അഹം ബ്രഹ്മാസ്മി

അഹം ബ്രഹ്മാസ്മി - ഞാന്‍ ഈശ്വരനാകുന്നു . എല്ലാവരുടെയും ഉള്ളില്‍ ഈശ്വരന്‍ ഉണ്ട്. എന്നാല്‍ നാമത് തിരിച്ചറിയാന്‍ വൈകുന്നു. അല്ലെങ്കില്‍, തിരിച്ചറിയാതെ ഈ മനുഷ്യ ജന്മം നരകിച്ചു തീര്‍ക്കുന്നു. എന്താണ് ഒരു മനുഷ്യ ജന്മത്തിന്റെ ലക്‌ഷ്യം? എന്റെയും നിങ്ങളുടെയും ജീവിതത്തിനു പിന്നില്‍ ഒരു ലക്ഷ്യമുണ്ട്. ഒരു അച്ഛന്‍ തന്റെ മകനെ വളര്‍ത്തി വലുതാക്കുന്നത് എന്തിനു വേണ്ടിയാണ്? തന്റെ ലൈംഗിക തൃഷ്ണയുടെ പരിണിത ഫലമായിട്ടല്ല ഒരു പിതാവും തന്റെ മകനെ കാണുന്നതും വളര്‍ത്തുന്നതും. പകരം, നാളെ തനിക്ക് താങ്ങും തണലും ആകാന്‍ പോകുന്ന, താന്‍ സൃഷ്‌ടിച്ച ദൈവത്തിന്റെ പ്രതിരൂപമായാണ്‌. പത്തു മാസം ഉറങ്ങി പോയി , പിന്നെ പത്തു കൊല്ലം ഉണ്ണിയായി പോയി. പിന്നെ ഉള്ള കാലമാണ് നമുക്ക് ആകെ ഉള്ള സമയ പരിധി. അത് നമ്മുടെ ജന്മ ലക്‌ഷ്യം തേടി ഉള്ളതാവണം. അത് തിരിച്ചറിഞ്ഞവര്‍, ആ ലക്‌ഷ്യം സാക്ഷാത്കരിക്കാന്‍ ആയി പ്രയത്നിക്കണം.

ഒരു ശരാശരി ജീവിത നിലവാരം പുലര്‍ത്തുന്ന യുവാവിന്റെ ലക്ഷ്യമെന്താണ്‌? തനിക്ക് ജന്മം തന്നവരെ പരിപാലിക്കുക എന്നത് തന്നെ. മാതാ, പിതാ, ഗുരോ ദൈവം. മാതാവിനും പിതാവിനും ഗുരുവിനും ശേഷമാണ് ദൈവം എന്നോ മാതാവും പിതാവും ഗുരുവും തന്നെയാണ് ദൈവമെന്നോ ഇഷ്ടാനുസരണം വ്യാഖ്യാനിക്കാം. എങ്ങിനെ വ്യാഖ്യാനിച്ചാലും ജന്മം തന്നവര്‍ ഈശ്വര തുല്യമാണ് എന്നതില്‍ സംശയമില്ല. ഈ ഭൂമിയില്‍ പിറന്നു വീഴാന്‍ കാരനമായവര്‍ക്ക് ശരീരം കൊണ്ടും, മനസ്സ് കൊണ്ടും, ആത്മാവ് കൊണ്ടും നാം കടപെട്ടിരിക്കുന്നു. അവിവാഹിതനായ ഒരു യുവാവിന്റെ പ്രഥമവും മുഖ്യവുമായ കടമ തന്റെ മാതാ പിതാക്കളെ സംരക്ഷിക്കുക എന്നത് തന്നെ. സ്വന്തം ജീവിതത്തിന്റെ നല്ലൊരു ഭാഗം തങ്ങള്‍ക്കായി ഉഴിഞ്ഞു വച്ച മാതാവിനെയും പിതാവിനെയും തങ്ങളാല്‍ കഴിയും വിധം സന്തുഷ്ടരാക്കുക, സംരക്ഷിക്കുക എന്നതാണ് സ്വയം പര്യാപ്തനായ ഒരു മകന്റെയോ മകളുടെയോ കടമ. എന്നാല്‍ നാളത്തെ തലമുറ അങ്ങനെ ചിന്തിക്കുന്നവരാകുമോ? സംശയിക്കേണ്ടിയിരിക്കുന്നു.

What Makes you happy...?

Ever wondered what does one need, to be happy? There is no particular answer, as the preferences and the wish list keeps on changing. If i look back, some years down the lane during my college days, Number 1 item in my wish list to keep me happy forever was a mobile phone. Then it became a laptop. A good job. A 5 digit salary slip. Then a bike and then a car and the list goes on. At each point of time in life we have something or the other which we think, that makes our life happy forever and when we get the current number 1 item in the wish list, then it gets replaced with another one. In short, through out the life we are in search of happiness.Somehow when we achieve it, the journey starts again all together.This search for happiness which would make our tomorrow beautiful, often makes our today a dreadful one., what an irony...!

Keeping in mind of the fact that we are living in a society where power, position and money is the measure of status among the rest of the people around, i dare not to blame this nature of people where every one is a part of the race. Even if you dont want to be in it, you are forced to run along so that you are not left behind. One question out here. Me, you and 90% of the people around are swimming along with the tide inorder to have a steady and safe future. But how many of us have the guts to swim in the direction which we want to go no matter in what direction the tide is flowing? It is quite a tough decision to make, to chase your dreams.

Let me tell you a living example and the most apt one which i can relate to this topic. I am not going to talk about any celebrities or the stars up above as i dont know them in person. I am going to talk about my friend, Shijith, who had the guts to start chasing his dream. Shijith is a classical dancer and an artist from his childhood onwards. His aim in life is to become a cine actor.From his childhood onwards he just have one ultimate goal, that is to become an actor and he is working hard for it, even now. Soon after the graduation, many of us from the same batch could bag some jobs in many IT giants. But this guy was least bothered to kill his goal with a steady income salary from some company. So he decided not to settle down for anything less than his dream. Well, it has started to get back for his efforts and hardwork as he is starting to make his mark in the industry. Now this is just one example which shows us, that, there are people who dont go along with destiny and prefer to write their own.

Friday night, there was a party at my home and we 3 friends had many healthy discussions and debate. After getting a high, one of them asked me whether i am happy with what i am right now and if he puts me 5 years back in the past, will i chose the same career which i have chosen right now. I dint had to think much and i answered, Yes, i would have. When i asked myself why i said that without a second thought , it was then i realized that right now i love what i am doing. There is no guarantee that i would keep on loving it after 5 more years, as i have said earlier, preferences keep on changing. There could be some other passion for me which i think that could be the reason for my happiness. Off late, i have developed a passion for writing. It gives me immense pleasure and satisfaction when someone reads my articles and say "Hey, that was a good one!". So there are chances for me to drift away from my current way of life to a whole new world. I am sure that there would be plenty of obstacles and roadblocks ahead, but the joy and pleasure which you get when you attain your long wished goal is much much higher than the momentary happiness which the items in your wishlist can give.

In short, what i am telling all this while is that, if you want to know what makes you really happy or if you have ever wondered that my life is not going smooth as expected, then sit back for a while and think, what you really need. May be you are not in the right track or may be you are in the right track but you are not at the required pace. Nothing happens in life for no reason. It is high time that we begin to live for ourself and break the conventional ways. I see that there are lot of people who still live in a coccoon and are scared to fly out to the sky leaving their comfort zone behind. A butterfly cannot fly around the sky or feel a flower if it does not want to coome out of the coccoon. Likewise, we need to come out of the shell. When i was working at Infosys, i had made a huge comfort zone out there as i had been working at the same place for long 4 years. But at one point of time, i felt like i should leave the shell and need to fly out. When we are inside a comfort zone and are scared to venture out, we never know how big is the canvas outside and how vivid opportunities are waiting for us. After all, a change is what one looking for and it is indeed refreshing. So my humble request for every one who is reading this article is that, next time when things doesnt work well according to your wish, dare not to blame your destiny. Start realizing yourself and let the wagon moving for that. No history is made by its own. We make History...!!!

Good Day...!

- G.Sarath Menon
****************************************************

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 India License.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.NO PART OF THIS MATERIAL PROTECTED BY THE COPYRIGHT MAY BE REPRODUCED OR UTILIZED IN ANY FORM BY ANY MEANS, ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL. USERS ARE FORBIDDEN TO REPRODUCE,REPUBLISH,REDISTRIBUTE, OR FORWARD ANY MATERIAL FROM THIS JOURNAL IN EITHER MACHINE READABLE FORM OR ANY OTHER FORM WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR

I AM GOD...!!!

Now, something which i am going to tell here is a much old beaten to death topic, but still an unanswered question. "The Existence of GOD". Those who are not interested to read further or those who doesn't want to board the wagon again have the full freedom to leave this Page.

Many people say that there is no one called as GOD or GOD doesn't exist. Till one point of time, i used to debate and correct them,But later i left that try when i realized that the existence of GOD is not something which we should try to imbibe in other by words, but they have to experience themselves to know. Atheists say that, they don't believe in something which they can't see. They are skeptical or rather absolutely doesn't believe that there is someone called THE ALMIGHTY, because they can't see HIM. One quick question over here. When i send an e-mail, the recipient cannot see me in person. All he can see is an e-mail id. Does it mean that I do not exist, because he cannot see me? When you talk on phone, i cannot see you. Does that mean, you do not exist? No. You exist. Your presence is felt through a medium. E-Mail is a medium which says that is me and telephone is another medium which says i am alive.Similarly, GOD marks HIS presence through a medium. He doesn't come all of a sudden in a golden robe with twinkling stars and with lightning and Aura. GOD appears as a medium. Now what is that medium through which GOD appears? It's YOU...and ME...

From a personal experience, I have seen GOD many times. When i had a tragic bike accident and when i was lying on a road in mysore in a cold december night for 6 hours with bleeding, I saw GOD in the form of an engineering student. Among the crowd who  gathered around me and were just talking to each other without trying to save me, I saw a girl called Shwetha, who had the courage to take me to the hospital despite the comments from the mob. I Saw GOD  there. He chose her as a medium. Now this is my personal experience.  In your life, you might have come across various situations where you are truly helpless. The state where money doesnt even have the value of paper. The situation where you cannot do anything but to stare. At those moments, there would be someone or the other who had come to your rescue. Be it anyone. The one's whom you know or you doesn't. Who do you think that was and why did they help you out? It was GOD's will and his decision.To write a piece of note, you need a pen. With your bare fingers, you cannot do that. Same is the case with GOD. He make use of you or me or anyone but make sure that the needy gets help at the right place and at right time.

Now about idol worshiping. I am not against or for this ritual. GOD is present everywhere and in every form. Then what is the need of an idol? Good question. Why do people go to temple if GOD is present everywhere? That is because of something called the "Positive Energy". The atmosphere in a temple is quite positive with mantras or people praying and with sanity. So when you visit  a temple or church and spent some time over there, you inturn gets charged. The positive energy flows to you and your Aura turns to a positive form. For every human, there is something called as an "Aura" at all the time. When he does a good deed, it brightens up and when he is doing something not so good, then it diminishes. Aura is something which makes one to be optimistic and to progress in Life. When one goes to a temple, he gets peace of mind because the atmosphere in there. Is it the same if he is visiting a Bar? Definitely Not!  The idol in temple is nothing but a shape which we believe is GOD. Until a sculptor had found it, it was just a mere stone. Then he shaped it,molded it and made an idol. The idol is given powers or positive energy by poojas, prayers and chanting mantra's. Now that is not a stone anymore. But resemblance of GOD. When we look at an Idol and close eyes and when we pray, we don't remember the sculptor who made it. Neither we think about the Stone in pre idoling stage. All we think about is GOD and pray to him. So what is the Idol doing there? When we open our eyes and see, we find an idol there and we feel satisfied to see the replica of GOD out there. That idol is just a representation of GOD for our satisfaction. When we look at the photo of Mahatma Gandhi, we dont think about the artist who painted it, but inturn we think about Gandhi. Similarly, when we look at an idol, we just think about GOD and that is where an idol is necessary. Even if you dont go to a temple, rather you sit in your room and pray with your eyes closed, i am sure GOD would be listening to it, because HE doesn't need any form in particular and is everywhere.

So what is the conclusion over here. Does GOD exist or NOT? Certainly he does. He exist in the form of you and me. The GOD is within ourselves. Knowingly or unknowingly we have "Played the Role" of a GOD to someone who was in need. If i recall, i would have a huge list where i saw this Human form of GOD. It is we who have to decide that we should be a GOD or a SATAN. It doesn't take much to change some one Else's world. All you need is a heart of compassion and a willingness to be generous. We definitely are not going to take anything with us when we die. All we do throughout our life is to work hard  today to build a better tomorrow. But there are people who neither have a today nor a tomorrow. Be kind to them. It is said, "Aham Brahmasmi", meaning "I am GOD". It means GOD is not a second person. It's we ourselves. Next time, when you buy a biscuit from a shop and if you see a stray dog looking at you, please do not hesitate to give him a biscuit. It is your chance to play the role of a GOD. Every creature in this world is GOD's creation. So be nice to everyone. Afterall, man is a social animal.

-Sarath Menon .G

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.NO PART OF THIS MATERIAL PROTECTED BY THE COPYRIGHT MAY BE REPRODUCED OR UTILIZED IN ANY FORM BY ANY MEANS, ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL. USERS ARE FORBIDDEN TO REPRODUCE,REPUBLISH,REDISTRIBUTE, OR FORWARD ANY MATERIAL FROM THIS JOURNAL IN EITHER MACHINE READABLE FORM OR ANY OTHER FORM WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR

Do it before the timer stops!!!

Being different is easy, but being your self is difficult. At one point of time or another, during the journey of life, we tend to change ourselves. Ones right could be another ones wrong and vice versa. This Life tht we have now, is truly complicated. What makes the life and what derive the force to live the life is, Experiences.

Its true that experience is the best teacher. We are learning each day. To me, i have learned pretty lot of things with this 24 year old life. My experiences taught me how to be mentally strong, how to smile hiding the tears, how to make others smile, how to be myself and most importantly, how to live this life.Rolling back the sands of time in my life to few years, i can see myself being a happy, jovial, worrying about nothing and living in the Present. Later on, i could see myself transforming after one particular night. Following were the days of helplessness, prayers, tears, hope, and the willpower to catch my life back.

It is common for a man to forget himself when he is blessed with goodness and happiness. So do i. I am a common man and it is true that there were times in the past when i forgot myself.When someone praise your talent which was unknown or hidden for years, the common man would get excited.But the realization of where to draw the limit, is ones greatest power.Somehow, not everyone has that.

Appearance, is one thing that boost the arrogance in humans. I learnt recently that physical appearance doesnt even have the value of paper. Last month, i wanted to take xerox of few of my documents and i rushed into a xerox shop. The guy over there was standing facing the wal and when i called, he turned back. For a moment, i was shocked. He did not had half portion of his face. just one eye and two holes to breath in position of his nose. His face was full of marks and it was a shocking sight. However, he smiled at me and gave me the xerox. He talked to me in decent english and when i left the shop, i was totally shaken from tip to toe. After the accident, when my face got changed, i always had an inferiority complex. When i look at my old pics in orkut album, i used to feel really bad and some times used to feel moist in my eyes. But that day, when i came out of the shop, i was admiring him. It could be some accident or something that he lost his entire face. But still he had the will power to live. That is truly remarkable. This body which we possess and on which we are proud of, is destroyable. We dont know what happens the next moment and within a fraction of second, it could be turned to mere waste or a pot of ash. Then why are we bothered about it?

What i just want to say is, this life is short and it should be lived meaningfully. Before the counter stops, try to do something that will make you remembered in someones heart even after you leave this place. When we are born, people around us were happy and smiling, in hope that we would make their world better. So when we leave, if not all, but someone should shed some tear and hope that we would be back with them. In the time frame between birth and death, if we were not able to do that, then i would say, it was a totally wasted birth.

Life is a blessing

Its said, Life is a blessing. But how many of us truly realize it? I think, I have realized that to an extent. Its just the matter of a breath. Once you are unable to take the breath in, its all over. I have been through the dreadful phase of life where I had to struggle for the next breath to keep myself alive and trust me, it’s a nightmare. During the end, I mean during the last moment of struggle, there is one last milli second where you truly realize the meaning of helplessness and surrender yourself to death. I had experienced that too. Not once, but thrice. I still remember the day when I struggled like hell for a breath, my whole body shaking vigourously, my hands beating the hospital bed frantically and with my whole body I fought like never before for a breath. I still remember the milli second when I realized all my effort is becoming a waste and the moment I decided to give up and surrender to death. The moment when I closed my eyes realizing that its all over. But fortunately, due to God’s grace, I was pulled in back to the shore of life. Even with the oxygen mask and surrounded doctors and nurses, in that room where emergency alarm was ringing on top of its voice, I sensed few drops of tears on my cheeks. That was Life…So when it is just the matter of one single breath, then why in this life time we carry the burden of ego, selfishness, greed and all. We work throughout our life to live. For food, shelter and for our beloved ones. We, over here, are truly lucky for what we have, but ever thought about the ones who are not fortunate enough???

In this world, there are many who struggle for day to day living. Right from the beggar on street towards the coolie at railway station and the tea shop boy in bus stand are struggling hard for a living. While talking about beggars, no one loves to live their life as a beggar and to die on streets. But still if there are beggars, then understand its their circumstances and they are stretching their hand to you because they have no other option. I make a point to give something when ever a hand is stretched towards me. There are many who don’t bother to, but let me tell you the 1 Re or 2 Rs change in your wallet could fetch him/her a cup of Tea and that Tea might be their food for whole day. End of day,they would be thankful to that tea. Today while on your way back and when you stop at signal, just look around. There would be a kid peeping out of the window of neighboring vehicle. Just smile at him and feel the joy for yourself. While on a train, please look out to the paddy field or a house nearby the track. Wave at the kid who is staring at the moving train, for a second, feel the Pleasure. So when there are really small things which could do wonders, then why hesitating to do it?

There are lot of things we can do to make others happy without even spending a penny. By doing so, not only them, even would be happy. A merciful look, few soothing words, a compassionate hug or a helping hand is all what people need and not exactly the currency in your wallet. Its not anyone’s fault that we have become so much self centred like this. May be the society or may be the examples we got were misleading. But we being the educated fortunates, have to start thinking humane and have to change. Its yet another new year going to come. Celebration time. When the thought about new year comes to your mind, the first thing one would think about the new year bashes and the late night parties, dj’s and discotheques. To me, For every new year, I would be celebrating in Temple. In Amritanandamayi Ashram to be precise. I would welcome the New year with Prayers in a spiritual place. I don’t know, but that’s what I feel. Parties and celebrations can be done at any time. New Year is important. We are welcoming another year which may bring goodd and bad to us. Hence I prefer to start it with prayers and pure thoughts. Except last new year (I was in ICU then), I have celebrated most of them in Ashram itself and this year also, its not going to change.

So, the whole purpose of this article is just a minor attempt to make you realize that there are lot more things in life than partying and enjoyment. The purpose is to remind you that even the unfortunate souls too would hope to have some happiness during the festival season. Think wisely. Afterall, its just the matter of a breath. One single Breath….

Happy New Year!!!

[Written On : December 28th, 2009]

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.NO PART OF THIS MATERIAL PROTECTED BY THE COPYRIGHT MAY BE REPRODUCED OR UTILIZED IN ANY FORM BY ANY MEANS, ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL. USERS ARE FORBIDDEN TO REPRODUCE,REPUBLISH,REDISTRIBUTE, OR FORWARD ANY MATERIAL FROM THIS JOURNAL IN EITHER MACHINE READABLE FORM OR ANY OTHER FORM WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR