Got, him, lost him got him

I was preparing for IAS. There used to be a book shop on BKS Marg near CP. One fine morning, I was there to buy a book.Another young man too stood waiting outside the shop's shutter. I can't recall the reason but definitely, I got into some problem with this man. We snarled at each other only to become friends after half an hour. I learnt,this guy too was riding in my boat-- the IAS. We had a plan to watch a movie but somehow, things could not click. In a couple of days we separated, me to Patna to marry in 1978. Meanwhile, this practical man, after giving up his idea for further preparing for IAS, went somewhere else to fry some other fish. However, by this time, we were bound in a cemented relationship of friendship through epistles.(Yes, he would write epistles, not letters, to me.) He married in some early year of 80s while formally inviting me too. He was emotionally so close to me that he even christened my eldest kid, and the name given by him still goes though bit in Hindi. We were in touch till, may be, 1992 but then we lost track. I tried to trace him out at Ajmer, his home town; at other places he had worked; in telephone directories of India, but I failed. It was now out of question to find this dear friend through any other possible means. However, as miracles happen, again one fine morning, I got a msg from somebody on Facebook verifying my identity, in the end of Jan 2012. And lo presto, I knew him. It was my very dear, long lost friend IK. He is Inder Krishen Wali, taking care of Dinesh Mills at Baroda, a proud hubby of an attractive wife and an equally proud dad of 2 bright kids. God is great, as they say.!!!

How pityful

So, ultimately, Gen. Singh, our poor Chief of Indian Army stands with a bloody nose. He got the knock at the Supreme Court where he went expecting his stay as army head up to May '13. This failure of his is a classic example of how power hungry are humbled. It is never contendable that someone feeling basically aggrieved by the Government or any body else should not fight out his case for justice. The hairline difference between genuine justice seeker and our battered General was only that our General pretty well knew that he was fighting an already lost cause, per se, not even a cause. Instead of going thus far to Supreme Court and contriving out a means to continue as Chief of Indian Army for a further year, Singh would have been a better gallant soldier had he resigned away right at the moment, his date of birth was getting controversial. If not with a few thousand more rupees in his pension kitty, he could have gone with greater honour and bigger image. Gen Sinha had done so by throwing away his resignation to the then PM immediately after his junior Gen Vaidya was opted for chiefship. He did not go to any court. This reminds one of Kiran Bedi, a much hallowed police woman, the first lady IPS officer who clamoured for the job of Delhi Police Commissioner after elevation of Dadwal, a junior, to this office, much in the Singh style. She was lollypopped by the then Home Minister for a long time. Instead of smelling the design of the government, Bedi acted the innocent girl only to resign her job just three months prior to her due retirement date. No one was the taker of her system-made me-a-martyr stance and she fuzzed away with all bravado she had earned as a very upright cop only to reappear as an Anna baby later on in Indian socio politics. This is how mighty fall in this country with their Macbethian ambition at play.

Order in Life

One great advantage that monks and yogis have when they live in an ashram or monastery, is that their lives have great order. This structured living then helps them establish internal order and helps them establish a strong spiritual practice. So try to adopt some of these aspects into your life as well and therefore benefit from such structure as the monks and yogis do.

The more such order emerges from your passion and your practice the more natural and effective it will be. Allow your practice to thus shape your life and structure your days so that you can move forward systematically and gracefully. Generally, you will find setting up a consistent time for your practice, waking up early, getting proper exercise, eating healthy, spending time in nature and other such wholesome activities becoming a natural part of your life as you progress.

Small things you do will matter also. Cleanliness, simplicity, balance, promptness, diligence, thoughtfulness will all start to emerge as you put your life in order. Also, order does not mean an absence of spontaneity. Being simple and making time for leisure will promote spontaneity, as will living in the moment, with honesty. So start to organize yourself and your time and get your life in order. You will be pleasantly surprised by how much this will help you in your personal as well as spiritual growth.

So how to live life in order to begin the great adventure to enlightenment? Live peacefully, honestly and with great order, and surely you will find yourself on the path to awakening and Self-Realization.

Tale-2

Years back, there lived a cobra snake on the outskirts of a village. It was so wicked that it would bite all

and sundry who passed the path. So many had died to his bites. As such, the path itself was abandoned

as people grew very afraid of the snake. Once a sage, happily unaware of all this, was passing this path

on his way to a distant village. As usual, our snake rushed to bite him. The bold sage harkened the snake :

" Hello, what makes you rush at me. will you bite me?" " Yes, I will do so as I hardly spare any one- sage

or non- sage," said the snake. It bore a vicious smile on its face. Thoughtfully, the sage spoke thus to the

snake;" Dear snake, you definitely did so many misdeeds and committed so many sins in your previous

life and those led to your birth in such pitiable beastly shape. You are, during this life too, committing sins

by biting innocent people. What makes you bite?" " I bite for thrill and satisfaction", said the snake. On

this, the sage retorted, " Ever thought what beastlier shape you would be born in after you die with such

a heavy load of sin of biting innocent people to death? Pause to think." The snake was really dumb fold on

hearing these words. " So what should I do, sir?" asked the snake. The kind sage advised it, " Pray God,

sing devotional songs and stop biting." The sage moved ahead leaving the snake full of remorse. It began

praying God and shunned its habit of biting. News of the now-non-violent snake spread, people began

mustering courage to visit that spot, children started pelting stones on this non-violent snake and

ultimately the poor snake badly mauled by stones was thrown into a nearby waterless well. An year

passed and the sage passed back the same path. On missing the snake he harkened aloud, " My dear

snake, where are you." The snake cried out from the well, " I am here, sir. " The kind sage took out the snake from the well and learnt of the entire episode. After hearing all, he laughed, " My friend, I had

asked you to shun biting, not hissing loud. This is a merciless world and if you wish to live at all, at least

don't forget to hiss up. Be happy." Then everafter, the snake lived happy. You can figure out, how?

Tale-1

This is a story I read years back while in class 7 or 8. Baba Bharati was a sage with great knowledge of Ayurved who lived in his ashram somewhere near some village. Apart from praying God and treating patients, his only passion lay in his sturdy horse which was loved by him almost like his son. The Baba would daily get up at dawn, pat his huge sturdy horse and ride it for a couple of miles to provide it proper exercise. Needless to say that he provided choicest fodder and food to his dear horse. The area where the Baba lived was under constant terror of a dacoit, Khadg Singh. One day it so happened that the dacoit chanced to visit Baba’s ashram where he saw the horse. He just fell in love with that sturdy animal. He insisted upon the Baba to hand the horse over to him saying that such a well built horse was fit to live with a thakur like him and not a hermit. On this, the Baba retorted,” I am afraid, thakur, I can’t give you my horse. Its dear to me like my son. Even if you opt to pay me a huge price for it, I would not yield. Please leave this place. “ The terrible dacoit grinned and said, “ If you don’t hand this horse to me voluntarily, I can pretty easily snatch it from you as you know my name.” The Baba retorted, “ And for that, you may as well kill me after wrestling with me if you so opt. Shoot away, man.” Khadg Singh at that moment was in no mood to pick up a physical scuffle. However, prior to leaving, he said, “ Baba, this horse is already mine. It’s only a matter of time when it actually comes down to my den.” Grinning, the dacoit left the ashram casting of course a lustful glance on the horse. Baba Bharati was real scared of this threat. He knew the might of this dacoit. Hence, he since that moment, stood on constant vigil to protect his horse…day in and day out… in night, before day break, always conscious. Days passed, months rolled. There was no trace of the dacoit. Baba too was feeling a bit relaxed thinking that the dacoit might have dropped the idea. One day, he was summoned from a 10 miles distant village to check a patient. Baba set off for the village on his dear horse. On way, he got a mango groove where lay a beggarly leper writhing in pain. The kind Baba asked him why he lay there. The beggar said that he was going to his nephew incidentally in the same village where Baba was heading. The Baba, kind as he was, told him that in that physical condition, he could not even move, let alone, reach the village. He volunteered him some space on his horse so that he could reach his relatives easily. Baba physically picked up the leper and seated him on the horse. Suddenly, things changed. The beggar threw away his tattered robe, kicked up the horse and darted off almost throwing a howling laughter on the Baba. “ I had already told you that this horse would be mine. Now get back, you old man and pray God.” So, the beggar was Khadg Singh, the dacoit. Baba harkened him. “ Khadg Singh, just hault for a moment and hear me. I will not demand the horse.” Khadg Singh finding himself in a better strategic position felt no harm in halting. “ Blurt, old man, and be quick.” Baba Bhararati told the dacoit, “ You may take away the horse but for God sake, never tell this incident out to any one.” “ But why,” asked the dacoit. “ If you tell it out, people will lose all faith on poor, hapless men and no one will come ahead to help beggars and lepers, “ said the Baba and turned back. Khadg Singh reached his place with the horse but his conscience was pricking him. “ How great the Baba is and how mean, I am. I am a dacoit, not a cheat.” Night fell. He had decided. Once again, he reached the ashram riding the horse, found the ever vigilant Baba sleeping like a child happily unaware of his lost horse,tied the horse’s rope to the same point where it usually stood and sneaked out.