures, political systems, religious beliefs, even scientific theories because none of them matched with my experience of life.

On a certain day, when I was 25 years of age, I started heading towards Chamundi Hills in Mysore; you must see this place. There is a tradition in Mysore -- if you have something to do, you go to Chamundi Hills; if you have nothing to do, you go to Chamundi Hills; if you fall in love, you go to Chamundi Hills; if you fall out, you go to Chamundi Hills. I had just fallen out and I had nothing to do so I started heading towards Chamundi Hills and I went up and sat on a rock. Till that moment in my life, I always thought, 'This is me and whatever is outside of me is somebody else or something else.' But for the first time, I did not know what was me and what was not me. Suddenly, what was me was just all over the place; the very rock on which I was sitting, the air that I was breathing, the very atmosphere around me, I had just exploded into everything. That sounds like utter insanity. This, I thought, lasted for 10 to 15 minutes but when I came back to my normal consciousness, about four-and-a-half hours had passed. I was sitting there, fully conscious, eyes open, but time had just flipped in my experience. And for the first time in my adult life, tears were flowing down. I'd always been peaceful and happy, that was not an issue, but here I was drenched in a completely different kind of blissfulness; every cell in my body bursting with ecstasy. When I shook my head and tried to get some logical explanation for what was happening to me, the only thing that my mind could say was, 'Maybe I'm just going off my rocker.'

In my skeptical mind, I was not able to come to terms with what was happening so I started conducting experiments. These experiments are too weird to talk about and the results too fairytale-ish for anybody to believe, but one thing that I arrived at was that existence is not human-centric and all human experience is self-made. I realized the basis of my experience is within me, the very basis of my experience is within me, all that I experience comes from me. I shifted from staring at things to sitting with my eyes closed. This was a dimensional shift in my life. I got so fascinated with this human mechanism, I wouldn't want to open my eyes. For days on end, I just kept my eyes closed, wanting to see everything about "myself". And what I realized was, if I take a piece of bread and put it into this system, this piece of bread becomes my body in a few hours and I begin to experience it as myself. This amazing process, as I became more and more aware of it, I saw that the very source of creation, the very maker of this body, the manufacturer of this body is within. Once I saw this, I realized I could re-wire my brains completely in 24 hours, changing myself beyond social upbringing, family situations, even genetic qualities. I could see I could just completely change everything about myself.

On a certain day, in a field hockey game, I fractured my left ankle and I went and sat down. I was in excruciating pain and had a very severe bout of asthma; this pain and this inability to breathe together, they were quite something. At that moment, it occurred to me that if the maker of this body is inside, why is it that I cannot mend this from inside? I sat down with a certain resolve; if this is true, I must be able to allow it to mend itself, otherwise I must be completely on the wrong track. I sat down with my eyes closed for a little more than an hour. When I came out, my asthma left me, never to come back again, and above all, my fractured leg was perfectly okay in a little more than an hour's time.

This intelligence and this competence within the human system exist in every human being but unfortunately remain untapped. So I went about creating systems that people could make use of and thus evolved technologies for inner wellbeing; methods to engineer your interiority the way you want it. Millions of people are making use of these technologies, enjoying the benefits of them, but the essential part of this is that there is such a high level of intelligence and competence on every millimeter of the body, every point of the body. This is completely untapped by human societies. Maybe your ability to determine what happens in the world is limited, but what happens within you is 100 percent yours.

Most people believe that their experience is molded by the situations in which they exist, but all human experience is 100 percent self-created from within. Today modern science is very much in agreement with this. And having realized this, if all experience is created from within, if the basis of your experience is within you, the seat of your experience is within you, what kind of experience of life would you want to have? For yourself, I'm sure you want utmost pleasantness, whatever you may be doing. What you want for your neighbor may be debatable, but what you want for yourself is utmost pleasantness.

On a certain day, a lady went to sleep. In her sleep, she had a dream. In her dream, she saw a hunk of a man standing there, staring at her and he started coming closer, closer, closer. She could even feel his breath. She trembled - not in fear - and asked, "What will you do to me?" The man said, "Well lady, it's your dream."

--

Sadhguru will post a weekly column every Monday covering such topics as health and wellbeing, cultivating meaningful relationships, living joyfully, enhancing human consciousness and how to make this planet a better place to live.

Email questions to: MysticEyeHP@ishafoundation.org

--

Join the Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/ishafoundation
Receive updates on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ishafoundation
See videos of Sadhguru: www.youtube.com/ishafoundation"

Making of a Mystic by Sadhguru

A great article by the great mystic Sadhguru from The Huffington Post:

"I'm generally referred to as a mystic. Well, what's that supposed to mean? If there is something here that you do not know or you are unable to understand, that would become "mysterious" to you. If there is someone here who seems to know and understand things most people do not, that person would become a "mystic".

As a child, one thing that I realized was that I was utterly, absolutely ignorant and everybody around me seemed to know just about everything. I did not know anything at all. So I had to pay enormous attention towards everything. My sense of attention became like this -- if I saw a leaf, I could sit there looking at this leaf, just staring at it for hours. If I sat up in my bed, just staring at the darkness, I could do that for the whole night.

So this attention brought a completely different level of involvement and interaction with just about anything and everything around me, animate and inanimate. But everybody else seemed to know everything and they were going about their life busy and happy while I was staring at every little thing. And they not only knew about what is here, they also knew about other worlds, about heavens, about gods, about everything.

This so intrigued me that I started planting myself outside a major temple in India because I wanted to really see how people would be after having a meeting with God, after having a conversation with God. So I stood there intensely observing every face walking out of the temple. Generally, I heard local gossip. Sometimes in Indian temples, your footwear walks away with someone else and then I would hear people cursing the whole creation and the Creator. I always found people walking out of restaurants had more joyful faces than people walking out of temples. I could not come to terms with this. Then I realized that they had just made up assumptions and belief systems that they were happy with -- either their own or what was handed down to them by somebody else. So I slowly became more and more skeptical about everybody and everything around me, skeptical about social structures, political systems, religious beliefs, even scientific theories because none of them matched with my experience of life.

On a certain day, when I was 25 years of age, I started heading towards Chamundi Hills in Mysore; you must see this place. There is a tradition in Mysore -- if you have something to do, you go to Chamundi Hills; if you have nothing to do, you go to Chamundi Hills; if you fall in love, you go to Chamundi Hills; if you fall out, you go to Chamundi Hills. I had just fallen out and I had nothing to do so I started heading towards Chamundi Hills and I went up and sat on a rock. Till that moment in my life, I always thought, 'This is me and whatever is outside of me is somebody else or something else.' But for the first time, I did not know what was me and what was not me. Suddenly, what was me was just all over the place; the very rock on which I was sitting, the air that I was breathing, the very atmosphere around me, I had just exploded into everything. That sounds like utter insanity. This, I thought, lasted for 10 to 15 minutes but when I came back to my normal consciousness, about four-and-a-half hours had passed. I was sitting there, fully conscious, eyes open, but time had just flipped in my experience. And for the first time in my adult life, tears were flowing down. I'd always been peaceful and happy, that was not an issue, but here I was drenched in a completely different kind of blissfulness; every cell in my body bursting with ecstasy. When I shook my head and tried to get some logical explanation for what was happening to me, the only thing that my mind could say was, 'Maybe I'm just going off my rocker.'

In my skeptical mind, I was not able to come to terms with what was happening so I started conducting experiments. These experiments are too weird to talk about and the results too fairytale-ish for anybody to believe, but one thing that I arrived at was that existence is not human-centric and all human experience is self-made. I realized the basis of my experience is within me, the very basis of my experience is within me, all that I experience comes from me. I shifted from staring at things to sitting with my eyes closed. This was a dimensional shift in my life. I got so fascinated with this human mechanism, I wouldn't want to open my eyes. For days on end, I just kept my eyes closed, wanting to see everything about "myself". And what I realized was, if I take a piece of bread and put it into this system, this piece of bread becomes my body in a few hours and I begin to experience it as myself. This amazing process, as I became more and more aware of it, I saw that the very source of creation, the very maker of this body, the manufacturer of this body is within. Once I saw this, I realized I could re-wire my brains completely in 24 hours, changing myself beyond social upbringing, family situations, even genetic qualities. I could see I could just completely change everything about myself.

On a certain day, in a field hockey game, I fractured my left ankle and I went and sat down. I was in excruciating pain and had a very severe bout of asthma; this pain and this inability to breathe together, they were quite something. At that moment, it occurred to me that if the maker of this body is inside, why is it that I cannot mend this from inside? I sat down with a certain resolve; if this is true, I must be able to allow it to mend itself, otherwise I must be completely on the wrong track. I sat down with my eyes closed for a little more than an hour. When I came out, my asthma left me, never to come back again, and above all, my fractured leg was perfectly okay in a little more than an hour's time.

This intelligence and this competence within the human system exist in every human being but unfortunately remain untapped. So I went about creating systems that people could make use of and thus evolved technologies for inner wellbeing; methods to engineer your interiority the way you want it. Millions of people are making use of these technologies, enjoying the benefits of them, but the essential part of this is that there is such a high level of intelligence and competence on every millimeter of the body, every point of the body. This is completely untapped by human societies. Maybe your ability to determine what happens in the world is limited, but what happens within you is 100 percent yours.

Most people believe that their experience is molded by the situations in which they exist, but all human experience is 100 percent self-created from within. Today modern science is very much in agreement with this. And having realized this, if all experience is created from within, if the basis of your experience is within you, the seat of your experience is within you, what kind of experience of life would you want to have? For yourself, I'm sure you want utmost pleasantness, whatever you may be doing. What you want for your neighbor may be debatable, but what you want for yourself is utmost pleasantness.

On a certain day, a lady went to sleep. In her sleep, she had a dream. In her dream, she saw a hunk of a man standing there, staring at her and he started coming closer, closer, closer. She could even feel his breath. She trembled - not in fear - and asked, "What will you do to me?" The man said, "Well lady, it's your dream."

--

Sadhguru will post a weekly column every Monday covering such topics as health and wellbeing, cultivating meaningful relationships, living joyfully, enhancing human consciousness and how to make this planet a better place to live.

Email questions to: MysticEyeHP@ishafoundation.org

--

Join the Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/ishafoundation
Receive updates on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ishafoundation
See videos of Sadhguru: www.youtube.com/ishafoundation"

Quote of the Day - Mastery

"Humans have mastered the physical plane, which is our vehicle. We must now master the mental plane, which is our engine. Then we master our soul, which is the fuel."

Quote of the Day - Mastery

"Humans have mastered the physical plane, which is our vehicle. We must now master the mental plane, which is our engine. Then we master our soul, which is the fuel."

Know yourself?

I always see people walking around with a certainty in where they are going and what they are doing. But do people really stop to think what they are doing? Personally I find it quite bizarre that we as a species assume we know what we are, but if we were ever to really stop and reflect in silence, it would reveal dimensions to ourselves we never knew even existed.

Ultimately, it is our basic goal to feel fulfilled, happy and joyous. And thus, is what we are doing everyday bringing us closer to that goal, or further away? Usually we tend to mistake those things which bring some degree of happiness as being a way to fulfilment. For example, recreational drugs, alcohol, relationships, job promotions, going on holiday, lots of money, friends and personal possessions. However, in the end these things cannot provide sustained happiness without negative side effects. For example, working hard to get a job promotion may bring lots of wealth and recognition, but the cost may be your aliveness, family time and health. Trying out recreational drugs may bring a buzz for 2 hours, but the cost is your health, time and money. All these things do bring happiness, but in order to sustain that happiness, the cost continues to multiply in its severity. Therefore, to reach the goal of happiness and to sustain it, none of these solutions are practical.

So what should we do? We should practice a tried and tested science for happiness - indeed this is what all spiritual teachers have taught, but overtime people have diluted the teachings, making it difficult to ascertain what is authentic. And so the quest for happiness lies in getting back to an original authentic science and then practising that science - such teachings are known as the eternal teachings for humankind. The eternal teachings are concerned with the heart and the head (mind).

The Heart
The heart-centre, located in the centre of the chest two and a half inches below the neck, is where God resides. God is everywhere but we can find Him in the heart. The heart-centre is an infinite source of love, joy and compassion. When people fall in love it is this centre which is activated and a person experiences bliss. Similarly, this experience gives a glimpse of the state of happiness which can be achieved through devotion to God. Devotion. There's no right or wrong way to love or worship God, so long as a person doesn't hurt others in the process. Love is love is love. Love is in sacrifice, communication and service. Sacrificing your own time to serve your higher self, communicating with God constantly through the heart-centre and serving others without intending for reward.

The Head/Mind
The mind is more precious than a diamond but treated worse than dust. The secret of the mind is that when it is clear it is as expansive as the universe and allows us to know the unknown, see the unseen and hear the unheard, but when it is dirty it makes us limited and becomes our worst enemy. All authentic spiritual practices should result in the purification of the mind's thought waves to bring it to stillness. There are many practices which do this, but one of the most effective of all in the current age is the chanting of the Name of God at the Third Eye (in between the two eyebrows) along with an awareness of the breath incoming and outgoing through the nose. Two eternal Names of God are Sat Naam (rhymes with But-Mom) meaning 'Truth is My Identity" or Wa-Hey-Guru which is an expression of complete intoxication in God.

Ultimately, it shall be God who gives us liberation through His Grace, and thus chanting the Name of God connects us back to the source of happiness and liberation. The single-pointed concentration at the Third Eye gives us direct access to our soul, so we may discover who we really are. Chanting Sat Naam gives us the power to discover the truth in all areas of our life and to control all the 5 elements of earth, fire, water, air and ether within the being to give command of our domain. Chanting Wa-Hey-Guru brings us to our origin so that we may see God in all and be intoxicated with love of God day and night, night and day, forever. These Names of God are universal and may be chanted by anyone, not just those practicing Sikh Dharma.

Conclusion
Until we purify the mind and connect to God in our heart, the eternal teachings explain that fulfilment is not possible. The heart and the mind are the two keys in unlocking a life of sustained happiness without negative side effects. By using these two keys it is possible to live a life free from all worry, anxiety, stress and pressure, irrespective of time, space or circumstance. If we are fortunate enough to come across an authentic science of happiness which deals with the heart and the mind, may we practice it and be fulfilled and then go on to help others find fulfillment.

Sat Naam.

Know yourself?

I always see people walking around with a certainty in where they are going and what they are doing. But do people really stop to think what they are doing? Personally I find it quite bizarre that we as a species assume we know what we are, but if we were ever to really stop and reflect in silence, it would reveal dimensions to ourselves we never knew even existed.

Ultimately, it is our basic goal to feel fulfilled, happy and joyous. And thus, is what we are doing everyday bringing us closer to that goal, or further away? Usually we tend to mistake those things which bring some degree of happiness as being a way to fulfilment. For example, recreational drugs, alcohol, relationships, job promotions, going on holiday, lots of money, friends and personal possessions. However, in the end these things cannot provide sustained happiness without negative side effects. For example, working hard to get a job promotion may bring lots of wealth and recognition, but the cost may be your aliveness, family time and health. Trying out recreational drugs may bring a buzz for 2 hours, but the cost is your health, time and money. All these things do bring happiness, but in order to sustain that happiness, the cost continues to multiply in its severity. Therefore, to reach the goal of happiness and to sustain it, none of these solutions are practical.

So what should we do? We should practice a tried and tested science for happiness - indeed this is what all spiritual teachers have taught, but overtime people have diluted the teachings, making it difficult to ascertain what is authentic. And so the quest for happiness lies in getting back to an original authentic science and then practising that science - such teachings are known as the eternal teachings for humankind. The eternal teachings are concerned with the heart and the head (mind).

The Heart
The heart-centre, located in the centre of the chest two and a half inches below the neck, is where God resides. God is everywhere but we can find Him in the heart. The heart-centre is an infinite source of love, joy and compassion. When people fall in love it is this centre which is activated and a person experiences bliss. Similarly, this experience gives a glimpse of the state of happiness which can be achieved through devotion to God. Devotion. There's no right or wrong way to love or worship God, so long as a person doesn't hurt others in the process. Love is love is love. Love is in sacrifice, communication and service. Sacrificing your own time to serve your higher self, communicating with God constantly through the heart-centre and serving others without intending for reward.

The Head/Mind
The mind is more precious than a diamond but treated worse than dust. The secret of the mind is that when it is clear it is as expansive as the universe and allows us to know the unknown, see the unseen and hear the unheard, but when it is dirty it makes us limited and becomes our worst enemy. All authentic spiritual practices should result in the purification of the mind's thought waves to bring it to stillness. There are many practices which do this, but one of the most effective of all in the current age is the chanting of the Name of God at the Third Eye (in between the two eyebrows) along with an awareness of the breath incoming and outgoing through the nose. Two eternal Names of God are Sat Naam (rhymes with But-Mom) meaning 'Truth is My Identity" or Wa-Hey-Guru which is an expression of complete intoxication in God.

Ultimately, it shall be God who gives us liberation through His Grace, and thus chanting the Name of God connects us back to the source of happiness and liberation. The single-pointed concentration at the Third Eye gives us direct access to our soul, so we may discover who we really are. Chanting Sat Naam gives us the power to discover the truth in all areas of our life and to control all the 5 elements of earth, fire, water, air and ether within the being to give command of our domain. Chanting Wa-Hey-Guru brings us to our origin so that we may see God in all and be intoxicated with love of God day and night, night and day, forever. These Names of God are universal and may be chanted by anyone, not just those practicing Sikh Dharma.

Conclusion
Until we purify the mind and connect to God in our heart, the eternal teachings explain that fulfilment is not possible. The heart and the mind are the two keys in unlocking a life of sustained happiness without negative side effects. By using these two keys it is possible to live a life free from all worry, anxiety, stress and pressure, irrespective of time, space or circumstance. If we are fortunate enough to come across an authentic science of happiness which deals with the heart and the mind, may we practice it and be fulfilled and then go on to help others find fulfillment.

Sat Naam.

Short-term Happiness or Long-term Bliss?

We as human beings are programmed from birth to always go for the short-term happiness. Short-term happiness is anything which we do or look for which is outside of ourselves. This can include drinking alcohol, taking drugs, making friendships and relationships with people, listening to music, going shopping, earning money or having sex. Actually, everything that we can see, hear, smell, touch and taste can be included in this list. So, then two questions arise:

1. Does this mean that all these things are wrong to do?
2. How can we go beyond short-term happiness and attain long-term bliss?

So firstly, no, all of the above is neither wrong nor right. We are not talking about morality here, we’re talking about reality. These worldly things will only bring you either closer to your destiny or further away, depending on your state of mind. That’s all it is a question of, a state of mind. If you can learn to live in the world and not be attached to it, and you can learn to make your mind your slave so that lust, anger, greed, attachment and ego does not get in the way of you achieving your destiny, then you are living as a liberated human being.

But this is easier said than done because everything you have been taught is false. You’ve only been taught to fill your mind with junk, and to relate to your ego and emotions as if they are the real you. You’ve also been taught that everything your senses tell you is real. None of these are true. You must understand that the mind is very clever, it plays a lot of games with you, which you’re not aware of. But you should feel hopeful, because the mind can be reprogrammed and controlled. All that is required is consciousness, and by nature, you are consciousness. That’s all you really are. So you have everything you need in your backpack of life to set off on this journey to find reality and to control the mind.

It is through the control of the mind that we can attain long-term bliss. Bliss isn’t like anything you’ve every felt. You may have felt snippets of it when falling in love with someone, or if you’re a mother, the love for your child. But these experiences are just snippets. The real wealth, the real happiness, the real joy is in the stillness of your mind. When you become fully present to life and reality, no longer does the mind go back and forth between the past and the future. It is still. It is calm. It is centered. In that space, through a constant consciousness, the mind turns from a monkey mind, into a Divine mind. The Divine mind is useful because it is one-pointed and will not play games with you. Instead, it will aid you like a good companion and servant, to achieve whatever you want.

In order to achieve long-term bliss and to create a Divine mind, a person must meditate consciously. Meditation is the process of stilling the mind. I always hear people say “I can’t meditate because there’s too many thoughts!”. Well, that’s the whole point of meditation: to clear them out! Just like taking a shower you clear your physical body, you meditate to clear your mental body. And it is a process that you have to be patient with. Practice makes you realise you’re already perfect, but there will be ups and downs. You must gracefully ride through these. Meditating is the greatest challenge and the greatest journey a human being can undertake, because it means you have to take responsibility for every part of yourself. Every single part. In the ancient script of Gurmukhi this phrase is called ‘Ang Sung Waheguru’. It means that every part of you is coordinated towards a single purpose of higher consciousness.

So please, it is my prayer that you give yourself the gift of meditation and incorporate it into your everyday life, into your everyday smile and your everyday step, so that through a Divine mind you can be healthy, happy and holy in every facet of your life.