The Tale of The Two Wolves

A grandfather is talking with his grandson and he says there are two wolves inside of us which are always at war with each other. 

One of them is a good wolf which represents things like kindness, bravery and love. The other is a bad wolf, which represents things like greed, hatred and fear.

The grandson stops and thinks about it for a second then he looks up at his grandfather and says, “Grandfather, which one wins?”

The grandfather quietly replies,

"The one you feed."

Source

Which wolf are you feeding? 

Gandhi said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world."

Ask yourself. What if the world around you reflects who you are? Are you happy with the kind of energy you're putting out there? If you want to see more love in the world, send out more love. Be more loving. That's the only way it will happen. What do you think would make the world a better place? Change starts from within. Everyone has a good side and a bad side, and like the story of the two wolves, the side that comes to light is the one that we nurture.

“The symptoms of a sadhu are that he is tolerant, merciful and friendly to all living entities. He has no enemies, he is peaceful, he abides by the scriptures, and all his characteristics are sublime.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25)

Gratitude

The best and quickest way to lift your spirits is to count your blessings.

There are days when I am hard on myself, when I feel down and like I have drawn the short straw. I let myself grieve. I let myself mourn. And then when I have unloaded the burden just enough, I ask myself:

"What about this situation can I be grateful for?"

I try to list 3-5 things that I am grateful for. It turns my whole perspective around. Gratitude doesn't mean becoming complacent. It is a way to make peace with your current situation, and it puts you in a better mindset to achieve more. Every cloud has a silver lining. Make an active effort to look for the good in things.

A few months ago, I read the book The Magic - Rhonda Byrne. It is a 30-day workbook, where each day, you list 10 things you are grateful for in your life. I experienced so many wonderful things happening over the course of 30 days. I felt happier with my life, I reached a level of peace and zen, to the point where I almost felt like I was too happy. Lots of good news came in, lots of wonderful happy things happened.

The book's principles work in accordance with the law of attraction - like attracts like. The more good feelings you put out, the more good things come to you.

Kind of like karma on a microscopic scale.

Gratitude is a widely acknowledged concept in religion. It's a very huge aspect in spirituality. It keeps us humble. Krishna shows us by example:

"If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit a water, I will accept it." (BG 9.26)

Interesting, isn't it? Krishna, god of the universe, does not need very big offerings. He is grateful for the littlest of things. We should do the same.

I am grateful for the air that I breathe, for the food that I eat, for the world that I see. I am grateful for ability to speak, to read, to write. I am grateful for this mind.

Express your gratitude some more, count your blessings. And be like a sunflower, that turns to face the sunlight. Try it out yourself. Make a list of 5 things you are grateful for, and try to really feel gratitude for it. Only good things will come out of it :)

Freedom of Choice

What I have always loved about Hinduism and Buddhism is the freedom of choice. There are so many different paths to follow, and you can choose what works best for you. Back in high school, our Hinduism teacher explained the concept with this analogy:

"Different beliefs are like taking a different path to get to the top of a mountain. The path is different but the destination is the same."

In the Gita, Krishna says:

"As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā." (BG 4.11)

I don't deal well with rigidity and exclusive systems. I don't understand groups who say that only their path is the correct path, and all others lead to hell. I like the freedom that Eastern philosophies provide, and I love the peace that comes with it. You can choose the methods that suit you. In my own case, chanting didn't work well for me. I wanted to do it, but I was finding it very hard to concentrate, and it started to feel like a chore. I didn't look forward to it. So I stopped for a minute and asked myself, "What would God want? Would he want you to come to him with a smile, and talk to him for a couple minutes with sincerity, or would he prefer that you chant for 2 hours but feel like it's a chore?"

I'd pick the former. So I dove into different forms of connecting with Krishna. Reading about him was one way, listening to devotional music, writing about him, thinking about him, etc. I think that people should adopt whichever method works best for them, as long as it's in line with the main principles. Being a good person and causing the least harm is always the way to go, and if you are acting in accordance with that principle, it doesn't matter to me which religion you identify with. The core of all religions is the same - love. There is no reason we can't take the best parts of all religions and apply it to our lives. We don't have to be at war with each other just because our idea of God differs from one another.

My Hinduism teacher taught us that different people respond to different things. Some people find it easier to connect with Krishna, some with Ganesh, some with Jesus. In line with this idea, God created different ways for people to approach him and learn about him in a way that they can best understand. And so we have the freedom to choose what resonates with us the most, and in this way, Krishna shows us his mercy and compassion.

It's Been A While

I haven't logged on to this blog for a very long time, as you can tell. I had forgotten about it. Somehow today I randomly remembered that I used to maintain this blog on a regular basis. I logged in, and saw a few unapproved comments asking where I'd been, messages leaving words of support and encouragement. That was all I needed to push me to write this post. Thank you to everyone who wrote to me! Even if I haven't approved/replied to your comment yet, I will definitely read them.

I apologise for not maintaining this blog and following through with the plans I had for it. The direction my life was going in had changed, and thus my lifestyle had changed. Let's pick up where we left off :)

My spiritual beliefs have matured over the past few years. I found Krishna at a very dark time in my life, and he was the hand that pulled me out of the mess I was in. Back then, I was feeling a lot of pressure from people around me to convert to a different faith. I dove deep into study about Hinduism, which led me to Krishna, and I began to appreciate all that I learned about him.

After a while though, I felt like I was being influenced by some of the devotees around me. I felt like in some little ways, I was lying to myself and pretending to be okay with things I didn't necessarily agree with. I felt like I was starting to get brain-washed, and it started to feel very cult-like.

In Psychology, this is called ingroup-outgroup bias. I started feeling like other devotees and me were better and more superior than others. I was going down a path I didn't like and it was all happening so subconsciously. I slowly started to distance myself from them. It felt like I was leaving my group meetings with questions, dissonance, and doubts, rather than happiness.

Fast forward to today. In the months I spent away, I studied spirituality and religion, focusing on the essence of it, on the goodness of it. Judging teachings for myself based on ethical values and benefits. I have been meditating, turning inwards, and reading about spirituality in my spare time. I don't chant anymore because I found that it was more detrimental to my spiritual growth. It wasn't working for me and I felt like it was more of a chore than a pleasure.

These days, I am studying about the Law of Attraction and vibrational energies. While I do not engage in traditionally devotional activities anymore, Krishna still holds a very special place in my life, and I often feel wonderment when I think about him. The Bhagavad Gita is still my favourite scripture. I always said that if I were of a different faith and wanted to convert, I would pick Vaishnavism or Buddhism without a doubt.

Do you have any ideas about topics you would like me to cover? This blog is not going to be as reverent as it used to be, but it will be incredibly appreciative of Krishna, because let's face it, he's really cool :) If you have any ideas, share them in the comments! 

Life Lesson #1: "Everything Is Temporary"

Like I said in earlier blog posts, I wanted to share some of the life lessons I've learned in the past year. One of the biggest lessons I learned was that everything is temporary. Nothing lasts forever. Some things may seem promising but we wrongly romanticise and idealise things, believing in our heads that things will always be the same. Whether it is love, friendship, a job, happiness, they are all fleeting in most cases. It's so rare to find loyalty right until your last breath.

"O son of Kuntî, the interaction between the senses and the sense-objects produce the sensations of cold, heat, pleasure and pain. These feelings are temporary, always appearing and then disappearing. Thus, O descendent of Bhårata, you must learn to tolerate them."      - BG 2.14

The Gita, from the very beginning, talks about how this world is temporary, how everything in it is temporary, even our bodies, but our souls live forever. 

What I learned from all of this is that in the material world, you need to be independent. You need to be enough for yourself. You never know when you're going to lose your job, or when your body might stop functioning, or when the friends/family you care about leave you or damage your trust in some way. You never know when these things might happen. Some of us are a bit too trusting of others and we end up getting mistreated in the end. Let it pass. It probably just ran its course and has now come to an end, so ride the wave. Over the past couple of months, I was abandoned by my supposed life partner, and then I was abandoned by a close friend who had promised to stick by me. It was then that I realised that loyalty in many cases does not last forever. These things come and go. But when you find someone who proves to you that they will be loyal and will stick by you no matter what, then do whatever you can to keep such a person in your life.

I guess out of this understanding of the temporary nature of things, there is one aspect of it that stands out to me:

There are two sides to everything and there will always be pain along with pleasure.  If everything is temporary, then so is the sadness, which means that this too will pass. 

I am of the opinion that one should never suppress their feelings. Feel whatever you want, be it jealousy, anger, hatred, or envy, but don't act on it. Suppressing feelings only leads to more pain, but be in control of your actions. Don't hurt someone because of your feelings. Over time, as you mature and learn to let things go, as you learn that you are above certain things, the intensity of such feelings will gradually diminish. I think it also makes life a little bit interesting to feel all these things. Of course, in excess it's really frustrating, but a little bit adds some variety to life.

Nothing is permanent, so don't put all your eggs in one basket. Don't trust someone so completely that you sacrifice yourself and your well-being for them. Don't trust people too soon, don't trust too easily. Learn to be enough for yourself. Put yourself first. Take care of your own needs and your own security before putting your life on the line for someone else. You know how when you're on a plane and they tell you that in case of emergency situations, put on your own mask first before helping the person beside you? The same applies. You can't help others if you don't look after yourself first. Nothing lasts forever so don't expect it to. Learn to let things go. And remember: this will pass. Whatever you're going through in life right now, it will pass and it will get better. If everything is temporary, then that means so is this sadness. Ride the wave.

Prayer Request for Sunayana

"Please pray for my sister Sunayana she is suffering from anxiety and panic attack and feeling dizzy since last 1.5 years and no doctor can find out whats going on, she started praying to Krishna recently after I said because you know how people become when nothing good happens to them, she is really in need of Krishna as her problem is no doctor is able to find out whats going on, please pray for her from Krishna atleast Krishna will listen to you if not me or her. Atleast if doctor can find out whats going on then she can work on it from there. Thanks."

I'm sorry your sister is having trouble. Having experienced anxiety and panic attacks myself, I know it is not at all easy to live with.

May Krishna give your dear sister Sunayana comfort and strength to overcome any obstacles that may be in her path. I pray for Krishna to help her and give her the feeling of safety and to look after her. May Krishna bless her with better health and peace of mind.

In my experience, anxiety comes about when one is worried about something. It might be the lack of something, or an inability to control situations. Sometimes, it is due to how the individual's brain is wired and the chemical make up of it. If there is in fact something that your sister feels is lacking, I think this verse might be good for her to think about:

"But those who worship Me with devotion, meditating on My transcendental form--to them I carry what they lack and preserve what they have." (BG 9.22)

It would be worth taking your sister to a psychologist to figure out what's causing the anxiety. If doctors have been unable to figure it out, maybe it is an emotional thing. I hope you find out what the problem is. This might be a long shot, but in my case, food allergies/intolerance caused anxiety and brain fog/loss of mental clarity. If you want to talk further, please feel free to email me at bloggingupthedrainpipe@gmail.com. 

A Blog About Krishna :)

Hi everyone :)

I'd like to share a blog here that has lovely posts about Krishna :) Give it a read!

http://krishnasdivinegrace.blogspot.com