Adversity, inner strength and rewards

"To tolerate and maintain good wishes in the face of adversity requires tremendous inner strength. However, the rewards are immense"

This is like burning gold in extreme heat so that it glitters even more, all it's impurities having been washed away. No matter how much you subject gold to heat, it only gives more pleasure to those who behold it. Gold, however, can only derive the strength to do it from its innate qualities which enables it to bear all this heat and still make others happy. Real gold is tested thus, so is the character of a man who is sincere and strong. Adversities will come regardless, it's how we face them and what we do in their face is that matters. Rewards, needless to say, is that we become extremely precious, one in a million, the one who glitters more than other raw gold nuggets around, fetching more value for our what our worth is.

Gifts in life

"If you consider the gifts you have received in life to be given in trust, then you will have great value for them and will use them wisely"

Having a human body, a sound mind, a loving family, good education and camaraderie of the wise, if a man/woman wastes the life, then there is no bigger fool than him/her! Animals do not have body or mind able enough to comprehend the mysteries of life. Humans generally don't value them, although they are gifts given to them. A healthy mind cannot be possible without a healthy and disease-free body. Having these two, knowledge cannot be acquired without a proper teacher, our parents (family) being our first teachers. These conditions are perfect for spiritual realization. If we consider them as gifts, we will value them. We all make mistakes, nobody is perfect. If we were perfect we would not have been here. Point is to overcome them and not repeat them. Learn the lesson, dump the guilt and move on. Time won't wait for us even if we keep sulking over our misgivings. It will keep moving. Change is the unchangeable law of nature. We can either carry the burdensome emotional baggage with us in this journey or simply feed off of the things we experience, gain what we must gain, embed it in our being, make it our nature so its easy to use and carry, jump in the flow and relax. Destination shall arrive when the time will come. All we need is inspiration and determination.

Thoughts

"A useful thought is that which brings value to you and others"

Thoughts create life as we see it. Thoughts are the seeds of existence. Reality cannot manifest itself without first being real on the mental plane of thoughts. The subject of various planes of reality is an entirely different topic in itself which there is no point talking about in this post. Thoughts either pollute or clean the mind. The aim is to have a mind uncluttered with thoughts. Calm, serene, focussed, silent, disillusioned. Good thoughts make it easier, bad thoughts make it hard. Anything that creates bad thoughts should be considered as poison and discarded. Anything that creates good thoughts should be welcomed and accepted whole heartedly. Thoughts direct our senses. A thought of killing somebody, if strong and intense enough, will make our hands actually kill! A thought of loving, if strong and intense enough, will make you overflow with love not just for your friends but even your enemies. Its all down to thoughts.

Ultimately even good thoughts have to be gotten rid of. However, it is easier to get rid of good thoughts than it is to get rid of bad thoughts. Bad thoughts will thicken the existing conditioning of our being which is already making it hard for us to realize the true purpose of our existence. Good thoughts will unwrap those conditioning layer by layer. Eventually leading to a state where your mind will be blissful. The field will then be ready to bear the crop of an enlightened soul. As everything, thoughts only have utility value. Thus, referred to here as useful thought instead of good. Good indicates duality. Aim is to go beyond it. Way is here. No scope really to complain and say I have no time for good thoughts. It can be a process running in the background, it won't hamper your download speed or any other applications of job, study, family, etc. which may be running simultaneously on your system. Not so hard then I guess.

Ego and harmony

"When ego is out of the way, it is very easy to create an atmosphere of harmony"

Whenever we hear the word "ego", our mind starts working on all possible explanations and knowledge associated with the word ego. It's like as if we search a term on Google and it returns all possible relevant options we may be interested in. Now since most of us, either through upbringing or through our own life experiences have associated ego with a negative feeling which is a pre-cursor for unwanted emotions like anger, jealousy, hatred, self obsession and so on. However, is that really the case? Etymologically all it means is a sense of being. Simply put, identity. What we think "i-ness" really means. When we refer to ourself, we are thinking of ourself as the body, the mind, the emotions, the knowledge we have, our achievements, our understanding of life, our associations with our loved ones/family, our position in the society we live in, our identity in terms of the name given to us and so forth. But that which knows something cannot be the thing it knows. If I can sense an object with my six senses, then I cannot be that object. Subject cannot be the object. That which perceives cannot be what is being perceived! Therefore, obviously that which perceives has to be beyond both perception and the object being perceived. Who is it then who actually perceives? If I say, I see my hand, that doesn't mean I am that hand. It is an instrument which I use. The only value my hand has is of utility. If I perceive my body, then I am not the body, I perceive it as a subject from a third person point of view.

Considering this, we can quite simply break this whole dilemma in three things - the one who perceives (subject), the actual process of perception and what is being perceived (the object). That being perceived on a primary level is the body. That which performs the process of perception is our mind. Then who is the one who perceives, the subject, who is beyond the duality of subject and object? That's for each of us to find. This may just be all there is to be realized.

When one knows this, there will certainly be harmony. Life shall be blissful. Unfortunately though, its easier said than done. It doesn't take much to know, but it takes everything to realize and experience what we may know.