A Reiki lady, a Saint and a Cow

A business man named Vijay Madan has a big extended family. They all meet at his house for festivals. After the customary pooja and festival meal, they all play tumbola (bingo) and enjoy the sweets. This Diwali, everyone sit for a round of game. One notable addition to usual set of people is Richa, the wife of his cousin, Ajay. They got married recently. Vijay for some reason is getting tense in her presence. He brushes it aside thinking it is due to stress. When they meet next time during a casual visit, he feels the same thing again. For no reason, Vijay’s heart starts beating fast, faster than the overhead fan. He is getting agitated and angry. He shouts at his son for no reason. Every time they meet, Vijay has the same feelings surface.

He wants to know the reason but does not know how. He frequently goes to Hanuman temple near his company and this time a saint who sits under a tree calls him. Vijay tells him about his situation and how he is not able to sleep properly. The saint asks him to visit a Reiki place in old city.

Vijay makes an appointment and goes to the Reiki place. As he waits in the lobby, he looks inside. There is a young lady in her 20s sitting on a high chair and doing something with her hands over a person who is sleeping on a dentist chair. She has no dental tools in her hand and his mouth is shut. But they are talking which he could not hear through the glass door. On the other side, the wall is full of happy customers gleaming in full glory!

Next is Vijay’s turn. He goes in and she guides him to the hot seat. She does not ask him how he was. Looks like she understands his situation. Vijay feels calm in her presence. The Reiki lady looks at him and a gentle breeze starts blowing onto his face and Vijay could not stop himself from closing his eyes. Many of her clients close their eyes before they notice the cooler over her head. Vijay’s settles into a meditative state. Rieki lady asks him questions about the reason for the visit. He explains the Reiki lady his issue.
“Let’s look into your past if you had any encounter with her”, she suggests.
“I did not meet her before she was married to my cousin”, Vijay quips.
“I mean you past life”, Reiki lady clarifies. Vijay is confused a bit but excited.

In the first sitting, Vijay could not access his past life and was told to come back one more time.
Vijay comes a week later. This time he notices the fan above her head. He likes the fan so much that he asks her the brand. He wants to buy one for his house so that he can use it when Richa comes. The Reiki lady asks him to focus on calming himself down. She uses her Reiki energy to calm Vijay down and they are able to get into Vijay’s past life. As they traverse, through Vijay’s past life, they are able to see the house where he lived, the village, the fields upon which he grazed his cattle. Vijay is proud of all the cattle he owned. “I liked it when my cattle grazed in neighbor’s field”, Vijay said with a smile on his face. Vijay is veering into all the good times he had. It is a challenge for the Reiki lady to bring him back on track. Through pin pointed questions, the Reiki lady is able to guide Vijay to that situation where he encountered Richa. It’s confirmed, Vijay had a bad encounter with her in his past life and carried it on into this life. Through a process, Vijay is able to let go his bad experience and now he is at peace.

Vijay is now relieved and the encounters with Richa are no more stressful. The good times do not last long and one fine day, Vijay goes to a defense fair and comes face to face with his old business partner, Sujay, who cheated him and took over their business venture. Old memories come to the surface and start brewing anger. Vijay was heart broken at that time. Though Vijay has come out of that bitter experience, those memories rush back and he is once again disturbed. Vijay is walked out of his own office, the office, he personally saw growing from a rented one room shutter to a big office space and many employees. That night, he had nightmares of he being walked out repeatedly. Vijay did not count how many times, but if it were a daily serial, the night would have dragged for at least a week! He finds a new reason to be depressed and desperate to come out of it!

He goes to the Hanuman temple. He knows Reiki won’t help because this animosity is from current life! At the temple he meets a sage who has come from Rajastan. No one knew his name but everyone called him, Registan baba.

Vijay stands in line to meet the baba. Looking at Vijay, Baba says, “Reiki boy is here!”

“Baba please help me, I am so depressed,” Vijay pleads.

“You have given up the grudges of the past life but what about the baggage of current life?”, Baba says,
“My friend cheated me, how can I forgive him”?, Vijay answered expecting he was talking about it.
“I am talking about your belly”, Baba laughs.
“Sujay does not have it”, Vijay says feeling his protruded stomach.
“Sujay moved on, “according to him whatever he did is right. Right and wrong are very subjective,” Bab explained.
“I cannot let go what he did to me and my family. I had to go through lot of stress and hardship”, Vijay quipped.
Baba laughingly said, “Maybe due to that experience you have learnt your lesson. What you lost at that time is minuscule to what you have today. You are limiting yourself and your family of the possibilities by hanging on to the bitterness of the past!”
Vijay answered, “I am very successful now”.
“If you give up your grudges, you can make a more profound impact on yourself and people around you”, Baba says.
Vijay , “I want to forget it too but it keeps coming back”, Vijay answers.
“Do you want to carry it into your next life and look for Reiki”?, Baba asks laughingly.
“Too much Reiki will expose you to unnecessary encounters”, Baba explains, “what if your friend is born poor in the next life and due to your grudge, you may be born poor along with him when there is a possibility for you to be the king”.
Vijay, “May be I will be better off being poor”.

“When you have a chance to remove the thorn in your leg and let it heal, why do you want to poke yourself with it?”, Baba questions, “consider your friend as your family, like your foster child and forgive him. You will find freedom. There are many issues facing humanity, like soil degradation and pollution. Maybe you can play a role in addressing them”.

As the baba was leaving, Vijay asks, “do you know why I had a grudge on Richa in past life?”
“She took away you beloved cow for a debt you couldn’t repay”, Baba said.
Vijay asks, “where is that cow now?”
Baba says, “she is good wherever she is. If you are still eager to know, find it by yourself, not by Reiki.”
Vijay is impressed and asks Baba to take with him.
Baba laughs and says, “when you are ready for a spiritual process, a white cow with golden teeth will come. Till then get rid of your baggage”. Baba taps the side of head and runs the hand over his stomach, indicating the mind and belly.

P.S: Vijay, personally feeds all the cows that come to his house, in search of the golden teeth!

Birth of a Religion

3 people, Chitta, Manas, Ahankar set out on a journey in pursuit of the creator, that created the earth, solar system and this universe. They wanted to meet the creator who is called God by everyone.

Wise men told them –

God is the brightest light in the sky which never sets.
God is a dark space where no light can shine.
God had no birth and has no death.
God is the beginning and is the end.
God is hot fire and also a cool breeze.
God resides in a place that is end less.

They did not find a person, place or thing that describes the above descriptions. Only thing that made little sense was “God resides in a place that is end less”. They set out to find a place that is endless.

They go North and reached the mountains. From below, the mountains looked endless.  These mountains must be God. They climbed for a few days in great anticipation.  After a while, they could see  the tip of the mountain. The seekers concluded that ‘Mountains are not end less. God cannot be here’.

They came down, went west and reached a desert.  Sand was endless. They thought this must be it. Even though the Sun was spewing fire from above, they continued. After days of walking in the sand, they did not encounter God. They were dehydrated and tired.
Ahankar and Manas wanted to go back, but Chitta was persistent. He has decided not to go back without finding God. Chitta went on, while Manas and Ahankar waited at an oasis. After few more days of walking Chitta reached grass lands and hills. The desert is not endless. Chitta was dejected to find it and headed back.

They head towards east and find flat land which stretched beyond horizon. Ahankar and Manas were tired and do not want to go any further. Chitta somehow convinces them. After a few days of walking through the planes, crossing rivers, they again encounter mountains!

Chitta convinces, we went in three directions, lets go South. If we do not find God, we will go back.
They continue their journey south. Chitta was tired but his longing to know truth was keeping him going. After months of travel, they reach ocean.  It was endless, deep body of water. “This must be God”,  a tired but elated Chitta said. Ahankar was not convinced.  Manas is undecided. Chitta jumps into the water and continues swimming.  Manas jumps after him half heartedly while Ahankar stays on the shore.
After a day of swimming, Chitta was tired and about to drown, he shouts, “Is this the way to God?”

A divine voice says, “Yes, this is the way. Keep going”.

Chitta asked, “Is this the only way?” 

Divine voice laughed and said, “You have not gone far enough in any other directions, you did not climb the mountains and see what is beyond. Yes, this is the only way unless you want to return to climb the mountains and see what it beyond them”.

Chitta got the point – If they have made effort to go beyond the mountains, that would have been the way too. Since he is already in the ocean, Chitta continues swimming. He sees a light far away and continues to swim with the little energy left.

Manas, from behind asks, “Is this the way?”

Chitta replies, “Yes, this is the way. Do you see the light?”

Manas says, “No”. Chitta continues.  Manas is confused and he just turns back. Reaching the shore, he tells Ahankar that, “This is the way. Chitta found a light”.

Manas and  Ahankar wait on the shore. Ahankar did not have the patience to wait for Chitta. Ahankar put up a board at the point where Chitta jumped into the ocean, “ONLY PATH to GOD”. People started visiting the place.  Structures were built along the place. Ahankar started managing the place. People started worshipping at the place in the direction in which Chitta swam. Word spread to far away lands and Ahankar trained his followers and sent them in all directions.

“ONLY PATH TO GOD” was their slogan.  Whoever questioned it, was brushed aside.

NO ONE DARED TO JUMP INTO THE OCEAN, BUT EVERYONE IS CONVINCED THAT IT IS THE ONLY PATH TO GOD! A religion is born.

PS: Chitta came back a few years later and told people that, “if you are willing, every path is a path to God.  I will help you.  Only few people went with him. Rest of them were with Ahankar shouting this is “ONLY PATH TO GOD”. Those who jumped into the ocean were punished upon return for questioning the path.

In this ever changing and evolving universe, nothing is fixed. Fixed means non-existent or dead. Similarly, if we make conclusions about spirituality, then spirituality is dead and a belief system is born. The belief system or religion might be expanding but the spiritual possibility is diminished to the point it is deemed a threat. With fixed beliefs, there is no scope for exploration and enlightenment is individual. A Guru can guide you but one has to strive for it.

The Realm of God

A middle class woman, Leela, who was agnostic for most of her life was surprised by the “miracle” that happened in the life of her friend Reema, a religious person. Reema was suffering from advanced throat cancer and got cured from her disease. Doctors, who have informed Reema’s son that her cancer metastasized and beyond cure, were shocked seeing she get cured miraculously.  It was the talk of the town and her congregation.  Reema, told everyone how she sat the whole night in prayer and she was healthy next morning.  Lily could not understand how this could happen.  Seeing this firsthand, Lily, became a believer.  She started visiting the congregation regularly and was reading the scriptures every night before going to bed.

She was feeling very happy to have made this choice. One day during fall,  Lily fell sick.  She was very tired but still told her prayers.  Lily did not go to the doctors as she should normally do.  Second day she became more sick. “God will cure it”  she said to herself and was expecting a miracle.  Third day was even worse, she was running a temperature of 102 deg F. “God will lower the temperature”. On the fourth day, Leela could not get up from her bed “God will give me strength to walk”. On the fifth day, Leela gave up and went to the doctor with the help of Reema. Doctor gave antibiotics for the flu and suggested complete rest.  She got cured but all this while she was thinking – “why did God not cure me? Did I not pray enough?”

The next time Leela went to the congregation, she confronted the priest. ” Why did God not cure me from Flu same as Reema’s cancer? I too prayed the whole night. I have been a good believer.” Priest was taken aback by this sudden challenge. He gained his senses back and told her in  a soft voice “Reema’s cancer is internal, so God cured it. Flu is caused by bacteria and virus. Its outside God’s realm. Bacteria and virus do not believe in the same God as us”!

Sadhguru: “Everything in Life is a Miracle”.
https://isha.sadhguru.org/us/en/blog/article/real-life-true-miracle-greatest-stories

God vs Sentinelese Tribe

John Allen Chau,  with an  intention to take word of God to North Sentinelese island, home to Sentinelese who, often violently, reject any contact with the outside world, and are among the last uncontacted people to remain virtually untouched by modern civilization. He was killed by an arrow possibly on Nov 17. John broke the rules by bribing the fishermen to take him to the island which is off-limits to outside people by Indian law.

His death raises a few questions in me.  After all, John was not seeking any adventure. He was spreading God’s word but God has deserted him.  Does this mean God was not on the side of John? Did God switch sides for this time?  Or did God lose to godless Sentinelese? Or the God’s words that John carried were truely not God’s words.

This creation of God is so diverse and it is foolish to think people with diverse cultures, beliefs, appearances, customs are not his creation. Every human being on this planet share the same earth, water, air. They are born and dead as all creatures.

The experience of life by an individual is inside him/her and very personal.  The  Sun, Moon, Earth, water and Sky are same for everyone but we experience them through your senses. Similarly, God may be one for all,  but the experience of God, interaction with God are very personal. We may call him with same name as others or with a different name, we have a shape for him/her or is formless, our method of invoking God is same as others or different but God is very personal.  Striving to reach God is individual. No one can take you there, except you. You can take help of an experienced person but you have to make the journey.

The first step to God is respecting other’s choice of path to God. Our path may be the shortest, but may not suit others. They may want to take a longer, less risky path.  If we are in harmony with everyone and everything around us, that is first step to Heaven!

May John’s soul rest in Peace!

Where is GOD

“There is a  invisible force behind the universe” say all the wise men who tried to find GOD.
Gauthama Buddha recieved enlightment under a Bodhi tree in Gaya. After enlightenment what he taught was how to understand the true nature of phenomena, end suffering, and achieve nirvana. What he did not preach or say is who and what is God.

Meanwhile a group of people found a huge stone which has infinite sides. It appeared differently from each side.   Each of them looked at different facades of this stone and decided they have found God and set out to their lands to propogate what they have seen and understood. What they did not do is go around the stone and look at its other sides. After they got the acceptance from their people, they were overwhelmed by the reverance and the power of belief. Pampered by this new found power of following, they set out for new lands to expand their theological empires. These group of people fought each other and are still fighting wars for supremacy over each other.

Only the wise can see and understand the true nature of this stone. There is also a popular saying that if you cant see directly at the Sun  for a few seconds, how can you be able to look at God directly. There is a portion of God in every living thing. Serving them is serving God.