25 ways to rejuvenate one's life.

[Guest guest]

Dear friends and devotees,

 

Bhakti is eternal.

 

In continuation of my earlier message regarding 25 ways to rejuvenate

one’s life....

 

12. Prayer is a vital tool.

 

Prayer is a vital tool to improve your life. It also nurtures values

like integrity and honesty. Prayer happens in two situations, or in a

combination of situations. When you feel grateful or when you feel

utterly helpless, if you are not grateful and prayerful, you will be

miserable. In either case your prayers will be answered.

 

What you can do, you do.

What you cannot do, you pray for!

 

It is said the divine dawns in you when you pray for it, when you cry

for it, when you sing for it. The divine is only waiting for you to dig

a little deeper into yourself. Because, it can then fill you with much

more nectar! Divine wants you to create more space in you. Cry from

your soul for help. This is for those seekers who are weak. Those

seekers who are strong-with the power of knowledge-can sing with that

joy of what they have achieved! The moment you sing in gratitude, in

glory of the divine, it immediately dawns in you, and fills you up

again. One type of people is grateful for all their growth. The other

type is helpless and weak. Both will be helped.

 

Spirituality is not some ritual, or doing something. It is a very

pleasant, uplifted state of being and seeing that the whole world is all

spirit or consciousness. Use prayer to bring integration in your

personality. What ever you do, know that the higher power has the final

say and it will always be for the best.

 

13. Implement changes if needed.

 

Sorrow simply means that Viveka (discrimination) is overshadowed.

Viveka means knowing that everything is changing. Your body, your

emotions, the people around you and the world-everything is changing.

Time and again you have to awaken to this reality. You are often

fearful of change. Change is inevitable in many fronts though security

is hooked on to stability. You know there is a need for change to

improve your life, but you feel secure in the old pattern. You need the

courage to implement changes whenever it is necessary. You have to

evaluate the pros and the cons. You have to see whether that gives you

short-term joy and misery in the long run or short-time pain and joy in

the long run.

 

Life is a combination of both change and non-change. So, use your

intelligence and courageously implement changes when you feel that there

is a need for change.

 

14. Identify your limitations.

 

Every time you are unhappy or miserable, you are just coming in touch

with your own boundaries! And what can you do? You can just feel

thankful; “Oh, I came in touch with my boundary, my limitation.

This was my limitation.†You just turn the whole situation into

a prayer; “Let there be peace, not just in me but in

everybody.†Prayer is that moment when you come in touch with

your limitations, your boundaries.

 

You are peaceful, you are joyful, you are happy as long as you have not

come in contact with your boundaries. At that moment what can you do?

You can just say, " My Lord, my God, you made me become aware of my

boundaries. You bring peace. I am giving it all to you.†That

very moment you will start smiling. However hopeless the situation is,

you will walk through it, sing through it, dance through it! This is

love.

 

In Hindi, love is written with two-and-a-half letters. They say,

“Who is a master, who is a pundit, who is a wise person? Not one

who has studied a lot of scriptures, but one who has studied the

two-and-a-half letters.†And this two-and-a-half letters is at

this moment. It is a test of the moment, when you come in touch with

your limitations, your boundaries. You are happy and peaceful. Are you

in the boundaries? Or are you maintaining your boundless and the

innocent love in the heart? Is it remaining? If it is, then nothing

can rob you of peace.

 

15. Do not lose your friends.

 

Mistakes keep happening all the time. Often you want to correct them.

How much can you correct? There are two situations when you correct

others’ mistakes.

 

1. You correct someone’s mistake because it bothers you. But

even if you correct it, this does not work.

 

2. You correct someone’s mistake not because it bothers you,

but for their sake so that they can grow.

 

To correct mistakes you need authority and love. Authority and love

seem to be contradictory, but in reality they are not. Authority

without love is stifling. Love without authority is shallow. A friend

needs to have both authority and love but they need to be in the right

combination. This can happen if you are totally dispassionate and

centered. When you allow room for mistakes, you can be both

authoritative and sweet. That is how the Divine is, the right balance

of both. Krishna and Jesus had both.

 

Do not make a mistake by pointing out mistakes!

Once a lady came to me and said her husband had lied to her. She was

very upset. I asked, “Why does your husband lie to you? Because

he loves you, and is afraid to lose your love or hurt you. If he did

not love you, he would not lie to you.â€

 

Do not tell a person a mistake he knows he has committed. By doing

this, you will only make him feel more guilty. A magnanimous person

will not pick on the mistakes of others and make them feel guilty; he

will correct them with compassion and care.

 

16.Do not look for perfection.

 

Many a time, you become angry or miserable because of the feverishness

for perfection. If you are too much of a perfectionist, you are bound

to be an angry person.

 

In a state of ignorance, imperfection is natural and perfection is an

effort. In a state of wisdom or enlightenment, imperfection is an

effort; perfection is a compulsion and is unavoidable! Perfection is

taking total responsibility, and total responsibility means knowing that

you are the only responsible person in the whole world. When you think

that others are responsible, then your degree of responsibility

diminishes. When you are in total Vairagya (dispassion), you can take

care of even insignificant things with such perfection. Perfection is

the very nature of the enlightened one. When we are joyful, we do not

look for perfection. If you are looking for perfection then you are not

at the source of joy. Joy is the realization, that there is no vacation

from wisdom. The world appears imperfect on the surface but,

underneath, all is perfect. Perfection hides; imperfection shows off.

 

The wise will not stay on the surface but will probe into the depth.

Things are not blurred; your vision is blurred. Infinite actions prevail

in the wholeness of consciousness, and yet the consciousness remains

perfect, untouched. Realise this now and be natural.

 

In this world, everything cannot be perfect all the time. Even the

best, the greatest of actions, performed with the noblest of intentions,

will have some imperfections. It is but natural. Unfortunately, the

tendency of our mind is to grab the imperfection and hold on to it.

And, in the process, we end up making our moods, our minds imperfect and

our souls reel with this nonsense. It is imperative to get out of these

cycles, and to become strong and courageous from within.

 

To be continued….

 

With love and regards,

 

Sastry.