Dying to be me: By Anita Moorjani
There was once a time in my life when I used to read 10-20 books a month on an average. Finishing 2 or 3 books in a day was a frequent feature. I had certain questions about life as a subjective phenomena and I needed an answer for them badly. This quest took me to a wide spectrum. From शेखर - एक जीवनी n नदी के द्वीप to erstwhile Paulo Coelho!...From Sigmund Freud n Erich Bern to M Scott Peck....from J L Nehru n Will Durant to Straight up to Spinoza..and finally from Paramhans Yoganand, Osho to Shri Shri....I tried to find solace and in the process got into Yoga and Spirituality. But the beauty is I didn't find any answers...instead the questions dropped themselves ! Life is to be lived and not to be understood! That's what came to me as a realization. As a consequence..hardly 4 or 5 books are read by me over an year these days. Some books beckon..as if they would love to come to me as much as I would love to go through them. One such book I finished yesterday night. Dying to be me by Anita Moorjani. Oh! What a wonderful book. It's her account on her NDE (Near Death Experience) when as a final stage cancer patient she went into coma and experienced "Dying" first hand! 😊Oh! What a wonderful expression! Cogent, clear and free of any dogma whatsoever. Anita tells you lucidly exactly how the bigger picture is. How you are transformed fundamentally when you have tasted the energy in the other(?) realm. The real dimension...more real than our current dimension which we call life. Anita explains, without terrifying or sensationalizing how extremely loving 😍 , timeless, unconditional n all encompassing the reality is. I immediately recalled the word द्विज (the twice born) ..our philosophy says the real Brahmin is one who has reborn in this very life..that is one who has experienced death( through yoga) while living and thus reborn. I was also reminded of Baba Gorakhnath's famous quote म रौ हे जोगी मरौ, मरन है मीठा । तिस मरणी मर दीठो, जिस मरणी गोरष मर दीठा See the death the way Gorakh has seen.. It's joyful beyond your wildest expectations!
When Anita came back she was 'sorted', full of joy and hope personified. Doctors had in fact declared her 'over' already so her coming back was a miracle in itself. However what was truly spectacular was that the cancerous tumours spread all over her body simply vanished within a weeks time leaving no traces whatsoever. How could this be? People asked Anita , " what is that one fundamental change that you have exexperience that has brought you healing of this nature? ". Anita replied, " prior to my NDE, 'fear' was the centre from where I operated. However, after NDE,' Unconditional joy' is what drives me. That has brought all the change.
Please mind the word 'unconditional ' here. 80% of us are driven by fear as a motivator in life. Balance 20% find joy but that is also a conditional joy. As a result by n large we remain entangled. The real freedom is unconditional joy, which if you have experienced even once changes you forever. I think that is the reason why Buddha said, " enlightenment is end to all your sufferings".
Anyway, the final message from Anita is , " love yourself unconditionally and express yourself fearlessly!". And you get thoroughly convinced with this by the time you finish the book.
Highly recommended to all the fellow seekers. 🙆

We, the people.

Fundamentally, we the people are of two types: those who are life ward and those who are death ward. People who are life ward find life worth living. They are not troubled with so called basic questions of life. They are able to respond to demands of everyday situations because inherently they are endowed with the great jewel of life called “motivation”. People who are death ward find life a burden which must be carried. They delay & often complicate their responses to life situations…. Uncontrollably make wrong choices etc.…. Actually these are the people who have been wronged by life & consequently they want to rebel & revenge.  But being unable to find the real culprit they have an unconscious desire to punish --- either to those around or themselves.  

I have also seen people changing from one position to the other. People who were always death ward, when change to a life ward position become extremely enthusiastic, teachers, spiritualist etc. on the other hand people who were originally life ward ….. Full of everything that constitutes this world & the life …. When they change to other position that of death ….. are a tragedy. Only a few then can dare to explore the truth … the rest are shaken and confused. We have seen such examples around us and often we find it difficult to understand what really went wrong …

You become life ward when you are on the right side of life….that is when you are born & grow up  things fall in place the way they normally do … as a child we are given certain amount of libido or joy-de-vivre .. and in the course of our life it remains intact if not increased.

On the other hand when you grow up meeting one disappointment after another your libido is displaced. You either find the whole thing a big big bullshit or become cynical and trapped in a perpetual feeling of listlessness. In the Urdu language there is a lovely word for this position or state --- Afsurdagi. Vohi daireena bimari vohi afsurdagi dil ki .. said Iqbal the great poet … I can’t quite resist myself from uttering the complete couplet ;;;;

Vohi daireena bimari , hai afsurdagi dil ki,

ilaaz bhi iska vohi aab-e-nishat hai saaqui.

Nahin hai Iqubal na ummid apni kashta-e-veeran se,

 Zara si nam ho to ye mitti badi zarkhej hai saaqui.

Translated roughly it will mean something like this ….It’s the same old disease of being listless & feeling disheartened. O Saaqui! Its cure also rests with this water of life. Iqbaal is not hope less even if he is bestowed with an unfertile piece of land. For, if this land is slightly moist & wet it will bear much fertility.

When we do not feel like doing what we have said or wished, we are choosing death. When we keep ourselves withdrawn from the position of eminence, we choose death.  When we do not value ourselves, our wishes & our choices, we choose death.

When we welcome life’s demands & live up to them, we choose life. When we keep our words at all costs, we choose life. When we see & accept this life and this world the way it is, we choose life. Believe me it’s all a matter of simple conscious choice which we can always make. Right here & right now.

Life’s structure is made in such a manner that the type of choice you make now plods you to situations where you will make further choices of a similar nature again. That is if you keep withdrawn or have a receding attitude … life will bring you more & more such situations in which you will be avoided, not given your valid due & things like that and then you will keep cursing …. Why only me

On the other hand  when you choose & demand what is due to you from life , know your inner desires & stand up for them, more & more situations are brought for you wherein you can take a stand & demand for you what you want & of course what you deserve…. The structure is made like that ,,,, the life doesn’t listen to your logic ,,, it simple readjusts … repeat “readjusts” itself to the choices you make.

I exhort my dear fellow living beings who have gone into the trap of death.. to make … the first choice of coming out & begin at once demanding from life what is due to you.

On the other hand the fortunate(?) ones who are full of life are cautioned forthwith that the death is an essential part .. Which you can never part with ,,, as such it is wise to be equanimous when it comes in whatever form, because we don’t die only when we really do physically but there are situations quite deathlike in life ….even when we are full blown alive..

Riches

Often Riches are considered as wealth & money only. However, It is not money only that makes you rich. There are other forms of riches which may not be as tangible as money, yet, they really make a difference in your life. Having lots of money will not make you truly rich. Not having enough will not make you poor either. There are a no of facets of your life that make you either rich or poor:
1. Professional Comfort: If you are in a profession which goes well with your basic nature & suits your overall outlook, you will be peaceful & therefore you can consider yourself as rich. Being at peace with your profession brings you inner solace & contentment.
2. Money & belongings: They are considered as the symbols of riches by the world. Society in general looks up with respect & awe to the prople who have these things. Hence these are essential part of anyone's riches.
3. Healthy Physique: Health is the riches of utmost importance, as without a healthy body one is not able to enjoy money or life.
4. Sexual Energy & Drive: Not many people realise that if they have an increased sexual drive then they are rich. Instead of giving their sexuality a proper direction people succumb to its negative aspects & become poor. Your sexual drive has an important bearing on your overall psychology. All the great personalities like M K Gandhi, Osho, Winston Churchil, Abraham Lincoln, so many of them, had a strong sexual drive. Only thing they chanelised this energy to attain a higher purpose. Ambition originates from your sexual energy. Hence if you have ambition & an attitude to live for it, you are damn rich.
5. Spiritual Bent: Spirituality means having an inclination & desire to know the truth. If one has a spiritual disposition he is an alltime rich guy, as finally it is the truth that sets one free! Inclination to know the truth brings you closure to the truth.
6. Friends: If you have friends, you are rich beyond doubt. Friends make your life worth living. No other relationship brings as much joy or as much pain in your life as true friendship. Having true friends is having the riches unparalelled.
7. Positivity & enthusiasm: People with positivity & enthusiasm charge their envioronment. Things begin to take shape in the company of positive people. If you want to be rich, gather positivity from your surroundings as much as possible!
So it's not only money but so many other things that make you rich. Hence consider your riches or powerty in totality. Think of the above aspects of your life & make yourself rich in totality.

A Gift

Posting after a long long time & this time I wish to post a poem from my new work O',Sage! :-

O’ Sage!
This life is a gift from Him!
He, who is only Love & Joy,
And he is so without any cause.

Be you therefore, Loving & Joyful
O’ Sage!
Without any cause & for no particular reason.

If anything prevents you from being joyful & loving
Then just pray!
Pray Him … the source of all sources
To make you joyful & loving.

Didn’t Jesus say, “Ask! And it shall be given unto you.”
“Knock the door & it shall be opened unto you!”

Pray Him
O’ Sage!
To help you remove all the negativity.
& do so with whole of your heart into it.
And it will be done.

Negativity is the only curse
Created & owned by the humanity.

The wind is not negative.
That the rivers are not negative
That the mountains are not negative
Oh, are the trees negative?
The whole of existence is not negative
Then why only we humans are?
?

Just think ………!

All the bitterness & negativity
Arises from the Memories of the past
Either conscious or unconscious.

But do not
O’, Sage!
Resent the faculty of Memory,
Given specifically to the humankind.
Behind the veil of memory,
Lies,
The Truth!

O’,Sage!
The alchemy, therefore,
Is not to grapple with memories, bitter or sweet,
But
Accepting them!
Befriending them!
And finally
Transcending them!

Remember that you have full control on the conscious,
However much may be the temptations & provocations from the unconscious.

One can always choose to see what is there
Instead of what is not there!

See only what has been bestowed upon you by the existence
And fill your mind ‘consciously’ with the beauty, gifts & colors of this existence.

Go into the Nature! O’ Sage!

This is what is in your capacity & control!
Go into the Nature!

Do it now O’ Sage!

This world, this life
Is singularly beautiful.

The blossom of a flower
The flow of a river
The smile & innocence of a little one
Or,
The bloom of a bud.

The glory of the morning Sun
Or the sooth of an evening breeze!

Have you missed them all O’ Sage?

Please see the Truth
That
Any bitterness or negativity
Makes you ego-centered.

You think only of your problems
Your miseries,
Your position,
Your personality
But never come out with anything fixed.

I therefore suggest you to leave the unconscious on its own
& resort to the conscious which is your own.

Watch your conscious
Examine your mind.
Put Mind to watch the Mind
Earnestly & steadily.

And Lo! Gradually the disentanglement begins
The realm of thoughts ends
& the world of Reality begins!

That’s the true world of your Being
O’, Sage!

Even once if you have the glimpse of the true world,
Then will you realize
The Gift, I am talking about.

*****